Fannish Browsing Tools, Part 2

[gnatkip]

I don't know if this is a good time to make this post, but then I don't know when IS a good time, what with all the hell and all the handbaskets. It's a list of some bells and whistles for LJ, LJ clones, and other fannish places. See also Part One.

I use some of these a lot; some not at all. I am not endorsing any of them. As with anything you install, please research them enough to satisfy yourself that they're safe.

• Greasemonkey Scripts
• LJ & Clones - Entry Pages & Comments
• LJ & Clones - Userinfo
• LJ & Clones - Friends Page
• LJ & Clones - Contextual
• Non-LJ Sites
• Firefox Extensions
• Other

Greasemonkey Scripts:

"Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that allows you to customize the way webpages look and function." In order to install these scripts, you'll need both the Firefox browser and the Greasemonkey extension.

Even if these don't work right out of the box with LJ clones (InsaneJournal, GreatestJournal, JournalFen, etc), most of them can be made to work by editing either the "Included Pages" or the code itself.

LJ & Clones - Entry Pages & Comments:

• killfile
  
  
  
  I mentioned this in the last post, but hadn't used it yet. Well, I've had it installed for several months now, and it works great, even though I can only remember using it one time. Apparently just the IDEA that I can smash trolls into oblivion is enough to satisfy me, without me having to do much actual smashing.
  



• IJ Skins: Class Adder
  
  This lets you change the default InsaneJournal page schemes. After installing it, you'll need to set your InsaneJournal scheme to something compatible, install the Stylish extension, and then pick out a Stylish script that you like. There's also a version for LJ, but I haven't tried that.
  

LJ & Clones - Userinfo:

• Always link to full JournalFen userinfo
  
  Appends "?mode=full" to userinfo links. Also see the LJ version I mentioned before.

LJ & Clones - Friends Page:

• LJ Show comments inline
  
  Lets you view a post's comments without opening its entry page. Awesome. With this plus the "LiveJournal Addons" extension below, it's possible to read every post on my flist, lj-cuts and comments and all, without ever actually leaving my friends page.
  



• Collapse Redux
  
  Keep track of how far down your flist you've read. I mentioned this on the last post, but hadn't used it much. Well, it's worth mentioning again, because I love it. Occasionally it goes on the fritz and I am disconsolate! I don't know how to read my flist anymore without it.
  
  
  
  
  
  (These screenshots will look different from the script you install because I edited the appearance of the links.)
  



• Talk To The Hand
  
  Hide entries based on their tags, with an option to toggle them back on.
  



• Cuz the Face Ain't Listening
  
  Hide entries in communities based on the poster's username, with an option to toggle them back on.
  

LJ & Clones - Contextual:

• contextual hover menu: remove friending links
  
  
  
  Last time I recced the Better User Popup, but since then I've decided to use the official LJ one, mostly because I like that it tells you your friending status: "You are watching this community," etc. A lot of times I see a community link and think Hey, cool, I should watch that! Only to hover over and discover that I already am.
  
  BUT, with the friending links right there and immediate, with no confirmation screen, I kept accidentally friending & defriending people, and felt like an ass. Of all the ways that friending can lead to drama, I thought I could at least take CLUMSINESS out of the equation. So I wrote this little thing. It's actually a Stylish script. It removes the "Add friend", "Remove friend", "Watch Community", "Stop Watching", "Join Community", and "Leave" links, but keeps the "Send message" link.
  



• ljwho
  
  Username annotation. I recced this last time before I'd really used it, but I have to mention it again because this little sucker is fan-flippin-tastic. The most useful thing I do with it is to flag folks whose fannish productions I like. People whose journals I'm not watching, but who post fic or art or vids or meta or whatever that I don't want to miss. Now, when they show up on newsletters, they stand out because there's a big shiny flag next to their name.
  
  
  
  (This screenshot will look different from the script you install because I edited the appearance of the link.) [ETA: More on that here.]
  
  Of course, this tends to add to the "rich get richer" problem, where you may miss out on some new names because you're spending time with familiar names. But hey, you have to narrow down your focus somehow, and this is one way that works for me.
  



• LJ unusericon
  
  
  
  Returns deleted usernames to their pre-Boldthrough appearance. Before I found this, I made a little Stylish script to accomplish something similar, but this is way better.
  

Non-LJ Sites:

• del.icio.us - show user comments inline
  
  Unfold the comments inline, without having to go to the "saved by x people" page.
  



• fav.icio.us2
  
  
  
  "Adds the favicons of the links in del.icio.us before them." It does make page loading a little bulky, but it's worth it for me. There's also a version for Google running around somewhere.
  



