Editing Website Code In The Browser To Bypass Paywalls Makes Me ...

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Editing website code in the browser to bypass paywalls makes me feel like a beast

• Thread starter Lord Azrael
• Start date Nov 1, 2020

• Discussion
• EtcetEra Forum

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Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983 JavaScript is such a powerful tool. It's crazy just how far a little bit of JS and CSS knowledge can get you. Seriously, just go ahead and try the following, I'll wait: EDIT: Apparently the blocking effect only happens in Firefox, so if you're using Chrome, uh... it's almost as exciting as I make it sound, promise

1. Go to any New York Times article that's behind a gateway (not actually a paywall in this case, but just an example)
   1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/books/review/12-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html
   2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/30/dining/carbs.html
   3. Whichever other article tickles your fancy
2. Open the browser console by right clicking and choosing "Inspect" in Chrome or "Inspect Element" in Firefox
3. Copy and paste the following text snippet into the terminal that shows up and press enter
   1. Code: $('#gateway-content').remove() $('.css-1bd8bfl').remove() $('.css-mcm29f').classList.remove('css-mcm29f')
4. Profit

And that code was just something I whipped up quickly to make it plug and play for demonstration purposes. If you know what you're looking for, it's literally just deleting a few HTML elements and unchecking a few CSS properties. It'll vary by website but you get the gist. Another example: there's this browser game I like to play. It's basically simplified Risk.

DICEWARS

www.gamedesign.jp But, the RNG and slow game speed started to piss me off after a while. So I downloaded the JS files, modified a few things and made it so that you'll always win a battle if you have more dice and quintupled the game speed. I felt like, how you say, a beast. Seriously y'all. Web and code literacy is the way of the future! Last edited: Nov 1, 2020

BLEEN

Member Oct 27, 2017 23,076 I just just the zapper button on uBlock lol Same difference

crimzonflame

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,235 Mobile is the issue

ChrisR

Member Oct 26, 2017 7,181 I just close the window. Zero issue turning off adblock for websites, but if you won't even give me that option well whatever is there can't be too important to read

Gernau Morat Gurgeh

Member Oct 31, 2017 11,414 I just use a plugin, but cool to see how simple it actually is

GulAtiCa

Community Resettler

Avenger Oct 25, 2017 10,905 Did you just admit to a crime? Spoiler Reference lol

Vapelord

Member Oct 27, 2017 2,143 Montreal

crimzonflame said: Mobile is the issue Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Usually can open them in incognito to avoid paywalls on mobile.

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 14,892 YOU WOULDNT STEAL A CAR

Smash-It Stan

Member Oct 25, 2017 5,779

BLEEN said: I just just the zapper button on uBlock lol Same difference Click to expand... Click to shrink...

that never works for me, I just get either a blurred out background with no scroll bar or a white page :( OP OP

Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983

Admiral Woofington said: YOU WOULDNT STEAL A CAR Click to expand... Click to shrink...

door.unlock() ignition.start() drive.away() TRY ME

N64Controller

Member Nov 2, 2017 14,616

GulAtiCa said: Did you just admit to a crime? Spoiler Reference lol Click to expand... Click to shrink...

One of Era's best

samoyed

Banned Oct 26, 2017 15,191

Gernau Morat Gurgeh

Member Oct 31, 2017 11,414

Admiral Woofington said: YOU WOULDNT STEAL A CAR Click to expand... Click to shrink...

I would download one

effingvic

Member Oct 25, 2017 19,321 Code: display: none; Bam. I'm a leet haxor.

CoolOff

Avenger Oct 26, 2017 3,809

GulAtiCa said: Did you just admit to a crime? Spoiler Reference lol Click to expand... Click to shrink...

I'm so glad that you reminded me of that thread existing.

TarpitCarnivore

Member Oct 25, 2017 20,314 If your browser has a "reader mode" that's a 50-50 chance of working

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 14,892

GulAtiCa said: Did you just admit to a crime? Spoiler Reference lol Click to expand... Click to shrink...

