Update: October 2017
In 2017 you can pull up Dashlane in Safari on ios devices using the built-in share extension. The bookmarklet alternative was an older mechanism that’s no longer needed in newer versions of ios. But sometimes it come in handy for someone. That’s why I continued to keep this old post from 2015 up-to-date. But upon testing the functionality of using the Bookmarklet today (in October 2017) I found it no longer works. So I’m updating this post with a new PDF for the JavaScript because somehow the old one disappeared, but it’s primarily for posterity’s sake now…because the information contained in this post is no longer relevant.
Installing Bookmarklets
can be
A Little Tricky At First
I’ve noticed that even with Dashlane’s new share extension I still use the bookmarklet often. I’ve also noticed that many readers have arrived at my website by searching for advice on how to install the bookmarklet. So I thought it might be helpful to actually explain the process of installing Dashlane’s bookmarklet.
Once you’ve successfully installed Dashlane’s Bookmarklet, you’ve surpassed most casual ios users expertise and moved into that smaller privileged realm of poweruser (well, powerlearner at a minimum, in my opinion!)
Your new-found knowledge can be applied in many different ways to greatly enhance Safari’s feature set, thereby increasing the value and usability of online data and research.
Before you start you should know that Bookmarklets are somewhat tedious to setup. The reason they even exist is primarily due to Apple’s choice in keeping Safari closed to outside app’s integration. They essentially provide a workaround for power users to maximize the results of their web based work. They are very simple little programs written in JavaScript, that compel Safari to perform an action that it’s not natively meant to perform. The types of things bookmarklets can do varies, but in general they perform functions similar to those of PC browser plugins and addons. So, they oftentimes serve very useful functions. In this instance, Dashlane’s bookmarklet serves the really useful function of opening whatever webpage you’re currently viewing right inside of Dashlane’s own web browser.
How I Use Dashlane’s Bookmarklet
There are 2 primary reasons I will use the bookmarklet.
- The first is if I arrive at the ‘new account setup’ page of a website that I feel offers some benefit significant enough to warrant my taking the time to actually create an account there. In this instance, if I’m not under a deadline or some pressing time constraint, I’ll go to Dashlane’s app to setup the new account. This method is the best way to make sure that the password is created using my criteria accurately and quickly, and the new account credentials will be immediately accessible on all of my devices.
- The second instance occurs if I am really pressed for time. I’ll set up the new account in Safari, using Apple’s suggested password, then after it’s created I’ll open the site in Dashlane’s browser to record the data I’ve just created as a new password record, for future use across all devices and platforms.
My Usual Steps When I Create A New Account Using The iPad
My example will be for the second scenario, where I’m in a hurry, yet I need to setup a new account for something. Rather than going into Dashlane and setting up the account there and then waiting until some later date to enter the password into Safari so it’s stored within the Apple Keychain, I just setup the account in Safari and using the suggested password Apple offers.
*I usually take a screenshot of the password Apple suggests before I tap on the OK to use it. Then, as soon as the account is setup I can either use the bookmarklet to open the same website in Dashlane then enter the login credentials again, so that they are stored in Dashlane. Or I can just add a new password record within Dashlane’s password management function. This involves first tapping the icon with three lines in the top left corner of the screen, then tapping the padlock icon representing passwords, and then tapping the + sign to add a new password. I then copy and paste the link from the site into the field asking for a website URL. I create the password record by manually entering the username and password that I copy from the screenshot I took. Then I save the password record, and place it in a category.
The last step I should take is to delete the screenshot from my photos. I usually do this…especially if it’s a site that I’m certain would be a target for hacking, such as an email account. But sometimes I’m lazy and I don’t it immediately delete the screenshot…but really you should. Also, taking the screenshot is sort-of the lazy approach because I could search for the saved password under Settings-Safari-Passwords and AutoFill-Saved Passwords then search for the password in the long list of saved passwords by site (see more detail in my footnote below.)
*This isn’t absolutely necessary, because you can find this password under Settings – Safari – Passwords and Autofill – Saved Passwords. The websites you’ve created passwords for using Apple’s Keychain will appear here. The list is alphabetical, but sometimes it can be difficult finding a password because the website’s page begins with a word that’s different than the name of the site. As an example, our home’s furnace thermostat can be controlled remotely. It’s made by Honeywell and it’s called the Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat. But the password to access it isn’t under Wi-Fi, Smart, Thermostat, or even Honeywell…it’s actually found under mytotalconnectcomfort.com. It took me a long time to find that one!
How to Install Dashlane’s Bookmarklet | Update Feb. 6, 2015
The newest version of Dashlane for ios is 2.9.0.76066. This version eliminates the option to create a bookmarklet, so in Dashlane’s settings, there is only an option to enable the Share Extension (which I write about here). But you can still install a bookmarklet for Dashlane.
You just need to do it manually. So I’m adding the java code that you will need here and some additional notes on how to do that in blue below the regular steps…called Manual Note. So just skip Steps 1-4 and begin on Step 5.
Below is an invisible snippet box containing the java code to copy and paste into the URL or address field of your new bookmarklet. One problem that I didn’t bank on was how hard it is to include java script on a webpage like this…I’m still learning too. So right now, the invisible snippet box does display the correct code, but it really only works well if you use an actual computer…which sort of defeats the purpose of making this available for ios users.
So, I’m also adding the code in a PDF that you can open and copy from.
Note: about the snippet box:
The code below is contained an invisible box that’s just above the scroll bar that you can see. To copy the code with a computer, place your cursor in front of the first character (the first character is a j in the word javascript) and then hold down your left mouse button while you drag to highlight all the text…then use CTRL+C to copy the whole block. To copy the copy using an iPad, just long press on at the beginning and wait for the words Select and Select All to appear. Tap on Select All, the tap Copy.
