We've gotten quite a few requests for a "print this page" button on RWW, something that styles up an article nice and clean for readers to print out and pass around. We never set something like that up, in part probably because here at RWW we don't ever see any of our co-workers. We've got people in New Zealand, Rhode Island, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Oregon and beyond.
Many of you would like to print an article occasionally though and share it with co-workers, friends, family, clergy, grocery checkers or the civil servants in your neighborhood. We really appreciate that! Thankfully, fabulous RWW reader Alex Muntean has created a system you can use in just minutes make a printable page on RWW available with a single click.
Here's how you do it. First, download and install the Firefox plug-in Stylish. Then, go to Alex's page on Userscripts.org and install the stylesheet script there. While you're there, check out some userscripts for other pages too - I've been using a pretty nice GMail one for the last few days. Greasemonkey users can skip the Stylish step.
Now whenever you are on an article page that you want to print out, just click your Stylish button on the bottom right corner of your browser and select the RWW style. Voila! Thanks Alex!
Comments
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Why not just create a print stylesheet? Then users will not have to download a Firefox plugin. Also, this will work for people using other browsers.
Posted by: Trevor Davis | May 21, 2008 8:49 PM
Nice thinking Alex!
We do plan to have a printer-friendly version of RWW soon. I've been saying that forever, but it is on the to-do list.
Posted by: Richard MacManus
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May 21, 2008 8:53 PM
Completely agree with Trevor - I also prefer a print stylesheet version than adding another extension to Firefox.
Posted by: Amit Agarwal | May 21, 2008 9:56 PM
Think about the trees!!!
But in all honesty, team up with HP and have them sponsor the Print this Post button.
Posted by: David Berube | May 21, 2008 10:05 PM
+1 on the print stylesheet. Having to add a plugin just to print a page? Ugh.
Posted by: Chris Broadfoot | May 21, 2008 11:30 PM
I second @David Berube. Save the trees! Teach them email/netvibes/digg/delicious, anything.
Posted by: Mogilny | May 22, 2008 12:00 AM
I'm also for the simple "print" CSS trick.
Mine hides the search box and all the sidebar banners, for example. Who needs a search box on a sheet of paper?!? :P
< link rel="stylesheet" href="print-style.css" type="text/css" media="print" />
Posted by: Eugenio | May 22, 2008 1:25 AM
You really made my day! The time spent writing this article and installing the plugin/script would have been sufficent to create a print stylesheet. But I hope this post is just meant to be a joke.
Posted by: Joe Avarage | May 22, 2008 1:37 AM
Print style sheet?
Here's a link to an article bt Eric Myer you might like to read.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/goingtoprint/
And to make it even more user friendly, take a look at this one (although the demo seems to have been broken in Firefox).
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/printtopreview/
Posted by: David Owens | May 22, 2008 2:22 AM
Really would appreciate the print stylesheet, too. It's not about sharing, but about reading things over lunch.
A proper print version is just a must for every site (and interestingly something a lot of blogs nowadays seem to lack).
Posted by: Brusselsblogger | May 22, 2008 2:55 AM
Hihi thats kind of "why simple when you can do it much more complicated" :)
of course the print stylesheet is the way to go!
Posted by: GRiNSER | May 22, 2008 5:58 AM
I think it's great to have a more readable edition for the purpose of solely reading RWW articles. However, I hope that people aren't encourage to print more, as that wouldn't be so eco-friendly. I understand that if you're printing the current version, the new print preview will save you a few pages, which is great.
I'd encourage people to save the printable version as an e-book and read it on an e-book reading device, like the Sony Reader or the Amazon Kindle.
Posted by: michaellambie.org
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May 22, 2008 2:03 PM
+2 on the print stylesheet
Posted by: kaz | May 22, 2008 11:48 PM
I've been thinking of asking for a pritable version for a while now... Thanks to all folks who've been active on that in the meantime :) I would also go for a simple printable version instad of adding yet nother addon to my browser. Hope that won't take too long for the RWW team to implement. I go with #10 on the fact that's it's not about sharing (then I'd rather send a link by mail or IM) but more about reading while not in the office.
Posted by: elisav | May 23, 2008 3:06 AM
I agree with all the comments about a simple "print" stylesheet. However, it would be great if the URLs could be converted so that one sees them in the print-out. That would help to quickly type in the address without having to go back to the original article (especially if that may have moved to a different location or at some point taken off the net entirely...). An example is http://www.connectivism.ca/blog/
Posted by: kris | May 24, 2008 8:53 AM
I have been on the lookout for the PRINT ME button on RWW for sometime, so when I saw this article on gReader.. thought I would pop over to the comments and see what was being said.
Its not that I want to print EVERY article, its to have a system where I could say, " I want to keep a copy of this and read it later OFF screen" .. a PRINT ME button. To be fair, mine will probably go straight to PrimoPDF..
Sorry, Richard a firefox extension don't cut it!
Posted by: Jez | May 28, 2008 12:52 PM