1. What is Link Revealer?

This addon is designed to improve your online security. When you hover on any link element, the underlying href will be displayed as the link title. Moreover, a colored footer will also be displayed at the bottom of the page showing the link href. If the domain of the link is similar to the page domain, this color will be blue. If the link is third-party the color is green. For a situation where the displayed URL in link textContent is different than the underlying href, the footer color will be red. The toolbar icon color will also be updated according to the above rules. For any link, if you right-click on it with mouse and select - Scan link for threats, the addon scans the link with virustotal javascript API. VirusTotal, is an online tool to scan files and URLs against a wide variety of virus detection engines. It has a public javascript API with a limited usage rate. When you first install the addon, please visit the options page to activate the virustotal API. Once the API is activated you can scan 4 links per minute. From toolbar popup, you can turn the addon ON or OFF. Moreover, you can also hide the page footer if you found it inconvenient. Please note that you can still scan links for threats even if the page footer is hidden.

2. How can I work with this addon?

As mentioned above, once the addon is installed, it is activated by default. When you hover on any link element, the link href will be displayed as the element title and also page footer with different colors. Moreover, the toolbar icon will also change color similar to the page footer. From toolbar popup, you can toggle the footer display. If you activated the virustotal API from the options page, you can scan any link via the context-menu item. The virustotal API, scan links with a wide variety of engines and reports back the result in just a few seconds. So, please wait for a few seconds when you scan links from the context-menu item. Moreover, keep in mind that, the usage limit for the virus check API is 4 links per minute. It is also important to note that, currently you cannot scan links simultaneously. So, please wait for a scan to finishes before starting a new san. If you want to disable the addon, please open toolbar popup UI and click on the toggle button on the left side of the UI.

3. How can I download the source code for Link Revealer?

To download the source code for this extension from Chrome Web Store, it is recommended to use Extension Source Downloader. With this addon, you can download the source code as a ZIP or CRX format to your machine. If you want to download the source code from the Firefox addons store, please open the firefox download link (if available) in the Firefox browser and then right-click on the - Add to Firefox - button and select - Save Link As... - item. Choose the destination folder on your machine and then save the file in XPI format. You can then rename the XPI format to a RAR or ZIP file. Some extensions may have a GitHub repo address, which you can use to download the source code as well. But, it may not be the latest version of the addon. Therefore, downloading the source code from the official web stores is the best option as it always gives you the latest version of the addon.

4. Can I whitelist a website in this addon?

No, unfortunately currently there is no way to whitelist a website with this addon. When the add-on is active, link title and page footer will be displayed for all links.

5. How can I turn the add-on ON or OFF?

Please open toolbar popup UI and click on the toggle button on the left side. When the addon is turned off, the toolbar icon color will also change.

6. Does this addon has any options or settings to adjust?

Yes, this addon has an options page where you can enter the virustotal API key. Please follow the instructions on the options page to activate the API. Note, all changes are auto-saved to the memory within the options page.

7. Should I keep the addon active all the time?

Yes, it is recommended to keep the addon active as long as you have no problem browsing the web. This addon can potentially increase the security of your browsing because it shows the real href behind all link elements. Therefore you will not click on any link inadvertently even if the display URL is something reliable. Moreover, for any suspicious link, you can always scan and check whether the link is considered as a known threat or not.

8. How many colors are available for the page footer?

There are three colors available for the page footer. When the link domain is similar to the page domain, the color is BLUE. When the link domain is considered third-party (different than the page domain) the color will be GREN. Finally, when the link displayed text promises a URL that is different than underlying href, the color will be RED. The red color is considered risky and the user should investigate it more carefully before clicking on it. One way is to scan the link with the built it virustotal API. Other means could be a general search in popular search engines and see if any suspicious content is found for the red-flagged link.

9. Where can I find the privacy policy for Link Revealer?

Please read the privacy policy for this extension here.