Instalink is a free Chrome extension to share clipboard text online. You only have to copy the selected text and this extension generates an online link to paste and save it automatically. You can use this extension for generating online link for any text selection and even programming language. The extension has support for about 50 programming languages, some of them are: C, Java, Javascript, PHP, Python, CSS, COBOL, HTML, and many more. The support for these languages means that you don’t have to worry about losing the formatting of code selected by you.
Apart from just generating online links, it also provides a lot of other features. You can choose to view copied text in raw form, publish it as Gist on Github, and also word wrap it. This extension even keeps a history of up to 20 links generated by you with each of the link kept for 1 month from the date of creation.
Using This Chrome Extension to Create Online Links for Text on Clipboard:
First of all, you need to install this Chrome Extension in your Chrome browser. After installation, you will find its icon at the top right corner next to Omnibox (address bar). Now, there are two ways for generating online link. I will explain them one by one.
Way 1:
The first way is to select the text for which you want to generate online link. After selecting the text, right click on browser screen and click on Get Link for your selection instantly option from context menu. The extension will generate the code which is copied to clipboard automatically.
Way 2:
The second way requires a little more hard work from you but it is best for copying programming language codes. You have to select and copy the text for which you want to generate link. Now, click on extension icon and you will see that the copied text is pasted their automatically. If you want to preserve the formatting, then you can select the programming language from the drop down menu present at bottom. It has a list of about 50 programming languages including most of the commonly used ones.
After selecting the language, click on Get the Link button. The extension will take some time and your link will be generated.
You can also check history of links created by you from here. Click on View History option to get the complete list. It will display the date and time of link generation, source, and generated URL. You can even delete URLs from here manually.
Using Online Links Generated by This Chrome Extension:
When you have generated the link using any of the two ways, just paste it in address bar of any browser. You will see the interface as shown in screenshot below. From here, you can see your copied text, expiry time of link, View Raw, Gist, and Wordwrap option.
- View Raw: This option displays selected option in its raw form. In other words, you can see the text as it has been written on Notepad.
- Gist: Use this option to post your copied text to Github as a Gist.
- Wordwrap: This option lets you wordwrap the text.
You may also like: Automatically Copy Text To Clipboard Using Firefox Add-on.
Final Verdict:
Instalink is good Chrome Extension to create online links for text on clipboard. These links are easy to share with your friends, preserves your text formatting and also provides additional features. This extension can prove to be really fruitful if you are a programmer. Do give it a try.
