A Brief Interim Follow-Up About JavaScript Links on Substack
In a previous post, I linked to a few pages with Chrome extensions and bookmarklets for Substack. I also noted that I was investigating other potential uses of JavaScript on Substack.
The problem with trying to use JavaScript within a post is that Substack will not accept a link beginning with “javascript:" as a valid URL. (You can begin a URL with the "javascript:" pseudoprotocol in many browsers’ address bars. That how bookmarklets work.)
Restricting use of JavaScript in URLs may be wise, because evildoers can use JavaScript maliciously. Of course, evildoers can also post links to malicious websites.
I'm guessing these evildoers don't need my help to post malicious links. But if you are interested in using JavaScript for good, I'll note two possibilities for running JavaScript with a URL.
These two options have been around for over a decade. I have no idea how long they'll continue to exist. At some point, the URLs you construct with these sites might no longer work. I'll be looking for other sites that are more likely to persist.
I should also mention a site that lets you create a quick “web page” – which could comprise or include JavaScript – that isn't actually on a web server:
I'm not sure that any of these sites can do what a good bookmarklet could do –add functionality to Substack. However, I intend to find out and report back to you.