A userscript (or user script) is a program, usually written in

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, ofte ...

, for modifying web pages to augment browsing. Uses include adding shortcut buttons and keyboard shortcuts, controlling playback speeds, adding features to sites, and enhancing the

browsing history Web browsing history refers to the list of web pages a user has visited, as well as associated metadata such as page title and time of visit. It is usually stored locally by web browsers in order to provide the user with a history list to go ba ...

. On desktop browsers such as Firefox, userscripts are enabled by use of a

userscript manager {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A userscript manager is a type of browser extension and augmented browsing technology that provides a user interface to manage userscripts. The main purpose of a userscript manager is to execut ...

browser extension such as

Greasemonkey Greasemonkey is a userscript manager made available as a Mozilla Firefox extension. It enables users to install scripts that make on-the-fly changes to web page content after or before the page is loaded in the browser (also known as aug ...

. The Presto-based Opera-supported userscripts (referred to as User JavaScript) are placed in a designated directory. Userscripts are often referred to as

scripts, named after the original userscript manager for Firefox. On Wikipedia, a

user scripts A userscript (or user script) is a program, usually written in JavaScript, for modifying web pages to augment browsing. Uses include adding shortcut buttons and keyboard shortcuts, controlling playback speeds, adding features to sites, and enha ...

feature is enabled for registered users that allows them to install userscripts to augment editing and viewing of the encyclopedia's pages.

Userscript managers

is a type of browser extension and augmented browsing technology that provides a user interface to manage scripts. The main purpose of a userscript manager is to execute scripts on webpages as they are loaded. The most common operations performed by a userscript manager include downloading, creating, installing, organizing, deleting and editing scripts, as well as modifying script permissions (e.g. website exceptions).

Userscript repositories

One aspect of userscripts is that they can be shared. They can be uploaded to a userscript repository where they become available to other users for downloading. Historically (circa 2005–2011) userscripts.org, created by American programmer Jesse Andrews, was the largest such repository for userscripts. Over time, the site was transitioned between various maintainers before it went offline completely in May 2014. All that remains is a mirror, which is useful for archival purposes. A handful of the most active contributors in the userscripts.org community created ''OpenUserJS'', which is actively in use today. Also available is ''Greasy Fork'', a repository largely developed and maintained by Canadian programmer Jason Barnabe. Users of the

and

Tampermonkey Tampermonkey is a donationware userscript manager that is available as a browser extension. This software enables the user to add and use userscripts, which are JavaScript programs that can be used to modify web pages. History Tampermonkey ...

extensions may choose to install scripts from any location.

References

{{Reflist

External links

OpenUserJS

Userscripts.org archival mirror

Greasespot.net, official website for Greasemonkey (Firefox extension)
JavaScript

Userscript managers

Userscript repositories

See also

References

External links