Extensions and custom buttons for UXP browsers - Corrections, modifications, adjustments, and special recommendations

[AstroSkipper]

7 hours ago, Mathwiz said:

Looks like a great extension! Unfortunately there's another theme compatibility problem: I'm using the FT DeepDark 14.3 theme and almost nothing is visible!

I could give up on the theme, but first I thought I'd ask: is there any way to adjust the add-on's color scheme to accommodate a black background?

I don't use dark themes. Thus, it is working perfectly for me.  But one thing is clear. You can change or modify extensions in every conceivable way, especially the legacy extensions for our beloved UXP browsers. I assume there is CSS code inside the extension which might be adapted for dark themes. Unpack the extension and have a look inside!

[Mathwiz]

Hmm.... Only one .css file I can find, in /chrome/skin, and it doesn't specify much:

#ua-status-toggle {width: 24px; height: 24px;}
toolbar[iconsize="small"] #ua-status-toggle {width: 16px; height: 16px;}

Looks like it just makes the add-on's icon 24x24, unless it's in a toolbar with small icons, in which case it's 16x16.

There's a bunch of .xul code in this thing though! I assume that's where the "secret" lies. Unfortunately I know nothing about xul, so I'm pretty much stuck at this point.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

17 hours ago, Mathwiz said:

I'm using the FT DeepDark 14.3

Are you referring to this - https://msfn.org/board/topic/180462-my-browser-builds-part-2/?do=findComment&comment=1187101 ?

I don't use dark themes but I'm finding over a hundred .css files inside the ft_deepdark.jar file.

Edited November 26, 2023 by NotHereToPlayGames

[AstroSkipper]

55 minutes ago, Mathwiz said:

Hmm.... Only one .css file I can find, in /chrome/skin, and it doesn't specify much:

#ua-status-toggle {width: 24px; height: 24px;}
toolbar[iconsize="small"] #ua-status-toggle {width: 16px; height: 16px;}

Looks like it just makes the add-on's icon 24x24, unless it's in a toolbar with small icons, in which case it's 16x16.

There's a bunch of .xul code in this thing though! I assume that's where the "secret" lies. Unfortunately I know nothing about xul, so I'm pretty much stuck at this point.

Right! The overlay.css file inside the folder /chrome/skin is the one you have to modify. I have installed the theme FT DeepDark 14.3 theme and the extension User Agent Status 1.7.2 in Serpent 52. No problems here. The text in the status bar panel is readable. Here is a screenshot:



At next, I added a bit CSS code to change the appearance of the status panel. I decided to keep the background colour which is obviously black and changed the text colour to yellow for better visibility. Here is a screenshot:



Here is the download link to the modded version I made for you just for fun: https://www.mediafire.com/file/v4wa5byn6vgzeu4/ua-status-1.7.2-FT-DeepDark-mod.xpi/file

Cheers, AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

1 hour ago, AstroSkipper said:

Right! The overlay.css file inside the folder /chrome/skin is the one you have to modify. I have installed the theme FT DeepDark 14.3 theme and the extension User Agent Status 1.7.2 in Serpent 52. No problems here. The text in the status bar panel is readable. Here is a screenshot:



At next, I added a bit CSS code to change the appearance of the status panel. I decided to keep the background colour which is obviously black and changed the text colour to yellow for better visibility. Here is a screenshot:



Here is the download link to the modded version I made for you just for fun: https://www.mediafire.com/file/v4wa5byn6vgzeu4/ua-status-1.7.2-FT-DeepDark-mod.xpi/file

Cheers, AstroSkipper

@Mathwiz You can change the background and text colour as you prefer. The text can also be formatted in bold type. Here is another screenshot with bold text in the status bar panel:



And here is the code:

#ua-status-toggle {width: 24px; height: 24px;}
toolbar[iconsize="small"] #ua-status-toggle {width: 16px; height: 16px;}
#ua-status-main, 
#ua-status-label, 
#ua-status-main-input, 
#ua-status-button-setua, 
#ua-status-button-resetua { background-color: black !important;
color: yellow !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}

Just edit the overlay.css file to your liking exactly where I added the code!

Greetings from Germany, AstroSkipper

Edited November 26, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[Mathwiz]

2 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

Right! The overlay.css file inside the folder /chrome/skin is the one you have to modify. I have installed the theme FT DeepDark 14.3 theme and the extension User Agent Status 1.7.2 in Serpent 52. No problems here. The text in the status bar panel is readable. Here is a screenshot:



At next, I added a bit CSS code to change the appearance of the status panel. I decided to keep the background colour which is obviously black and changed the text colour to yellow for better visibility. Here is a screenshot:



Here is the download link to the modded version I made for you just for fun: https://www.mediafire.com/file/v4wa5byn6vgzeu4/ua-status-1.7.2-FT-DeepDark-mod.xpi/file

Cheers, AstroSkipper

Odd that it was initially visible on yours but not mine; but be that as it may, your tweak fixed it on mine too!

