Instapaper Beyond: I just sent an update to Apple this morning, and hope to have it approved shortly. It’s a basic maintenance release to catch up with the recent changes to Instapaper. I want to incorporate the new sharing features into the “t” menu, but that’s not quite ready yet. Current users of the plugin should receive an automatic update as soon as Apple gives me the ok.

Markdown QuickTags: Version 0.7.11 is out as of today, and includes several fixes for minor annoyances. Of particular note is the bug that caused the page to scroll up when pressing the enter key in Firefox 4; that’s fixed, thanks to some help from Kai Schlamp.

nvALT: A release is imminent. I am indeed working with ElasticThreads on this one. The roadmap will diverge a little, and even the name might change, but the first joint release combines the best of both of our forks and the latest changes to Notational Velocity. I can’t guarantee at this point that the auto-updater in nvALT will make the leap, but I will post here to let you know if a new download will be required. Keep your eyes peeled, this is going to be cool.

Pinboard.in custom style: for those aware of the custom stylesheet I’m creating for Pinboard (unofficial, just an override), that should be ready soon. I have a few secondary page style issues to deal with, and then it should be ready to go. I’ll post it here as soon as it’s ready. Here’s a preview…

Changes at the day job are probably going to reduce the overall time I have for this kind of mad science, but I’m planning to keep all of these projects going. I also know myself well enough to be certain that my brain will make time for code experimentation, even if it means losing a few nights of sleep.

Related posts:

1. nvALT 1.0.8 progress and status
2. nvALT 1.0.5 (quick fixes)
3. Instapaper Beyond 1.8.9

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Project status report, March 2011

It uses the same navigation as Instapaper Beyond (mmm, clever), so pressing “h” will bring down a menu of the main commands available in the extension, and pressing the letter for a command (or clicking it in the menu) will provide more information about that command. In some cases, a short screencast is available, and I’ll put more up when I have a chance.

The page takes advantage of the fact that it’s pretty much exclusive to Safari 5, using HTML5 video tags and webkit transitions for much of the interface. That, and a little jQuery. The video player is a custom-styled <video> tag, which was something I’ve been meaning to figure out how to pull off.

I hope IB users enjoy the page, and I welcome comments and criticisms!

Related posts:

1. Instapaper Beyond: fix for text style controls
2. Instapaper Beyond Bugs (fixed)
3. Instapaper Beyond for Safari

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond microsite

I have a few new features completed and ready to launch, actually, but I’ll save them up for a bigger update. I’m also going to try to find time to build out a dedicated project page, and maybe even add a screencast. I do love making screencasts.

I’ll be keeping an eye on the gallery to see when it shows up. Follow @ttscoff on Twitter if you’re curious, I’m sure I’ll have an excited tweet or two when it does.

Related posts:

1. Instapaper Beyond microsite
2. TabLinks 2.0 is live
3. New Safari Extensions give good source

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond in the Safari Extensions Gallery

This release includes:

• Alphabetical sorting of the help HUD (A-Z,a-z)
• Edit a bookmark with “E” (Shift-E)
  • you can tab through the fields and submit with Enter, returning you to your listing
• Scroll animation when navigating bookmark lists
  • makes it more obvious which direction the page just scrolled you in when selecting a bookmark partially or entirely offscreen.

Download:

Related posts:

1. Instapaper Beyond: fix for text style controls
2. Instapaper Beyond 1.3
3. Instapaper Beyond 1.8.7

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond 1.8.9

This is relatively minor update for Instapaper Beyond, the Safari extension which gives you full Ajax loading and keyboard control over Instapaper. It does, however, have one very cool new feature, and one often-requested fix.

The new feature is type-ahead folder selection in the popup HUDs for Move To and Go To Folder. When the HUD pops up, you can just start typing and it will find the first folder that matches the letters you’ve typed and select it. The arrow keys function as usual, and enter or right arrow will open the selected folder. If you type a few letters and then hit backspace or escape, it will clear the filter field. If you pause for a second, then start typing again, it will start a new filter, QuickSilver/Launchbar style.

The other noticeable change is that it works better with Greystyled now. It’s not perfect, as Greystyled wants to do its own thing with the Ajax-loaded text versions and there’s a major conflict. I check for Greystyled now, though, and give it a little leeway. The text view will not look like it does in Greystyled without IB loaded, but it will work for you.

If you have Instapaper Beyond loaded, it will either update automatically, or show up in your available updates if you have auto-updates turned off. If you haven’t loaded it, download it below and give it a try!

