The OpenLink Structured Data Sniffer
What is the OpenLink Structured Data Sniffer?
The OpenLink Structured Data Sniffer (OSDS) is a browser extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera (with builds planned for Apple Safari and Microsoft Edge) that unveils structured metadata embedded within HTML documents and web pages.
Why is the OpenLink Structured Data Sniffer Important?
At its core, every search engine optimization (SEO) effort requires agility in managing document metadata.
OSDS provides a productive way to check the impact of such document metadata on the results pages of various search engines.
How do I use the OpenLink Structured Data Sniffer?
Download and Installation
Installation is a few simple steps, which vary with your browser.
Google Chrome
- the latest stable OSDS release available in the Chrome Store, as with any other Chrome add-on
- or the latest development version, which takes a few more steps, as follow --
- Download the
ziportar.gzsource code archive from the OSDS Github page. - Extract the archive to a local directory/folder.
- Open the Chrome browser.
- Select from menu: Chrome -> Preferences -> Extensions.
- Check the Developer mode box.
- Choose the option Load Unpacked Extension...
- Navigate to the folder containing the extracted source code.
- Press the Select button.
- OSDS will be added to your browser's installed extensions list.
- Download the
Opera
- the latest stable OSDS release available in the Chrome Store, as with any other Chrome add-on
- or the latest development version, which takes a few more steps, as follow --
- Download the
ziportar.gzsource code archive from the OSDS Github page. - Extract the archive to a local directory/folder.
- Open the Opera browser.
- In the address bar, type in
opera:extensions. - Click the Developer Mode button.
- Choose the option Load unpacked extension....
- Navigate to the folder containing the extracted source.
- Click the Select button.
- OSDS will be added to your browser's installed extensions list.
Mozilla Firefox (v28+)
- Download the
osds-generic.xpifile to a local directory/folder. - Open the Firefox browser (v28 or later).
- In address bar type:
about:config. - Click the I'll be careful, I promise button.
- Search for
xpinstall.signatures.required. - Double click that line, repeating if necessary until the value is set to false.
- Using the standard File Open menu: select the
osds-generic.xpifile you downloaded. - Click the Install button.
- OSDS will be added to your browser's installed extensions collection.
Use
Having installed the OSDS browser extension, simply visit an HTML document location on the Web, and click the OSDS icon which appears in the address bar, to experience the functionality added to your browser by this extension.
Sample pages you can visit to experience things first hand:
- OpenLink Software Home Page — http://www.openlinksw.com/
- Collection of sites known to include metadata using content formats such as HTML5+Microdata, JSON-LD, RDFa, POSH (Plain Old Semantic HTML), and Turtle — https://www.pinterest.com/kidehen/schemaorg-related/
Here's a silent screencast that showcases use of OSDS to explore pages listed from a Custom Google Search Engine in relation to the keyword pattern: Black Friday.
Examples
Here a few screenshots illustrating the OSDS experience:
Example showing JSON-LD based Metadata
Example showing HTML5+Microdata based Metadata
Example showing RDFa based Metadata
Conclusion
Any person or organization that owns a web-site is perennially challenged in regards to content evaluation and update cycles aimed at increasing and sustaining visibility.
With OSDS, you're just a mouse-click away from a solution to this challenge.
Most important of all, OSDS reveals the nature and implications of a World Wide Web of entity relationships where the nature of entity and relationship-type semantics are comprehensible to both humans and machines.