I am flabbergasted Dude did you just admit to a meme?! OP OP

Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983 Man all y'all with your boring plugins and your workarounds, I just wanna live edit code like I'm in the Matrix

SinkFla

Member Oct 26, 2017 11,199 Pensacola, Fl

Lord Azrael said: JavaScript is such a powerful tool. It's crazy just how far a little bit of JS and CSS knowledge can get you. Seriously, just go ahead and try the following, I'll wait: EDIT: Apparently the blocking effect only happens in Firefox, so if you're using Chrome, uh... it's almost as exciting as I make it sound, promise

1. Go to any New York Times article that's behind a gateway (not actually a paywall in this case, but just an example)
   1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/books/review/12-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html
   2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/30/dining/carbs.html
   3. Whichever other article tickles your fancy
2. Open the browser console by right clicking and choosing "Inspect" in Chrome or "Inspect Element" in Firefox
3. Copy and paste the following text snippet into the terminal that shows up and press enter
   1. Code: $('#gateway-content').remove() $('.css-1bd8bfl').remove() $('.css-mcm29f').classList.remove('css-mcm29f')
4. Profit

And that code was just something I whipped up quickly to make it plug and play for demonstration purposes. If you know what you're looking for, it's literally just deleting a few HTML elements and unchecking a few CSS properties. It'll vary by website but you get the gist. Another example: there's this browser game I like to play. It's basically simplified Risk.

DICEWARS

www.gamedesign.jp But, the RNG and slow game speed started to piss me off after a while. So I downloaded the JS files, modified a few things and made it so that you'll always win a battle if you have more dice and quintupled the game speed. I felt like, how you say, a beast. Seriously y'all. Web and code literacy is the way of the future! Click to expand... Click to shrink...

I love you

MysteryM

Member Oct 28, 2017 2,105 If a website is dumb enough to render content and hid it via css then I have no sympathy.

Wein Cruz

Banned Oct 27, 2017 5,772

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills

Member Oct 27, 2017 41,847 Yes this is the best thing about websites and i hope it never disappears. It's the fucking best. You could literally almost build a website just using the developer tools. It's absolutely CRAZY

MysteryM said: If a website is dumb enough to render content and hid it via css then I have no sympathy. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

It's the best solution though, considering that very very few people have the technical know how to edit things live. CSS is by far the most efficient and performant way of toggling what's showing on the screen or not. And the gain in UX is undeniable.

subpar spatula

Refuses to Wash his Ass

Banned Oct 26, 2017 24,336 I pay to enter

Cow Mengde

Member Oct 26, 2017 14,318

Lord Azrael said: JavaScript is such a powerful tool. It's crazy just how far a little bit of JS and CSS knowledge can get you. Seriously, just go ahead and try the following, I'll wait: EDIT: Apparently the blocking effect only happens in Firefox, so if you're using Chrome, uh... it's almost as exciting as I make it sound, promise

1. Go to any New York Times article that's behind a gateway (not actually a paywall in this case, but just an example)
   1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/books/review/12-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html
   2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/30/dining/carbs.html
   3. Whichever other article tickles your fancy

Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Install NoScript in Firefox. Click link. Problem solved.

Stowaway Silfer

One Winged Slayer

Member Oct 27, 2017 32,819

whiteninja

One Winged Slayer

The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 1,794 The few times Ive encountered this I would just stop the site from completely loading and that would work most of the time.

StopMakingSense

Member Oct 25, 2017 11,937

TarpitCarnivore said: If your browser has a "reader mode" that's a 50-50 chance of working Click to expand... Click to shrink...

yep. And If it doesn't work then I dont really care to put in any more effort OP OP

Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983

Cow Mengde said: Install NoScript in Firefox. Click link. Problem solved. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Almost every website nowadays requires JavaScript to function lol

Stuntman

The Fallen Oct 27, 2017 2,661

Lord Azrael said: Man all y'all with your boring plugins and your workarounds, I just wanna live edit code like I'm in the Matrix Click to expand... Click to shrink...

You get used to it, I don't even see the code, All I see is shitposts, us flags, diet racism.

Cow Mengde

Member Oct 26, 2017 14,318

Lord Azrael said: Almost every website nowadays requires JavaScript to function lol Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Exactly! The script stops functioning. Plus, you can turn scripts back on, or selectively turn on certain scripts to let the site function normally while blocking out the other tracker shit.

