Pop-ups on Chrome

[kiloran]

I'm looking for a magic incantation to stop pop-up videos when using Chrome on some sites.

For example: https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/whats ... r-15001660
When I scroll down, the video at the top of the page pops up towards the bottom right and covers some of the text. It's not a separate window, it's part of the web page.

On Chrome, I have uBlock Origin, FlashBlock and Disable HTML5 Autoplay extensions.

Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera (on Windows 7) don't exhibit this problem.

I have the same problem with Chrome on Linux Mint and also Windows 10

--kiloran

[Slarti]

On Firefox there is an X in the top left of the popup that makes it go away.

Slarti

[kiloran]

On Firefox there is an X in the top left of the popup that makes it go away.

Slarti

Same on Chrome, but I'm just getting fed up of forever clicking to get rid of the pop-up.

--kiloran

[Slarti]

On Firefox there is an X in the top left of the popup that makes it go away.

Slarti

Same on Chrome, but I'm just getting fed up of forever clicking to get rid of the pop-up.

--kiloran

Well I do have popups blocked, but that one gets past, so I suppose it isn't really a popup.

Not sure how to block it. I won't use websites that pull stunts like that and usually give them feedback to tell them so and why. Though I doubt that it makes any difference.

Slarti

[Infrasonic]

Right click on the floating box and select Block element next to the uBlock logo.
The bit that actually got rid of the box was a bit of javascript (something like ##park video js), the other bits I tried didn't work, they just eliminated the graphics not the box.
I had to experiment quite a bit before I got the relevant nasty to make the box disappear, but it seems it is possible, it's not there now after a page reload, so I'm assuming it is now blacklisted for that site.

[JohnB]

There are 2 sorts of pop-ups generated by browsers. One generates new windows, which pop-up blockers can block automatically. The other generates a new pop-up inside an existing window, and the only way to stop it is to block the individual script elements, usually manually. And if the developer gives each page a new id for them, you can't keep up, and your browser will slow more and more as it has to apply layered rules. The best solution is to boycott websites that use it. I've stopped reading thisismoney.co.uk for this reason. They may have interesting content, but they've alienated just the kind of customer they want.

[Infrasonic]

You can run extensions like no script globally, but you'd have to whitelist logged in sites that need JS to function properly.
So for casual browsing no script would probably do the job, there are posters on here that use it or other JS blockers, perhaps they could comment?

You can actually turn JS off in Chrome settings and white and blacklist it there, but I'm not sure how flexible it is on the whitelisting.
Generally if extensions replicate settings it's because they are quicker to use on the fly.

[kiloran]

Many thanks for your ideas.

Looks like the No-Script extension will do what I need. I've had to whitelist quite a few other sites that I use, but that's easy enough to do.

I'm just a little surprised that the other browsers work the way I want, I usually find Chrome is ahead of the game with issues like this.

--kiloran

[Infrasonic]

I just checked the link in Edge on W10, and FF in my Mint VM and they both show the box, in FF it actually started autoplaying (got uBlock Origin and Ghostery but no HTML5 autoplay blocker in FF.)
Pop ups blocked and all other security settings on, although neither browser seems to offer JS off with whitelisting as a settings option like Chrome.

So it would seem from my experience anyway that selective JS blocking is required across all of them for that site, I couldn't see any JS blocker extensions for Edge but FF has quite a few available.

[Breelander]

...it would seem from my experience anyway that selective JS blocking is required across all of them for that site, I couldn't see any JS blocker extensions for Edge but FF has quite a few available.

Rather surprisingly, blocking JS on a site-by-site basis is something that IE can do 'out of the box'. Internet Options > Security, then add the site to your 'Restricted sites' list. One of the reasons I still find a use for IE.

[Infrasonic]

...it would seem from my experience anyway that selective JS blocking is required across all of them for that site, I couldn't see any JS blocker extensions for Edge but FF has quite a few available.

Rather surprisingly, blocking JS on a site-by-site basis is something that IE can do 'out of the box'. Internet Options > Security, then add the site to your 'Restricted sites' list. One of the reasons I still find a use for IE.

Aah yes it's all coming back to me from the glorious days of W95/98 and XP...

