Looking for FedEx/UPS/USPS Contextual Menu plugin

Question

Looking for FedEx/UPS/USPS Contextual Menu plugin

Hello all - I search both the community and via search engines but hit a few dead ends.

I know Apple Mail has data detectors so when I get package tracking numbers I can click those to open my browser and get tracking info.

But I also often see a tracking number in Safari as part of an order. For example when I'm looking at recent orders with Amazon.

I'm looking for a popup menu (right-click) item that when I select the tracking number will let me pick "Track USPS" or "Track FedEx" or such.

I've looked into OnMyCommand but cannot get anything to actually show up in the contextual menu. I read about CMs not being supported beginning with 10.6 (I'm non 10.11.6). Now Services are used. Still cannot get OMC to display anything in the Services part of the CM either.

I've search MacUpdate and only find various applications for tracking. I really hope to have this as part of the CM.

thanks for any pointers

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Oct 19, 2016 7:10 AM

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Answer 1

braden85

Community Specialist

Oct 20, 2016 5:24 AM in response to William Quattlebaum

Hi William,

I understand that you'd like to be able to look at tracking information when you see a tracking number in Safari. In order to do so, you can use a three finger tap on your MacBook Pro's trackpad. In System Preferences > Trackpad, enable (with a check mark) "Look up & data detectors" under the Point & Click tab. With this enabled and your cursor over a tracking number you can tap with three fingers on your trackpad, and a box will appear above the tracking number with current tracking information from the carrier handling the shipment.

OS X El Capitan: Change the way your trackpad works

Cheers!

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Answer 2

Oct 20, 2016 5:26 AM in response to braden85

@braden85 - you are quite correct about the 3-finger tap option. I'll have to update my profile to also list my Mac desktop which I use a 2-button mouse on.

Your MacBook Pro trackpad pointer of course won't work for my MacPro and its mouse so I would still love to see a way to add a contextual menu / services item for this.

Your tip did it for when I'm on the MBPro - thank you!

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Answer 3

CarlAVII

Community Specialist

Oct 23, 2016 3:26 PM in response to William Quattlebaum

Glad that we could help! At this point, the Magic Mouse, as you've noticed, does not provide a means for triggering this functionality. You might, however, consider the Magic Trackpad 2 for use with your Mac Pro (especially if you appreciate your MacBook Pro's trackpad as much as I do), as it would allow for this functionality and more.

Trackpad gestures

For more information about these gestures, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Trackpad. There you can turn a gesture off, change the type of gesture, and learn which gestures work with your Mac. Trackpad gestures require OS X Lion v10.7 or later and a built-in Multi-Touch trackpad or Magic Trackpad. If your trackpad supports Force Touch, you can also Force click and get haptic feedback.

A guide to available gestures on the Magic Trackpad 2 can be found here: Use Multi-Touch gestures on your Mac

Regards.

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Answer 4

Oct 23, 2016 3:31 PM in response to CarlAVII

@Allen A - well, another good thought. I did actually get and test the new Magic Trackpad 2 and then the Magic Mouse 2. Not sure why but both acted up with my fingers - doing odd things even when I turned of the majority of gestures.

I am still hoping someone can point to a "contextual menu" or "services" method.

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,828 points

Oct 23, 2016 6:37 PM in response to William Quattlebaum

I am still hoping someone can point to a "contextual menu" or "services" method.

If you know of the tracking website syntax, you could create your own Service in automator to pass the tracking number to whichever carrier it is.

Here is one for USPS tracking:

Just track any number with a particular service and the URL will be the syntax you need for each one.

If you can figure out an algorithm to determine which shipper's number it is, you could code it to work for every shipper no matter what text was entered. However, it might be difficult to handle multiple tracking numbers.

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