It’s wonderful that there are so many extensions such as Greasemonkey, Stylish, RIP, Chickenfoot, NukeAnything, and countless others out there that let users modify content to their liking. It really demonstrates the richness of the Firefox community and the capabilities of Firefox. Some people choose Adblock Plus because it blocks ads instead of merely hiding them, which is one of the most important advantages of Adblock Plus. I chose it because of the following reason.

Besides its mass appeal to advertisement-weary web surfers, Adblock (Plus) is different from the rest because it allows users to block a majority of ads by simply importing filtersets (or subscribing to them in the case of Adblock Plus). A few experts create lists of filters that can be consumed by a significant share of internet users–not just the geeks. The average user doesn’t need to fiddle around with creating filters because the work has already been done for them. This is what allows an extension to become more popular than with its enthusiasts and cross into the mainstream. Look at the AMO top ten where Adblock (Plus) and NoScript, an extension which blocks JavaScript on websites unless whitelisted by the user through a single action, are the the only content-modifying extensions listed there.

The lack of subscription options is what keeps me away from adopting other extensions that modify web content. If they want break out of their current statuses as mere curiosities for the developer and geek crowd, one of the steps they should take is to follow the Adblock (Plus) approach of easy mass consumption by way of subscription. Make it so I can set up an extension once and have it working without my constantly having to set up scripts. Script repositories such as Userscripts.org and Userstyles.org is a great step in the right direction, but they are still time-consuming and effort-intensive. Can you imagine having Adblock (Plus) greenhorns craft individual lists of filters to block all the ads they come across? They wouldn’t be of the same caliber as the well-established filtersets, and most users wouldn’t even bother creating such lists.

Adblock Plus is a special extension; it has a lot of great things going for it such as a great developer, an open community, and features that focus on an easy user experience. What I think should be emphasized when promoting Adblock Plus is filter subscriptions. Having Adblock Plus pop up a list of filter subscriptions when first run was a great addition. Maybe Adblock Plus should depart from the old Adblock interface paradigm and separate the filters from the preferences panel. The new preferences panel would devote space to filter subscriptions and options. The filters area of the current preferences panel along with the list of blockable items could be implemented in a different window, one that is accessible by a button in the preferences panel or from the Adblock Plus menu. Though what I put forth is radical, it’s only an idea to generate some discussion, not an expectation. I’m sure Wladimir Palant is busy with his life and I truly appreciate his work. Adblock Plus in its current form is a fantastically implemented extension.