Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

General discussion about the NoScript extension for Firefox
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hailstorm
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Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by hailstorm »

This new version of NoScript seems to have completely wiped out years of my painstakingly configured settings. The bulk of the work has been on the list of whitelisted sites. In previous versions of NoScript, there were 2 import/export features:

1. Whitelist only: This only imported whitelisted sites
2. All NoScript settings: This impoted every setting in NoScript with a single click

Is there any way to transfer over the sites I chose to whitelist over the years, or is the import feature gone forever? The newest version of NoScript doesn't even seem to have an import/export feature.
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Giorgio Maone
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by Giorgio Maone »

  1. If you upgraded to Firefox 57 without uninstalling NoScript 5, as soon as you updated to NoScript 10 your settings (including your whitelist) should have been automatically migrated
  2. Otherwise, if you've got a NoScript 5 export (no matter if a plain text whitelist or a full JSON configuration file) it can be imported in NoScript 10 by using the "Import" button on the top right of the Options panel.
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barbaz
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by barbaz »

hailstorm wrote:The newest version of NoScript doesn't even seem to have an import/export feature.
hailstorm, are you sure you have the newest version of NoScript? (10.1.5.9 at time of writing)
*Always* check the changelogs BEFORE updating that important software!
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hailstorm
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by hailstorm »

I have 10.1.5.6. I relied on the automatic update feature, but I guess it wasn't keeping up. I did a manual check too, but it said "No updates found". Do I have to manually install 10.1.5.9 from Firefox's add-ons site?
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barbaz
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by barbaz »

*Always* check the changelogs BEFORE updating that important software!
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hailstorm
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by hailstorm »

Well, I was busy for a few days and couldn't do the manual update, though I've installed add-ons manually before, so I don't think I personally would have had a problem doing it. I was about to do it just now, but then I noticed that I had automatically been updated to the latest version (10.1.6), and the import feature is there now. I'm not sure why NoScript would say no newer updates were available when one was clearly available at the time. I had no network problems at the time, so I can only guess something was wrong with the update feature. Anyways, that problem is taken care of now.

As for the import feature, it appeared to work. I actually had 2 different groups of exported settings. Both of these were in plaintext: 1) Complete settings 2) Site whitelist only. #1 failed to import at all, but #2 worked.

May I ask why there is no option to delete sites from the list though? I would be willing to manually edit the list if you can tell me where in Firefox's folder (or elsewhere) the whitelist is stored in.

Also, the default option for new sites appears to be to allow scripts. Videos on sites that were not on my whitelist, for example, played without any problems. This is dangerous. I use NoScript to block unknown sites by default. Is there any way to change the default behavior back to the way it was in the older version of NoScript (scripts on unknown sites forbidden unless scripts are globally allowed)?
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barbaz
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by barbaz »

*Always* check the changelogs BEFORE updating that important software!
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hailstorm
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by hailstorm »

For anyone still following this topic, I figured out a way to remove sites manually, but it's very cumbersome. I had to check the "Debug" box and then manually delete the lines with the sites I wanted removed.

I also figured out how to change the default settings to block all scripts. Basically, if you click the default button for any site and uncheck the boxes, that changes the default settings for all unknown sites. You can test this by clicking the default button for a second site; you'll see that the same boxes you unchecked from the first site's default button apply to the second site as well.

These solutions are less than ideal, but once you figure it out, you can probably survive until a better user interface is designed. I suggest backing up your settings regularly with the export list. Had I not done this, I would have lost years of settings when I was automatically upgraded to NoScript 10 without warning. I know it has been said that settings are automatically migrated over when NoScript is updated, but this did not happen for me for some reason. My years of work in that whitelist reverted to a very small list of default sites. I didn't even install the newer version of NoScript manually or uninstall the old one; Noscript upgraded itself automatically, but the settings were gone. I would have lost everything if I didn't have backups of the whitelist.

I do have one last remaining question though: How do you manually edit XSS site settings? XSS does not appear to be a part of the debug box. Nor does it appear to be a part of any site's specific settings. Right now, the only thing I can do with XSS is to "Clear XSS Choices", which could wipe out 99 sites I configured correctly because I made a mistake on the 100th site.
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bo elam
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by bo elam »

hailstorm wrote:For anyone still following this topic, I figured out a way to remove sites manually, but it's very cumbersome. I had to check the "Debug" box and then manually delete the lines with the sites I wanted removed.
You can also do it via NoScript Options, click Default on any Trusted/Untrusted domain you like to remove from the list.
hailstorm wrote:
I also figured out how to change the default settings to block all scripts. Basically, if you click the default button for any site and uncheck the boxes, that changes the default settings for all unknown sites. You can test this by clicking the default button for a second site; you'll see that the same boxes you unchecked from the first site's default button apply to the second site as well.

These solutions are less than ideal, but once you figure it out, you can probably survive until a better user interface is designed.
I like the way the presets are designed, you just have to remember that the Trusted, Default and Untrusted presets are global and apply to all domains that fall in the same category.

Bo
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hailstorm
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by hailstorm »

bo elam wrote: You can also do it via NoScript Options, click Default on any Trusted/Untrusted domain you like to remove from the list.
The site doesn't actually disappear from my list right away when I do this. Does it disappear if I close and reopen the list?

Also, does anyone know how to change XSS settings without erasing all existing settings? I'd prefer to selectively change XSS for certain sites instead of starting over every time I make a small mistake.
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by Giorgio Maone »

hailstorm wrote:
bo elam wrote: You can also do it via NoScript Options, click Default on any Trusted/Untrusted domain you like to remove from the list.
The site doesn't actually disappear from my list right away when I do this. Does it disappear if I close and reopen the list?
Yes, exactly. Until you close you've got a chance to change your mind (even though the permissions apply right away).
hailstorm wrote: Also, does anyone know how to change XSS settings without erasing all existing settings? I'd prefer to selectively change XSS for certain sites instead of starting over every time I make a small mistake.
You cannot yet, that will come.
Unfortunately WebExtensions do not have a standard interface for hidden preferences.
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hailstorm
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Re: Lost years of NoScript site settings after Firefox 57

Post by hailstorm »

Thanks for helping me navigate the new changes in NoScript! Initially I was totally confused by the new interface, and wasn't even sure I could continue using NoScript. After all the helpful answers (including some from the developer himself!), I was able to understand all the critical functions, and with what I know now, I can easily hold out until the few remaining features like XSS are finalized. My surfing now continues largely as it did before NoScript 10. I'm grateful for all these helpful comments!
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