About
Save for Later is a Safari 5 extension that allows you to add pages to your Read It Later reading list.
Installation
Download Save for Later and double-click it. Safari will ask if you want to install the extension. Click “Install” and then bring up Safari’s Preferences again. Select the “Extensions” tab, click on Save for Later’s entry in the extension list, and fill in your Read It Later username and password.
Once the extension is installed, you should see this new toolbar button in Safari: 
If you don’t see this button, right-click the toolbar and select “Customize Toolbar”, then drag the button to where you want it and click “Done”.
Features
Current features include:
- Save the current page to Read It Later.
- Right-click a link to add it to Read It Later.
Planned Features
New features will propagate automatically once they’re implemented, since I’m utilizing Apple’s automated extension updating process.
- Allow user to access their Read It Later list through the extension. – 1.2
- Google Reader integration – 1.3
- Allow user to tag the entry after saving it – 1.4
Release Notes
1.16 (July 11, 2011)
- Fix for non-latin characters being caught up in the URL encoding of page titles. Now I’m only encoding ampersands.
1.15 (July 9, 2011)
- Not quite an emergency update, but some more bug fixing I missed in the last release.
- I have an icon! Check it out!
- Corrected an issue where the “Saved to Read It Later” dialog would not disappear if the save feature was invoked more than one time on a single page.
- Safari 5.1 feature: The extension will now generate a popover window prompting you for your Read It Later account information if you have not yet entered it. The context menu action still generates the modal dialog, and Safari 5.0.x users will still see the same modal prompt as always.
1.12 (July 9, 2011)
- An update! Thank goodness!
- Fixed the right-click menu item so that it will actually save links. I’ve tried to be as intelligent with this feature as possible, so that it will pick up on the content of the link’s text as the title to be used, but failing everything else, it will use the URL itself.
1.11 (June 14, 2010)
- Replaced modal JavaScript dialog with floating auto-dismissing notice. This will get some additional love in future releases.
- Added a contextual menu item for adding links to Read It Later. The item is “intelligent”, so it won’t appear unless you right-click a link.
I’ve tried to accommodate for anchor tags with additional HTML embedded in them (like <i> etc.), but there may be some edge cases where the link detection breaks. If you run into such a situation, please let me know, and include the page and link you’re trying to save.
1.01 (June 10, 2010)
- Updated confirmation message for saving link to Read It Later. No more “Data Saved: 200″.
- Added more detailed error messages if saving a link fails for a server-related reason.
1.0 (June 9, 2010)
- Initial Release, allows for saving the current page to Read It Later.
Legalese
Legalese: Read It Later is copyright Idea Shower. I’m not affiliated with them in any way, I’m just using their APIs.
Save For Later is copyright 2010 Revision 1 Studios.
If you like this extension, please consider donating to fund future development.
Comments
thanks alot for this extension!
it is nice, except ugly message-window with “Data Saved: 200 OK”!
Hi, i really like the idea of this extension and i want to use it but everytime i click the button it says i should enter my read it later account details. what to do if i dont have an account yet, is there some way to use the extension anyway?
i am new to the extensions but i wanna get into it.
thanks
WingYin
Hi. When click on Download Save For Later from your page I get a page full of weird text. When I right-click to download to desktop a txt file is downloaded. Am I doing something wrong here? Or is there an issue with the link on the page?
Thanks for adding this great extension which I’ve been using with Firefox. Is there a plan in the future to have an icon to click on to access in Safari articles already saved, as in with Firefox?
Regards,
Michael
Hello. Fantastic little extension. A couple of things though….
When i save a page i get a weird message saying ‘Data Saved: 200′. 200? What?
Also, could you update it so that the dialog box simply informs you for a second or two and then disappears, so i don’t have to click ‘ok’ every time.
Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback so far!
I’ve updated the page to indicate that you should right-click the download link and select “Download Linked File”. The wall of gibberish is due to a MIME type issue that I’m working to correct. Should have that fixed soon
.
I’ll be pushing out an update later today that will replace the JavaScript dialog with a fading notice on the page to indicate that it was saved. I apologize for the confusing “Data saved: 200″ message; I must’ve uploaded the bundle I made before I tweaked some of the dialog texts. Data saved: 200 simply indicates that your link was properly saved to Read It Later, and 200 is the HTTP status (200: OK). Think I’ll push an interim 1.01 update to fix that text so it’s less confusing.
WingYin: Unfortunately you need to have a Read It Later account to use this extension. They’re free, and you can set one up at http://www.readitlaterlist.com. once you’ve got one, fill in your account details in the extension’s settings and save away
I’ll look into the best way to go about accessing your current list… how would you guys like it to be handled? Would it be sufficient to open a new tab that loads your list on readitlaterlist.com, or would you prefer something a bit more advanced (toolbar, inline floating panel on the current page)? Keep in mind when suggesting ideas that I can’t create bookmark bar-style dropdown lists or provide access to anything that might wrap off the right side of a toolbar due to the limitations of the extension API, and complex dialogs would either need to be handled in a new tab/window, or floating on top of the current page in HTML format.
Thank you again for the feedback, everyone, I appreciate it, and look forward to hearing more of what you’d like to see from the extension going forward!
If you could do an inline floating panel similar to The FF one that would be awesome.
Hi,
thx for the great extension.
But i have some ideas.
Please make it possible to display it the page is in the reading list (for example display the icon in yellow or red).
It would also be great if you didn’t display the message box after adding a page.
I know the extension is new but i think feedback is required for you.
Thank you!
