What to do about Fanfiction.net?

[Black Aeronaut]

Jinx999 wrote:

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Bob Schroeck wrote:

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BTW,
has anyone else noticed that FF.NET is running a script of some sort to
prevent you from selecting and copying blocks of text on its pages?  I
had to NoScript the site before I could copy that line I quoted, which
then turned everything on the page into centered text.

Yep. I suspect it was the same time they blocked flagfic.

Okay, while I knew about the sudden inability to select text in FFN, I was unaware about the thing with flagfic.  Hell, I had to google it in order to grok what was going on.  And then I came across this article:
http://www.teleread.com/net-related-too ... d-pasting/
The blogger doesn't really come right on out and say it, but it's obvious what he's getting at: FFN is trying to generate more revenue by forcing us to see their ads.  They do so by attempting to eliminate methods of saving the text to read in another format of our choosing and upping the number of advertisements on their website.
Unfortunately, as we have seen with the dreaded TV Tropes Fiasco, it's their site and they make the rules... But I for one can say that I will never host any fic using FFN (or Fictionpress for that matter) due to this turn of events. 

[robkelk]

The nice thing about competition is that you aren't locked into one provider.

Fenspace has already migrated to Archive of Our Own - we should be advertising that where it's appropriate.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[khagler]

For readers, the cross-platform FanFictionDownloader app provides an alternative to flagfic. Instapaper provides a convenient way to read individual chapters without ads, or any other page clutter. The Adblock extension (available for all major browsers) removes ads from all web pages. I use all of these, and as a result I never see any ads on fanfiction.net.

[Bob Schroeck]

I'll second FanFictionDownloader -- it's what I use and at least as of last weekend was unbothered by any FFN chicanery. In addition to Adblock, I also suggest NoScript -- it's very hard to disable features on a site if you don't let it run any scripts.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[LilFluff]

Bob Schroeck wrote:

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I'll second FanFictionDownloader -- it's what I use and at least as of last weekend was unbothered by any FFN chicanery. In addition to Adblock, I also suggest NoScript -- it's very hard to disable features on a site if you don't let it run any scripts.

I have to second the AdBlock/NoScript combination. Frankly on this laptop I run those not so much to protect from malware as to preserve cpu cycles. The day I turned on that combination I saw cpu usage while browsing the web drop from around 95% (spiking to 100%) to around 20%. Of course I do tend to keep far, far to many browser tabs open. When I find myself regularly returning to a site I'll whitelist it in AdBlock.
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Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.

[Jinx999]

The problem with no-script in ff.net is that a lot of the page formatting is handled by scripts. You can read it without, but it looks like cr*p and is a pain to read.

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, yes, I'm aware of it. But you can toggle a site on and off temporarily -- so, if you want to do like I did and quote a line, I just shut off scripting for long enough to get what I want. AdBlock is sufficient to stop ads on FF.net by itself.

The thing is, you do need to use both for some sites. There are places that will actually actively detect the presence of AdBlock and refuse to show the content if you don't turn it off -- but if you have NoScript, the scripts that execute that kind of blackmail can't run.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Morganite]

Personally, I like just NoScript. I don't mind if a site has ads. If those ads require javascript? Well, that's the site owner saying they don't actually need the ad revenue, as far as I'm concerned.

-Morgan.

[classicdrogn]

The mobile devices version of the site (m.fanfiction.net) looks just fine with NoScript, and the only features that you actually lose is cover images and the ability to change to light-text-on-dark, as far as I can tell. Given the quality of most cover images, it's not a terrible loss.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Labster]

You can change to a white-on-black on m.fanfiction.net with the Contrast option, "helpfully" at the bottom of the page.

Browsing with Noscript seemed quite fiddly at first, but I haven't looked back. It's definitely worth if it you don't like your webpages restricting you, constantly draining CPU cycles in the background, and thus spoiling our environment further.

Maybe I should put my own fic on AO3 -- I might get more readers than GethN7 and my stalker ex. I couldn't put it on FF.net because of the policy of excluding real persons, even public figures, but Archive of Our Own seems to be much more agreeable in a lot of ways.

Of course I do tend to keep far, far to many browser tabs open.

You are about to close 420 tabs. Are you sure you want to continue?

Tell me about it.
-- ∇×V

[Jorlem]

I found a Greasmonkey script a while ago that re-enables highlighting text.  I'd post a link, but Userscripts appears to be down, so here it is:   (I wish we had a "Code" BBCode wrapper here.)

Code:

// ==UserScript==// @name        Fanfiction.net, make text selectable again// @include     http://m.fanfiction.net/*// @include     http://m.fictionpress.com/*// @include     http://www.fanfiction.net/*// @include     http://www.fictionpress.com/*// @include     http://m.fanfiction.net/*// @include     http://m.fictionpress.com/*// @include     http://www.fanfiction.net/*// @include     http://www.fictionpress.com/*// @require     http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.3/jquery.min.js// @updateURL   http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/179482.meta.js// @downloadURL http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/179482.user.js// @version     3.5// @grant       GM_addStyle// ==/UserScript==
$(".nocopy").removeClass ("nocopy");
setInterval (fixInlineStyles, 999);
function fixInlineStyles () {    $("[style*='user-select']").each ( function () {        var jThis       = $(this);        var styleAttr   = jThis.attr ("style");        styleAttr       = styleAttr.replace (/user-select:s*none/g, "user-select: text");        jThis.attr ("style", styleAttr);    } );
    unsafeWindow.jQuery(document).unbind ("keydown");}
GM_addStyle ( "                                     * {                                                 -moz-user-select: text !important;              user-select: text !important;                   -webkit-user-select: text !important;       }                                           " );

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Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[Labster]

Obligatory xkcd:
-- ∇×V