When you load the Google homepage you will see part of the menu expanded, with options to display additional links to Google products, services and pages with a click on the more link. A click on the actual page hides the menu on the page.

Google users who do not yet see the new menu can enable it by installing the Google Bar+ userscript. This userscript is only compatible with the Firefox web browser if Greasemonkey is installed, and with the Google Chrome browser if Tampermonkey is installed. It won’t work with Scriptish for Firefox or Google Chrome without Tampermonkey installed.

The script has more to offer than that though. A click on the profile icon in the header of the page displays two new entries that have been added by the script. The first can be used to reduce the height of the header bar on Google pages, the second to disable ads on Google.

Those three features alone are already very useful. The userscript furthermore adds options to edit any menu item in the Google Bar menu. Just right-click on a menu entry to edit it and to customize the Google bar.

This opens a menu with options to change the menu title, icon and link by either editing the values directly, or by selecting one of the preset options from the pulldown menu.

The preset buttons offer links to Google properties but also to other popular sites like Facebook, Netflix or Yahoo Mail.

If your favorite service is not in the list you can add it easily using the edit options provided by the userscript.

The only thing that is missing is an ability to move menu items around.

You can download Google Bar+ from the official userscript website.

Once installed it displays an always visible module at the lower right side on the Twitter website. The userscripts filtering options are displayed by default. Available are Twitters own filters plus filters for replies, links and media tweets. A click on one of the filtering options displays only those messages on the Twitter page.

Tweetfilter furthermore supports the creation of custom filters, for instance by keyword, username or hashtags. The system is very flexible and can be disabled or inverted at any time with a single mouse click.

Customizations are the second core feature that Tweetfilter offers. Here it is possible to configure a variety of settings that change Twitter features and what users see when they open their personal Twitter timeline.

This includes basic customizations like hiding advertising or invite friend suggestions but also more advanced features like automatically hiding the top bar, displaying alerts or hiding promoted content on Twitter.

A total of six tabs are available to configure Twitter features and modules like the timeline, dashboard or filters.

• filter independently all retweets (including classic RT-format), media, replies, Tweets with links from timelines with tweets
• custom filters for keywords, full-word (exact) match, username, mentions, hashtags, real name, source (via) with live updated match count
• shortened link expansion
• highlight Tweets mentioning you
• customize timeline layout, add via information, new menu options
• customize dashboard and aspects of the twitter.com layout gaining more space and remove distractions
• show friend status in Tweets (who you follow, who follows you)
• sound and message notification on new mentions and/or direct messages

Twitter users who hang out on Twitter’s homepage most of the time can use the Tweetfilter userscript to improve the site’s functionality significantly. Especially the filtering options come in handy for users who receive a significant amount of messages every day.

Tweetfilter can be installed from the official userscript website. The script is compatible with Firefox 3.6+, Chrome 10+, Opera 11+, Safari 5+ and Internet Explorer 9+.

The browser userscript Add Enlarge Picture Option to eBay Search Results (what a name) adds a semi-automatic option to all eBay search and category pages to display a larger version of the thumbnail image that is shown next to each item in those listings.

The developer has configured the userscript to only work on eBay.com and eBay.co.uk. Users who want to use the script on other eBay sites can try to add those urls to the script. I have not tested this though and it is questionable if it is going to work.

It should be noted that the script works on most eBay category pages. Those that use a custom layout, like the Women’s Clothing category, are not supported.

The script displays an enlarge link next to each thumbnail image on eBay. Moving the mouse cursor over the link text will automatically display the larger version – if available – as an overlay image on the screen. The image vanishes automatically when the mouse cursor leaves the link area.

Users of the script can click on the top right corner of each listing to open the program options. Here they can modify the image preview option to activate by click and not by mouse over. They can furthermore add enlarge links to the private My eBay listing and check for script updates manually from there.

I have tested the userscript both in the Firefox and the Google Chrome web browser and it turned out that the script is compatible with both Internet browsers. Google Chrome users can simply install the userscript from the project website over at userscripts.org just like they would with any other extensions for the browser. Firefox users need to install the Greasemonkey or Scriptish add-on first before they can install and use that userscript.