There will be an update before the end of the week that replaces the current message box with a more streamlined notice system. Showing whether the page is in your reading list already will probably have to come later, after I get some of the other planned reading list features built. It’ll also may have to be done without editing the toolbar icon because I don’t think the extension API allows that beyond adding a badge. That is a good idea though, thanks!
Add-on for Firefox is quite useful. It has s rich options and settings menu, it automatically works in google reader etc. It also downloads the pages for offline reading.Can you use it as an example, a template and provide similar functions? Just for the offline reading function of the add-on I began u8sing Firefox again. I would really appreciate it if you saved me from Firefox.
Anyway, thanks for all that you’ve done and you are going to do
Rock! Really like the Save it Later button and your plans to take the functionality and convenience further. It’s on my Safari toolbar – you earned a spot there!
Please lose the dialogue box that confirms adding to \read it later\. It adds an unnecessary step. Otherwise, nice work!
Thx!
i installed this on safari … but where is it on tbe menu of the browser ??
There is no menu bar item added to the browser, as Safari’s extension API doesn’t support doing that. The extension installs as a toolbar button, which should become visible automatically, and looks like Read It Later’s forward-facing bookmark arrow icon. If you don’t see it, right-click on your toolbar, select “Customize Toolbar”, and drag the “Add to Read It Later” button into the toolbar where you want it.
Thanks for the extension!
Although, it seems that the “Add Link to Read It Later” doesn’t function at all, as it should.
Examples? Like links on yahoo.com.
So, I downloaded SaveForLater.safariextz to the desktop. What next? How do I install this? Is there a folder I drop it into? I’ve enabled extensions after having made the Develop menu visible (in Safari Preferences:Advanced).
Sorry if this is blindingly obvious to everyone else, but I’m…. blinded.
Oh, just tried something: I dragged the SaveForLater.safariextz file to the left pane of the Extensions window that displays when clicking the Extensions tab of the Preferences window. After a dialogue asking me to confirm that I want to install an extension, the button appears as a toolbar button. And highlighting Save For Later in the Extensions panel of the Preferences window now shows, in the right side of that panel, a setup dialogue for Save For Later (add Read It Later username and password).
This is my first time ever using Safari’s extension feature, so excuse my noobness, but I downloaded the file and double clicked, installed, got the button on the toolbar, but the extensions builder is empty. I can’t find where to login anywhere. A little help?
Ah! Can’t edit my comment. Found it! It’s in the preferences
Extension is awesome! Good work!
Thanks for the added feedback!
I’ve updated the page with some better instructions on how to enable extensions in Safari and install/set up Save for Later, for those who are new to the whole extension thing. I’d hoped to have another update with some new features in it out by now, but other work has gotten in the way, and I won’t be able to continue development until the second week of August due to prior commitments.
Aki, I’ll take a look at the right-click functionality once I get back into development. Not sure why it’s not working properly… my apologies about that!
The ‘Download’ button isn’t working!
The download link/button isn’t working!
I can’t download the extension…
Sorry about that… WordPress decided to eat the link when I updated the page. Download away!
Thanks for this extension! Many of us have been eagerly waiting for such thing. Looking forward to the Google Reader integration
A bit of a problem I’m seeing here. Not sure others are experiencing the same. On a Mac OS X 10.6.4 (latest updates installed). Right contextual Add Link to RIL is not adding to RIL. Toolbar button working fine. Anyone else seeing this?
Love the button. I prefer the inline floating pannel to show the reading list. keep up the good work.
I have a ReadItLater account, using Safari 5.0.1. The button is appearing in the bar perfectly, username and password are filled in correctly but for some reason either nothing happens when I push the button or I get ‘invalid username / password’.
Whats wrong? Looking forward to using this in Safari! I know the un/pw is correct, I’ve tried it on ReadItLater website.
thanks for this extension. really useful
Great Plugin…Do you have any update on when it will be possible to access read it later through the plugin?, That would really make this great!. Thanks as always…
I got it installed but, where is the “reading list”. Is there a bug with this extension
Regards
Me too! Right contextual link is not working… OSX 10.6.5…
After installation it says:
Please enter your Read it later credentials in the extension’s settings panel.
What should I do now?
The extension downloaded and the prefs set according to your instructions. The correct username and password (admin’s account ones) are filled in. Still each time I try to save it for later, the massage “invalid username or password” apprears…
Hi,
I installed this months ago but it told me my password or username was wrong. I’ve re-typed them, checked it again, re-installed the extension a bunch of times. Still tells me I have the wrong username or password.
This is a great idea because Safari doesn’t have any extensions. Please let me know if there’s a solution!
Hi There
I love this feature. very handy, makes read it later work, which is great by me.
It has stopped working today though – maybe it’s this new Java update?
Hi..
Its a good extension.. But when I add a page to ‘Read it later’.. It gives a growl kind of notification saying page has been added to read it later. This notification neither disappears by itself nor there is a close button? Whats the deal here? Please fix it. Thanks.
PS: Why can’t Read it Later folks design an extension by themselves.
Hi,
I’ve just downloaded the Save for Later extension for Safari but the right click menu Add option does not work. I click but the page is not added to my reading list. Any ideas ?
Thanks,
Nick.
Version 1.12 is out now to resolve this issue. Safari should auto-update, but if it doesn’t, please let me know.
I’ve not encountered this issue before. I will have to look into it further and get back to you. The notification is supposed to go away automatically. I will see if I can do something different since it’s sort of an in-your-face notification. Maybe flash a badge on the toolbar icon for a period of time or something.
Many thanks for fixing the right-click issue, Gary, and also for your great comms on Twitter. Donation is on it’s way, keep up the good work !
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