RipeLinks Extension Guide

1. Install and open the side panel

Install RipeLinks from the Chrome Web Store, then pin it: click the puzzle-piece icon in Chrome's toolbar and the pin next to RipeLinks. Clicking the RipeLinks icon opens the side panel on the right of the window. The panel stays open while you move between tabs, which is how you will use it: the blog on the left, RipeLinks on the right.

The panel has four tabs. Post is where you work through blogs one by one, Records lists every comment you have posted, Resources holds your list of blogs, and Settings has your site details, AI, backup and help. The interface follows your browser's language; switch it at the top of Settings under Language.

2. First-time setup in three steps

On a fresh install the Post tab shows a short checklist. Each step ticks itself off when it is done:

1. Add my site. Enter the address you are promoting and click ✨ Auto-fill the fields below from the URL; the extension reads your home page's title and description. Then fill in the name to show on comments (use a real-sounding name, not a keyword) and the email to use in comment forms (it is not published). Click Save site details.
2. Set up AI, or choose Skip, I'll write my own. See the next section.
3. Find sources. Import a list or dig a competitor's backlinks on the Resources tab.

You can promote several sites. Add another under Settings with + Add another site and switch between them at the top of the panel; records are kept per site.

3. Set up AI comments

RipeLinks drafts comments with an AI provider you choose, using your own API key, so there is no subscription. Under Settings → AI comments, pick a provider. The extension fills in a sensible default model, and each provider has a link to the page where you create a key:

• DeepSeek: very cheap and good at following instructions. Default model deepseek-chat.
• Google Gemini: has a free tier. Default model gemini-2.5-flash.
• OpenRouter: one key for many model makers.
• OpenAI: default model gpt-4.1-mini.

Paste the key and click Test and save. The extension sends a tiny request; if the provider rejects it you see the provider's own error message, which usually says exactly what is wrong (a typo in the key, no credit, a model name the account cannot use). Save only keeps the settings without testing. Your key is stored in the extension and sent only to that provider.

4. Add backlink sources

A source is a site where you might leave a link, with one or more pages on it. The Resources tab offers two ways to get them:

• Import a list. CSV or XLSX files work, including backlink exports from Ahrefs or Semrush, or any sheet with a column of URLs. Duplicate sites are merged automatically, so you can import overlapping lists.
• Dig sources from a competitor. Enter a site that ranks above you, click Open Ahrefs (free), and once its backlink list has loaded click Import backlinks from this page. The free checker shows about twenty links per site. If you switch on automatic import, the extension reads the list as the page loads it, including further pages you browse on Semrush with an account. Automatic import is off by default and only works on those two sites.

Imported backlinks are a mix of everything: comments, directories, profiles, articles. You do not need to clean the list first, because each page is checked when you open it.

5. Post a comment

1. On the Post tab, click Open and check. The next source opens in a new tab and the panel shows a verdict: a green go, a warning such as a crowded comment section, or a skip with the reason (no comment form, login required, captcha, comments closed, noindex, paid placement).
2. For a skip, click Skip and open the next one. If you know better, for example the form appears only after you click “Reply”, open it on the page and click Check again.
3. For a go, click Write with AI or type your own comment. Good comments are short and specific: react to one point in the article, add an experience or a question. Do not put your URL in the text; it goes in the website field.
4. Click Fill in the page. The extension fills the comment, name, email and website fields and reports what it filled. Look at the page, edit if needed, then click the site's own submit button. RipeLinks never clicks it for you.
5. Back in the panel, click I've submitted it. Record the result. The extension reads the page after submission: published straight away, held for moderation, or an error such as “duplicate comment”. Then Open the next one.

If a blog has no website field but is worth it, use Add my URL to the comment to append your address to the comment text instead, and accept that moderators remove these more often. Not now, show the next one moves on without marking the site.

6. Records and rechecks

The Records tab groups your comments as Due (time to recheck), Waiting (held for moderation), Live and Failed. Seven days after posting, a comment becomes due: click Recheck and the extension opens the page in the background and looks for your link. If it is there, it records the link's rel attribute. If a moderator never approved it, mark it Rejected.

Do not expect to see new comment links in Ahrefs or Google the next day. Discovery takes days to weeks, which is why the recheck looks at the page itself.

7. Backup and restore

All your data lives only in the extension on this computer. Under Settings → Backup & restore, click Export full backup to save one JSON file with your sites, sources, records and settings. Your AI key is left out unless you tick the box to include it. Restore from backup merges a backup into what you have: nothing is deleted, and when the same record exists on both sides the newer one is kept. If you have records and have not backed up in seven days, the Post tab reminds you.

8. When a page will not fill

Most comment forms fill on the first try. When one does not, check three things: that the form is actually on the page (some sites load comments only after you scroll or click), that you are not looking at a login-only form, and whether the site uses a third-party comment system such as Disqus inside a frame, which the extension cannot fill. Fill again retries after the page has finished loading, and Copy comment lets you paste it by hand.

If a normal-looking form still will not fill, click Copy diagnostics under the fill result and email it to hello@ripelinks.com. The diagnostics contain the extension version, the page address and what the extension found on the page; they never include your AI key or email address.