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FlashBlock

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Frequently Asked Questions
Answers
Can't unblock the Flash player in the new channel layout! Problem: Go to http://www.youtube.com/tomgreen and push click "Switch to Grid View" button. You can't click on the Flashblock play button.

Try this: The tomgreen site works if I go to player view and click on the flashblock button to activate the flash player. After that switching back and forth between player and grid view works for me.

Alternatively you can add the following string to the Flashblock whitelist: 

www.youtube.com/tomgreen*
See Flashblock Bug 21329
Can we have a blacklist {instead of|as well as} a whitelist?
  1. Our primary target audience is people who do not want to see flash by default. Changing to a blacklist defeats our prime purpose.
  2. We believe that having both a whitelist and a blacklist complicates things needlessly and we try to avoid unnecessary feature bloat as much as possible.
  3. But for too many people a blacklist instead of a whitelist will be more useful!
    For those people who want to see flash by default but block only a small number of flash sites, we recommend AdBlock Plus which has a sophisticated filter system that you can use to create a blacklist.
"Software installation is currently disabled ..." This message appears while trying to install Flashblock from the web. I can't find anything in the Tools-Options pages to "enable". Am I 'geezing' or what am I missing?

For reasons too tedious to reiterate the Firefox developers decided to remove that setting from Tools->Options in FF 1.5. This naturally confused a lot of people used to FF 1.0.x.

The long way around:

  • In the URL (address) bar type the following without the quotes: "about:config"
  • In the filter box type "xpinstall".
  • In the filtered list you should see an entry called: "xpinstall.enabled". Double-clicking on this option will toggle it between true and false. Make sure that it is set to "true".
  • Also toggle "xpinstall.whitelist.required" to false since you also can't access the whitelist from the Options pages in FF 1.5.
  • Install Flashblock from the web.
  • To be on the safe side toggle all these settings back to the original values after installing Flashblock.
More information can be found in this MozillaZine knowledgebase article: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_install_themes_or_extensions_(Firefox)
"Flashblock 1.5 could not be installed because it is not compatible with Firefox 1.5" You get this error message when trying to install Flashblock: "Flashblock 1.5 could not be installed because it is not compatible with Firefox 1.5 (Flashblock 1.5 will only work with Firefox versions 1.4.1 to 1.5.0.*"
  • In the address bar type "about:config".
  • In the filter box type "version".
  • If you see an entry that says "app.extensions.version", reset it by right-clicking on that entry and then select the "Reset" option.
  • Another possibility is that you have Fasterfox installed. If you have, disable this extension; restart Firefox, and try reinstalling flashblock.
Flash slips through on slashdot.org, help! Javascript generated flash objects from slashdot slip past Firefox 1.0.x, and Firefox 1.5 (but not Firefox 1.6a). Fortunately the slashdot javascript has some really stupid browser sniffing code and if you are using a browser it doesn't recognise, it serves up a static GIF instead of flash animation.

A user has reported that installing the User Agent Switcher extension and setting the User Agent string to: 

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9a1) Gecko/20051225 SeaMonkey
makes all the flash go away.
Is Flashblock available for Mozilla Suite/Netscape/Flock as well? Flashblock starting from version 1.3.0 is compatible with both Mozilla Suite 1.x and Netscape 7.x as well as Firefox. Flashblock 1.3.2 adds support for Netscape 8.0.x and Seamonkey. Flashblock 1.3.3 adds support for Flock.
I can't get Flashblock to work with Netscape 8.0.x! Netscape 8.0 is a dual mode browser and Flashblock only works when Netscape is in "Firefox" mode. To switch to Firefox mode, From the Netscape main menu: View->Rendering Engine->View Like Firefox.

If you are using the Flashblock toolbar button in Netscape 8.0 or 8.1, you will need to install multibarfix-0.1.1.xpi which fixes a bug in the Netscape multibar code.

Flashblock does not work if javascript is disabled or if the NoScript extension is installed. Turning off javascript will stop Flashblock from working. If and when this mozilla bug is fixed, then Flashblock will work regardless of the javascript setting: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=236839

Flashblock will also not work if the NoScript extension is installed and used to disable javascript for a webpage that has flash objects. Since NoScript now has a built in Flash blocker you can use that instead of Flashblock.

Further information can be found in this Mozillazine forum thread: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=1586260#1586260.

