Word Count

Firefox Add-on

A useful add-on is Word Count Plus, which counts the number of words in selected text. It can also add the count to a running total. [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4718]

Alternative for Firefox, Chrome and Opera

LibriVox member peegee has written a script for web browsers which may make the job a little easier.

The script runs against the HTML ebooks on Gutenberg.

1. you click the paragraph where you want to start the count,
2. it asks you the target number of words,
3. it quickly goes through every paragraph from that point onwards and counts the words and the running total
4. it stops when it reaches the target, or the end of the chapter if before
5. the page is temporarily changed to display the word counts right there at the end of each paragraph
6. you can repeat this as many times as you like, each time you click a paragraph the temporary page changes are removed

Screenshots

Here are a few screenshots to illustrate the process:

The first prompt

The choice

The count displayed

Installing the Script

The method of installation depends on the browser

Firefox

You will first need the GreaseMonkey add-on for Firefox which is available here : [Greasemonkey]

Once you have GreaseMonkey installed, go here to and click on the Install button [Firefox Install]

Google Chrome

Just go here to install the Chrome version and click on the Install button (GreaseMonkey not needed) [Chrome Install]