Noscript

[pcslookout]

Does anyone else use it ? Is it necessary ?

I hate when going to some websites not knowing what scripts to allow. It sucks. Especially when there is like 20 + scripts.

Any way to make this easier ?

 

[lxskllr]

Any way to make this easier ?

Privacy/security isn't free. NoScript makes browsing harder.

I have very few whitelisted scripts. I temporarily allow as needed, or sometimes just close a page because I don't need what they're offering anyway. Over time, build a *blacklist* of known crap, and that'll shorten the list you're presented with from a site, making it eadier to figure out what's actually needed.

 

[John Connor]

I just allow base 2nd level domains by default. Sometimes you have to allow the whole damn thing. And then sometimes I just have to use a plain vanilla browser. Such as the case if I want to play a Facebook game. The scripts there are unreal.

Or you could disable NoScript and it will ask you if you want basic protection. Won't block scripts though.

 

[pcslookout]

So is it a good idea to keep using NoScript even though it can be annoying sometimes ?

 

[lxskllr]

So is it a good idea to keep using NoScript even though it can be annoying sometimes ?

I think so. It's more work, but not hard for someone technical to deal with. For "normal" people, I set it to allow all by default. That gives a small amount of protection, with no hassles, and little resource usage, but it isn't nearly as powerful. Beats a blank, and there's no way someone like my mother could manage scripts.

 

[pcslookout]

I think so. It's more work, but not hard for someone technical to deal with. For "normal" people, I set it to allow all by default. That gives a small amount of protection, with no hassles, and little resource usage, but it isn't nearly as powerful. Beats a blank, and there's no way someone like my mother could manage scripts.

Ok thanks. One more thing to do you allow only scripts required permanently for websites you visit often ? Like for example anandtech ?

 

[lxskllr]

Ok thanks. One more thing to do you allow only scripts required permanently for websites you visit often ? Like for example anandtech ?

Very few. I do allow some scripts. Only for essential functionality, and only for sites I go to frequently. For AT specifically, I alternate between allowing, and disallowing. Scripts mostly aren't needed, but they're sometimes handy. The site loads quicker with all scripts blocks, so I generally prefer to leave them off.

 

[balloonshark]

I use Ghostery with noscript but I mainly use it for information purposes. Ghostery kinda gives me a heads up on which scripts are widgets which many websites need to function.

What sucks though is lately websites bury the important scripts. You can't can't even see them in noscript until you allow some of the unneeded scripts. I find myself using "temporarily allow all this page" more and more.

 

[Elixer]

Usually, it is pretty obvious which scripts to allow, and, while it is tedious to select which scripts to run (for example, on banking sites, you would allow pretty much all of them except for google crap ads.), but, as was mentioned, it all depends on how proactive you wish to be.

Once you look at a few sites, it is usually pretty easy to tell what is needed, and what is tracking / ads.

 

[Mike64]

It's certainly worth trying, imo. You can always disable or completely uninstall it if using it really drives you nuts. But if you're at all technically-minded, using it really isn't a big deal. After a couple of days of trial and error, it becomes pretty obvious which scripts are "necessary" for basic site functionality and which aren't. You can either whitelist the former, or just get used to picking them out of the list and temporarily allowing them as necessary (that's what I do.)

I do have the main domains whitelisted for a fair number of sites that I use often and more or less trust (I never do stuff like play games on Facebook, though). And just as importantly, imnsho, I have a number of domains "blacklisted" ("marked as untrusted") - like doubleclick, google-analytics and similar tracking/advertising sites/scripts that in my experience never interfere with the basic functionality of any site. (As "untrusted" domains/scripts, they're always disallowed and you don't even see them in the main listing, though you can access them easily enough with a couple more mouse clicks if you change your mind.)

For ordinary browsing, it's very, very rare that you'll have to allow everything on a page, and even if you do, it's nice to be able to do it on a "temporary" basis with a single mouse click, which NoScript provides as an option, and then equally easily allows you to revoke all the temporary permissions with another single click.

 

[Dude111]

Privacy/security isn't free. NoScript makes browsing harder.

I have scripts disabled 99% of the time... I do have to enable it on certain sites otherwise they dont work so your saying it makes it harder is true..... (Thankfully not many I goto require scripts)

 

[Apathetic]

I've been using for quite some time now. Sometimes it can be a real pain to determine which scripts to enable, but usually it's quite straight forward.

Dave