Hey Damian,

Thanks for this, but I think it has a bug. There doesn’t seem to be an X for the poster of the initial message in a thread. Because of this if the poster is killfiled, his original message still appears. All his other messages go away, but not the first in the thread.

Thanks for the neat tool.

Chris

I have been advertising this extension / script in various much-abused newsgroups (I wrote a version for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.). However, several people have told me this Java script does not always work. I have zero knowledge of Java so I cannot say where the problem is.

It seems to work fine when one is viewing “titles” or “titles with message text”. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to work in the “topic” view; the messages still appear in the topic tree and in the topic texts.
:(

I’ll admit that it’s a good start, though!
:)

Really cool!!

THis is really great, but sometimes it works and sometimes doesn’t work for me. I can’t figure out why.

This is great start. One problem I’m finding is if that the script seems to block the entire thread and not just the postings made by the “killfiled” individual.

Keep up the good work and looking forward to the updated version.

wonderful, works a lot better and I don’t have to use all my “work-arounds” anymore :)

but I have a new problem:

My work mode is:
“view titles only”
“Sorted by date of most recent message”
“view as a tree”

Since I have updated the killfile script:

Messages posted by killfiled authors are not visible. Instead of 30 messages a may see only 20. 10 are not visible because the authors are killfiled.
This has not changed.

If I *open* a *thread*, the name of a killfiled author is not listed in the thread-tree anymore and the message of the killfiled author is not displayed anymore.
This has changed.

Before, as soon as I opened a thread I could also see the killfiled authors and their messages.

My problem is:

I want to *unkillfile* an author.

My killfile contains about 300 names, they are listed in no specific order.

I can’t find the killfiled author in the list !?!
(I already copied the list to excel, sorted it alphabetically, but I still can’t find neither the name nor the e-mail-address)

and the 2nd possibility to unkillfile an author is not possible anymore:

If greasymonkey is switched on, the killfiled author is not (no more) visible and I cannot unkillfile him.

If greasymonkey is switched off, I can see the killfiled author but I can’t killfile him because the killfile option (no cross to click on) is gone, too.

Do you (anybody) have a work-around ?

Sorry for the long explanation….

Thanks and kind regards,
Nexibello

*sigh of relief*
thanks :) so it was not me suffering of even poorer eyesight after all…

Hi Damian

If threads are “viewed as a tree”, not all the dates of the messages are displayed in the tree.

It looks to me like this happens as soon there is one killfiled poster in the thread. If the killfiled author is the *first* in the thread (he started it), there is no date in the tree at all. If it’s the 40th, the date will be visible for authors 1 to 39, but not from the 40th onwards.

If the tree is sorted by date, all the dates are there again.

And *in* the message, the dates are there, too.

Greetings,
nexibello

P.S.:
I tried the new Google Group Beta version and realized that the killfile script doesn’t work there. But I suppose the “old” Google Group version will still be available for some time.

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/rec.music.classical.recordings/browse_frm/thread/3c0914eff136298d/9a6c4a9ce43016aa?hl=en#9a6c4a9ce43016aa

Contains a poster who cannot be blocked – perhaps because there’s a single quote in the name?

Thanks, though – this is a great script!

I just added the poster’s name manually to the scriptval thingy (using about:config) so it can be done! I know nothing about javascript though.

THANK you! I downloaded the new Firefox, GreaseMonkey and Google Groups KillFile script you posted and was able to zap some of the most annoying people on my favorite Google newsgroup. I reallyREALLYreally am grateful for you figuring out a way to killfile the folks who ruin certain usenet groups for the rest of us with their “You’re wrong, I’m always right” posts and I *highly* recommend your three-step killfile download to everyone who can get these scripts and programs onto their hard drives. This is an excellent script and it’s so cool to be able to filter Google Groups.

Again, thanks so much. I got my newsgroup back! :-)

Stupid question, but how do I download/use the killfile. I click on the link on this page, and I just get a page full of meaningless technobabble stuff. What do I do with it? Am I supposed to understand it? What should I do to make it work? Answers in plain English please, not meaningless technobabble stuff.

