Jump to content

Userscripts.org down for good? Here are alternatives


clubhouse

Recommended Posts

Userscripts.org has been down for more than three days as of today. In case you did not know, it is a popular directory for so-called userscripts which you can install in web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome to add, change or remove functionality from websites.

Even though its quality has deteriorated in recent time, it is still the go-to website for userscripts for many Internet users.

Especially spam and malicious script were pushed to the website regularly, and since it did not take much to get promoted on the frontpage, often ended up being installed by users who visited the website.

The userscripts.org team has not posted any information why the site is not available, which means that it could be anything from a denial of service attack over successful hacks to hardware errors or the shut down of the site.

Several issues are associated with the downtime. For one, there is no mirror of the site. If it is really gone, then a lot of userscripts that were only hosted on it are gone forever.

There are however alternative sites available that provide you with access to scripts. None is as big as the Userscripts.org website though which means that the selection of scripts is limited in comparison.

On the other hand, those sites appear to be maintained actively which means that you will not run into spam related issues on them, at least not for now.

Userscripts.org Alternatives

I have reviewed GreasyFork before here on Ghacks Technology News and suggest you read the extensive review here if you have the time.

The site is managed by the creator of the popular userstyles.org website. It has been created recently but features a good selection of scripts already.

What I like is that you can sort scripts by domain using the interface, and that it supports core features like code reviews, a version history and feedback option.

A couple of things are missing. If you want to read feedback, you need to go to another page as it is not displayed directly on the script's profile page.

Besides GreasyFork, there is also OpenUserJS.org which features just a handful of scripts currently. The script directory seems to be brand new as well which may explain why the site does not list lots of scripts right now.

Still, if you cannot find the script you are looking for on GreasyFork, you may want to give this one a try as it may have it listed.

A third and final option that you have is to search for userscripts on search engines such as Google or Startpage. Combine a site name or feature you are looking for with .user.js to find indexed scripts.

Please note that this will also list other types of pages, for instance those discussing userscripts. On another note, it is also important to be careful when it comes to downloading scripts from third-party repositories. It is a good idea to go through the code before you install any script using this method.

Closing Words

There is no 100% alternative to userscripts.org at the time of writing. If the site comes back up, someone should consider mirroring all the scripts that it is hosting just for the case that it will go down again in the future. A program like Httrack can do so.

http://www.ghacks.net/2014/05/09/userscripts-org-good-alternatives/

ps: The last time I checked the domain was avalible for sale....Seems 100'000s of scripts have gone forever :(

Edited by clubhouse
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 21
  • Views 3.8k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • clubhouse

    10

  • Alhaitham

    5

  • bubbada

    2

  • windowsvistas

    2

The last time I checked the domain was avalible for sale....Seems 100'000s of scripts have gone forever

feels the same ....checking daily no hope :sadwalk:

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Very sad its gone :( userscripts.org was the best shortcut to get around the web may be gone but not forgotten

still there is a way to get the userscripts off them

the way is to access snapshot of the site was made 29th april 2014 here

use web.archive.org/web/20140429035354/ on front of yer userscript INSTALL link to get yer userscript or otherwise it will point to userscripts.org which is not there, the search there will also point to userscripts.org and logins wont work either. so remember its a snapshot of the site not the real one, i'd use tags to search its not the best solution but its something. ^_^

Edited by bubbada
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • 4 weeks later...

@clubhouse

You can use google search

For example, if you want "uso Count Issues", search for

site:userscripts.org uso Count Issues

It will give you this

userscripts.org/scripts/

show/69307

Then convert it to this

userscripts-mirror.org/scripts/show/69307.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites


has anyone been uploading their new scripts on another site yet?

Edited by bubbada
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • 1 month later...

Now the 8080 version seems to be down and out...

http://www.webextender.net/scripts.html

Is collecting scripts, so far 40,200 and growing....

Info from:

Last post (currently)

https://greasyfork.org/forum/discussion/150/userscripts-org-is-down-but/p2

Edit this guy is trying to avoid adding malscripts and has also enabled the search feature.

Edited by clubhouse
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...