I just checked that site out in High Security mode in IE and it stripped everything out bar the text,no pictures, ads or videos, which probably saves loads of time and bandwidth, although it was a bit of a visual desert with loads of gaps.
I tried it with 'prompt' for activex and scripts, bad idea. Unusable as I just got flooded with prompts for minutes on end.

So I suppose if you ran it in High Security mode and then whitelisted for logged in sites that need medium high or lower to work, that would work as a general browsing mode, although you'd still have to deal with the overall HTML5 rendering being average.

[Breelander]

...I suppose if you ran it in High Security mode and then whitelisted for logged in sites that need medium high or lower to work...

I just 'blacklist' a few of the annoying sites by putting them in 'Restricted sites' and browse the rest in the default 'Medium-high' security mode.

[Infrasonic]

No Script in FF works the same as High Security in IE, strips pretty much everything out on the linked site, but obviously is more flexible on the white listing front.
I had a play with all the settings in uBlock Origin and Ghostery as well, even in full block mode they didn't stop the video box loading.
There may be more advanced settings in Ublock Origin that will do it (I've never delved that deep into it) but it all becomes moot if you can't flip easily between blocked and white listed.

[Infrasonic]

OK in Chrome if you turn JS off in advanced settings you get a <x> in the URL bar alerting you to it and you can whitelist easily from there on a site by site basis, the same way as you'd do if you have third party cookies blocked globally and whitelist per site. Easy peasy.
So no need to run No Script unless you want the extra info readily to hand.

The rendering on the linked site is miles better too, no gaps.

[Sobraon]

Just had a play so you might try adding the following to uBlock Origin in Chrome under "My filters" ( from the "Dasboard", remember to Apply changes ):

www.coventrytelegraph.net##.float-and-park.mod-video
www.coventrytelegraph.net##.video-thumbnail--unavailable.video-thumbnail.mod-image
www.coventrytelegraph.net##.video-preloader
www.coventrytelegraph.net###vjs_video_3
www.coventrytelegraph.net##.video-wrapper

The float and park filter stops the player that appears in the bottom RHS

[Infrasonic]

I switched JS off in all my Android browsers last night (Opera mini wouldn't do it), so I'll find out over the next few days how practical it is. So far so good, it seems properly coded mobile sites don't rely on JS as much as the desktop equivalents.
All the browsers have JS whitelisting but not in any practical form, you have to go into the settings and manually type in the URL's.

Weirdly Edge for Android has a JS off option, even though the W10 desktop version doesn't...

[Infrasonic]

On desktop Chrome it doesn't appear that wildcarding (*) is allowed for the JS whitelist, so subdomains have to be whitelisted for logged in services, which is a bit of a pain. Hopefully there isn't a limit on the number of URL's...

Settings sync doesn't seem to work either for the Android phone, even though it will populate passwords, and other settings across all synced devices, it would seem the JS whitelist is a no go. From the blurb it seems it might sync the JS whitelist for 'computers'.

Settings
Browser settings that you changed in Chrome settings. Some of these only sync to computers.

It may be possible to do a manual list import into the phone, not got that far in my research yet.

[kiloran]

Many thanks for your ideas.

Looks like the No-Script extension will do what I need. I've had to whitelist quite a few other sites that I use, but that's easy enough to do.

I'm just a little surprised that the other browsers work the way I want, I usually find Chrome is ahead of the game with issues like this.

--kiloran

I gave up on the No-Script extension...... I seemed to be forever whitelisting sites where I do want javascript to run.

I'm now using Quick Javascript Switcher 2 and I'm much happier with it. It enables JS as a default, allows instant enabling/disabling on a site-by-site basis, so I just spend a little time blacklisting the few sites that bug me.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... cfdagfgcnj

--kiloran

[Infrasonic]

^^ Yeah I've been running into the same issues K.
I've persisted with JS off in desktop Chrome settings, but I have to whitelist every site that I need any functionality on, as a total JS block is too draconian.
It's easy enough to whitelist, one click, just a PITA, especially without any widcarding...

Android browsers are split 50/50 between JS off and on now, so I can compare and contrast. Doesn't seem as bad as desktop overall, most sites are functional if a bit basic.