Welcome to UserJS.org
Written on 2005-05-22 17:00 by Arve. Last modified 2005-09-19 09:19
Welcome to UserJS.org. This site is dedicated to hosting User JavaScript files for use in the Opera browser. User JavaScript enables users to add or modify browser or web site functionality.
What is User JavaScript?
User JavaScript, or user scripting for short, is pieces of JavaScript code that is installed in the Opera browser. These scripts can interact with web pages, and add or modify behavior. These scripts can do almost anything. Some examples:
- Remove irrelevant or annoying content from websites
- Fix broken web sites, or web sites that try to lock people into other browsers, such as Internet Explorer.
- Add missing functionality from sites:
- Add price comparison services to online stores.
- Annotation features.
- Add notes and changes directly to a web page.
- Add persistent search results to search engine pages.
- Protect users from malicious web sites. The Block Last Measure script protects users from the Last Measure Exploit that opens endless streams of popup windows, regardless of popup settings.
- Add or extend browser functionality:
- Preload content of certain types. See the Image Preloader script for an example.
- Add features to pages of certain types. For instance, the Autosizer scripts adds four new viewing modes for Opera’s built in image-viewer.
What is UserJS.org?
UserJS.org is a community-driven effort to provide and host user scripts for the Opera browser. In addition to the hosting, scripts on UserJS are subject to review before publishing:
- The moderators will make sure that scripts are working prior to publication, so that users can install a script, and know beforehand that it will work.
- Every script will be evaluated for privacy and security: Even inexperienced users should be able to install scripts, and be sure that scripts don’t spy on their surfing behavior or actions.
- Scripts that perform any kind of fraudelent activity targetted at web sites will not be permitted. Scripts that hijack affiliate or ad ids will not be hosted.
- If a script hosted on UserJS.org interacts with third-party services, the script information page will disclose which services the script interacts with, and will link to the privacy policies of said services.
These guidelines are in place because UserJS.org firmly believes that user scripting technology should be available and usable for everyone, regardless of skillset.
Who is behind UserJS.org?
As of today, there are three moderators for UserJS.org:
- Andrew Gregory: Opera Forums moderator and author of highly useful articles about and scripts for the Opera browser.
- Arve Bersvendsen: Author of the web log Virtuelvis and author of many of the current scripts on this site.
- Mark ‘TarquinWJ’ Wilton-Jones: Author of the popular How to Create web site with a lot of Opera reference material.
How to subscribe to UserJS.org
If you are using Opera, or another reader for newsfeeds, there are two separate feeds available:
Please see the subscription options page for more information about the newsfeeds:
How to submit scripts
If you are a script author, and you would like to see your work appear on UserJS.org, there is a separate page with instructions for submitting scripts
Compatibility
All scripts on UserJS.org are compatible with the Opera web browser, and the minimum required version number is listed on the script information page.
In some cases, the scripts hosted on UserJS.org are also compatible with the Greasemonkey user scripting engine for the Firefox browser. If a script is compatible with Greasemonkey, a separate download link appears on the script information page.
Planned features
Since this is the first version of UserJS.org, not all features are in place. Some of the planned features:
- Simple versioning: Download old versions. Compare different versions.
- A comprehensive help and tutorial section.
- Bug/issue reporting tool.
- Improved script submission features.
- A help/tutorial section.
- Site and script search.
- Update system
These features will be rolled out when they are ready, and no timetable for these features will be provided.
Technical info
UserJS.org is almost entirely run with the Movable Type Publishing Platform. If you are interested in learning more about how UserJS.org is built, please follow the Virtuelvis weblog which will cover the building of this site in a series of articles. The hosting on UserJS.org is provided by DreamHost
Again, welcome to UserJS.org, we hope you find this service useful.
Commenting for entries is currently disabled. If you want to leave a public comment about UserJS.org, please use the forum.