resolving issues with web page functionality when using NS

[ginahoy]

Having marked hundreds if not thousands of script server sites as untrusted over the years, I occasionally encounter problems with functionality of a desirable webpage. If there are no pending scripts listed in Noscript, I open the Untrusted list. If it's a long list, I temporarily "Allow Scripts Globally" to quickly determine of the problem is related to NS. If that doesn't resolve the problem, I assume it must be something else and I fiddle with one of my other add-ons or try a different browser.

What I failed to realize until recently is that "Allow Scripts Globally" doesn't override Untrusted sites. I guess it makes sense that it wouldn't.

Now when I encounter a non-functioning web page and there are no pending scripts, I disable NS from the Firefox Add-ons menu, which requires restarting the browser. If that resolves the problem then I restart with NS enabled and "Temporarily Allow" the Untrusted sites one at a time until I discover which one(s) are needed for the current page to function. Then I have to permanently allow them. Often the Untrusted list is long, so I save some time by starting with sites that look promising, or at least skip the ones (like twitter and facebook) that are unlikely to be needed.

Am I missing something here or is this the most efficient way to deal with a non-functioning web page? For example, is there a way to quickly isolate the problem to Noscript (such as a temporary override of the Untrusted list) without having to disable Noscript and restart Firefox?

Thanks

[therube]

Only thing I"ll say is that "Untrusting" does nothing more then simply Not Allowing a site to begin with, except when Untrusted, the domain no longer shows up as one to Allow.

The way you're doing things, & not saying it is right or not, puts you in a conundrum in a situation as you describe.

Don't know a way around it.


Maybe if there were a Temporarily Disable Untrusted (TDU).
Then you do that & those domains then show up as being able to be Temporarily Allowed.
Undo TDU & those same domains are back on Untrusted?

[barbaz]

Untrusted means that you NEVER want to allow the site under any circumstances whatsoever; having the ability to blanket override this makes no sense. Also there is so much more to NoScript that can cause issues than just some site being on the Untrusted list, disabling the whole addon for troubleshooting makes sense as the first step.

Plus depending what the Untrusted site is, making a surrogate script for it might be the "actual" solution.

You might want to read through viewtopic.php?f=10&t=20761

[ginahoy]

Thanks for the prompt reply. The 'TDU' feature you describe is pretty much what I had in mind. But the most time consuming part is the not the initial disabling of NS to isolate a problem, so I'm not pushing to make this a new feature. I just wanted to make sure I'm using NS to its full capability. I've been known to waste time for not fully understanding the tools I use

[barbaz]

I've been known to waste time for not fully understanding the tools I use

I think we all have done that at some point.. I mean, like in a http://xkcd.com/763/ type way.

[ginahoy]

Uh-huh. Exactly.

[Thrawn]

Untrusted means that you NEVER want to allow the site under any circumstances whatsoever; having the ability to blanket override this makes no sense.

This.

If you might sometimes want to allow it, then it belongs on the regular menu.

However, for the purpose of investigating a site, rather than restarting Firefox, you can try starting a separate profile:

Code: Select all

firefox -profilemanager -new-instance -no-remote

That should launch a second copy of Firefox with the profile manager appearing first; you can create a new profile, install NoScript, and investigate the site, then close it and update your whitelist/blacklist in the original browser.

[barbaz]

@Thrawn:
The command line you had posted does not work on current Firefox versions. Last I checked, -p is gone and -P requires an explicit profile name. Also it's likely needed to specify -new-instance if Firefox is already running, as -no-remote may not imply -new-instance anymore (?).

I have replaced it with a command line I *know* will work in current Firefox.

[Thrawn]

Thanks.