Mr Links

MR Links prevents you from scrolling back to the top to find the original link in the daily Assorted Links thread.

Marginal Revolution publishes weekly "Assorted Links" posts: curated collections of interesting articles, research, and commentary on economics, culture, and policy. Thousands of readers engage in the comment section, often referencing the original numbered links (Link #1, #2, etc.). Reading Marginal Revolution's "Assorted Links" posts has been a joy for me for the last couple of years and it has held up as my favourite blog.

However, there's a frustrating UX gap: when commenters cite a link number, you can't see what that link actually is without scrolling back up to find it. Someone writes "Great point about #4" or "Following up on 7. The recent study..." and suddenly you're scrolling back to the top of the page, searching through the numbered list to find what link they're actually talking about.

This breaks reading flow. You're mid-conversation, someone makes a reference, and you either (1) scroll way back up, (2) guess at the context, or (3) miss the reference entirely.

MR Links is a lightweight browser extension that solves this instantly. When you visit an assorted links post, it:
- Automatically detects link references in comments
- Shows the link inline: a clean banner appears above each comment displaying the title and URL of the referenced link
- Opens with one click: Tap the banner to open the link in a new tab, no scrolling required
- Works seamlessly: zero configuration, zero permissions needed, just install and it works
- It's open source: so community members can contribute and make improvements!

Technical Details:
- Works only on marginalrevolution.com assorted links posts (URL-guarded, no spam)
- Uses vanilla JavaScript for speed and reliability
- 0 external dependencies
- Non-intrusive design: banners integrate naturally with comment threads
- Privacy-focused: no data collection, no external requests

I hope this is as useful to you as it is to me.

Cheers,
David