Why do I get a 404 error when I try to download Flashblock? Sometimes it takes a while for the mozdev.org download mirrors to pick up new files. Just retry the download a few times and sooner or later you'll hit a mirror which is up to date.
Firefox could not install the file at [...] because: Download error You may have set your cache size to 0 (zero). Make sure that your cache size is greater than 0.
  • Firefox: In Tools->Options->Privacy->Cache
  • Mozilla: In Edit->Preferences->Advanced->Cache
You may have disabled your cache. Enable your disk cache.
  • In the URL (address) bar type the following without the quotes: "about:config"
  • In the filter box type "browser.cache".
  • In the filtered list you should see an entry called: "browser.cache.disk.enable".Double-clicking on this option will toggle it between true and false. Make sure that it is set to "true".
Why is the latest Flashblock not available on addons.mozilla.org? Flashblock 1.5 for Firefox 1.5 is now available on addons.mozilla.org. Versions of Flashblock for Firefox 1.0.7 and other browsers are available from our project installation page.
Flashblock is working but there aren't any buttons to click. ... just a blank area representing the flash object. However clicking on the blank area will activate the flash as usual.
  • Firefox: In Tools->Options->General->Fonts & Colors, you have: "Always use my colors" checked.
  • Mozilla: In Edit->Preferences->Appearance->Colors, you have: "Use my chosen colors, ignoring the colors and background image specified" checked.
Uncheck this setting and the Flashblock placeholders reappear. This is a cosmetic problem, Flashblock will work as usual if you don't uncheck this setting.
Is there a Flashblock toolbar button for Firefox? Flashblock 1.3.3 adds a toolbar button courtesy of Mark Bokil and the MenuX extension.

The MenuX extension from http://markbokil.org/ provides, many other buttons, besides allowing you to toggle Flashblock on and off.

Can the toolbar button be moved to the statusbar? Flashblock does not provide a statusbar button but if you install the Status Buttons extension https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1272 or the TotalToolbar extension http://totaltoolbar.mozdev.org/ You can move our toolbar button to either end of the statusbar.
Is there an easy way to turn Flashblock on and off? You can use the Flashblock toolbar button.Clicking this button will toggle Flashblock on and off.

To use this button in Firefox Open the Customize Toolbar window (View -> Toolbars -> Customize...) and drag the Flashblock toolbar button on to a toolbar or menubar.

To use this button in Mozilla Suite or Seamonkey open the Flashblock preferences (Edit -> Preferences -> Flashblock) and tick the "Show toolbar button" check box. This will cause the flashblock toolbar button to appear on the Personal Toolbar.

How do I add a site to the whitelist?
  • Click on the dropmarker on the right side of the Flashblock toolbar button. A popup menu will open and one of the items should be "Allow Flash from this site". Clicking on this item will add the site currently viewed to the whitelist.
  • Right click on any Flashblock placeholder. One of the context menu items should be "Allow Flash from this site". Note that the blocked flash might be coming from a different site or ad server than the page you are viewing.
  • Navigate to the Flashblock Options or Preferences dialog. Enter the name of a website and then click on the "Add" button.

    For example if you want to whitelist "http://flashblock.mozdev.org/faq.html" you should leave out "http://" part and the "/faq.html" part and just key in: "flashblock.mozdev.org".

You can use the "*" wildcard in the websites you add to the whitelist. For example "*.mozdev.org" will also whitelist "flashblock.mozdev.org" and any other subdomain in "mozdev.org".
How do I import/export the whitelist? Currently we don't provide a direct way of exporting or importing the whitelist. Since our whitelist is stored in the prefs.js file you can view and cut and paste the whitelist by following this procdure:
  1. Open about:config ( How to open this).
  2. Enter flashblock.whitelist into the filter box.
  3. Right click on the Preference Name and then select "Copy Value".
  4. Paste this in your favourite text editor and save it somewhere.
  5. To import this to a new profile or machine. Repeat steps 1 and 2; then right click on the Preference Name and select "Modify" and paste the text you saved in step 4.
The placeholders overlay links which I can't click on unless I run the flash. Can you add an option in the context menu to nuke the placeholder?
As of Flashblock 1.5.1/Flashblock 1.3.4, there is a context menu item to remove the Flashblock placeholder. This option will not appear if either the NukeAnything or NukeAnything Enhanced extension is installed.

In general we recommend that you install the NukeAnything Enhanced extension as it provides a more comprehensive Nuke function than Flashblock does. A version compatible with Firefox, Mozilla Suite, and Seamonkey can be found here: https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&id=951.

