One HTML file to manage 80+ links — no signup, no backend

#webdev #javascript #beginers #showdev

The problem

I had a long list of links saved in a plain notepad file — links I wanted to open one by one over several days. Two things annoyed me:

Opening each link manually and keeping track of where I left off was tedious.
I didn't want to sign up for some service just to bookmark and track a list of links.

So I built a tiny tool to do exactly what I needed — and nothing more.

What I built

A single HTML file. No backend, no framework, no install. You open it in your browser, paste your links (one per line), and it does the rest:

Click any link in the list to open it
Next — step through links in order, one at a time
Random — open a random link you haven't opened yet
Auto-tracking — opened links get marked and greyed out, so you always know what's left
Search — filter the list by title
Auto-save — your list and progress persist in the browser, so it's all still there next time

You can also add clean titles by formatting a line as Title | https://link.

How it works

It's just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in one file. The only "clever" part is using the browser's localStorage to remember your links and which ones you've already opened — so closing the tab doesn't wipe your progress:

function save() {
  localStorage.setItem('watchlist', JSON.stringify(items));
}

window.onload = function () {
  const saved = localStorage.getItem('watchlist');
  if (saved) items = JSON.parse(saved);
  render();
};