Chrome Extension of the Week: Clickable Links

Posted 04/29/2010 at 8:00am | by David Murphy

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Woe to the Web designer who lists hyperlinkable text as such instead of appending a URL. You know what I'm talking about - when an errant Web designer spells out something like "go to maximumpc.com for an awesome column," yet doesn't actually make the "maximumpc.com" part of the phrase into a clickable hyperlink. This practice is not only annoying, but it really does defeat the entire point of a hyperlink to begin with.

Right?

I sure don't like copying and pasting URLs, or email addresses, into various browsers or applications. And I'm not being petty with this complaint. I surf faster when I can click, bookmark, and open potentially interesting links into new tabs. If I had to copy and paste a significant majority of the links I frequent, I might just give up on the Web entirely--and I bet you would too.

Well, don't let that ship sail just yet, because the Google Chrome extension Clickable Links does exactly what its name implies. This super-helpful add-on cleverly scans through Web pages to find instances where links or email addresses have been written as straight text instead of clickable links. And, as you might guess, the extension goes and transforms these bits and pieces into working hyperlinks--just as ol' Tim Berners-Lee intended, right?

Future improvements to the extension include the ability to automatically open these links into a new tab instead of a current tab, a practice that can already be accomplished by simply using the middle mouse button the click on everything, if you so desire. That's about it, though. There's not much going on with Clickable Links, but this little extension--more a utility for your Web browser--does its part to better your surfing experience.

 Maximum PC picks one new Chrome extension as its favorite of the week each... week. Have a nifty extension that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.