Unlocking Reddit’s full potential is possible through a handful of Chrome applications and extensions and the addition of the Reddit Enhancement Suite, a combination that brings aspects of the website to everyday browsing on any webpage while opening up more information on the website itself. This how-to will walk you through each of these additions, explaining how to install and utilize each.

First, you may want to streamline the image viewing experience that is the sole attractor for so many Redditors. This can be done quickly and easily with “Reddit Pictures,” a fefoo photo viewer that can be added as a Chrome add-on. To try it out, download it here and immediately gain access to a single-page viewer of all the top images on r/pics. The button will appear on your add-on page, or you can snap it straight to your favorites bar. By clicking the button, you are taken to a viewer that piles picture upon picture on top of one another for easy, “next” button free browsing. You can even check out other subreddits by choosing them from a toolbar along the top of the page.

Next, consider unlocking more information on Reddit itself through Reddit Reveal. This all out extension reveals things like up and down vote scores on posts and comments, user account ages, and similar information – all simply by mousing over hyperlinks that already exist on the Reddit interface. To get started, return to the Chrome store and search for “Reddit Reveal” or simply follow this link to download it directly. After the automatic install visit Reddit and enjoy statistics about voting statistics and user information, all from frontpage.

Finally, dedicated Reddit users should look into the Reddit Enhancement Suite if they have not already installed it. This set of add-ons, available for Chrome as well as Firefox, Safari, and Opera, unlocks dozens of features to increase your Reddit browsing experience through custom keyboard navigation, account switchers, and style tweaks that make surfing Reddit even better. To download, go to the add-on’s webpage, found here, and download the version specific to your browser. Visit Reddit one last time and you should be greeted by new features set as defaults by the Reddit Enhancement Suite. To change things around, turn options off or customize the setup, simply click [RES] at the top right of the Reddit page itself.

With Reddit Pictures, Reddit Reveal, and the full Reddit Enhancement Suite installed in your browser you are ready to enjoy full access to the website in ways few Redditors can. Surf memes, catch trolls and lolface away – with style!

Userscripts are a second source for enhancements, here is a short list of scripts that might prove useful when visiting Reddit.

• Reddit Uppers and Downers Enhanced – Shows up and down votes next to the total score.
• Reddit – Ignore users – Collapses comments from ignored users.
• Reddit – Display your comment karma – If you comment regularly, you can display your comment karma next to your link karma.

Some Facebook users like to hide Facebook Questions because of that. Facebook itself has no option to do disable the polls feature, which means it is up to userscripts and browser add-ons to do just that.

Here is a collection of tools to block polls from appearing on your Facebook news feed.

Userscripts to hide Facebook Questions

The Facebook Questions Remover userscript hides all Facebook questions occurrences on Facebook, regardless of where they appear. Google Chrome users can install the userscript right away, Firefox users need to install an extension like Greasemonkey or Scriptish first before they can install and use the userscript.

The extension removes not only the questions and polls, but also the links on Facebook to create questions and polls in first place. [link]

The script may be compatible with other browsers, including Opera and Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome extensions

The Hide Facebook Questions Google Chrome extension hides all questions on Facebook.com, so that they do not appear in a user’s news feed nor on other pages. [link]

Alternatives: Kill Facebook Questions, also for Chrome

Firefox extensions

Facebook Purity for the Firefox web browser may look like overkill to some, as it offers a lot more than just hiding questions on Facebook. You can use it to turn Facebook upside down, make all kinds of changes. That said, it can be used to hide questions effectively everywhere on Facebook. [link]

Facebook Purity is actually available for Chrome, Opera and Safari as well, making it almost universally usable.

Alternatives: Feed Filter is another Firefox extension to manage what appears on your news feed on Facebook. You can use it to hide lots of stuff, including “asked a question” and “answered a question” news.

Multi-browser options

Better Facebook is an extension that is available for virtually every web browser with the exception of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. It is definitely overkill if you only use it to disable questions on Facebook, but if you have other annoyances then this one may be the best option for you.

The tools above should provide all Facebook users with enough options to hide questions and polls on Facebook. If you know of another tool let me know in the comments.

The message appears as an overlay on the screen with no apparent option to get rid of it. Here it is:

Thank you for visiting NYTimes.com. We hope you’ve enjoyed your 20 free articles this month. You can come back next month for another 20 free articles or chose unlimited access with a Digital subscription and continue to enjoy the world’s best journalism, anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

Subscription plans begin at $15 per month and New York Times subscribers get online access for free. It also seems that some referring websites have been whitelisted, including Facebook, Twitter and other popular websites in order to reap the benefits of those social media sites.

