When you try to access a site with a CPALead survey or other online surveys, you’ll be greeted by something like this:

Users are required to fill up these online surveys or download and install games before they can proceed and get the stuff that they want. For most users, these online surveys are very annoying and time consuming and many times, filling up surveys doesn’t guarantee that the content they’re looking for will be provided. That’s why many users would just like to block, disable or bypass these online surveys so they can get immediate access to the stuff that they’re looking for.

Today, I’ll share you with you a few simple but effective tricks on how to block, disable or bypass online surveys.

Mozilla Firefox No Add-on Method

1. Open Firefox.
2. Go to the website that has the online survey (Let website load completely).
3. On Firefox, click on View > Page Style > No Style.

4. Firefox will disable all web styling elements (CSS, Javascript).
5. You should now have access to the content without being bothered by the online survey.

With the CSS & Javascript disabled, the online surveys won’t show up so you’ll have access to the content that you need. This should work most of the time unless the website is designed to check if the online survey is running or not. If that’s the case, then you can try any of the methods below.

Mozilla Firefox Add-on Method #1
1. Download and Install the NoScript Addon for Firefox.
2. Restart Firefox.
3. Go to the website that has the online survey (Let website load completely).
4. Click the NoScript Addon Options found at the bottom of the browser (Displays all enabled/disabled scripts).

5. Scripts vary for each website. You can determine which one is the online survey script by allowing scripts one at a time. Once the online survey pops up, revoke access to the last script that you allowed. (Options > Forbid [name of script])
6. If you’re trying to access an embedded video, allow it via Options > Blocked Objects.

7. You should now have access to the content without being bothered by the online survey.

Mozilla Firefox Add-on Method #2
1. Download and Install the QuickJava Addon for Firefox.
2. Restart Firefox.
3. The QuickJava toolbar will appear on the bottom of the screen of Firefox.

4. Go to the website that has the online survey (Let website load completely).
5. Disable scripts by click on the icons: Js – Javascript, J – Java, F – Flash, SL – Silverlight, I – Images or CSS (Disabled = red icon, Enabled = blue icon)
6. You should now have access to the content without being bothered by the online survey.

Methods 2 & 3 are practically the same as the No Add-on Method but they are a bit more complicated and allows more control over which scripts to enable/disable.

GreaseMonkey Script Method* (Mozilla Firefox & Google Chrome)

1. Requires the Greasemonkey script. get it here if you don’t have it yet.
2. Install the CPALead Remover script from Userscripts.

3. Restart your web browser (Firefox or Chrome).
4. Go to the website that has the CPALead survey.
5. You should now have access to the content without being bothered by the online survey.

*This method only blocks CPALead surveys.

NOTE: Make sure that you only use one add-on/script at a time to avoid conflicts and to ensure that the script/addon functions properly. Try out each one and keep the one that works for you.

Hope this tutorial on how to block online surveys was able to help you save you time and get rid of those annoying online surveys. If you know of any other methods or tricks on how to block, disable or bypass online surveys, please do share on the comments section.

Are you guys familiar or have heard of After the Deadline? It is a hosted writing improvement web service that was acquired by Automattic last year. After the Deadline (AtD) provides its service via a WordPress and TinyMCE plugin that works as a contextual spell checking, advanced style checking and intelligent grammar checking tool. It’s free to download and use, all you need to do is register for an API key, then you can download it and install.

If you’re interested in using After the Deadline but don’t have a WordPress blog, don’t worry because with the recent release of the After the Deadline Firefox addon, you don’t need a WordPress blog or TinyMCE to use it. Below is a screencast about the new After the Deadline Firefox addon.

With the After the Deadline Firefox addon, you can take this powerful and smart proofreader anywhere in the web. You can use it on different websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. The After the Deadline addon can be activated/deactivated by clicking on the check button showed in the screencast or pressing the F7 key. Once its activated, it will underline any spelling, styling or grammatical errors. Just right-click on any underlined word and choose the right word from a list of suggested words. Also, if you try to submit/publish something without proofreading it, the addon will notify you of any detected errors and ask if you want to proceed. If you click on Cancel, After the Deadline will highlight/underline the errors. Once you’re done proofreading it, you can proceed submitting/publishing it.

I’m glad that they released an After the Deadline Firefox addon because now I can use it not only on my WordPress blog but on almost any website I visit. I also like the Explain feature that gives further details about the spelling or grammatical error. This is a very useful addon if you do a lot of writing and want to make sure that your spelling and grammar are always correct. Not only will it help you write better but it will also help you save time because you will spend less time editing. For now they only have an addon for Firefox so for those who don’t like or don’t use Firefox as their main web browser, but would like to use After the Deadline, they can download and install other versions of the plugin designed for other platforms.

Download the After the Deadline Firefox addon from the Mozilla Firefox addon repository.

What do you think of the new After the Deadline Firefox addon? Anyone else using it? What are the things you like or dislike about it? Please share your thoughts.

Although I do a lot of reading online, I don’t really use Google Reader or any other RSS aggregator that much. I prefer to visit the site myself and read the articles directly from that website or blog. I think its more of a habit than of a preference. Anyways, this “habit” of mine has recently changed after I came across a neat Mozilla Firefox addon/plugin called Feedly. This is quite a lengthy post/review but I’m sure you won’t mind especially after you find out how cool Feedly is.

Feedly is a Firefox addon that creates a magazine-like startpage/homepage on Firefox. It creates a fast and stylish way to read and share the content of your favorite sites and services. It also provides seamless integration with Google Reader, Twitter, Frienfeed, Delicious and YouTube.

