Cool new Safari extensions by Many Tricks, developers — among other apps — of Name Mangler (which I plan on covering soon). I like the vBulletin one:

This extension is for those who use vBulletin forum sites. It adds a contextual menu that lets you open all unread article links in new tabs, with a single click. As of now, it only works for vBulletin, but if you use forum sites based on other systems, we may be able to get it working if you can give us a URL to look at.

It’d be nice to have Chrome versions, though.

(via Dan Frakes)

Personal Search Results In Google with CloudMagic and Evernote

Following my decision to switch back to Google Chrome as my default desktop browser, I have installed two extensions that are making Google search results more useful for me.

Last week, I installed the Evernote web clipper for Chrome, which was capable of displaying my own Evernote notes alongside Google’s search results. This means I can look for, say, “AppleScript iTunes” and likely find something that I had already clipped in Evernote in the past. It is a powerful addition when combined with Evernote’s new Related Notes feature; it also allows me (in the extension’s options) to make the thumbnail results open directly with the Evernote Mac app when clicked. Evernote announced yesterday the possibility to have the same kind of inline results with Safari.

The second addition is CloudMagic’s new extension, which I discovered today thanks to TechCrunch. MacStories readers know why I like CloudMagic:

CloudMagic is fast: it can search across thousands of indexed items in seconds, with results updating in real time. It is astonishingly accurate, even when it has to match a couple of words with, say, hundreds of tweets from last year or an Evernote PDF inside a nested notebook. I use CloudMagic on a daily basis to retrieve old tweets (as reference material), email messages, or notes; in fact, I would say the app has better search than Evernote’s iOS app. Which, by the way, is supported with an URL scheme – so you’ll be able to search notes and open them directly in the Evernote app.

The new CloudMagic extension is exactly what you think it is. Once installed, it’ll find results for your Google query by looking inside the accounts you’ve already configured with CloudMagic. By using both Evernote and CloudMagic, I can get Google results in an instant (the main Google search results load first), then get relevant results from my email inbox, Twitter accounts, Dropbox and Evernote notes, and more Evernote related notes thanks to Evernote’s different algorithm. I would say that 50% of my searches are for items that I have already saved in the past but that I have also likely forgotten about. CloudMagic and Evernote results in the browser allow me to keep using Google but also have my own results show up alongside the normal search I’m used to.

The updated CloudMagic extension is available here.

PopClip Extensions

I first wrote about PopClip last year. Developed by Pilotmoon, it is a simple utility that brings an iOS-like popup menu for text selected on OS X. From my original coverage:

PopClip, a $4.99 app from the Mac App Store, takes a page from iOS’ playbook and overhauls the Mac’s default copy and paste actions with an iOS-like popup menu.

With PopClip, you can select text and a popup menu with options to copy, paste, cut and look up in Dictionary will appear, just like on your iPhone or iPad. PopClip is also capable of opening links contained in selected text, and it’s got support for spelling corrections.

I recently found out (thanks to a Systematic episode) that it’s possible to extend PopClip. Version 1.4, in fact, brought support for extensions. Pilotmoon has posted a dedicated page showcasing some examples of extensions already available. The best part? PopClip extensions can be made with AppleScript, shell scripts, system Services – it’s very easy to adapt existing scripts to PopClip’s syntax for selected text (literally one word). Extensions can have custom icons, names, and requirements, and to put one together you’ll need to create a .plist file for the extension’s settings. For developers, Pilotmoon has also posted instructions on how to create and package extensions.

Personally, I have already installed some of the extensions linked on PopClip’s page (such as Evernote, Title Case, and Paste and Match Style), as well as an OmniFocus one by Marc Abramowitz and a set by Andy Guzman. To prove it’s really simple to update existing scripts for PopClip, I’ve created a version of today’s Mail > Evernote AppleScript that works for text selected with PopClip in an email message; it’s very simple, but you can find it here.

I’m looking forward to seeing more people playing around with PopClip extensions. It is an interesting combination, as these extensions mix the power of scripting with the visual aspect of “seeing” commands, rather than remembering dozens of keyboard shortcuts. In a way, it reminds of a Services menu for iOS, which I hope we’ll get, eventually.

PopClip is $4.99 on the Mac App Store.