Readability
Readability is a simple tool that makes reading on the Web more enjoyable by removing the clutter around what you are reading.
Readability is a new Firefox add-on that makes reading web pages simpler and more enjoyable. The system strips the superfluous information and shows the main content in a single column of easy-to-read text. It is also a precious tool for printing the web pages in less.
Readability has 64 different styling options. You can choose to style in different colors, change the reading fonts and adjust the size of the text. Users can also add a Toolbar button to the navigation toolbox. Other than the add-on icon Readability supports Toolbar buttons, keyboard short-cuts, panel options and send via email functionality.
Readability contains Autoscroll functionality, too. As the name suggests Autoscroll functionality will let you scroll the pages automatically without using your mouse or keyboard. After you activate the Readability and simplify the page, pressing CTRL + SHIFT + A keyboard combination to start using the Autoscroll.
Hi DavidC,
Sorry for the late response. Good idea. But actually you should send this kind of functionality feature requests to Arc90 by opening a new issue at:
—
http://code.google.com/p/arc90labs-readability/issues/list
> …you should send this kind of functionality feature requests to Arc90 by opening a new issue…
Thanks, Baris – I wasn’t sure if you were coding this in the addon.
I see someone has already made this request: http://code.google.com/p/arc90labs-readability/issues/detail?id=42
I’ll add a comment to that.
Thank you!
Hi again. Different problem.
I need to click the Reability icon twice to make the font-family change for this page: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/jan/27/james-delingpole-climate-change-denial
The problem is not present when I use the Readability bookmark.
Hi David,
From my experiments both the Add-on and Bookmarklet changed the font-family property at second trial. I think that page has internal problems that is slowing down the Readability script. Also style cascading may cause the problem. You may issue the page for Arc90.
Hi Baris,
Thanks for the reply. You’re right – it is happening with both bookmark and addon – not sure why I saw a different result yesterday.
I’ll report to Arc90.
Thanks.
David.
Yet another request: Right now, the Readability bookmarklet provides a way to restore the original page — by blindly reloading the original page. If my understanding of the Readability script is correct, all the original underlying HTML is still there, it’s just been modified by adding some additional CSS to the DOM. (Correct me if I’m wrong.)
Now, switching into Readability mode is -really- fast using Option+Cmd+R, but switching back to the original page is rather slow since it involves dumbly reloading the page.
Is there some way your Readability add-on could “undo” the Readability mode either by stripping the added CSS from the DOM or — probably simpler — caching a copy of the original DOM, and then restoring it when backing out of Readability mode? (Readability could use a pointer to this cached copy to know whether it’s in Readability mode or not; if there’s a cached copy of the DOM available, restore it when the user clicks Readability again. Basically, making the Readability button and its keyboard equivalent work like a toggle.)
Is this something that would be easy for you to address, or is this something that should be handled by the folks at Arc90?
Hi Darin,
This is Readability script related functionality. So it should be handled by Arc90 team. You can send a request to:
http://code.google.com/p/arc90labs-readability/issues/list
I’ve been using the Readability bookmarklet ever since it was introduced, but its adaptation as an extension is far better, more styles, faster. Beautiful achievement. My eyes ans myself are grateful :)
LOVE this. This is an ADHD DREAM!!! :) Great add. I’m a Mac person, too, and have a menubar app called isolator that I really like which is like darkening anything except the focus window, kind of like hulu’s dim light feature. This is better though because it doesn’t feel like turning out all the lights, just putting on noise-canceling headphones! :)
The following is a request for enhancement.
Some articles contain tables, which sometimes make the bulk of the article. Here is an exemple: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/notepad-plus/index.php?title=IdeaTorrent_Summa . Using Readability v0.7 and Firefox v3.5.7, the text outside tables is properly displayed, buut nothing in the tables is. Please consider adding text table contents in text rendered by Readability.
An otherwise excellent, useful tool by the way.
CChrisry
Please make the keyboard shortcuts user configurable. I use the Ctl-Alt combinations for program hot keys and that overrides the use of Ctl-Alt-R for Readability.
Hi Ned,
That functionality will be added in future versions of the add-on.
Ok, thanks. I can use the status bar icon for now.
Sorry, noob question. How do you activate it from javascript? I tried the command “Readability.enableREADABILITY(event);” but it doesn’t work. I need the command so I can stick it in firegestures.
Thanks.
Hi,
Give a try this:
Readability.enableREADABILITY({button:0,target:{id:”readability-statusbar-icon”,nodeName:”radio”}})
hmm not working…
I think it needs to be something that can work in the address bar, like try “javascript: alert(0);”
Hey,
Readability executes the browser based code. If you use the address bar, the code is executed by web page. The web pages can not have privilege to access browser based code. So you can not run the suggested code in address bar because it wont work.
I did not tried the firegestures but if it uses the web page javascript codes then you will not get an opportunity to run the Readability by mouse.
Yeah.. I asked one of the devs on IRC & he said ‘you register the extension as a component and use the Components.classes to get a reference to it’
If you know how to do it I’d appreciate a patch ^^ but if not, i’ll look into it & maybe submit some code later.
Hi Baris,
Feature request: facility to add list of URLs that are automatically made ‘readability’ – with some method of removing the readability formatting if needed.
Hi David,
Thanks for suggestion. It is in the roadmap.