Cure multi-page articles with Repagination and Adblock Plus

I don’t know about you, but when I see what should be a one page article spread across 6 pages in tiny chunks, it drives me nuts! Call me crazy, but I don’t want to wade through ad-saturated page after ad-saturated page just to read a simple article!

A few examples of this are:

• computerworld.com
• environmentalgraffiti.com
• ew.com
• gamesradar.com
• instructables.com
• itwirecom
• maximumpc.com
• rd.com

While Adblock Plus usually makes short work of the ads, there are also self-promoting ads on every page as well. I may be interested in these on the first page, but by the second, third and fourth pages they’re nothing but the visual equivalent of static noise.

Repagination (a Firefox add-on) stitches all of the pages together, much like taking a report and taping the pages end to end to create a large ribbon.

Add in Adblock Plus’ side kick “Element Hiding Helper” to zap the noise, and you can actually do what you set out to do – read the article!

How-to:

Requirements:

• Firefox
• Adblock Plus
• Adblock Plus – Element Hiding Helper
• Repagination (the official project doesn’t support Firefox 3, but a simple edit or alternative source will allow you to use it)

The first thing you’ll need to do is stitch the pages together:

1. Right-click on the Next link
2. Choose Re-pagination
3. Choose All
4. Wait as it loads (you should see your scroll bar shrinking and jumping up)

Then I’d recommend scrolling down to the second page, or even just the last page.

Once you’re there, you’ll want to use Adblock Plus’ Element Hiding Helper to target the areas that are not related to the article (header, footer, “you might be interested in” links, etc.)

The way I target each annoyance is:

1. Right-click on the Adblock Plus icon and choose “Select Element to Hide”
2. Move your mouse over the offender
   
3. Hit W (wider) on the keyboard until it outlines an area that affects the content
   
4. Hit N (narrow) to go back down a level
   
5. Hit B (blink) to see what removing that selection would affect.
   
6. Hit S (select) to choose that area
7. Go into the advanced editor
   

Here’s the tricky part… I, personally, don’t like the first page affected by the slimming process.

In the advanced editor,

1. scroll up the tree until you’re just under the body area,
2. choose the one that’s the ancestor of your target
   
3. then find the ancestor with the SAME name on the same level.
   

Troubleshooting:

Every once in a while Repagination inserts a frame for the next page, which foils adblock’s selection.

The easiest solution to this is to go into Adblock Plus’ Preferences, finding the rules for the site, and replacing (as an example):

instructables.com##*#container + * + * + * + * + * + * + * + * + * + * + * + * + * + *#container > DIV#sidebar

with

instructables.com##*#container ~ *#container > DIV#sidebar

The tilde (~) means “any sibling after”, and so this would target all of the “container”s after a “container” that are on the same level. It’s usuall shift + `, which is called a “back tick” and is in the very top left of most keyboards.

KOL GM Scripts – My picks from OneTonTomato’s huge list

These are the OneTonTomato scripts I can see myself using, ymmv.

• Auto Choice(1,799)
• Bargain Hunter(2,511)
• Chat Functions(2,369)
• Familiar Hotlist(4,568)
• GeneriQueue(1,344)
• Inline Descriptions(3,835)
• Manage Prices(3,157)
• Meat Transaction Helper(2,389)
• Mind Control Device Link(2,026)
• Mind Control Device Select(1,195)
• Outfit Swapper(796)
• Price Gun(16,671)
• Pulverize Groups(6,529)
• Sell Stuff Helper(1,538)
• Sort Mall Activity(1,457)

Please note that some, but not all, are on the wiki so there may be duplicates to my previous post.

Repost – run greasemonkey scripts in all browsers

run greasemonkey scripts in all browsers

* Greasemonkey, an extension for Firefox. Make sure to restart the browser before trying to add the script.
* Trixie, one of the best Greasemonkey-like plug-ins for Internet Explorer
* SIMBL and GreaseKit for Safari
* no additional software for Opera, but you need to enable the feature from Opera’s interface
* Konqueror Userscript for Konqueror

I mentioned my doubts on Greasemonkey scripts working in all these browsers as GM scripts use GM-only commands. The Trixie looks promising (but don’t say I said that)

KOL GM – My picks from the KOL wiki

Louvre It Script – Keeps track and automates the louvre it puzzle

Fortune Cookie Script – which will help get semi-rares.

Pulverize Groups – sort smashables by what / how much they give.

Recipes – but it’s out of date. See previous post for an up-to-date version.