Blocking flash in frames, iFrames and standalone flash files. Starting with Flashblock 1.3.2 we can now block flash that lives in frames, iFrames; and standalone flash files that are called directly (i.e. not wrapped in an object or an embed).
Flashblock is installed but advertisements are still being shown. If you are using a version of Flashblock older than 1.3.0.1, then there were some bugs in previous versions that let certain flash objects through.

If you have the latest version of Flashblock installed then check if the advertisement is not actually an animated GIF or java applet.

So how can I tell if an advertisement is actually an animated GIF? Right-click on the object. Do you get a list of flashplayer options, or the usual context menu?
Flashblock and Adblock do not work well together. Update: The next version of Adblock/AdblockPlus will be Flashblock aware and (hopefully) will work better with Flashblock.

Flashblock puts placeholders over all Flash objects before Adblock gets a chance to work.

If you want Adblock to handle flash objects for a particular site, you can place the site in the Flashblock whitelist. Once you do this Flashblock will ignore all flash content and let Adblock recognise and process Flash advertisements - if you have configured Adblock to do this.

Some flash objects disappear if Adblock is also installed. With some Flashblocked objects - such as flash menus, when you press play, the item disappears instead of displaying. The reason is that Adblock applies the following style to the Flashblocked object: 
visibility: hidden ! important;
which makes things invisible.

The solution is to turn off Object Tabs in Adblock. For more details please see this topic in the Adblock support forum: http://aasted.org/adblock/viewtopic.php?p=9791

Embedded flash objects in RSS feeds in the Brief extension are not blocked. Go to about:config and filter for a preference called flashblock.blockLocal. Toggle this to true either by double-clicking on the entry or by using the context menu on that entry.
Embedded flash objects in RSS feeds in the Brief extension are blocked. Go to about:config and filter for a preference called flashblock.blockLocal. Toggle this to false either by double-clicking on the entry or by using the context menu on that entry.

OR

Right-click on one of the Flashblock placeholders and from the context menu select "Allow flash from this site". This should add an entry to the Flashblock whitelist for "brief-content".

What other extensions are known to interfere with Flashblock? A list of extensions interfering with Flashblock can be found on our Known Problems Page.
I would like to be able to completely disable Flash so that items that require flash say "plugin required" instead of merely blocking out flash.

The Plugin Manager Extension: http://forum.addonsmirror.net/index.php?showtopic=4436 might help you reach your goal.

In Tools -> Plugins disable plugins in which you are not currently interested with and now if you click on flashblock placeholder the flash will not play (no restart required, just refresh the page). You should also disable Flashlock via it's options dialog so that the flashblock placeholders don't display.

Does Flashblock work with gplflash yet? Not very well. Users report frequent crashes with gplflash http://gplflash.sourceforge.net/
Are you going to block java applets too? We have no plans currently to block java applets. However at least two enterprising Flashblock users have adapted Flashblock to this task, and if one of them posts their version on the internet, we'll be sure to post a link here.
How do I block embedded audio and video? For Audio, your best bet is "Stop Autoplay" http://forum.addonsmirror.net/index.php?showtopic=5713 or an older extension "BGM Conductor" http://forum.addonsmirror.net/index.php?showtopic=369

For embedded video the closest I can find is "MediaPlayerConnectivity" http://forum.addonsmirror.net/index.php?showtopic=1899

I want to view flash but turn off the annoying sound effects. We can't do this from within Flashblock, but for Windows systems there is a utility called Flashmute that will block sound from flash movies on a system-wide basis. An updated version of flashmute that is independent of the Flash Player version is available from the author's website: http://www.indev.no/?p=projects#flashmute.
It would be great if you could also block animated GIFs We have no plans to do this in Flashblock because there are other extensions that do this much better than we could. For example the Page Animation extension at: http://home.comcast.net/~danm-moz/pageanimation/
Where is my profile stored? Mozilla Suite, Firefox, and Thunderbird profiles
Mozilla Suite profiles
Firefox profiles
Does Flashblock block flash "cookies", swf trackers or LSOs? No we don't. However you can control and block flash cookies or local shared objects (LSOs) by following instructions given on this macromedia webpage: Flash Player Help: Website Storage Settings Panel. Set all of your flash preferences to the most restrictive set possible on each computer with flash installed on it. With this utility, you can completely disable the ability for flash to hold cookies/other information, and you can clear out any information that has already been set.

More information on flash cookies:

For questions or comments about flashblock, please send a message to the flashblock mailing list.
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