Is there a way to bypass the New York Times paywall? You bet. The thing is, the NYTimes developers have decided to use JavaScript and CSS to create the overlay. The contents are still there, only in the background with no visible option to access them.

Some users won’t see the popup messages on the New York Times website at all, because they use tools like NoScript for Firefox that block the JavaScript on the Times pages that triggers the paywall message. So, disable JavaScript and you can read all articles on the New York Times website without interruption, at least for now.

Another option is to disable page styles. Just switch from page style to no styles and you should be good to go as well. Here is how this looks like in the Firefox web browser.

A Google Chrome extension has been developed recently, called New York Times Paywall Smasher that makes use of two lines of CSS code to hide the paywall so that an unlimited amount of articles can be accessed on the New York Times website. The developer has created a video to demonstrate the extension.

#overlay, #gatewayCreative { display: none !important; visibility: hidden !important; }
body { overflow: scroll !important; }

There is also a userscript called NY Times Paywall that does something similar. The userscript should work on all browsers that support these scripts.

There you go: Those four options all bypass the New York Times paywall overlay, so that you won’t be blocked from reading additional articles after you have used up your monthly quota of 20 articles.

I’m no lawyer, so I cannot really give you advice on the legality of those methods. Using a program like NoScript seems to be the safest option from a legal standpoint, as it is automatically blocking scripts on all sites and not only the New York Times website. Then again, it is likely that the developers over at the New York Times will implement a different, better protected, system if they really want to block users from reading more than 20 articles per month without subscription.

The Greasemonkey version available for Firefox is a development build, and it may be that this is the cause for the removal problems. But it may also be related to Firefox since the browser is a development build as well.

The userscripts are displayed just fine in the about:addons page, and a click on Remove confirms that the script has been removed. This lasts only until the next restart when the script appears again in the listing. Disabling scripts however works fine.

There is a way to uninstall Firefox add-ons and userscripts directly without starting the browser. Users who want to do that need to locate the Firefox profile folder on the hard drive. The easiest way to find the location of the Firefox profile folder is to enter about:support in the address bar. This works for Firefox 3.6 and newer only. Locate Profile Folder and click Open Containing Folder, this should open the folder in the standard file manager.

Greasemonkey scripts are stored in the gm_scripts folder. Just open the folder and locate the scripts that you want to delete. Deleting them in the folder removes them from the Firefox web browser as well.

Some Firefox add-ons are stored in the extensions folder, while others are directly placed in the profile folder root. Deleting them uninstalls the add-on or userscript in the browser.

These add-ons may have added preferences to the Firefox configuration, check out our Firefox spring cleaning guide to remove those entries from the configuration.

One of the add-ons that I came to rely on in the past is the Greasemonkey extension. Unfortunately it was one of the add-ons not working in Firefox 4.

I first tried to force compatibility on the add-on, with mixed results as it was not working correctly afterwards (take a look at this guide on how to force compatibility in the Firefox web browser)

If you look at the official Greasemonkey site at Mozilla you notice that the add-on is only compatible with versions up to Firefox 3.6, and the same information is offered on the web page of the developer. The last release dates back to April 2010.

What many users do not know is that the developer publishes nightly builds of Greasemonkey on the same server. Nightly builds are development versions of the add-on which often contain additional features or improvements.

In the case of Greasemonkey, they add Firefox 4 compatibility. Just install the latest nightly build from the listing to make Greasemonkey compatible with Firefox 4. Please note though that nightly builds may contain bugs. Firefox will automatically recognize Greasemonkey nightly updates and offer to install them automatically, so that it does not need to be done manually.

All installed userscripts worked fine after installation of the latest Greasemonkey nightly. Let us know your experience in the comments.

That’s a problem as it means that users have to look for updates manually, or make use of one of the userscript updaters to receive notifications about updates. This is true for all userscript implementation, regardless of the browser they are installed on.

Install With is a userscript with an interesting concept to resolve the updating problem once and for all. The userscript basically makes sure that userscripts are installed with auto updating functionality, so that update notifications are displayed to the user whenever a script can be updated.