S.P, you need to be using Firefox, and Firefox needs to have GreaseMonkey installed. Once that is done if you click on the Killfile link you will either get a popup from Greasemonkey saying that it’s a script and would you like to use it, or you will see a msg bar at the top of the browser content window that has a button saying pretty much the same thing, that this is a script and would you like to use it.

Once the script is installed head on over to Google Groups and you will see the added option to killfile a user.

Ok. Thanks. So does that mean I’ll have to install it on _every_ computer that I use to read Google Groups? Doesn’t that take away the whole point of using Google instead of proper usenet: the fact that I can access newsgroups from any computer without having to set up a newsreader with a usenet server account!

I do use Firefox at home, so I _could_ install it here, but I won’t be able to install it it at work, or in a cybercafe, etc.

Oh well, it sounded like a good idea anyway. At least it’s better than nothing I guess.

There’s something I don’t understand. Why does it say that you need to have Firefox With Google Toolbar in order to use Google Groups Killfile?

I am using Firefox 2.0.0.1 (without Google Toolbar), and I have the CustomizeGoogle extension, which, among other things, filters out Google ads.

As a result, when I went to this site to get Google Groups Killfile, i did not see the line above which says you need the special “Firefox With Google Toolbar” version of Firefox.

I saw:

You will need the following..

*
* GreaseMonkey 0.6.4
* Latest Google Groups KillFile Script

viewing the source, I see that that line about FF with Google Toolbar is part of a javascript

google_ad_client = “pub-2047186789174280″; google_ad_output = “textlink”; google_ad_format = “ref_text”; google_cpa_choice = “CAAQzcLH7QEaCD_4BVTjvVryKLGsuIEB”; //–>

I did not actually notice the blank line. I downloaded the script, and Greasemonkey happily accepted it. So Google Toolbar is not needed.

I posted on a Usent group that GG Killfile was a handy thing to have, and got heavily flamed by people saying i was trying to trick them into getting Google Toolbar! It was not until i viewed this site in Opera and IE6 that I realised what was happening.

You’re right Mike it doesn’t require the Google Toolbar at all, it’s just a GreaseMonkey script. That link is a Google referral link so I get $1 if anyone downloads Firefox from here. Never intended it to infer you needed the toolbar for it to work though as I did state it’s just a GreaseMonkey script.

Sorry for the confusion and hope this clarifies things (I’ll update the instructions to reflect that the toolbar is indeed entirely optional)

Question for you: Is there a way to kill file messages on Invision Power Boards? If so, do you have the script so that we can make it happen? (Could you create it?) Just wondering. Thanks. These filters are so helpful in paring down the dross on certain boards.

The new Google Groups redesign seems to have killed the version I was using.

Yeah, since Google Groups changed a few days ago, I’m unable to see ANY posts on it, not just the ones made by people I’ve killfiled.

The new version is verified as working. So give that a shot.

Holy shit, dude. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. This script is fucking awesome. Were I a woman, I would want to have your babies.

I just started using GGKiller and I gotta say it’s sweeet! You know how Usenet is – fulla trolls and dickheads – and up til now, cos I had to use Google Groups instead of a proper newsreader, I had to use a /mental/ killfile on the lusers – which ain’t foolproof I’m afraid (me being the fool in question!) But now I don’t see ‘em, they ain’t a prob to poor old sensitive me no more.

Of course, since I only just started using the script, issues may arise. But I gotta tell ya… good job!

Great job, thank you for this awesome script!

I’ve a tiny change request tough. In topic view
http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-chit-chat/topics?start=
when a troll did the last reply to a thread the whole thread is filtered out.

Hi Damien,
I am using your sw and I have to thank you a lot.
I submit you a suggestion for some next release, that may be helpful in case of morphing (whem trolls adopt nicknames of ’safe’ newsgroup users).
If I well understand, GGkiller is based on nicknames: would it be possible to develop an updated version based on the email address?

Kind regards and thank you again for your valuable support.

Ucappa

Damian, is there a cutoff point as to how many one can put in the Killfile?

