Is that site down or is it just me? Answering that just got easier.
Yesterday, during my 40 tips, tricks & tools presentation, one of the online tools I spoke about was Down For Everyone Or Just Me? It’s a great little service that allows you to type in a domain name and get a report back indicating whether the site is actually down, or it’s just down for you. Last night, upon trying to access a site I regularly use, I headed over to the site and started typing in the URL of the site I wanted to test. I then dawned on me, that I should be able to make this service even easier to use. Instead of finding a down site, finding and clicking the bookmark for the testing service, typing (or pasting) in the URL in question, and pressing enter, wouldn’t a bookmarklet be much handier?
So here it is. Just drag the button below up to your bookmarks toolbar and then the next time you’re on a site that you want to test, just click it. It’ll send the domain name of the site your on to Down For Everyone… automatically, and you’ll get your answer with that single click. (Feel free to rename the bookmarklet at you see fit.)
Michael Sauers is the Director of Logan Library in Logan, UT. Prior to this he was one of the founding staff and Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
Unless otherwise stated, all opinions are my own and are not to be considered those of the City of Logan, UT.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
Yesterday, during my 40 tips, tricks & tools presentation, one of the online tools I spoke about was Down For Everyone Or Just Me? It’s a great little service that allows you to type in a domain name and get a report back indicating whether the site is actually down, or it’s just down for you. Last night, upon trying to access a site I regularly use, I headed over to the site and started typing in the URL of the site I wanted to test. I then dawned on me, that I should be able to make this service even easier to use. Instead of finding a down site, finding and clicking the bookmark for the testing service, typing (or pasting) in the URL in question, and pressing enter, wouldn’t a bookmarklet be much handier?