To install Feedly, first of all you need to have the Mozilla Firefox browser installed on your computer. If you already have it, then you can proceed with installing Feedly. You can get it from the official Firefox Add-ons repository. After you install it, you’ll have to restart Firefox.

Once Firefox loads back up, you will see 2 new icons added to it. (1) Feedly start page and (2) Add source. The Feedly start page icon provides the user a quick and easy access to Feedly. The Add Source icon is for when you want to subscribe or add a certain website or blog to Feedly.

If you subscribe to a website or blog using the Add Source icon, Feedly will create a new subscription and then you can assign it to an existing category or create a new category and assign it there. After that, you just have to hit the Subscribe button and Feedly will automatically add it.

You can choose the type of layout for your Feedly start page from 4 different layouts – Cover, Digest, Latest and Favorites. Personally, I like the Cover layout the most.

Cover

Digest

Latest

One neat feature of Feedly is the “preview” feature that loads the blog article within Feedly, which is good for readers because you won’t have to leave Feedly just to read the full article. This is useful especially of the blog uses the <-more-> option. Although like any blog author, I do appreciate when readers also visit my blog once in a while and join in the discussion. *hint* *hint*

To organize your feeds/subscriptions, just click on the Organize Sources link found on top of your Feedly page which will bring you to the Dashboard.

If you want to move a certain feed to a different category, all you need to do is click, hold and drag a feed name and Feedly will open a box that contains all the existing categories. Just drop the feed in any category and it will be automatically moved there. If you want to move that feed to a new category, drop it on the Create New Category box.

Aside from that, you can also perform other actions like marking a feed as a favorite by clicking on the star icon, unsubscribe by clicking on the unsubscribe icon, editing a category or subscription name by doing a SHIFT+click on the category/subscription name to rename it. Performing a right click on a feed or subscription also lets you perform several actions like “mark all as read”, “mark as favorite”, “open in website directly”, “edit subscription” and “unsubscribe”.

Another cool Feedly feature is the minibar that rests on the lower right corner of the browser. The minibar can be enabled/disabled and can be configured to show up only on websites you subscribed to or on any rss enabled website.

The Feedly minibar lets you share or save the article on Feedly/Google Reader or share it on Twitter. Btw, if you provide your Twitter and FriendFeed username, you will be able to view the latest activity from both sites right on Feedly.

That’s practically all the features that Feedly has to offer. There are other minute details but I’ll leave that for you guys to find out yourselves. I strongly recommend Feedly to anyone who likes reading RSS feeds and especially to those who follow a lot of blogs and websites. Feedly not only makes your Firefox homepage look nice but it also provides an easy to use and organize interface for Google Reader.

Because I hadn’t used Google Reader in a long time, I had a lot of clearing up and organizing to do but I don’t mind because now that I have Feedly, everything is made easier and even fun.

Anyone else using or have tried Feedly? What are the things you like/dislike about it? What other features would like to see added to it? Please share your thoughts.

Part of my blogging activities include blog hopping and leaving comments on my favorite blogs, daily reads and other blogs I visit. This doesn’t only help in promoting my blog but it also helps me create and maintain relationships with other bloggers. One of the things I don’t like about this specific activity is filling out the comment form with my personal data – name, email address and website url because its time consuming. Certain websites or blogs remember those fields and some don’t. And if you’ve recently cleared your browser’s cache, you’ll have to type in those fields all over again for each blog.

Tired of having to retype the same stuff everytime you want to leave a comment on a blog? Wouldn’t it be nice if you don’t have to do the process over and over again and do it with just a single click? Well that’s now possible thanks to the easyComment Firefox extension created by Benjamin Flesch.

easyComment enables you to One-Click Comment on WordPress Blogs which makes it an perfect tool for people who comment on a lot of different Weblogs and who don’t want to sign up on every single one.

To be able to use easyComment, first you’ll need the Mozilla Firefox browser. If you already have Firefox or you’re done installing it, the next thing to do is install the easyComment Firefox plugin/addon. You can get it from Mozilla’s Addon directory (requires logging in because this is an experimental addon) or straight from the plugin author’s website.

Once you’ve installed the easyComment addon, you’ll have to restart Firefox and after Firefox reloads, you’ll see easyComment at the statusbar just like the one below:

Before you can start using easyComment, you’ll have to configure it and provide your personal data. You can do that by right clicking on the easyComment on the statusbar and click on Preferences. Fill in the required fields on the Preferences Dialog like, here’s an example of my easyComment settings.

When you’re done, just click on Save.

Here’s how it works. When you want to leave a comment on a certain blog, just click on easyComment on your statusbar and it will automatically fill out the required fields with the data you provided on the easyComment Preferences. Here’s an example using my comment form.

Before using easyComment

After using easyComment

Now all you have to do is type in the message that you want to leave. Btw, you can also specify a message on easyComment’s Preferences.

If the website or blog doesn’t have a comment form you’ll see a message that says “No Comment Form found!” at the statusbar like this:

easyComment is very easy to use, install and configure. It was designed for commenting on WordPress blogs but I’ve tried it out and it works on almost any website or blog that has a comment form. Unfortunately it doesn’t work for all websites and blogs especially those that require users to be logged in or have a different comment system like blogs hosted by Blogger (blogspot).

If you’ve already installed easyComment, you can try it out by leaving a comment here and sharing what you think about easyComment. You might also wanna share other websites or blogs that works or doesn’t work with easyComment.

Thanks for your time and have a nice day!