Strange Leaflet Spoiler

Mr. Script – The ultimate script

HP Colors – I can use this with my new version of my skin as it (should) let all the shades through.

Inline Descriptions – because I hate having to resize and close windows. Yes, I’m THAT lazy.

Meat Transaction Helper – helps us visual people figure out how much meat we’re dealing with (9000000 looks a lot better as 9,000,000)

Previous Adventures – because sometimes I like to REALLY backtrack.

Pulverize-Malus – somewhat unneeded because of the extra links in the top supplied by Mr. Script, but still nice to have.

Chat Functions – nothing like nickname autocomplete, eh?

Bargain Hunter – great to check that the deal is actually a deal.

Mall Helper – Because manually buying 15 things from 12 stores takes too bloody much time! NOTE: if it says it applies to every page (*), cancel and right-click on it, choose “view user script source” and then use the button at the top.

Manage Prices – great way to find the non-100-meat price.

Auto Choice – Because clicking on “Ignore the wheel” 4 times in a row really messes up my autoadventuring.

d0om’s Combat UI enhancer Gold – the previously mentioned autoadventuring.

Bang Potion Minder – very needed now due to the changes in the lair gates.

Pricegun – because a few of my friends use it and I need to add it to my KOL – Blue w Gradient – GM Tweaks style (make it blend in with the skin)

Auto Login – less typing, more playing. It gives a button to click that logs you in.

KOL GM – My picks from the forums and userscripts.org

Greasemonkey scripts on userscripts.org for KOL (some are on the wiki):
JHunz’s KOL Mall Price Sorter

JHunz’s KOL Mall search separator

JHunz’s KOL Max Price Mall Trimmer

KoL Easy Select – But I edit it so it only applies to Hangk’s as it’s the only place I can’t seem to find what I’m looking for.

AmandaKerik’s Menu for Kmail Areas (KOL) – Is it shocking that I use my own scripts?

KOL – Chat – Label Mods (20-12-2007) – I don’t use the Greasemonkey version, I use the Stylish version, but feel free to use this one.

AmandaKerik’s Colour and Label HP / MP Restorer… – another one I prefer the Stylish version over the Greasemonkey version. Note to Self: Get a shorter name for this one.

Tard’s KoL Scripts – Choice Adventure Rewards – Nice to see this one updated! I just wish she had updated the metadata so it doesn’t look at Tard’s site.

d0om Combat UI enhancer with counter based on y… – Easy way to burn turns, especially for BHH’s miniquests.

Naltrexone’s KoL Scripts – Bang Potion Minder – One less thing for me to keep track of.

Tard’s KoL Scripts – Strange Leaflet – Still works, I wonder when TPTB will add to the leaflet?

KoL Mall price highlighter – An oldie but a goodie, I’m glad I found this one!

AmandaKerik’s To Do List with Disappearing Links – I’m actually sitting on a more up-to-date version of this, I should release it, eh?

Actually, I just realized how many scripts I’m sitting on right now… menus for areas like creation areas (food, booze, items, weapons, armour, etc), as well as for map areas (I find myself very annoyed when I go into the wrong side of the tracks and what I’m looking for is on the right side… put in the tracks and make them clickable, dangit!)

Ok, those are the easily found ones on UserScripts.org, let me do a little more looking in non-wiki areas.

Ok, in the forums there’s a big thread about Greasemonkey scripts for KOL:
http://forums.kingdomofloathing.com:8080/vb/showthread.php?t=139514

Unfortunately, the guy that started it didn’t keep up with it for very long, so the new / updated scripts are sprinkled throughout it.

http://kol.cmeister2.co.uk/scripts/dcstuffies.user.js – This is what started my niche of making scripts that dump sets of… stuff… into your Display Case. Or out of it, heh.

http://kol.cmeister2.co.uk/scripts/itemquantity.user.js – After a battle you can click on an item to have it find out how many you have total.

http://kol.cmeister2.co.uk/scripts/t…pesCM2.user.js – Ahh, recipes.

Auto-DC Klaw Machine Items (KOL) – There’s one that tosses in Hilarious items, but I rarely have them.

That’s it for the forum thread, the ones that AREN’T on the wiki, that is.

A new(ish) month, a new(ish) Firefox

Yes I’ve been off of WordPress for a while… life happens.

Anyways, I’ve made it a habit to create a new profile for Firefox every month. Why? I’m easily amused? Also, it lets me take a fresh look at the things I use every day and drop those things that were cool at one point but I grew out of or just didn’t really use.

