Save Time Browsing Instructables

by lemonie

2.0K1414

Intro: Save Time Browsing Instructables

If you are a user who is clicking all over the place to find out what's new, or keeping an eye on what's been discussed in the Community this might be of some use.

Create your own home page, which links you directly to where you want to go.

STEP 1: Hyperlinks

When you have reached a page you regularly look at e.g. recent Instructables, copy the URL from the address bar and paste it into a simple text editor such as MS Notepad. It doesn't have to be MS, any plain text editor will do.

For example;

https://www.instructables.com/
https://www.instructables.com/tag/type:question/?count=30&sort=RECENT
https://www.instructables.com/tag/type:id/?sort=RECENT
https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all
https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all&limit=20&sort=RECENT
https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all&limit=20&sort=RECENT_POSTS
https://www.instructables.com/you/

STEP 2: HTML

Now add HTML to the text file to give you a local web-page.

At the top of the file add:
<html>
<head>
<title>(put the title of your page in here)</title>
</head>
<body>
Now add <a href=" before each hyperlink
Close with ">
add a description
Close the link with </a>
Add a line return with <br>
And repeat.
See next step...

STEP 3: HTML

<html>
<head>
<title>Instructables</title>
</head>
<body>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/">Instructables</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/tag/type:question/?count=30&sort=RECENT">Recent questions</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/tag/type:id/?sort=RECENT">Recent Instructables</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all">Forums all</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all&limit=20&sort=RECENT">Forums recent topics</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all&limit=20&sort=RECENT_POSTS">Forums recent posts</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/you/">Me</a><br>

STEP 4: Finish

Now close the HTML and BODY tags by inserting:
</body>
</html>

STEP 5: The Finished Page

<html>
<head>
<title>Instructables</title>
</head>
<body>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/">Instructables</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/tag/type:question/?count=30&sort=RECENT">Recent
questions"</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/tag/type:id/?sort=RECENT">Recent Instructables</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all">Forums all</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all&limit=20&sort=RECENT">Forums recent topics</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/community?categoryGroup=all&category=all&limit=20&sort=RECENT_POSTS">Forums recent posts</a><br>
<a href="https://www.instructables.com/you/">Me</a><br>
</body>
</html>

InstructablesInstructables
Recent questions"
Recent Instructables
Forums all
Forums recent topics
Forums recent posts
Me

STEP 6: But You Don't Have To!

Because I have. Just download the file, save to your desktop and open with your web-browser.

This is HTML at it's most basic. It serves a purely functional purpose, which is why I haven't done anything more with it.

L

14 Comments

fartnocker 14 years ago

 i have not read this ible but if its is teaching html scripting then people should know that scripting is like rocket sceince. one small mistake makes the whole thing fail epicly.

lemonie 14 years ago

It's just basic HTML, no scripts.

L

Kryptonite 14 years ago

Nice, can you make it so that it opens up all these pages in different tabs?

NachoMahma 15 years ago

. Nice job. I already have most of those links bookmarked in a folder on the Bookmarks Toolbar - I'll add the others when I finish this msg. . BTW, the "new" (?proper?) form for an HTML/XML line break is "
" (note space between r and /). Most, if not all, browsers will handle the "old"
, so it's not a big deal.

lemonie 15 years ago

Well, that show how long it is since I was writing HTML, I may go back and change it. Thanks

NachoMahma 15 years ago

. Oops! It appears that
is valid HTML - XHTML uses
.

PKM 15 years ago


was always valid HTML- it's now advised to new coders that they get into the habit of writing
and appreciate the reasoning behind always closing tags for writing XHTML or XML which require well-nested tags, but for pure HTML usage there's nothing wrong with
.

ewilhelm 15 years ago

I edited step 5 to display the rendered HTML. If you edit it, it will revert back.

You can do some of this by using the customize feature.

lemonie 15 years ago

Ah ha. Thanks L

lowercase 15 years ago

well...
I just add an RSS feed to my google reader for *everything* I'm interested in like the new instructables published, the featured ones and some forums, I keep it synched with my iPod so I never miss anything on instructables and I save a lot of time.

HotPinkBulb 15 years ago

Great idea!

I was planning something very much the same for my usage, infact, if i had known you had this in the pipeline i would have offered a collaboration.

I did something similair with the chatroom, using iframes, and intended to make ones 'you' page open under your links, then the links be left along the top (where the chatroom is on this one)

lemonie 15 years ago

It's good methodology which applies elsewhere. Yes you can use Bookmarks and Favorites, but a bit of old fashioned DIY is rather satisfying. L