Here is how it works in detail. Install the Install With userscript first. It can be installed like any other userscript and requires no configuration. Please note that it is currently only compatible with Firefox and Seamonkey. Both web browsers need the Greasemonkey add-on before they can install userscripts.

The Install With userscript alters the install page on the userscripts website. It places a selection menu below the install button, that displays options to install the script with auto updating functionality. Install With supports various auto updaters and an option to install the script without auto updating functionality.

The option to install the script without automatic updating is the default selection. Selecting an auto updater from the pulldown menu will display parameters on the screen. Here it is possible to configure the minimum and maximum time between update checks.

The userscript tries to detect if another userscript uses a built-in updater. If that is the case it will notify the user, and it is the best option to install it without another updater. Security advisories are displayed if an update of a userscript has been detected. These advisories are rudimentary, and use severity ratings from critical to low and undetermined.

Install With is a must have userscript for every Firefox and Seamonkey users with Greasemonkey installed. It adds a much needed functionality to all scripts.

Google Chrome, unlike Firefox, where the Greasemonkey extension is needed to install and use userscripts, supports userscripts out of the box. The browser is however not fully compatible at this point which means that several userscripts will not work properly if they make use of functions that the Chrome browser is not supporting or actively blocking.

The two Chrome extensions Tampermonkey and Blank Canvas aim to reduce the amount of non-working scripts by adding support for some of the functions to Chrome that are not available by default.

Tampermonkey

Tampermonkey was the first Chrome extension to increase userscript support in the web browser. It adds support for several userscript functions like GM_registerMenuCommand or GM_xmlhttpRequest which are not supported by default.

The extension will also intercept the install dialogs on the userscript website.

userscript tampermonkey

This provides additional information about each userscript including its version and website’s that it is configured to work on.

Userscripts that are installed while Tampermonkey is running will not be added to the Extensions listing of the browser. They are instead listed in the options of the Tampermonkey extension.

tampermonkey options

Here it is possible to select a script from the list of installed userscripts to take a look at its source code and configure compatibility options.

userscript source

Blank Canvas

Blank Canvas is another extension for Chrome that changes the way userscripts are handled in the web browser. The extension is in a very early stage according to the developer, basically an alpha version which does not yet offer the same functionality as Tampermonkey.

Installed userscripts are on the other hand displayed in a handy table that displays information such as names, versions, sites, features and controls.

The controls can be used to easily edit, enable / disable or delete userscripts that have been installed.

installed userscripts

Blank Canvas offers a clearly superior layout to manage userscripts in Google Chrome while Tampermonkey leads compatibility wise.

Update: Black Canvas has been removed by the author from the official Google Web Store. Tampermonkey remains as an alternative on the browser.

Wikipedia is on the other hand a rather messy site with lots and lots of links, menus and information that are often not related to the topic the user is researching.

Userscripts are small scripts that change the information that are displayed on a website they have been configured for. They can change, remove or add information to those pages. Userscripts are supported natively by the Google Chrome browser. Firefox users need to install the Greasemonkey extension first. Opera users might want to take a look at Greasemonkey in Opera and Internet Explorer users at the plugin Trixie.

Simplepedia – If you think that Wikipedia is to crowded and filled with unrelated information then Simplepedia is for you. The userscript removes much of the excess on the pages turning Wikipedia into a simple but effective information powerhouse. The starting page has been redesigned to only provide access to a search form, much like Google does with Google Search.

The individual pages on Wikipedia have also been redesigned. Away with all the information in the header and sidebar. Only the relevant information, a search form and the footer information are displayed so that it becomes much easier to access the information on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Inline Article Viewer – Wikipedia uses a keyword listing to link to other articles on their website automatically. This can accumulate to hundreds of links on a single page that lead to other Wikipedia entries. A click on a link normally loads the new page in the same browser tab. Some users might prefer to access the information directly instead.

That is what the Wikipedia Inline Article Viewer helps with. It will display the linked articles in an iframe on the same site making it possible to browser the linked page without leaving the current one.

