ScriptKeeper Guide & FAQ

An easy-to-use Javascript blocker and filtering addon, designed by both myself and lemonsqueeze exclusively for Opera 12 Presto. Available now on the Addons catalog.

This post details the various interface elements and options of ScriptKeeper, as well as providing a FAQ. For a much improved layout see the original version archived here.

Contents:

• Quick Mode menu
• Allow Toolbar
• Whitelisting, Temporary Permissions and Blacklisting
• Options
  • General
  • Allowed & Blocked sites
  • Import/Export
• FAQ

Quick Mode menu

There are 4 different modes of script filtering:

 

• Globally enable all

  Enables all Javascript to run, except blacklisted sites.

• Relaxed mode

  A less strict mode than Standard. Enables top-level domain and related sites automatically, eg: opera.com and static.myopera.com. Useful for making the core site work well while still disabling other scripts.

• Standard mode

  Only user permitted sites will run. By default top-level sites are not enabled in this mode but this can be changed in the Options.

• Globally disable all

  Prevents all Javascript from running.

 

Sites that have been automatically enabled by a mode are displayed with a half-blue color. The top-level domain is displayed with a bold font.

Allow Toolbar

From this toolbar you can Allow all (whitelist) all sites that appear in the list with one click, Allow all once to temporarily allow all the sites, or use the Undo button to reverse the last action.

The Undo state is not preserved after changing tabs.

Whitelisting, temporary permissions and blacklisting

To whitelist a site either click on it’s name in the list or add it manually to the Allowed sites section in the Options.

The slider will display solid blue with a tick to indicate which sites are whitelisted. To un-whitelist a site either re-click it’s name or manage your list in the Allowed sites section in the Options.

Tip: to whitelist whole domains (eg: google.com and all it’s sub-domains) add the domain manually to the Allowed sites list. Remember to add only the domain, without the ‘http://www‘ prefix.

Tip: Temporarily allowed sites can also be whitelisted by clicking the half-blue area on the slider, making it solid blue. The same applies for sites that have been automatically enabled by a Quick Mode.

To temporarily allow a site hover over it’s name and click the clock icon. The slider will change and show a ‘Cancel allow once’ icon which can be clicked to cancel the permission.

Temporary permissions are in effect until either the ‘Cancel allow once’ icon is clicked or the browser is closed.

To blacklist a site hold the Ctrl key down (⌘ on a Mac) and click a site’s name, or add the site manually to the Blocked sites section in the Options.

The slider will turn red and the site will hide from the list. To make blacklisted items visible again click the ‘eye’ icon at the bottom of the interface.

To un-blacklist a site either re-click it’s name or manage your list in the Blocked sites section in the Options.

Options

To open the Options click the ‘cog’ icon in the lower left corner of the interface. To change between different sections click the menu at the top of the interface.

General

Appearance

• Show large fontDisplays a larger font size in the interface.
• Icon badgeShow/hides the script counter on the toolbar icon.

Scripting

• Reload: [Normal/Cached]Determines whether scripts are reloaded from the server or cache after changes have been made. Cached makes reloading after changes quicker, but Normal is more reliable.
• Enable top-level: [Always/Relaxed only]Determines whether top-level domains are automatically enabled in both Standard and Relaxed mode, or only in Relaxed mode.

IFrames

• Scripts [Enable/Inherit/Disable]Determines the method of iframe script loading. Enable will enable scripts from iframes to always be loaded in the list (but not automatically permitted), Inherit will follow the user’s permission settings for iframe items, and Disable will always disable scripts from iframes being loaded and hide them in the list.

Globally disable all

• Imitate true disablingIf checked this setting allows ScriptKeeper to behave to sites as if Javascript was disabled from the browser preferences.

Allowed & Blocked sites

Sites that have been whitelisted can be managed in this section of the Options. They can be manually added by clicking the Add button, once to show it and again to enter the item in the list.

The same is available in the Blocked sites section used to manage blacklisted sites, and distinguished by a red Add button color.

Import/Export

The Import/Export section allows you to export your current settings to file using the Save button, including whitelists and blacklists. Saved settings can then be imported using the Load button.

A Reset button is also available to reset all settings back to the default, including whitelists and blacklists.
For Reset a popup warning will ask for further confirmation.

FAQ

• What are the benefits of using a script blocker such as ScriptKeeper?
• There are several positive benefits: improved page performance, many Javascript-based trackers are disabled automatically, and increased browser security as a result of scripting being disabled. For the security-conscious the default settings are recommended.

• Why do some features of sites not work when using this addon?
• While this may sound like an obvious answer ScriptKeeper is a Javascript-blocking addon, and is intended to disable all scripts a user hasn’t permitted, by default. As many sites use Javascript this may interfere with the functionality of some sites by disabling those scripts. By permitting scripts from a site these issues can be avoided. Enabling top-level sites ‘Always’, or switching to Relaxed mode are also ways to enable core scripts to run by default.

• Why do some scripts only appear in Globally enable all mode, or after allowing all?
• These are what could be described as ‘nested’ scripts, ones which only appear when another is already running. Think of them like nested dolls: if the first is disabled then others linked to it won’t be able to load.

  They are most noticeable when you’ve clicked the Allow all once button but after a page reload something still isn’t working. This is because new scripts have appeared in the list since the last page reload and need to also be permitted.

• Part of a site doesn’t work properly even when in Relaxed mode, how can I make it work?
• In such cases you can click the Allow all once button at the top of the interface, which will let all the scripts run temporarily on that site until the browser closes or you cancel the permissions.

• Why do some pages not auto-reload after a change has been made in ScriptKeeper?
• URLs with hashes (#) in them currently aren’t automatically reloaded due to the way Opera handles page reloads (as it believes it doesn’t require one if it’s only a hash change). Such pages will require a manual page refresh to see the changes.

• Opera’s RSS feed preview seems to get stuck ‘Loading’ when in Standard mode
• As Opera uses inline scripting to display the RSS feed preview it’s necessary to permit the top-level site before clicking the RSS icon in the addressbar. The LastPass addon also uses inline scripting when displaying it’s multi login choice, and similarly the top-level site will need to be enabled for this to display.

• Why do I sometimes see a ‘localhost’ item appear in the list of items?
• These are typically Opera userscripts or addons you have installed. As they use Javascript to interact with the page they show up as a script hosted locally.