The Greasemonkey Firefox extension associates a bit of Javascript with specific web pages and runs it every time you visit, dynamically changing the appearance and functionality of those pages. The "Swiss Army Knife" of Firefox extensions requires a bit of rampup to get going, but it's an incredibly versatile and useful way to customize the web to your liking.
I've been a Greasemonkey fan and user script developer for awhile now, and I wanted to point out a few scripts I run every day in my travels across the Intarweb. Some of them are aesthetic, others are functional, but all of them make surfing faster, better and more fun.
Note to Greasemonkey newbies: To install these user scripts, first you must install the Greasemonkey Firefox extension. Then, to start using a script, right-click on the links below and choose "Install User Script" from the context menu. Refresh the page to see the script's effects. See more about using Greasemonkey over at Mozdev.
Unless otherwise noted, the following user scripts were written by me, myself and I.
Lifehacker Blackener
Changes Lifehacker's grey post text to a more legible and contrasty black.
Lifehacker Save to My Web Links
Adds a link to the bottom of every Lifehacker post to save it to Yahoo! MyWeb. Great way to save hacks for later, or collect all your LH favorites in one place.
Bloglines Teal Killer
I love Bloglines. I hate turquoise. This script changes that annoying color to a nicer navy blue.
del.icio.us Prettifier
Changes the del.icio.us font from boring Arial to a more stylish Georgia with blue links and orange visited links.
MovableType Upload Path Setter
I couldn't write Lifehacker without this script, which autofills the upload path to a subfolder named the current date (YYYY-MM-DD) when I add images to posts using MovableType. Get more info on this script here.
Butler by Mark Pilgrim
Removes ads from Google search results and inserts links to competitor sites throughout the Google properties and pages.
Yahoo! Blog Search by Jim Dabell
Adds just "Blogs" to the search dropdown at Yahoo! News.
Amazon Free Music Helper by Jesse Andrews
Download multiple free DRM-less tracks from Amazon's excellent music downloads section a lot more easily: instead of having to click through to a subpage to grab each song, the links now go directly to the songs themselves. This script's a great companion to a good download manager.
Linkify by Aaron Boodman
Converts text links to clickable hyperlinks. Never copy and paste a link from a web page again! (Comes with Greasemonkey by default.)
Gmail Delete Button by Anthony Lieuallen
Adds a delete button to the Gmail user interface for the dropdown menu-weary.
Update, 1/2006: Gmail now includes a Delete button, no more need for this script!
Gmail Tweaks by Mihai Parparita
Adds saved searches to Gmail.
Added, 2/2006: NewsMasher
Displays del.icio.us linkbacks to an article on a web page.
There are tons more Greasmonkey user scripts out there that do all kinds of wild and wacky stuff. To see more, check out Userscripts.org or a listing on the Greasemonkey wiki.
If you're not a Javascripter but you want to change the way a page looks using Greasemonkey, the Platypus extension lets you live edit a web page and save your changes to a user script. Download Platypus here. (Note: As of writing, Platypus is temporarily out of commission due to recent Firefox and Greasemonkey security upgrades and changes. Hopefully the situation will be rectified soon.)
If you are familiar with Javascript and want to hack your own user script, I highly recommend Mark Pilgrim's book Dive Into Greasemonkey to get started.
So let's hear it, fellow Greasemonkeys: What user scripts do YOU have installed? Let us know in the comments or at tips at lifehacker.com.
Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, spends more time than she should debugging Javascript. Her semi-weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Wednesday and Friday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/...favorite-greasemonkey-user-scripts-143499.php
I've been a Greasemonkey fan and user script developer for awhile now, and I wanted to point out a few scripts I run every day in my travels across the Intarweb. Some of them are aesthetic, others are functional, but all of them make surfing faster, better and more fun.
Note to Greasemonkey newbies: To install these user scripts, first you must install the Greasemonkey Firefox extension. Then, to start using a script, right-click on the links below and choose "Install User Script" from the context menu. Refresh the page to see the script's effects. See more about using Greasemonkey over at Mozdev.
Unless otherwise noted, the following user scripts were written by me, myself and I.
Lifehacker Blackener
Changes Lifehacker's grey post text to a more legible and contrasty black.
Lifehacker Save to My Web Links
Adds a link to the bottom of every Lifehacker post to save it to Yahoo! MyWeb. Great way to save hacks for later, or collect all your LH favorites in one place.
Bloglines Teal Killer
I love Bloglines. I hate turquoise. This script changes that annoying color to a nicer navy blue.
del.icio.us Prettifier
Changes the del.icio.us font from boring Arial to a more stylish Georgia with blue links and orange visited links.
MovableType Upload Path Setter
I couldn't write Lifehacker without this script, which autofills the upload path to a subfolder named the current date (YYYY-MM-DD) when I add images to posts using MovableType. Get more info on this script here.
Butler by Mark Pilgrim
Removes ads from Google search results and inserts links to competitor sites throughout the Google properties and pages.
Yahoo! Blog Search by Jim Dabell
Adds just "Blogs" to the search dropdown at Yahoo! News.
Amazon Free Music Helper by Jesse Andrews
Download multiple free DRM-less tracks from Amazon's excellent music downloads section a lot more easily: instead of having to click through to a subpage to grab each song, the links now go directly to the songs themselves. This script's a great companion to a good download manager.
Linkify by Aaron Boodman
Converts text links to clickable hyperlinks. Never copy and paste a link from a web page again! (Comes with Greasemonkey by default.)
Gmail Delete Button by Anthony Lieuallen
Adds a delete button to the Gmail user interface for the dropdown menu-weary.
Update, 1/2006: Gmail now includes a Delete button, no more need for this script!
Gmail Tweaks by Mihai Parparita
Adds saved searches to Gmail.
Added, 2/2006: NewsMasher
Displays del.icio.us linkbacks to an article on a web page.
There are tons more Greasmonkey user scripts out there that do all kinds of wild and wacky stuff. To see more, check out Userscripts.org or a listing on the Greasemonkey wiki.
If you're not a Javascripter but you want to change the way a page looks using Greasemonkey, the Platypus extension lets you live edit a web page and save your changes to a user script. Download Platypus here. (Note: As of writing, Platypus is temporarily out of commission due to recent Firefox and Greasemonkey security upgrades and changes. Hopefully the situation will be rectified soon.)
If you are familiar with Javascript and want to hack your own user script, I highly recommend Mark Pilgrim's book Dive Into Greasemonkey to get started.
So let's hear it, fellow Greasemonkeys: What user scripts do YOU have installed? Let us know in the comments or at tips at lifehacker.com.
Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, spends more time than she should debugging Javascript. Her semi-weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Wednesday and Friday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/...favorite-greasemonkey-user-scripts-143499.php
