Issues using applications on Facebook

[Guest]

I use Face book applications by Zynga, like Mafia Wars. Every time they update their site, the game goes all haywire for me due to scripting issues. Last time, I was able to work around it, but this time I can't seem to get some of the pages to load correctly as I keep getting XSS warnings. I have tried unsuccessfully to add mwfb.zynga.com to the whitelist area to allow scripting from the application from that site. I type in http://mwfb.zynga.com and the allow button appears until I type the m for com and then goes opaque on me. How am I able to add it to the list, if I'm not even given the option.

I wouldn't care so much as I'm not that high of a level and it is a free application, but I was getting into the game and would hate to have to lose the progress made. Please advise in simplest of terms as I am in no way a computer guru. I have also appealed to Zynga.com to address the issue, but have not heard back from them as yet. I'm fairly certain they have had multiple complaints about the maintenance update screwing up game play, even for those of us who don't use the NoScript program.

Thank you for your help in this situation.

Sincerely,

John

[Alan Baxter]

I type in http://mwfb.zynga.com and the allow button appears until I type the m for com and then goes opaque on me. How am I able to add it to the list, if I'm not even given the option.

This will happen if http://mwfb.zynga.com is already effectively whitelisted. It sounds like mwfb.zynga.com or zynga.com is already in your whitelist. Your facebook problem may be caused by something else. Is there another script you need to allow? Is there a Recently blocked sites entry in your NoScript menu? If there is, then click Reset in its submenu and try your facebook again. Then check for the existence of a Recently blocked sites entry again.

[Ironghost]

I'm a step ahead of him. Same game, same problem. I can't turn the anti-xss features off to play the game right anymore. I can guess why they did it (to speed the game up) but now I can't get Noscript to let me play it right. It just won't turn off.

[Guest]

which is why I am about to uninstall noscript. It used to be one of my favorites but its just causing too many problems now

[GµårÐïåñ]

Not to dismiss the problems being experienced, but the issue described is affecting a select group it seems. So it might be time to find out what other things these people have in common that is causing the problem. I can with almost 100% certainty say that is not a NoScript issue and if you were to uninstall it you might get your problem fixed by coincidence but you leave yourself open to much more, decide carefully and after you have done your due diligence to make sure you are blaming the right entity for a problem. I am not having this problem and neither is 14 other machines I checked that are running the latest NoScript, so there has to be more to it.

[Tom T.]

@ John and Guest: FAQ 4.4 and FAQ 4.5 will tell you how to disable XSS protection for individual sites that you are certain are safe, or to temporarily disable XSS protection altogether (NOT recommended).

If you need help creating the exception, please reproduce the XSS warning, then in Firefox Tools > Error Console, please copy and paste here the red "Error" messages, plus any pertinent blue "Information" messages (messages relating to NoScript), so that the exception can be fine-tuned.

Please keep in mind that as sites grow more complex and continue to mix up content from other sites, that false positives are possible. They are a relatively small price to pay for avoiding the vast number of real, malicious exploits happening every second. The increased complexity of web sites requires increased complexity in NoScript to deal with these issues. Your security is our first concern. Thank you for keeping that in mind.

[lllbob]

I fixed my mafia wars problem like this....

My problem was:
I select a Gift to Send, and on the Next page, The friend selection part would not load up.
(The page you requested was not found.)
Therefore I could not select any friends to send the gift to.
See Pic: http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/9730 ... isprob.jpg
and I have scripts allowed for facebook and zynga. But still it wouldn't work.

I Fixed it by doing this:
A: Go to Noscript Options.
B: Click the Advanced tab.
C: Click the XSS tab.
D: Add these entries to the Exceptions. Right below the stumbleupon entry.
http://mwfb.static.zynga.com
http://www.facebook.com
E: Click Ok.

Now reload Mafia Wars and send your friends a gift.

and I added the entries directly into the Exceptions list.
Not below where it reads: Pattern matching sample. That seems like it's not enabled.
and I have Scripts Enabled for facebook apps and mafia wars / zynga.

* If any more problems arise, I will return.

[Tom T.]

and I added the entries directly into the Exceptions list.
Not below where it reads: Pattern matching sample. That seems like it's not enabled.

Correct. The Exceptions should be added in the large, blank box. The "Pattern matching sample" is just that, a sample of a type of exception you might write. In other words, "Follow this pattern". That box is not intended to be active. Sorry if this was not clear. Hope this solves the issue for the other posters.

@ Other posters: Please let us know if lllbob's exceptions solve your issue, so that the topic can be marked as resolved. Thank you.

[Ironghost]

I think it's working. Facebook's running slow right now, however. I'll post back if it works.

[penpusher]

My problem is much simpler: I can't get any of the blue buttons (e.g. share a comment) to allow me to post to people's walls! Facebook has been completely unusable to me since I installed no script. Is there anything short of deleting the program I can do to make this work?

[Giorgio Maone]

Did you allow both facebook.com and fbcdn.net?

[penpusher]

Yes, I allowed both. The problem is actually bigger than I first stated here. I cannot close ads by clicking the "x," I cannot go to my "inbox" (well, I can go there when it says there is mail, but I cannot see my inbox to find out what the mailings are - in other words, I get to the inbox page. I can see all of the facebook outline so I see it's my inbox but there is nothing where the mailings should be), and I cannot comment to anyone or write on anyone's wall.

Maybe I have to delete the program and reload it? I have no clue. Thanks for responding.

[penpusher]

Update: I seem to be able to use facebook with a bare minimum of issues if I work in IE. Most everything seems ok there. I guess that will be my solution.

[Ironghost]

Mine's working now. I followed lllbob's solution and it works now.

[Tom T.]

@ penpusher:
1) It seems you use both the pre-release of Fx 3.6 as well as the current release, 3.5.5. Is there any difference in the symptoms between these two?

2) Please try one more time at Facebook, and as you encounter each problem that you listed, go to the Firefox Tools > Error Console and copy all red "Error" messages, as well as any blue "Information" messages that relate to NoScript. Paste these into your reply. (Since you have multiple issues, you might like to copy these to a text document first, to make your reply here more coherent.) This will allow better diagnosis of the issue.

3) The reason it works better with IE is that IE, by default, allows virtually all JavaScript and plugins, unless you place the site in the Restricted zone. This may be more convenient, but it is very dangerous. That is the reason for NoScript's existence: to control scripting and plug-ins. We will help you to find the right combination of permissions if you help us with the above information. Of course, it is always your choice to use IE, but please be warned that you are exposing yourself to far greater risks to your security and privacy.

Coincidentally, Tuesday, December 8, US time, was Microsoft's montly Patch Tuesday of security updates. Multiple critical flaws were patched in IE, some of them one to three months old. See MS KB976325. Note that every active version of IE was affected, from 5.1 to IE 8, and that every supported platform was affected, from Windows 2000 through XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Food for thought.

Edit: @ Ironghost: Thanks for the feedback.