Install the extension
Two minutes. It puts a WhyTho button on your browser toolbar, so any page is one click from being annotated.
Works in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Arc. Firefox and Safari need their own builds, so use the bookmarklet there.
Install it
- Download the file above, then double-click it to unzip. You get a folder called
whytho-extension. - Move that folder somewhere permanent, like your Documents. Chrome reads it from disk every time it starts, so it cannot live in a Downloads folder you clear out.
- Open a new tab and go to
chrome://extensions. In Edge useedge://extensions, in Bravebrave://extensions. - Turn on Developer mode with the switch in the top right.
- Click Load unpacked and choose the folder. Pick the folder itself, not the zip, and not a file inside it.
- Click the puzzle piece in your toolbar and pin WhyTho so the icon stays visible.
Connect your account
- Open whytho.jakelabate.com and sign in, with GitHub or an email link.
- Go to Setup. The first card will say the extension is installed.
- Press Connect this account. It hands the extension your annotator token, and nothing else.
Until you do that, the extension still works, but notes stay in that browser instead of saving to your account.
Using it
- Click the toolbar icon on any page, or press Alt Shift W.
- Choose Select, click an element, write why it is the way it is, and save.
- The note is attributed to you automatically and appears in the app under Notes.
Worth knowing about sideloading
- Chrome will warn you once per restart. A banner saying to disable developer mode extensions is normal for anything installed this way. Dismiss it, or use Keep.
- It does not update itself. When WhyTho changes you download the zip again, replace the folder contents, and press the reload arrow on the extension card. The app tells you when your version is behind.
- A managed work laptop may block it. Some company policies disable unpacked extensions entirely. The bookmarklet is the fallback there.
- What it can reach. It asks for
activeTabandscripting, so it can only touch a page after you click the icon or press the shortcut. Its one standing permission is whytho.jakelabate.com, used to pick up your token.