Multi-column articles – Wikipedia provides access to a printable version of all articles hosted on the site. The printable version is not optimized. The multi-column articles userscript has been designed to change that. It turns printable Wikipedia pages into a multi-column layout so that the printout is optimized. Some users might even prefer to read the articles in that mode as it resembles the design of newspapers. The extension is not working in Google Chrome currently but a port seems to be in the making.

wikiEd – Most Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone. Wikipedia displays an edit page with some basic text editing controls at the top. Most of the editing has to be done manually though. WikiEd adds more controls to the top of the edit article window at Wikipedia. Some of the features that are added are syntax highlighting, search and replace operations with regular expression support, following links from the edit area, fullscreen text editing and pasting formatted text into the editor.

Wikipedia Clean and Professional – If Simplepedia was simply overkill in your eyes you might want to check out this userscript which does change the layout of Wikipedia encyclopedia articles as well. It gets rid of most navigational elements as well but uses a different layout and design to present the articles to the user.

Wikipedia Large Images – Most articles on Wikipedia contain images that are usually displayed as thumbnails. A click on an image will load an extra page where it is shown in full size. The Wikipedia Large Images userscript displays a larger version of the image when the user hovers the mouse over the image on the Wikipedia page which effectively means that it is no longer necessary to visit the image pages to get a closer look.

Google in Wikipedia – The name of this userscript is a bit misleading. It adds links to searches on other Internet sites at the top of the Wikipedia page. This includes Google Image search, IMDB, eBay, Video and Music searches.

Secure Wiki – Makes sure that a https connection is used to access Wikipedia and its sister sites. This can be helpful when users log into Wikipedia to edit pages. It is also possible to open the https connections manually but this userscript makes sure that it will never be forgotten.

Wikipedia cursor2input! – Wikipedia places the cursor on the page in the search text field on its main page only. This is not the default behavior on article pages. This userscript places the cursor on Wikipedia article pages in the search form as well so that it becomes possible to type the search phrase right away.

Wikipedia Printable Version – The printable pages of Wikipedia articles display only the contents of the article and no navigational elements. This userscript redirects every Wikipedia page to their printable page which is handy for users who usually print Wikipedia pages and users who prefer a distraction free experience.

Are you a Wikipedia regular? Have you found other userscripts, browser add-ons or bookmarklets to improve the online encyclopedia? Let us know in the comments.

That is the biggest and most important difference between those two. Lets look at an example on how this sorts out. Lets say you are a big Facebook user and want to improve your experience on the social networking site by adding features and shortcuts to it.

Facebook Fixer is a userscript that might be exactly what the user is looking for. It can do all sorts of things like displaying bigger album pictures and photos, showing ages and signs, enabling keyboard shortcuts or automatic reloads on page errors.

A similar functionality is also provided by extensions like the Better Facebook Fixer extension for Google Chrome. It basically offers the same functionality as the userscript but with a small but noticeable difference.

I’m using Google Chrome for the example because it offers a task manager that is showing the memory usage of all open tabs and extensions.

If you install the extension you notice that it uses about eight Megabytes of computer memory constantly. It runs in the background all the time even on pages that have nothing to do with Facebook or if no website is open in the browser at all.

The userscript on the other hand will only run when the user visits Facebook.

It can generally be said that userscripts are more resource friendly than extensions. The situation is a little bit different for Firefox users who have to install an extension to use userscripts. But it is beneficial for them as well if we assume that the extensions will likely use a similar amount of computer memory meaning it is a tie if only one userscript is installed and an improvement if the user installs more than one.

This theory obviously only works if the extension and userscript offer a similar functionality.

What do you prefer to use: Extensions or userscripts?

Userscripts are small scripts that change elements on the website. They can remove elements, e.g. backgrounds or advertisement and add new features like links or information to those pages.

Google Chrome did support userscripts in earlier version but the new implementation in Google Chrome 4 makes it much easier to install and work with those scripts.

Userscripts can be installed directly from within the web browser. All it takes is one click on the install button over at the Userscripts repository to display the installation overlay that is also displayed when installing Google Chrome extensions.

Installed userscripts are listed in the extensions manager from where they can be uninstalled or disabled. Userscripts are actually converted into extensions on the fly in the web browser which is the reason they are listed in the extensions manager.

The developers should consider adding a filter to the manager for a better overview especially for users with dozens of userscripts and extensions installed.

Not every userscript is supported by this version of Google Chrome which can be attributed to differences between Chrome and Firefox. According to the blog post announcing the native Greasemonkey support about 15% to 25% of the scripts are currently not working in the Chrome browser.

