direc.tor offers a richer UI for browsing del.icio.us

Johnvey Hwang's del.icio.us direc.tor is a client-side web service broker for del.icio.us.

As he puts it:

"(...) del.icio.us direc.tor is a prototype for an alternative web-based rich UI for del.icio.us. It leverages the XML and XSL services of modern browsers to deliver a responsive interface for managing user accounts with a large number of records. (...)"

After installing the del.icio.us direc.tor Javascript bookmarklet for Firefox or Internet Explorer, browse any page on del.icio.us, click the bookmarklet, and your browser will show the del.icio.us data in an entirely different user interface.

As it happens, the thingy is an AJAX application. Wikipedia says about AJAX:

"(...) Asynchronous JavaScript And XML, or its acronym Ajax, is a Web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to shift a great deal of interaction to the Web surfer's computer, exchanging data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire Web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user makes a change. This is meant to increase the Web page's interactivity, speed, and usability. (...)"

Now, if I understand Johnvey's explanation, while a standard web service broker intermediates the traffic between the user and a service on the Internet, a client-side web service broker like del.icio.us direc.tor lives on the client browser, which cuts out the middle man and therefore saves a lot of data traffic going back and forth.

Be it as it may, the result is an entirely different experience at browsing del.icio.us. Through direc.tor, it's clearly easier to browse through larger sets of bookmarks, narrowing down searches tag by tag. Me like!

Somewhat related on www.josschuurmans.com:

• How does BlinkList compare to del.icio.us, really? (February 10, 2006)
• Observations about (social) bookmarking (February 9, 2006)
• Rashmi Shinha's cognitive analysis of tagging (November 28, 2005)

Technorati Tags: Johnvey Hwang, del.icio.us direc.tor, del.icio.us, AJAX, social bookmarking, client-side, web service broker, javascript, bookmarklet, UI, user interface

Bookmark this entry on del.icio.us. (will return to current page)