Related posts:

1. Instapaper Beyond Bugs (fixed)
2. Instapaper Beyond: fix for text style controls
3. GReader Instapaper 0.2

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond 1.8.7

I actually ended up rewriting the existing javascript as a module in Instapaper Beyond, so there’s the possibility of easily extending it to handle more options. Background color, more fonts, etc. We’ll see how far I get with that. My next order of business is to get it to work with some of the existing userstyles out there, but time has been tight for me when it comes to these side projects. I’ll keep you posted.

If you have Instapaper Beyond installed, it should show up in your updates (or be updated automatically, depending on your settings). If you want to download the extension, please use the link below. For more information on Instapaper Beyond, see the original post for the Safari Release.

Related posts:

1. Instapaper Beyond 1.8.7
2. Instapaper Beyond 1.8.9
3. GReader Instapaper 0.2

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond: fix for text style controls

You can download the current version here, and see the list of links in the series box to the right for further info and backstory on Instapaper Beyond.

Related posts:

1. Instapaper Beyond: fix for text style controls
2. Instapaper Beyond for Safari
3. Instapaper Beyond 1.8.7

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond Bugs (fixed)

The Instapaper Beyond Extension now has it’s own page. Check it out!

Instapaper Beyond is officially available as a Safari 5 extension! For Safari users new to Instapaper Beyond, it’s an extension which adds full keyboard navigation and Ajax loading to Instapaper. For example, when the page loads, the first article in the list is highlighted. Using up/down arrows, or j/k, you can navigate forward and backwards. Right arrow or “o” will open an Ajax view of the article from which j/k will continue to navigate articles in text mode.

Pressing the spacebar in text view will page down 1 page (shift-space to page up), and at the bottom of a page, spacebar will load the next article. “s” will go to starred articles, “S” (shift-s) will star an article, etc. There are tons of commands available in addition to basic navigation, and the context-sensitive help is always a key away (h).

I recommend turning off auto-archiving of articles (Apparently this isn’t even an option anymore –thanks to Mark for noticing). Now that you can archive an article with Shift-A, it’s just as easy to take manual control, and less confusing when using the Ajax view.

I’m sure I’ll continue to tweak and bugfix this extension, but I set up the auto-update manifest in the extension, so any updates will automatically install for Safari 5 users. Use the link below to download the extension, then double-click the downloaded file to install it. You must have extensions enabled in your Safari preferences.

Also, the Instapaper Beyond userscript for Fluid has also been updated to version 1.8, with improved spacebar handling and a few minor tweaks. Just press “U” in your Instapaper SSB to update to the latest version. You can read more about the original Instapaper Beyond script for Fluid here.

Download the extension here: Instapaper Beyond for Safari

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Instapaper Beyond: fix for text style controls
2. Single-keystroke Instapaper in Google Reader
3. A big upgrade for Instapaper Beyond

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond for Safari

Styled after Google Reader and others, when the spacebar is pressed at the bottom of an article, it loads the next article. I’m trying a better selector to detect the bottom of the page, which should prevent false jumps before you finish reading your article.

Related posts:

1. Instapaper Beyond for Safari
2. Instapaper Beyond 1.8.7
3. Instapaper Beyond 1.3

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Minor update to Instapaper Beyond (1.4)

Current users can update simply by pressing “U” (shift-U) in their Instapaper SSB. New users will want to take a look at the original installation instructions. The script itself is located here and over at userscripts.org. If you find any problems or have any feature requests, I’d love to hear them!

• Added new keys:
  • Shift-O to open articles immediately
  • t to open a menu for sending articles elsewhere
    • D to send to Delibar, d to delicious web
    • E to Evernote web clipper (the local helper isn’t quite ready yet)
    • e to email link with selection or highlighted text if it exists
    • p for Pinboard web
  • \ to enter “concentrate” mode (no sidebar, dark background)
  • See the help (h) for a complete list
• Made certain functions work outside of Instapaper pages so it could do some tricks on opened tabs
• added click recognition in article list, select articles by clicking with the mouse and then perform keyboard actions
• added click recognition for paragraphs in text only version, sets highlight, ready for Delicious, Pinboard, email, etc.
• added automatic target=_blank to title links
• intercept mouse clicks on the “Text-Only” links to load Ajax version
• added _blank to Open Original Article in text view
• improved element selector for ‚. paging and selection
• Ajax folder creation, kinda
• fixed text styling options so you can use all of Instapaper’s built-in customizations
• smoothed out autoscrolling (/)
• made the up and down arrows not scroll the article list page until the selection moves offscreen
• added styling to break lines in code blocks (pre) for wrapping

Related posts:

1. A big upgrade for Instapaper Beyond
2. Instapaper Beyond for Safari
3. Minor update to Instapaper Beyond (1.4)

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond 1.3

• Shift-O will open the original articles in a new window, immediately from the article list
• Send-To menu (t), includes Evernote , E-mail, Delicious, Delibar and Pinboard
• Sending to a service will find any selection, highlight or existing summary and use it as a description
• Period and comma navigation has been improved, and mouse clicks to highlight elements have been added
• Title links and “Open original article” links automatically open in a new window if clicked
• Better positioning for the Star indicator in text view
• Ajaxed folder creation (Shift-N) from the Unread and Folder views
• “Concentrate mode” can be toggled with the backslash (\) key, hiding headers and sidebars and focusing the article list

I don’t know if anyone noticed it in the first version, but navigating with period and comma while reading in text view will sequentially highlight headlines, code blocks, paragraphs and other blocks of text for easy reading and clipping to other services. Like the article lists, these elements also accept mouse clicks to skip the highlight to your position more quickly. If you highlight a block and press “t”, you’ll be able to send it as a description or quote to a service or as an email (along with the link and title). Any manual selection on the page will override the highlight. From the list view, if there’s a summary available in the Instapaper article, it will be used as the description.

I have a few more ideas to implement, mostly based around grabbing code snippets and sending them to Snippet, Snippets, Code Collector, TextMate or Gist, but we’ll see when I get my next big block of free time. In the meantime, let me know what you think!

If this is your first look at Instapaper Beyond, check out my previous post for instructions on creating a dedicated Instapaper app using Fluid. If you’re already using it and just need to update your script, you can press “U” in your current Instapaper Fluid instance, or point it here.

Related posts:

1. Minor update to Instapaper Beyond (1.4)
2. Instapaper Beyond 1.3
3. Instapaper Beyond for Safari

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at A big upgrade for Instapaper Beyond

Keyboard navigation highlight

Know what you’re doing and want to skip straight to the script? OK.

The script started as an expansion of a cool userscript called Instapaper Article Tools, which provides a floating menu with some options while in the text view of an article. For the most part, that script isn’t even visible in the final version, unless you manually click into an article. You don’t need to do that, though, because the whole point of the script is to provide keyboard navigation for Instapaper. Articles are loaded via Ajax and you can go from article to article in full-screen text view, starring/unstarring, moving and archiving on the fly. A full list of commands available at any time can be seen by pressing “h”, but here’s a quick overview:

Help HUD (h)

• “h” will bring up a help screen with the available shortcuts on it
• “g” opens a list of folders you can jump to
• navigation is fairly intuitive if you use Google Reader or other Google apps, in that j is forward, k is backwards, o is open, u returns to unread articles.
• Escape and Enter function as expected (at least to me), closing open dialogs, returning to posts, etc.
• In list view, lowercase letters jump to sections (a:Archive, s:Starred, u:unread) and capital letters perform functions (A:Archive, S:Toggle Star).
• The delete key deletes the current article in list and text views
• see the help (h) for more!

Additionally, Instapaper Beyond adds target=_blank to external links (original articles) so that you can open them in tabs or new windows (depending on your tabbed browsing settings). “U” will check for updates to the script and offer you a link to any updated version for easy installation. There’s wraparound navigation of lists, so using any “next” command at the end of a list will take you to the top, and vice versa. I also built myself an easy-to-expand, contextual help system so adding new commands is a snap, and having them show up in the appropriate help menus is automatic. You don’t care so much about that, but hey, it’s cool.

No guarantee is offered that this script will function well with your userstyle of choice, although several have been tested with good results.

Installation

1. First, create your Fluid SSB and set http://www.instapaper.com/u as your home page. Download Fluid here, if needed, then run it to create the SSB. Here’s a handy icon you can use, too!
2. Have new windows open with your Home Page under General Settings in Preferences
3. Under Advanced Settings in Preferences, set your SSB to browse to any url (image)
4. Enable Tabbed Browsing under the Tabs Preferences (image)
5. Install the Instapaper Beyond Userscript: Point your Fluid SSB at http://brettterpstra.com/userscripts/instapaperbeyond.user.js. Fluid should automatically recognize it as a userscript and offer to install it for you. If you have any trouble, you can open the link above, copy the entire script and use “New Userscript” under the SSB’s Script menu (looks like a scroll). Name it “Instapaper Beyond” and paste the copied script into the window.
6. For best results, turn off Auto Archiving in Instapaper by unchecking the box at the bottom of a post list page (image)

The script is under development, but is stable at this point. Please let me know how it works for you and what you’d like to see! I’m thinking that I’ll eventually use Fluidium to make this into a full-blown app with auto-updates, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Remember, “h” for help, “U” to check for new versions! If you need a script to quickly populate your Instapaper account, be sure to check out the “Safari to Instapaper” script I posted earlier.

Related posts:

1. Minor update to Instapaper Beyond (1.4)
2. A big upgrade for Instapaper Beyond
3. Instapaper Beyond for Safari

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Instapaper Beyond for Fluid.app