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Definitely a much-needed area for development. However, having gone down the browser extension rabbit hole, I've largely shifted my focus to user scripts. Grant
by artisin 3y ago
Definitely a much-needed area for development. However, having gone down the browser extension rabbit hole, I've largely shifted my focus to user scripts. Granted, there will always be a need for specialized browser extensions like ad blockers (uBlock[1]), keyboard shortcuts (Vimium-C[2]), and password managers (Bitwarden[3]).
That said, I find user scripts superior for most tasks, despite some lacking UI niceties. They are easier to share, use, and crucially, audit—be it in terms of scope, permissions, or code updates. Plus if Manifest V3 is any indicator, the future for browser extensions looks bleak. While I don't agree with this direction, it's probably for the best for the majority of users, like my mom.
Your effort is commendable; however, should you find yourself looking for a viable pivot in the future, I believe the user script space is primed for innovation and could offer a good alternative.
[1] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock
[2] https://github.com/gdh1995/vimium-c https://github.com/gdh1995/vimium-c
[3] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bitwarden-password-manager/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bitwarden-pas...
- jwong_ 3y agoDo you have any user scripts you find handy or use often?
- madacol 3y agoI recently started to have the same ideas, and I have created 3 bookmarklets and 1 userscript https://github.com/madacol/web-automation https://github.com/madacol/web-automation
- madacol 3y agoTo give you an example This is a bookmarklet to edit any text on a web page javascript: (function() { document.body.contentEditable = true; document.body.spellcheck = false; })(); Very useful when I want to grab a screenshot and I want to REDACT personal information
- jwong_ 3y agoHey that's neat! Super annoying having to dig through the dynamically-generated DOM.
- hnben 3y agohighlight a string on a website, then click this to translate with google javascript:(function() { const baseUrl = "https://translate.google.com/?op=translate&sl=auto&tl=de&text="; const textRaw = window.getSelection(); const text = encodeURIComponent(textRaw); console.log("selected text: ", text, textRaw); window.open(baseUrl + text) })(); (maybe adjust the target language in the url)
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- gsuuon 3y agoWhat's the correct way to.. use.. userscripts? Do you still need to install a third party extension?