ScriptNo, Another NoScript Extension For Chrome

One of the two issues that I identified in yesterday's review of Opera's NotScripts extension was that it has not been updated for a long period of time. A script by the same name for Google Chrome, NotScript for Chrome, has also not been updated for almost a year now. Ghacks reader Vineeth just sent me a link to ScriptNo, a NoScript alternative for Chrome users.

The ScriptNo extension adds an icon to the Chrome address bar. The icon acts as a notifier that informs the user about the number of scripts that have been blocked on the current page. The icon color indicates blocked scripts (red), temporarily allowed scripts (blue), whitelisted parent pages but blocked scripts (white) or if the extension is disabled on that particular page (grey).

A left-click on the icon displays all blocked resources, the domain name and links to options and a quick start guide.

All script elements are blocked by default. Users now have options to change the preferred action for a particular script or domain.

• Allow: Whitelists the specific domain which does not necessarily have to be the root domain. E.g. whitelist www.ghacks.net but not de.ghacks.net.
• Trust: Whitelist the entire domain and all of its subdomains
• Distrust: Adds the current domain to the blacklist.
• Temp: Depending on the default mode the domain will either be allowed for the current session (if default mode is set to block) or allowed (if default mode is set to allow).

When you change a script's state, e.g. from blocked to allow, the page will be reloaded to take that into account. If you click on the icon again you will then see that the script is listed under Allowed Resources and no longer under blocked resources. A clear button is added to those scripts to undo the preference change.

The options of the ScriptNo extension offer customizations. Here you can set the default mode of operation (block or allow) and allow or block specific HTML elements. The latter could be interesting for users who always want to see noscript contents on the page or audio and video contents. There is even an option to block images from being loaded automatically.

The options list four additional settings to configure the extension. Privacy Settings allow the user to configure the following features:

• Block Unwanted Content: (Default: enabled; remove unwanted content from known ad / malware domains; domains gathered from MVPS HOSTS, hpHOSTS (ad / tracking servers), Peter Lowe's HOSTS Project, MalwareDomainList.com, and DNS-BH – Malware Domain Blocklist)
• Unwanted Content Mode: (Default: Relaxed; Relaxed = whitelisted domains will not be blocked; Strict = domains in the unwanted domain list will be blocked even if whitelisted)
• Antisocial Mode: (Default: disabled; always remove social widgets/buttons, even if whitelisted)
• Remove Webbugs: (Default: enabled; remove "invisible" third-party elements)
• Block Click-Through Referrer: (Default: enabled; blocks referrer information when clicking on external links)

Behavior Settings include the following options:

• Page Link Opening Behaviour: (Default: -Unchanged-; modifies how all links are opened)
• Respect Same-Domain: (Default: disabled; preserve same-domain elements)
• Auto-Refresh Page: (Default: enabled; auto-refresh page after list change)
• Show Rating Button: (Default: enabled; if ticked, adds rating button under domains in tab popup)
• Classic Options Mode: (Default: disabled; if ticked, closes tab options everytime an option is clicked)
• Sort by Domain: (Default: enabled; sorts URL lists by domains)

The remaining settings include a whitelist and blacklist where all previously added domains are listed (with options to remove), and import and export settings.

New users should take a look at the quick start guide. The guide needs a bit of revamping considering that it uses terms that are no longer found in the extension. But that's not a big issue.

The extension is hosted both on the Chrome Web Store and on Google Code where the source code can be downloaded and analyzed. Google Chrome users who want NoScript like protection for their web browser should definitely take a look at ScriptNo, it is awesome.

Update: ScriptNo has been renamed to ScriptSafe.

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