Many userscripts work fine when installed in the Google browser while others can be installed but do not work properly due to the differences in architecture. An option to verify that a script will work in Google Chrome would be handy.

And that’s what the developer did. The userscript changes several key elements on the website. Its main features are options to customize the script display on the website and the option to add scripts and authors to a blacklist so that they will no longer be displayed when browsing the website.

The default changes include an increase in the amount of scripts that are displayed per page (triple the default amount), and options to install or blacklist any script right from that page without visiting the script’s profile page first. A trashcan icon is also placed next to each userscript in the script table listings to add it to the blacklist.

The left side contains a link to the settings of the userscript which provide access to additional options. This includes removing rows of the table layout (Hide ‘Rating’ Column, Hide ‘Posts’ Column, Hide ‘Fans’ Column, Hide ‘Installs’ Column, Hide ‘Last Updated’ Column, Hide ‘Votes’ Column), add scripts based on title or description to the blacklist or to change various author and script related blacklisting settings.

Because it’s your userscripts.org can be downloaded from the userscripts website.

Chromium users who want to install a userscript simply visit the website where the userscript is offered, e.g. userscripts.org, and click on the install link offered there.

The process after clicking on the link is similar to the process of installing extensions in the Google browser. It begins with a warning at the bottom of the screen that explains that extensions can be dangerous. It gives the user the choice to continue or discard. The installation dialog will appear if the user selects the continue option. Here it is again possible to install the extension or to cancel the process.

Installed userscripts will appear in the extensions manager of the web browser from where they can be disabled, uninstalled or reloaded.

Support for this new userscript behavior is only provided in the latest Chromium builds with the promise that it will soon be added to the Google Chrome web browser as well. The only thing left do to for the Google Chrome developers is to release a public version of the web browser with this new feature set (extensions and userscripts) enabled.

The userscripts change, remove or add elements to a website on load if they are activated. They can for example remove ads, display download links, embed additional content or provide other benefits to the Internet user. Check out our Facebook Login and Facebook Login Page help articles if you have troubles logging into Facebook.

FacebookDeletes

If you want to delete friends on Facebook you need to do that one by one on the Friend’s page there. That’s a problem if you do not want to remove one but maybe dozens or even hundreds of friends. That’s where the Facebook Deletes userscript comes in handy. It allows Facebook users to batch delete friends in Facebook. [link]

Facebook | Add Status

You can change your status by writing something into the What’s on your mind box. Some users like to see their previous status there before they start changing it. This is what the Add Status userscript does. It displays the current status next to the What’s on your mind box, [link]

Remove All Facebook Ads

If you are not using an ad blocker in your web browser you might want to consider running this userscript. It will remove all Facebook ads to remove these distractions from the Facebook website. [link]

Secure Connections

If you visit Facebook you usually enter through the http address. Facebook is also offering to open Facebook using a secure https connection. This script automates the process by automatically loading the https website for Facebook and several others that are configured in the script. [link]

Facebook Fixer

One of the larger Facebook scripts. The developer is currently working on a new version as Facebook recently has made some design changes to their website. There is a lot that this userscript does including

• Big Profile Pictures and Photos recently improved
• Big Album Pictures
• Video Download Links
• Load Full Albums
• Homepage Customization recently improved
• Age and Sign recently improved
• Calendar Integration
• Keyboard Shortcuts recently improved
• Re-Title
• Error Page Reloading

This is a large script that changes many aspects of Facebook to the better. [link]

Facebook Purity

Don’t like all those quiz and application messages on your Facebook homepage? Now you can get rid of them by installing the Facebook Purity userscript which automatically removes them from the homepage. [link]

Facebook Friends Checker

Want to know if any of your friends have removed you from being their friend? Now you can find out with the Facebook Friends Checker userscript. [link]

Facebook Chatbar+

Gives you a collection of emoticons that you can click for a simpler way to experience emoticons in chat. [link]

Facebook Highlight Birthdays

Highlights the birthdays of today on the Facebook homepage. [link]

The Greasemonkey script Youtube Auto Buffer And Auto HD and Remove Ads offers a quick and unobtrusive solution to that problem and two additional ones.

Youtube videos will automatically buffer completely without playback. Users who want to do that manually need to press the pause button on each video so that the video is not played but the contents are buffered. The script automates that process.

