Dictionary-Look-Up

Extension to look up words painlessly.

Why this ?

I'm so tired when looking up some words:

1. Open a new tab
2. Type dictionary web page
3. Hit Enter
4. Type a word to look up
5. Hit Enter

This extension will make the look up process less painful because you just need to toggle the extension and look up the word.

Features

• Support dictionaries: Cambridge, Oxford, Merriam-Webster
• Easily toggle extension via shortcut Alt + O (default)
• Easily change dictionary via Tab and Shift + Tab key
• Get previous word when press ↑ key
• Search multiple word at once, using , (default)
• Simple but yet powerful, time-saving

Installation

Extension available on Firefox Add-ons.

Local

1. Clone this repository/download zip and extract to a folder on your local machine.

git clone https://github.com/ngntrgduc/Dictionary-Look-Up.git

2. Load extension:

   • Chrome: Settings -> Extensions.
   • Edge: Extensions -> Manage Extensions.

   Then turn on Developer mode. Finally, click Load unpacked and select the chromium folder.

   • Firefox: Go to about:debugging, click Load Temporary Add-on..., then select manifest.json in the firefox folder.

Todo/Idea

• Options page
  •  Select default dictionary (change order of URL)
  •  Custom URL to search (general purpose, like search video on Youtube, not only for dictionary)
  • Custom seperator...
  • Add option to remove Tabbing behavior, maybe some people prefer the default behavior
• Another port
  • Chrome (because it's cost 5$ fee to create account 🥲)
  • Edge
• Make a GIF to demo how it works.
• Add warning when inputting too many characters. Open too many tabs at once can cause lag on the user's device
  •  limit to 5 words? If it exceeds this limit, add a delay
• Handle Vietnamese input, auto convert it to

Done

• Search multiple words at once, using separator (,) (user-defined) (keep the extension simple)
• Change the behavior of the Tab key because clicking to change the dictionary seems weird when it's just switched to another but does not show the dictionary pane
• Shift + Tab to move back dictionary
  • Change/Fix/Remove focus behavior, maybe using event.key instead
• Remove and maybe add a new feature for Alt + Tab instead. Because opening all dictionaries for a word is not necessary, and maybe upgrade this extension to be more general (like Vomnibar in Vimium), not only with dictionary look up
• Fix autofocus on Firefox
• Handle when no word is entered: won't work if nothing in the search box or just type space, or when mistyping ,
• Add max length to the input. Prevent the user from miscopying long paragraphs or sentences or looking up too many words.

Abandoned

• Auto read copied text when opening the extension, no more Ctrl + V (the JS clipboard API is limited availability)
• If search incorrect word, auto redirect to the search page with word (for Cambridge dictionary) (too specific, and type again make the word more memorable)
• More limit of the previous word? (not optimal, use Ctrl + H instead)
• Check invalid characters using regex (résumé, cliché, ... are valid word with character é)

Contributing

If you found a bug or want to contribute, feel free to open a issue/pull requests. All contributions are welcomed.

Coffee

If you like this project and you want to support me, you can buy me a coffee ☕. Thank you very much 💖.