I was just wondering if there was a limit on the killfile, Damien…that’s all. Thanks for replying with the good info. :)

Damian, nothing is going wrong with the program. lol
I was just wondering if there was a limit on the number of names one can put in their killfile, that’s all.

Many thanks for your wonderful program and replying and putting my mind at ease.

I’m using the newest version available and it’s killfiling all the messages.

Does this work with google reader too?

Great, thanks Damian. It’d be even more useful if it did since I’ve started to use Google reader from both a google gadget and reader itself.
Cheers :)

Damian,
Great idea, but I seem to be doing something wrong. I have greasemonkey installed into Mozilla firefox (v 1.5), and clicked on the link…confirmed the import of the script etc…but I still don’t see any Xs near author names in the google groups view…I’m clicking on the group name from my google homepage…do I need to do something different?
Thanks,
Mitch

Damian,

Really like the killfile but I do have a question.

Would it be possible to modify (or add) a script to filter by the thread topic. I frequent a group where people just cannot resist the urge to reply to trolls. So, while the troll’s message is blocked, the topic still shows up since others have added their two cents worth. It would be nice to be able to kill an entire topic regardless of who contributed to it after it was started.

Thanks for all the hard work!

Hi Damian. How does one uninstall the Killfile? I think that might be a good idea for me. Ever since I reinstalled (after Google Groups went beta), it’s been acting kind of wonky, and is increasingly blocking messages of people I never would have killfiled. So it seems to me that if I could uninstall it all, then reinstall it (starting over), that probably wouldn’t be happening, or at least, not at first.

Beth

Hey Damian. I wanted to try uninstalling because of the wonkiness (hard to describe what I mean–just occasional oddities), so I did that, then reinstalled. Now, does this make sense? When I reinstalled it, it still had my old killfile list. I thought that would have all been wiped out.

Anyway, I am still having the same problem of it blocking people I don’t intend for it to block. The one name I could remember and check was Kevin Brady. I looked down my killfile list for anything that bore any resemblance to Kevin or Brady, but there was nothing on there.

Thanks,
Beth

Please email this poor man. He’s been trying to figure out what to download and where to install it, step by step. And then what happens . Does an icon show up when he enters Google? Does it filter threads and posters?
He’s using Google with Firefox

Or please write a step by step (above)
He’s a cancer patient who is trying to read and post to the newsgoup
And wants to block posters and threads.

I realize your product is free, but we need some help. If one person learns it, they can explain to the others. I don’t use Google and don’t use Firefox.
Thank you.

Very useful however I seem to have found a bug. If the killfile targetee shows as a single character like “h”
and you add this poster to the ignore user list, nothing works properly anymore :

It looks like a blank posting stopp the filtering of any remaining lines in the goolge groups. Okay on next page dispalyed.

Any chance of gettign a fix for this.

is greasemoney verrsion 0.6.4 mandatory ?
i can’t find it for download

with the actual grasemonkey 0.7 (and firefox 2.0.0.11) i couldn’t install your latest script ( googleGroups.user.js )

any ideas ? thank you

Hi Damian !
thanks for the reply, now it’s working for me too.
i don’t know why but when i tried first to install your greasemonkey googleGroups.user.js script it didn’t work and no X’s were shown when browsing the google groups. so i thought it isn’t compatible with a newer grasemonkey version that posted in the requirements list.

happy that it’s working now with
Firefox 2.0.0.11
GreaseMonkey 0.7
and your latest Google Groups killfile script ( http://www.penney.org/googleGroups.user.js )

thanks !
brgds tiwag

(removed typos from previous posting)

Hi Damian !
thanks for the reply, now it’s working for me too.
i don’t know why but when i tried first to install your greasemonkey googleGroups.user.js script it didn’t work and no X’s were shown when browsing the google groups. so i thought it isn’t compatible with a newer greasemonkey version than the one posted in the requirements list.

i’m happy that it’s working now with
Firefox 2.0.0.11
GreaseMonkey 0.7
and your latest Google Groups killfile script
( http://www.penney.org/googleGroups.user.js )

thanks !
brgds tiwag

[...] add-on, so runs on multiple platforms. I rely on this plug-in to run the KillFile script that gives kill files like behavior for Google [...]