The Greasemonkey script adds two additional features. The first will automatically load the HD version of the opened Youtube videos. That’s a feature that most Youtube scripts and add-ons provides. The second will remove those annoying ads that are displayed at the bottom of Youtube videos.

Some users reported that they got the script working not only in the Firefox web browser but also in Opera. Interested users can download it from the Userscripts website. Make sure to check out our download Youtube videos guide if you are interested in download videos from the video portal.

The Greasemonkey Compiler is an online tool that can be used to convert Greasemonkey userscripts into Firefox add-ons. One of the main advantages of Firefox add-ons is that they do not require the Greasemonkey extension to be installed. This makes it also easier to distribute the script.

The Greasemonkey Compiler is a simple web form. Some of the needed parameters are already filled out automatically including a random GUID and the compatible Firefox versions. They can be edited easily to keep the Greasemonkey script compatible with future Firefox versions.

All that needs to be done is to paste the complete source code of the Greasemonkey script into the User Script text form on the website. A click on Compile will create a Firefox add-on based on the uscript with the xpi extension. This add-on can then be installed in the Firefox web browser where it will provide the same functionality that the Greasemonkey script would offer.

There are two problems associated with the conversion of Greasemonkey scripts into Firefox add-ons using the Greasemonkey Compiler. Options that might have been provided by the Greasemonkey script are not carried over into the Firefox add-on. This can be problematic for some scripts that can be configured. The second problem is that the script has to be updated manually by performing the same conversion with a newer version of the script.

Rapidshare AutoWait is a userscript that can be loaded in the Firefox Greasemonkey extension. It brings most of the benefit that is provided by download managers to the web browser. In short: It allows a user to open multiple Rapidshare links which get then downloaded sequentially without user interaction.

The script will automatically perform all required actions on the page after it has been opened in Firefox. It will also detect if a download is already in progress to loop the other Rapidshare downloads which are then started at a later time.

The script does detect network problems and handles other possible errors like expired sessions or the 15 minute limits as well. It is not a problem for the script to handle 10, 20 or even 30 tabs that all point to a file on the Rapidshare website. The only step that the script will not do is to close the tab once the download has been finished which is not that much of a problem though.

AutoWait is a very interesting option for users who download files regularly from Rapidshare. Check out our Rapidshare Search article for pointers on how to find links at the the file host. It is possible that the script will also work in other web browsers that provide userscript support such as Opera or Safari.

Twitter is basically a way of posting short messages on the Internet comparable to SMS but publicly visible and permanent. It is possible to follow people so that their messages get automatically displayed in Twitter. That’s the basic concept which proved to be very popular.

Nested Twitter Replies [link]

Twitter users can post replies to messages which are by default just displayed like any other message meaning that they are not grouped together. The Nested Twitter Replies userscript takes care of that by grouping the original message and the replies together.

Twitter Trends Explained [link]

Twitter trends are topics of public interest that are displayed in the right sidebar of the profile page. This covers a wide variety of topics from technology to politics and environment. There is no explanation on the topic by default which is changed by Twitter Trends Explained.

Endless Tweets [link]

Twitter displays a limited amount of messages per page. Users need to click every time they want to view additional messages. The Endless Tweets userscript will automatically load the next batch of messages when the user reaches the end of the page.

Twitter Search Results on Google [link]

Displays Twitter messages in Google Search results effectively combining Twitter messages in Google Search.

TinyURL Decoder [link]

The TinyURL Decoder supports dozens of different url shortening services that are being used by Twitter users.

Twitpic Thumbnailer [link]

Many Twitter users post images to Twitpic and link to these images in their Twitter messages. This userscript allows Twitter users to preview the thumbnails of those images.

Twitter Live Updater [link]

The Twitter message pages do not get updated automatically which means that users need to refresh them manually to check for new messages. The Twitter Live Updater will refresh the Twitter pages automatically periodically.

Twitter Friends Bio at a Glance [link]

This userscript displays information including the bio, followers and following count that are usually only visible on a user profile page

Twitter2FB [link]

Updates the Facebook status with the Twitter status.

Verdict: The userscript’s website lists hundreds of Twitter scripts that have been designed to change, add or modify functions and features on Twitter. They can really enhance the Twitter experience for users who regularly write and read messages.