Greasemonkey Installation Instructions

First, download and install Firefox. When you're done, launch Firefox and open the Greasemonkey download page. Click on "Install Greasemonkey 0.5.3," or whatever the latest version happens to be. A bar will appear at the top of the page: "To protect your computer, Firefox prevented this site (greasemonkey.mozdev.org) from installing software on your computer." This is where it gets confusing, but hang in there. Click "Edit Options …" and when a dialogue box pops up, click "Allow" and then "OK." Now click the link to "Install Greasemonkey 0.5.3" one more time. If nothing happens, click it again. Eventually you'll get a pop-up dialogue box. Click "Install Now."

Once Greasemonkey is installed, quit Firefox and start it again. You should see a smiling Paul Frank-like monkey face on the lower right corner of the browser. Congratulations, you've got Greasemonkey!

Now, go to userscripts.org and search for scripts associated with your favorite sites. Start with the script I described at the top of this piece: BoingBoing Butler. In the upper right corner of the page, you'll see an "Install this Script" link. Click on it—you should see a page of source code gibberish. Now, go to Firefox's Tools menu and select "Install This User Script." Click OK, and you're done. Now go to Boing Boing and see the fantastic results for yourself.

To disable a particular script, go back to Firefox's Tools menu and click "Manage User Scripts." To turn off Greasemonkey completely, click on the monkey icon. He'll turn grey and put on a frowny face until you click him again.