Textual Reflexions

Many people message me with problems in installing the user scripts in their browsers. Here is a little FAQ to help you out:

• How do I install (GreaseMonkey) user scripts?: You have just to follow these simple steps:
  1. Make sure you use Firefox as your browser. If you don’t have it yet you can dowload it here.
  2. Install the GreaseMonkey Firefox add-on.
  3. Click on the link of the user script. A confirmation dialog for the installation should pop-up. Press the ‘Install’ button and you are done.

  You can find a more detailed walk-through in the Greasemonkey Manual. A common mistake is to still try using Internet Explorer even after the installation of Firefox, I can show you my logs to convince you that people fall into this trap. Yes, downloading Firefox is not enough, you have to use it.

• When and how should I reinstall the scripts?: The only reason you should ever reinstall a script is if the data stored in your browser becomes inconsistent (for example during an upgrade). If such is the case check the script commands (Tools > GreaseMonkey > Script Commands) to see if there is a command like “Reset preferences”. If you don’t find any you can uninstall the script and install it again, but while uninstalling don’t forget to check the “Also uninstall associated preferences” checkbox: without that your reinstall is useless.
• What about privacy?: User scripts are installed in your browser, store data on your computer (Firefox preferences) and no information gathered is ever sent. At least this is the policy of my scripts. You can find malicious user scripts on the web, so stay away from them. Some of my scripts (notably the PackRat script) need to download daily a database from my server, I use the number of hits to know the number of daily users.
• Where can I find other user scripts?: A great resource is UserScripts.org, all my scripts have a page there and you can easily search the site for anything you want.
• I would like a script for the … application, what should I do?: If it is a Facebook application post a feature request on the Facebook GreaseMonkey SourceForge tracker. We’ll try to answer you as soon as possible. Otherwise ask on the UserScripts.org forums.