We would like to encourage you to post additional tips and hints about website manipulation in the comments of this article so that the page becomes as comprehensive as possible. All methods of manipulating websites have been tested with Firefox 3.5x and 3.0.x. Most will probably also work in previous versions of the web browser.

1. Userscripts and Greasemonkey

Greasemonkey and its userscripts are probably the most popular and known method of manipulation website contents in real time. Thousands of userscripts exist that add, remove or modify elements and features of web services. Some classic examples are changing the design of Gmail, adding new features to the Internet Movie Database IMDB or skipping the wait time at popular file hosts.

Generation of scripts requires web development knowledge, especially of html, JavaScript and CSS as these are used to alter the contents of the websites.

2. Platypus – Modify Websites Without Programming Skills

Platypus allows a user to modify websites with any programming skill requirements. This limits the reach of the Firefox add-on a bit as it is not possible to reach the depth of Greasemonkey. Possible options are to permanently remove elements from websites, change style attributes, change the font and background colors to black and white or to remove fixed sizes and positioning on a page.

3. Stylish – Modify CSS

The Stylish add-on for Firefox and its accompanying userstyles directory provide access to new styles that manipulate the CSS of a website.It can be used to remove, add, move and manipulate elements on a website permanently. The screenshot above shows the popular Atistic Google userstyle.

4. Yet Another Remove It Permanently

Yet Another Remove It Permanently is an add-on for the Firefox web browser that makes it possible to remove elements on websites permanently. Can for example be used to remove advertisement from Google Search results or images from websites. Basically any element can be removed with this add-on. A similar add-on is Nuke Anything Enhanced.

5. Firebug

Firebug is first and foremost an add-on for Firefox that presents lots of useful information to web developers. What many do not know is that it comes with the capabilities to manipulate elements on a website. It is probably not the first choice for this kind of manipulations but this comes in handy when testing different kinds of layouts, color combinations or fonts.

6. NoScript and Adblock Plus

Both the NoScript and the Adblock Plus add-on for Firefox are primarily being used to prevent scripts and advertisements from being displayed on the user’s computer monitor. This does make them limited tools for modifying websites.

7. Aardvark

Aardvark can be used to isolate or remove elements from websites.Has been primarily been designed to remove unneeded elements before printing a website.

Verdict:

There are definitely a lot possibilities to modify websites in Firefox; Certainly more than have been mentioned in this post. Probably the easiest possibilities are in the form of Greasemonkey. If you know of any additional add-ons that should be mentioned let us know in the comments.

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This does work pretty well in conjunction with the Cybersearch add-on by Ryan from Cybernetnews that displays search results on a white background. All in all you got three or four background colors instead of just one which is great for distinguishing results on the first glance.

The easiest way to install this style is by installing the Stylish add-on first and then that new user style.

The colors of the style can be easily changed if you edit the style in the extension’s options. Just right-click on the icon of the add-on and select Manage Styles. Then select the user style and click on Edit to edit it.

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If you want an awesome style for your Google Calendar take a look at the sleek design by Globes Designs innovatively called Google Calendar Redesigned. If you like a darker theme with a bit more contrast this is definitely for you. User styles are not always implemented well with choppy bits everywhere, but this design is totally beautiful.

You will be glad to know they have a Gmail design as well (in fact this spurred the calendar design) called Gmail Redesigned. This is essentially the same thing for your favorite email client, so you can have the same design throughout these two Google services. I you know any more cool user styles please let us know, I’d love to take a look at some!

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Gmail Redesigned on the other hand is too nice to be ignored. It’s a userscript that turns plain old Gmail into a modern looking website that blows your mind away. All you need is the Firefox extension Stylish and the userscript Gmail Redesigned. Once the extension has been installed and the userscript loaded you can visit Gmail to see the changes.

The interface turned from the plain white / blue interface to a darker one that is definitely more eye pleasing. Take a look at the before and after screenshot to know what I mean.

It’s interesting that development for the userscript began just two weeks ago. It’s work in progress, currently two extensions, Better Gmail 2 and Remember The Milk are not compatible but the author promises to make them in future versions. And since he updates almost once a day this is surely going to be soon.

via Lifehacker

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