📚 Dorky - Your Personal Reader

A Chrome extension that reads text aloud with natural AI voices. Meet Dorky - she reads anything you select on any webpage!

✨ Features

• 📖 Select any text and Dorky reads it to you
• 🎤 Ultra-realistic voice using ElevenLabs AI
• 💗 Cute pink button interface
• ⚡ Fast and responsive
• 🌐 Works on all websites

🚀 Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/dorky-reader.git
cd dorky-reader

2. Set Up Your API Key

1. Get a free API key from ElevenLabs
2. Copy config.example.js to config.js:

   cp config.example.js config.js

3. Open config.js and add your API key:

   const ELEVENLABS_API_KEY = 'your_actual_api_key_here';

3. Install in Chrome

1. Open Chrome and go to chrome://extensions/
2. Enable "Developer mode" (toggle in top right)
3. Click "Load unpacked"
4. Select the dorky-reader folder
5. Done! 🎉

📖 Usage

1. Navigate to any webpage
2. Select text with your mouse
3. Click the pink 📖 button that appears
4. Listen to Dorky read! 🎧

🎨 Button States

• 📖 Pink = Ready to read
• ⏳ Orange = Loading audio
• 🔊 Green = Playing audio

🔒 Security

• NEVER commit your config.js file - it's already in .gitignore
• API key stays on your computer only
• Share config.example.js instead for others to set up

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Manifest V3 - Latest Chrome Extension standard
• Vanilla JavaScript - No dependencies
• ElevenLabs API - AI-powered text-to-speech

📁 Project Structure

dorky-reader/
├── manifest.json          # Extension configuration
├── scripts.js             # Main functionality
├── config.js              # Your API key (NOT in git)
├── config.example.js      # Template for users
├── styles.css             # Button styles (optional)
├── icons/
│   └── icon.png          # Extension icon
└── README.md             # This file

🎤 Voice Options

Currently uses ElevenLabs "Rachel" voice. You can change the voice by editing scripts.js line 49:

const voiceId = 'EXAVITQu4vr4xnSDxMaL'; // Rachel voice

Popular voice IDs:

• EXAVITQu4vr4xnSDxMaL - Rachel (female, natural)
• 21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM - Adam (male, deep)
• pNInz6obpgDQGcFmaJgB - Sam (male, dynamic)

Find more at ElevenLabs Voices

💰 Cost

• ElevenLabs free tier: 10,000 characters/month
• No credit card required
• Upgrade available for more usage

🐛 Troubleshooting

Button doesn't appear

• Refresh the page
• Check that extension is enabled
• Make sure you selected text

No audio plays

• Check your API key in config.js
• Verify you have characters remaining (check ElevenLabs dashboard)
• Open DevTools (F12) and check console for errors

API Error 401

• Your API key is invalid or expired
• Get a new key from ElevenLabs

🤝 Contributing

Pull requests welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Test thoroughly
4. Submit PR

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file

🙏 Acknowledgments

• ElevenLabs for amazing TTS voices
• Chrome Extension documentation

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Made with ❤️ by lily1c

Dorky is ready to read! 📚