• IMDb Spoiler Remover
  
  "Hides the display of Plot Keywords, Trivia, Goofs, Quotes, User Comments, FAQ Entries, and Forum Topics from the *main movie page*, but still keeps (and renames for legibility) the links to all these sections for those that are curious *after* having seen the movie."
  



• IMDB enlarge actor pictures on hover
  
  What it says on the tin.
  



• imeem - disable video auto play
  
  The video doesn't start caching when the page loads, only after you click the play button. Works better if you change the Included Pages from "http://*imeem.com/video*" to "http://*imeem.com/*"
  



• YouTube Cleaner 2.0
  
  
  
  Removes "Comments & Responses" and "Related Videos," with the option to toggle them back on. Fantastic. Because YouTube comments are the sort of thing that you shouldn't have to face unless you're actively seeking punishment.
  



• YouTube Full Description
  
  Shows the full description without you having to click "(more)."
  



• YouTube stop video download
  
  Adds a tickybox to remember whether or not you want the videos to autoplay. (YouTube default is that they start caching when the page loads.) Also adds a stop button, to stop the video download entirely, not just pause it.
  

Firefox Extensions:

In order to install these extensions, you need the Firefox browser.

• Morning Coffee
  
  "Keeps track of daily routine websites and opens them in tabs." There are other ways to accomplish this, like sticking your bookmarks in a folder and right-clicking "Open All in Tabs," but this is what I use. It's especially handy since migration began, and I now have four flists plus an outside feed reader to open, either every day or a couple times a week, depending.
  



• Adblock Plus
  
  It blocks ads, yes, but you can also use it to block strobe-y icons you don't want to see. It can block Snap previews, too.
  



• Update Scanner
  
  
  
  I was resistant to LJ's tracking function for a long time, because it kinda squicked me. I mean dude, that is a STALKER THUMBTACK; it was creeping my shit OUT. But then I got over it when I found out how incredibly useful it is for keeping track of WsIP or interesting conversations. But free users only get 25, and I can't get it to work on InsaneJournal at all. Also, when I try to follow tags with LJ's message center, I find that I miss some notifications entirely -- maybe because the entry was posted without tags and they were edited in later?
  
  So I found this little thing, and it's terrific. I use it to follow the tags of some journals that I don't have on my flist. You can choose how often to scan, and choose the ignore threshold (0 characters up to 1000 characters). And then when you view the page, the changes are highlighted. There are external websites that will do this job as well, but I like this because it all takes place on my machine.
  



• LiveJournal Addons
  
  As I understand it, this extension does a whole bunch of stuff, but I use it for only two things: lj-cut unfolding and comment coding. (I cleaned the contextual menu of all the extra stuff I didn't want using Menu Editor, and cleaned the status bar using Organize Status Bar.) Surely there's a way to finagle it into working on LJ clone sites, too, but I haven't tried that.
  
  You can open cut tags without ever leaving your flist. Cool, huh? With this plus the "LJ Show comments inline" script above, I can read every post on my flist, comments and all, without ever actually leaving my friends page.
  
  
  
  
  
  I can never remember the right code for , but now this does it for me. It adds image tags, too. Plus, it will bold, strike, and italicize using css rather than html.
  
  
  
  



• Resurrect Pages
  
  Adds an option to your right-click menu to resurrect a dead page or a link to a dead page, using Google cache, the Wayback Machine, or several other services. I used to use cache bookmarklets sometimes, but I like this better.
  

Other:

• ljArchive (Windows)
  
  I'm sure most of you know about this, but I'll say it anyway. It backs up your journals. The associated comm is ljarchive.
  



• Google Alerts
  
  Vanity surfing brought right to your inbox! You know you do it. Ok, ok, you don't HAVE to use it just for vanity searches. You can set advanced queries like "searchterm site:domain.com" or "link:www.domain.com," and you can specify news, blogs, web, video, groups, or comprehensive.
  



• Personal World Clock
  
  What time is it right now around your flist?
  



• StatCounter
  
  Free, invisible hit counter that works with plain html, not javascript. In the interest of disclosure, there's one on this page right now! *paranoia fingers* [ETA: More info in the comments.]
  



• Google Reader
  
  This is the rss feed reader I use for fannish stuff I can't get on my flists.
  



• the_lj_herald
  
  "Unofficial LiveJournal newsletter. It reports bugs, upcoming changes, maintenance events, etc." Rather than trying to keep up with all those newsy LJ comms, wondering where LJ might decide to secrete info next, just watch this one. Hehe, I said secrete.
  

Back to Part One