2 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

And here is the code:

#ua-status-toggle {width: 24px; height: 24px;}
toolbar[iconsize="small"] #ua-status-toggle {width: 16px; height: 16px;}
#ua-status-main, 
#ua-status-label, 
#ua-status-main-input, 
#ua-status-button-setua, 
#ua-status-button-resetua { background-color: black !important;
color: yellow !important; font-weight: 700 !important;}

Just edit the overlay.css file to your liking exactly where I added the code!

I know basic .css but the part I never would have figured out is all the #ua-status-* tags. I assume they're specified elsewhere in the .xpi but I wouldn't have had the foggiest idea where to look for them! You've obviously had quite a bit more experience with tweaking extensions than I; thanks again!

[Mathwiz]

3 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Are you referring to this - https://msfn.org/board/topic/180462-my-browser-builds-part-2/?do=findComment&comment=1187101 ?

I don't use dark themes but I'm finding over a hundred .css files inside the ft_deepdark.jar file.

That's the theme all right; but I was looking in the .xpi file for the User Agent Status extension. It only had one .css, and I was pretty clueless what I needed to do to it without @AstroSkipper's help....

As far as dark themes, I initially started using them on my Android phone because it has an AMOLED display, and the darker the screen, the longer the battery can go without needing to be recharged. Eventually I kind of got used to them and tried a few out on my Windows PC.

I didn't really like any of the dark system themes that came with Windows 7, so I went back to the "Classic" theme (that makes it look like Windows 98!) but I did like that particular dark theme for Australis, so I've used it ever since.

[AstroSkipper]

14 hours ago, Mathwiz said:

Odd that it was initially visible on yours but not mine; but be that as it may, your tweak fixed it on mine too!

I know basic .css but the part I never would have figured out is all the #ua-status-* tags. I assume they're specified elsewhere in the .xpi but I wouldn't have had the foggiest idea where to look for them! You've obviously had quite a bit more experience with tweaking extensions than I; thanks again!

You're welcome! Glad it is working for you as it should.   If you want to change to a light theme one day, you have of course to reinstall the original version of User Agent Status then. The modded version is only for dark themes.

Edited November 27, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[Mathwiz]

True; yellow text would be awfully hard to read over a white or light background!

[AstroSkipper]

22 hours ago, nicolaasjan said:

Thanks!

Note that:

• "AdGuard URL Tracking Protection" won't work. It uses a newer syntax ($removeparam), not supported by Legacy...
• "uBlock filters - Resource abuse" was moved to "Custom" ("Aangepast" in Dutch) because it is now redundant (used 0 out of 57). It is merged with "uBlock filters - Privacy" (see here).
• There seems to be some bug with "Annoyances"( "Storende elementen" in Dutch). Clicking on '+' does nothing...:
• 

Maybe some more tweaking is needed?

@nicolaasjan I think I have solved the "Annoyances" bug. Here are two screenshots taken from the dashboard of my freshly created mod after updating all filter lists in New Moon 28. This mod contains all current filter lists from the most recent webextension uBlock Origin 1.54.0:

Now, I am in testing mode. Hope I won't find any further bugs.

Cheers, AstroSkipper

Edited December 29, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

I found a redundant filter list in the original code. The same filter list was used twice. Thus, I removed one of them from the code:



Here is the result after fixing.

Edited December 29, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

uBlock Origin 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 - Special mod by @AstroSkipper

uBlock Origin is presumably one of the most important extensions if not the most important one for users of Firefox and Chrome based browsers. Unfortunately, this extension is now only developed and maintained as a webextension. The extension uBlock Origin Legacy for our old Firefox-based browsers was only maintained and updated separately for a certain period of time. There have been no new updates since version 1.16.4.30 from 2021. Therefore, I am maintaining the latest beta version 1.16.4.31b2 here from time to time. For the last of my releases, it was completely sufficient to transfer filter lists and some files from the current webextension to the uBlock Origin Legacy extension. This has not been working properly for some time now. Here is a screenshot showing the undesired effects when the filter lists are updated in my last version uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2-1.49.2:



At this point, a big thank you again to @nicolaasjan for reporting this issue!  Due to these apparent bugs, I decided to create a new, special version that contains all filter lists from the latest webextension and no longer causes problems when filter lists are (self-)updated. I identified and analysed the code responsible for the problem and was able to fix it. I have therefore created this new, special version of uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2 with all filter lists of the currently most recent webextension uBlock Origin 1.54.0. In this new mod, I have completely removed the old filter lists and added the new ones. Furthermore, I modified the code taken from the webextension to restore compatibility with the legacy extension. The version is now called uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.
Here is a screenshot taken from the dashboard of my freshly created mod uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 after updating filter lists in New Moon 28 or Serpent 52:



I removed some incompatible code and modified some other. Particularly, I changed the code in such a way that the uBlock Origin Legacy extension only updates the filter lists themselves, but not the internal list of all available filter lists which is unfortunately no longer compatible with uBlock Origin Legacy. On the other hand, that also means, if the default preselection of filter lists changes significantly in the future, or certain lists are no longer supported, such changes must be made manually in the extension code from now on. Furthermore, I found a redundant filter list in the original code of the most recent webextension uBlock Origin 1.54.0. The same filter list was used twice. Thus, I removed one of them from the code.