A little late into the month, and I’m creating my January profile as I type this. I created a new profile by closing down Firefox and typing into the command line / terminal the following:
firefox -ProfileManager

Yes, changing a shortcut to do the same works quite as well.

Ok, on to add-ons:

I’ve found that installing add-ons that I know I use everyday all at once (not restarting Firefox between each one) is probably the best way… it’s certainly the fastest.

First stop is the Firefox add-ons site, and I add them to my search engine list (in the top right corner).

NoScript – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722
(I minimize the add-on pop-up that says I need to restart Firefox)

Adblock Plus – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865
Adblock Plus – Element Hiding Helper – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4364

CookieSafe Lite – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5207

Greasemonkey – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748

Context Search – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/240

Stylish – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2108

At this point my brain reaches a blank, so I go and take a quick look through the popular list, and find some of my favourites.

Download Statusbar – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/26

FasterFox – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1269

Web Developer – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60

StumbleUpon – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138

Image Zoom – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/139

ColorZilla – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/271

This looked interesting: CSSViewer – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2104

Menu Editor – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/710

Aardvark – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4111

At this point I start to realize that the list is getting long, and I save this post and restart Firefox.

And as I come back I have a few dialogues to go through:
Choosing my locale for Adblock Plus (EasyList (USA))
Closing the slightly annoying, but only appears once image zoom pop-up (it’s handy to learn tricks about how to use it, but I already know them).
I hide the Web Developer toolbar from view (I use it’s right-click menu), as well as the StumbleUpon one (until I get around to looking up my login details).
I move the Adblock Plus icon from the toolbar (top) to the status bar (bottom).

And then I visually clean up Firefox – I know what everything means and where everything is, so I don’t need big icons or labelling or every thing on it’s own horizontal zone.

I right-click between the Help and the loading icon (8 dots that go around in a circle) and choose to Customise.

First I tick off (check) the Use Small Icons Box, then I drag the back, forward, reload, stop, home, address toolbar and search toolbar all up beside the Fire Edit View toolbar. Then I remove the separator bar that’s there from before.

Now that the navigation toolbars’ contents have been moved, I can hide that as well.
I delete the Getting Started and Latest Headlines (default bookmark toolbar contents) and make the Bookmarks toolbar disappear until I find sites I want to have there.

I then make it so that NoScript doesn’t show me when it’s blocked scripts (in an inch high bar across the bottom), but to just change it’s icon.

After all that I sit back and try to remember what to set-up next. Oh, yes… the search engines I use.
Wikipedia, userstyles.org, theKoLwiki, Firefox add-ons (from before)

And I remove the ones I don’t:
Yahoo, Amazon, Answers, Chambers, Creative Commons and Ebay.

I’ve been busy…

My slight obsession with KOL has progressed to the point that I’m now writing Greasemonkey scripts for it. Well… more of editing an existing one to add functionality.
But then again, why reinvent the wheel?

http://userscripts.org/users/26909

The KOL forums are a big help in some ways, but I usually make a habit of using Google to search for answers first.

KOL MySQL Connection Error

I was playing KOL today and it stopped responding (I was in chat and it wouldn’t accept / clear my entry). Eventually I got a response:

Could not connect to database server 2:2013 – Lost connection to MySQL server during query

I had seen someone else quote this error about an hour before in chat. I hope this isn’t a sign that KOL’s dying under the stress of everyone playing!

Yahoo oddness – reloading login page every second with no obvious answer.

Today Yahoo was acting oddly – on the “Sign in to Yahoo!” page it was reloading every second. The actual Yahoo.com or the my.yahoo.com pages were fine.

I saved the page and took a look… Yahoo uses a tonne of Javascripts! But I didn’t really see anything that would do that – the meta-refresh was fine at 600.

I then saw that Adblock Plus was turned off for some reason – I turned it back on and tried again. No change.

I recently changed some settings in CookieSafe and now chose to let Yahoo’s pages set cookies.

No change.

I was running out of ideas… except there’s this flash file (.swf) in the middle of the page and it doesn’t actually show anything. I’m sure it’s for storing data.

Blocked it with Adblock Plus… and now Yahoo’s behaving like normal.

Odd.

A Firefox Bankcard! How cool is that?

My bank offered the possibility to use my own image on my bankcard. You could order it through a web interface, so I uploaded the Firefox logo onto mine and picked up the card a few days later from the bank.

Digg this story!

Edit: As many people asked, this is where I got it: SEB Eesti Ühispank

http://www.7is7.com/software/firefox/bankcard.html