Would it be possible to make this script when it removes the posts by killfiled people grab enough posts from the next page to make it be the normal 30 posts per page? This would speed up browing the archives.

I’ve found one user I can’t seem to killfile – see original poster at this URL :
http://groups.google.com/group/aus.tv/browse_frm/thread/b1e336ab72bfeba7/bda3ec8d28aebb3b#bda3ec8d28aebb3b
It’s another MI5 persecution post, so I’d like to kill it. However, when I add it to my killfile, the script stops displaying X’s and still displays both this user and several other users that are already in my kill file.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks,
Adam

thx for the plugin, its great !

req: can it do subject based kill, because theres always these MI5 spammers, and they use the MI5 in subject, or M’I5 or M-I`5 or you understand, its the letters M, I, 5, and sometimes with another letter or symbol between those.

?

Any chance of adding a wildcard (*) feature in the subject line to kill such nuisances as the “MI5 Persecution” plague? Also, it would be great to have the ability to kill posts by boilerplate text, like signatures, in order to keep ahead of the rapid nym-shifters (like Rob Cypher).

it would be great to hide all posts by crossposters cause he always hits lots of groups symul

so block all that have more than one newsgroup listed

Damian: There is a problem adding names with apostrophes, punctuation, or spaces in the username. For example, “who’sthat” or “Hi, I’m Chucky”. Is there a method to add the name manually? What file are the names store in?

I’ve hacked up the topic list handling in the copy I’m using so that it kills by topic, rather than user, and does a regular expression match, rather than a check for equality, if you’d like to look at it.

The changes aren’t major; when handling the topic list, it uses a different XPath pattern and uses RegExp’s exec rather than equality when checking for a match; it prepends “User:” or “Topic:” to the killfile entry, depending on which it is; and it prompts the user in the killfile set routine to allow the user to edit the killfile entry before entering it.

Damian, thanks for the note on about:config .

Using kill in the filter box works. Then I double-click on the greasemonkey entry that appears, and get a text-editable box with the killfile list.

Some questions:
1. So, we can just go ahead and edit the killfile list?
2. Can we do wildcard characters?
2a. And, is * the proper wildcard, or something is else?
3. What is the meaning of all the “…” appearing in the list entries?

Thanks Damian, great work on providing this service to us!

Mark

p.s. I find it easier to copy-and-paste the killfile list into a text editor like notepad, so that the entire string can be seen at once.

Great little script you’ve built there! I was thrilled to find it, as I really didn’t want to install a dedicated newsreader, but was dealing with a real noisy troll problem. Thanks so much.

Just some quick feedback: Someone mentioned ~’s in usernames causing a problem. I’m also see this behaviour with other non-ascii characters, for instance

By JonnyQuest2®

doesn’t give you the “ignore user” option.

Thanks again.

Damian:

Another satisfied customer here. I tried the BHO for MSIE over at holysmoke.org, but your script works better and is more intuitive — it was enough to make me switch from MSIE to Firefox (at least for reading Google Groups!).

Thanx,

Fred Goodwin

Damian: thanx for the script — I’m having the same problem as Adam.

Somewhere along the way, the “X”s stopped displaying and I can’t seem to bring them back (although “Ignore User” is still showing on individual posts). I’ve tried un-killing various troll-names, to no avail.

Even restoring my entire killfile doesn’t bring back the Xs.

Damian:

Thanx — I know you’re not being paid to support us, but you do have our everlasting gratitude.

Another bit of info:

My KF is empty but the Xs still don’t appear in the NG I read most often. However, if I go to a NG I’ve never read before, I see the Xs.

Not sure if that helps you diagnose the problem, but I thought I’d post it.

Thanx again.

Sorry to keep coming back — someone posted this string as a way to filter all the MI5 spam:

{M[,'` \.\-]I[,'` \.\-]5.p.}

It assumes you can filter on subject, which I don’t think you’re current script does. But just in case any of the readers know how to do it, I thought I’d add this contribution.