And here is the download link for my mod uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-@AstroSkipper.xpi:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/djggsuy29y38z75/uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-%40AstroSkipper.xpi/file
Corrected release: https://www.mediafire.com/file/z64ulz7duhuyveh/uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-%40AstroSkipper.xpi/file
New, corrected release:  https://www.mediafire.com/file/fx34irul6g4pnl4/uBlock0_1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0.special-mod-by-%40AstroSkipper.xpi/file

Update 1: Now, it is fully working again. No problems any longer when updating the filter lists. The new filter list "filters-2024.txt" is now inside the xpi file and can be retrieved correctly. Inside the xpi file, all filter lists have been replaced by the most recent ones to be more recent after installing without immediate updating. Additionally, I lowered the minVersion for Pale Moon from 28.0 to 27.0 to also install it in New Moon 27.

Update 2: Due to the problems in terms of filtering and blocking ads in YouTube videos, I had to correct my release uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 once again. I restored some (necessary) code and two filter lists which were not present in uBlock Origin 1.54.0 but in uBlock Origin Legacy 1.16.4.31b2. The two lists are uBlock filters - Legacy and uBlock filters – Resource abuse. Here is a screenshot taken from the setting page:



Additionally, I updated all filter lists once again

And here is the complete changelog (after all these corrections ):

• Filter lists from the webextension uBO 1.54.0 and the legacy uBO 1.16.4.31b2 merged.
• Auto-update of the internal list of all preselected filter lists removed. 
• Annoyances bug in the setting page of filter lists solved.
• Redundant filter list "uBlock filters - Cookie Notices" removed. 
• Different, incompatible code removed.
• The internal list of all preselected filter lists modified to get the real timestamps of filter lists again.
• minVersion for Pale Moon and New Moon lowered from 28.0 to 27.0.
• Missing, necessary code restored.
• Filtering and blocking of embedded ads in YouTube videos restored.
• New, important filter list filters-2024.txt added.
• All filter lists inside the xpi file updated.

Finally, an important recommendation to get the new installation of uBlock Origin Legacy working properly and flawlessly. After uninstalling the previous version (yes, the old version should be uninstalled ), delete all remnants via about:config and in your profile folder! The remnants of previous versions of uBlock Origin can be easily removed by the extension eCleaner. And in your profile folder, there is a file in the subfolder extension-data called ublock0.sqlite which has to be removed manually in any case. Delete the browser cache, too!  If doing so, the updating of the filter lists will work like a charm after installing the new version. 
All users who have important, individual settings or rules should backup them before cleaning their profile folder. On the dashboard page, there is an item called "Back up to file"" to save the user's settings via uBlock itself. If you only want to backup your custom filters, go to the tab "My filters" and export them to a file!

In any case, we have from now on an uBlock Origin extension for our beloved legacy browsers with the most recent filter lists which are normally provided only in the webextension of uBlock Origin. Please, test this special version and report here! Any feedback is of course welcome!

Cheers, AstroSkipper

Edited January 15, 2024 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[dmiranda]

Thank you very much, @AstroSkipper. It works like a charm in sp52, in my case, provided I manually erase profile/extension-data/ublock0. I still have no luck with mailnews. It installs, but can't access the dashboard or the logger. Later next year I will try with a fresh profile. Thanks again.

Edited December 31, 2023 by dmiranda

[AstroSkipper]

53 minutes ago, dmiranda said:

Thank you very much, @AstroSkipper. It works as a charm in sp52, in my case, provided I manually erase profile/extension-data/ublock0. I still have no luck with mailnews. It installs, but can't acces the dashboard or the logger. Later next year I will try with a fresh profile. Thanks again.

Glad to hear it works for you as advertised by me. As for MailNews I already mentioned that uBlock Origin Legacy runs properly there. I first installed the old version 1.16.4.31b2-1.49.2 and after its complete uninstall I tried the new version 1.16.4.31b2-1.54.0 in MailNews. Both did not make any trouble, and opening the dashboard also worked as it should. Of course, opinions can differ on the usefulness of uBlock Origin in MailNews , but it works in any case. A new profile for testing is certainly a good idea. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[nicolaasjan]

14 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

Please, test this special version and report here! Any feedback is of course welcome!

Something weird happened.

"uBlock filters - Ads" doesn't want to update any more and YouTube in-video ads are not blocked now...