Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Grease Monkey - Power For Those Who Tinker
Grease Monkey is a Firefox extension that enables you to implement "scripts". Scripts are code, written by the user community, that load just prior to a web page. For example, if I want to add some features to Google Maps, lets say I want the map to zoom when I roll the mouse wheel, after I've installed both Grease Monkey and the appropriate script, the script loads every time I go to Google Maps and I have that capability. Most Scripts are very vertical and deal with one page at a time. However, there are some scripts that can run on several different web sites. Most of Grease Monkey's value is attained when you use one page a lot and you want to tweak the way the page works. I highly recommend Grease Monkey and the scripts for anyone that is willing to spend some time to figure it out. It's really not that hard it just takes a little bit of tinkering. You shouldn't make Grease Monkey the first Firefox extension that you install.
After you install Grease Monkey look under your Firefox "Tools" menu and you will see a command that says "install user script". I've included a link below to one of the best collection of Grease Monkey scripts I've seen. Just pick the script you want and click on it. You'll see the code and go under "tools" and "install user script" and you've got it! No need to reboot with scripts, they work right away, just reload your web page.
After you have installed a user script under the Firefox "tools" menu there is also an entry for "manage user scripts" so you can delete anything that is not working. Here is a list of the user scripts I have installed currently.
Download Grease Monkey Extension
https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=748
Good Script Collections
http://userscripts.org/
http://www.dunck.us/collab/GreaseMonkeyUserScripts
The Scripts I've Installed (I'll post individual links and reviews/edits soon)
Google Map Mousewheel Zooming
Reduce Google Fusion Logo
AutoLogin
Googlelicious
MyLocations for Google Maps
Smilefy
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