Tip #3847 - Get Greasemonkey
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Get
Greasemonkey
Hello again! In yesterday's
newsletter, we worked with changing the layout and color scheme of your
favorite Web sites. And today, we are going to change and add functionality
to them as well! To do that, we’ll once again be using Firefox,
but this time with a different extension. We’ll be working with
an extension called Greasemonkey. So, without further
ado, let’s begin!
1.) You’ll first
need to add the Greasemonkey attachment to your Mozilla Firefox. Click
here
to begin the installation process.
2.) Once again, click
the Install Now button when it becomes active. Then click
the Restart Firefox button to complete the Greasemonkey
installation.
3.) When you restart Firefox, you will see this monkey icon in the lower
right hand corner. 
(Isn't he cute?!)
4.) Now, Greasemonkey
itself doesn’t change the functionality of Web sites. To do that,
you need to use Greasemonkey scripts. Scripts are like the styles we used
with the Stylish extension yesterday.
In this tip, I will
show you how to install scripts and toward the end, I will even show you
some of my favorites I think you will enjoy as well!
To add scripts:
1.) There are many
sites to download scripts from. Just a search with your favorite search
engine for “greasemonkey scripts” should suffice. My personal
favorite though is http://userscripts.org/.
2.) When you log on to the site, you will be greeted by a page similar
to the image above.
3.) You can surf the
pages and look for scripts that may catch your eye. Or, you can use the
search box to search for a Web site that you would like to tweak.
4.) After you’ve
found one, click on it and a detailed page will appear. You can read about
it first and then, if you want to install it, just click the black
Install This Script button.
5.) A dialogue box
will then appear. Click the Install button.
6.) After the script
has been installed, you will see a message in the lower right section
of your window. That means that the script is ready to go and be used!
As promised, below
you will find a list of my favorite scripts. Feel free to try them and
see if you like them too!
1.) Invisibility
Cloak - We've talked before about how to block programs that
prevent you from doing your work with Temptation Blocker. You just select
the program (such as a Web browser) and set the time limit, but what if
it's just one Web site that does you in? To block specific Web sites until
after lunchtime, etc., just use Invisibility Cloak. After you install
it, right click the Greasemonkey icon and click Manage User Scripts.
Then click on Invisibility Cloak and then finally, click
Add. Now, you can add Web sites to be blocked for you
before a certain time of the day. You can install this script for yourself
here.
2.) Extra
Exclamation Point Remover - If you read blogs or you are a MySpace
user, you may have seen users who use way too many exclamation points.
You know, like this!!!!!!!!! At times, this can be very annoying. But
with this simple Greasemonkey script, you can fix that right quick. It
automatically changes excessive exclamation points into just one. Install
this script and try it on this sentence now!!!!!! You can install the
script for this right here.
3.) Greased
Lightbox - If you are a fan of the Google Image or Flikr search,
this is a much faster way to view your results. When the results page
appears, the large thumbnails are automatically shown. You can scroll
through the large thumbnails with your arrow keys and the URL will show
up right below. This is a speedy and useful tweak. You can install this
script here.
4.) Inline
MP3 Player - Many Web sites link to MP3s, but it can be a big
hassle just to play a music file. There's no purpose in opening Windows
Media Player or iTunes when you just need to listen to the one simple
file. This script makes a small player appear when you need to play an
MP3 file. Install the script and try it out with this link.
You can get the script you need for this here.
5.) Profanity
Filter - This Greasemonkey script is pretty self-explanatory.
It blocks vulgar words and turns them into harmless asterisks (*). You
can even customize which words to block and which ones to keep. If you
have kids who surf the Web a lot, this script is a must have. Go ahead
and install it right here.
6.) Textarea
Backup - We've all done it. You've been typing into a text box
on a Web page and then, for some reason, your computer crashes or you
close the window by accident. You've lost the text, haven't you? Well,
this script continually saves the message after every key stroke, so you'll
never have to worry about losing your data again. You can install this
script here.
7.) LookItUp
- I have one last script for you and it is no doubt, my favorite of all
time. I'm sure you'll enjoy it too! It is called LookItUp and it allows
you to look up information on the fly, without leaving the page you are
on. You just highlight the word, click a special button on your keyboard
and a window appears with all the information you need for the word. You
can program different keys for different sites. For example, W could be
for Wikipedia and D for Dictionary. This script is amazingly powerful!
Try it for yourself by installing the script here.
I hope you've enjoyed learning about Greasemonkey and some of my favorite
scripts. Now, go out and make your own favorites list!
~ Neil Patel
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