MysteryM

Member Oct 28, 2017 2,105

John Kowalski said: Yes this is the best thing about websites and i hope it never disappears. It's the fucking best. You could literally almost build a website just using the developer tools. It's absolutely CRAZY It's the best solution though, considering that very very few people have the technical know how to edit things live. CSS is by far the most efficient and performant way of toggling what's showing on the screen or not. And the gain in UX is undeniable. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

The web server not rendering content you're not allowed to access is the best way of not showing inaccessible content. Why would you send content the to the browser only to then use css to hide display: none? waste of bandwidth and easily circumvented. OP OP

Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983

Cow Mengde said: Exactly! The script stops functioning. Plus, you can turn scripts back on, or selectively turn on certain scripts to let the site function normally while blocking out the other tracker shit. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

No I mean, require JavaScript for core functionality as well. Although I do use plugins to block stuff like tracking

leder

Member Oct 25, 2017 7,193 This is one of the reasons that so many sites want to push you into their app.

marmalade

Member Nov 28, 2018 614 I just turn off JS. Sucks that Chrome can't filter out the Wirecutter though bc that's on a subdomain now.

BLEEN

Member Oct 27, 2017 23,076

Smash-It Stan said: that never works for me, I just get either a blurred out background with no scroll bar or a white page :( Click to expand... Click to shrink...

You have to click the blur or the white page too! Sneaky sneaky! OP OP

Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983

leder said: This is one of the reasons that so many sites want to push you into their app. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

That and ads, yeah fuck that

leder

Member Oct 25, 2017 7,193

Lord Azrael said: That and ads, yeah fuck that Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Yep, things like the reddit and imgur websites are practically unusable on mobile. They keep making the site worse and worse so that you don't have an option other than to download the app.

Gunpei

Member Mar 13, 2018 881 Dicewars is awesome. The hanafuda game on that site is really good as well.

Deleted member 17388

User requested account closure

Banned Oct 27, 2017 12,994

GulAtiCa said: Did you just admit to a crime? Spoiler Reference lol Click to expand... Click to shrink...

lmao

sugar bear

Member Oct 27, 2017 2,156 removed link, never mind. Last edited: Nov 1, 2020 OP OP

Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983

Gunpei said: Dicewars is awesome. The hanafuda game on that site is really good as well. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Man that site has so many gems, apparently Fairune got an expanded console/PC release even! I wanna check it out one of these days

Smash-It Stan

Member Oct 25, 2017 5,779

BLEEN said: You have to click the blur or the white page too! Sneaky sneaky! Click to expand... Click to shrink...

then the blur becomes white and then the white becomes...whiter?

Powdered Egg

Banned Oct 27, 2017 17,070 LOL I would quickly take screenshots before the article limit alert pops up. It was annoying having to refresh then quickly flick scrolling to try to grab later paragraphs in articles though.

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills

Member Oct 27, 2017 41,847

MysteryM said: The web server not rendering content you're not allowed to access is the best way of not showing inaccessible content. Why would you send content the to the browser only to then use css to hide display: none? waste of bandwidth and easily circumvented. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Well it's probably got to do with how they handle sessions, but they do want you to have access to the content, at least partially in case they're showing you the CTA to log in, and i recall sometimes they do the whole "you have 3 free articles left", in which case you have access to the whole article. And honestly this way has probably much higher conversion rates than simply being blocked with a login/sign up page.

refusi0n1

Member Oct 27, 2017 6,588 now they will take measures to block your world hack, ruining it for all of us. Thanks OP

RocketKiss

Banned Oct 30, 2017 4,691 Badass OP OP

Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983

RocketKiss said: Badass Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Carn

Member Oct 27, 2017 13,859 The Netherlands

MysteryM said: If a website is dumb enough to render content and hid it via css then I have no sympathy. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

haha pretty much this. But yeah, a lot of the times its relatively easy to get these things working your way.

TheMadTitan

Member Oct 27, 2017 30,368

leder said: This is one of the reasons that so many sites want to push you into their app. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

But I'm on Android, so someone just comes along and scoops that shit out anyway. Unless you're the facebook app for some reason. They harvested that shit out of every other Facebook app except for the actual Facebook app. OP OP

Lord Azrael

Member Oct 25, 2017 6,983

TheMadTitan said: But I'm on Android, so someone just comes along and scoops that shit out anyway. Unless you're the facebook app for some reason. They harvested that shit out of every other Facebook app except for the actual Facebook app. Click to expand... Click to shrink...

Firefox on Android allows you to install plugins. It's why I use it instead of the default Chrome. Block them scripts and ads

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