My 2 Methods | Copy the javascript for Dashlane’s Bookmarklet
Method 1:
Method 2:
The invisible Snippet box with code is below:
javascript:void((function(d)%7Be=d.createElement('script');e.setAttribute('type','text/javascript');e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8');e.setAttribute('src','https://www.dashlane.com/bookmarklet/dashlanemarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);d.body.appendChild(e);%7D(document)));
Steps to Install Dashlane’s Bookmarklet
- Step 1 Open Dashlane
- Step 2 Open Settings – you get there by tapping the three lines in the upper left corner and then tapping the gear icon
- Step 3 Scroll down to Browser – Install Bookmarklet and tap on it.
- Step 4 Dashlane opens Safari and gives you instructions on how to install the bookmarklet…but it can be confusing if you’ve never installed one before.
- Step 5 When you install a new bookmarklet you first create a sort-of dummy bookmark. So you do this by following their instructions to tap the share/save bookmark icon and then tapping save. If you bookmark things a lot it’s important to pay attention to where you’re saving this new dummy bookmark so that you can find it again in a few minutes to edit it.
More about Step 5: To create a dummy bookmark, tap on the Bookmark icon resembling the picture below and tap on Add Bookmark. Give your bookmark a name like ‘Open in Dashlane’ then pick a location for it and tap Save. (The name of the bookmark is the top text field.) Remember where you save your bookmark! If you don’t know where to save it, Favorites is always a good place, because then it will be easy to find. It will appear at the top of the Safari screen…somewhere below the main search box field.
Manual note for Step 5: just create a new bookmark called something like ‘Open in Dashlane‘ for any random webpage in Safari…remember where you save it!
The Share or Bookmark icon looks like this:
ios Share/Bookmark Icon
- Step 6 Now the tricky part begins. You will now need to find your dummy bookmark and edit it. If you are following Dashlane’s instructions then you will first tap in the little box of text they refer to under their Step 2 (This is not my Step 2 that’s shown above, but Dashlane’s Step 2 in their tutorial for setting up their bookmarklet.) So, tap in the box once to open your keyboard then do a 2nd long tap (or tap and hold) and then release your finger to get the words ‘Select’ ‘Select All’ or ‘Paste’ ‘Speak’ to appear. Choose ‘Select All’, (the words that will appear depends on the context.) The last action for this step is to select ‘Copy‘ when the words ‘Cut’ ‘Copy’ ‘Paste’ ‘Speak’ are displayed.
Note to All (includes manual note readers)
Before Proceeding to Step 7
Copy the Java code I’ve provided above, using either method
- Step 7 Open Safari and Bookmarks by tapping on the icon resembling an open book (just to the left of the text box you would type a Google search term into). Find your dummy bookmark…but don’t tap on it yet!
Instead, tap on the word ‘Edit’ in the bottom, on the right side of the bookmark dialog box. Next tap the dummy bookmark. The bookmark will open in ‘edit’ mode.
The top line is the name of the bookmark, and also how you’ll find it again. Leave the top line alone. The bottom line is what you want to edit. Tap the bottom line once and it becomes editable with an X appearing on the right side. Tap the X to make all the text in that line disappear. Tap again in the empty line and the word ‘Paste’ should appear. Tap on Paste. Then tap Done. Finally, tap the word ‘Back‘ right next to Edit Bookmark and then Done which appears at the bottom of the bookmark column. You can now close the whole bookmark box by tapping on the open book icon at the top of Safari.
Congratulations! Your bookmarklet should now be installed!!!
- Step 8 Test out the bookmarklet. It’s a good idea to test out the new bookmarklet now, while you still remember what you did. To test the bookmarklet just open bookmarks again and tap on it. If it’s installed correctly, when you tap it Dashlane will open and display the page that you were just on in Safari. but right within the Dashlane browser!
If Something Goes Wrong
If, upon testing your new bookmarklet, it doesn’t open Dashlane, don’t worry.
This happens about 50% of the time when you create your first bookmarklet
This almost always happens because a tiny, (make that infinitesimally tiny) error occurred when the code was copied and pasted. Code is really a stickler for precision. Luckily, it’s also very easy to fix. Since you already have the dummy bookmark created, you can just fix that one. You should do it right now, while you still remember what you did.
To do it again, just try to copy the code again, maybe using the alternate method that you didn’t use the first time. Open the bookmark again, and edit it. Tap X to take out the errant code and paste the new code into the lower text field of the bookmark again. Proceed to test it again.
If You’re Still Having Problems Or You Want To Know Exactly What Went Wrong The First Time
Copy and paste your errant 1st code into a fresh clean Pages document in landscape orientation, then copy the code again and paste the 2nd version into Pages too. Then compare the two. 99% of the time you will find that a little space was entered where there shouldn’t be one, or that some other minor infraction (one that wouldn’t be noticeable to a human being….but remember, code isn’t being read by a human) occurred. Believe me, I know! Because I had a rough time getting the code to appear exactly in the correct form for my 2 methods above.
The Good News
The good news about learning how to do this is that once you do it correctly, it’s much easier the next time around. All bookmarklets are installed (essentially) the exact same way. So if you feel like you understood what you did then it will be much easier the next time!
Also, once you’ve installed a Bookmarklet in Safari, that Bookmarklet will automatically be installed on any ios device you use as long as your logged into the same Apple ID and are using iCloud to backup Safari.
You can enable this in Settings – iCloud. Then scroll down to Safari and make sure that the button next to it shows green, meaning it’s turned on or enabled.
Comments
Please leave me any comments or questions regarding installing the Dashlane Bookmarklet in the little comment box found by scrolling way down the page.
vsatips 