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Disabling Flash on Specific Sites?

Posted by Cliff on from the useful-browser-features dept.

xrjlx asks: "Does anyone know how to disable flash on just specific sites like cnet and yahoo so that those annoying ads don't come up on the screen. One way to do it is by setting "run active x controls" to "prompt." This gets annoying though because many sites legitimately use them. Are there any programs written that will allow me to just selectively block the use of flash on certain sites?" It makes sense to me that, like cookies and the use of Javascript, ALL browsers should have some kind of by-domain filter that selectively activates whatever set of plugins (including Flash) that provides the user with the kind of web experience that they want, of course, many might see this as too much micromanagement for their tastes. I say it all boils down to a well defined UI. What say you?

4 of 15 comments (clear)

  1. Re:If you're using IE... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    this works well for me. I also don't have flash installed because it's stupid. putting the site in restricted gets rid of the window that asks me if I want to install it.

  2. Look into JunkBuster by dharding · · Score: 2, Informative

    For Yahoo!, I use the Internet Junkbuster Proxy. It runs on both Windows and *nix, and should be able to work with any browser. It is able to block banner ads, flash animations, etc. Note however that it does not support for disabling JavaScript popups or anything like that, but for what I do, it is sufficent.

  3. Seems like you're running IE, so.. by acrhemeied · · Score: 3, Informative

    (from v5.0):

    Go to Tools, then Internet Options. Select Security, then select Restricted Sites. The Sites button will become active.. choose that and a window will pop with a list and an entry box. You can enter the name of a site which you'd like to restrict (just the domain name (i.e. 'gamespy.com')) and hit 'add'. I believe wildcard characters are supported ('*.gamespy.com')..

    Anyway, once you've filled the list with Flash-dripping sites, hit OK and choose the 'Custom Level' button under the "security settings for this zone". (make sure you're still under Restricted Sites!). From there, you can disable most every irritating browser 'innovation' out there, from Active Scripting (way down at the bottom of the list) to, yes, Flash ("Run ActiveX Controls and Plugins" should do the trick).

    To see if the settings actually work, go to the site in question. Two things should happen:

    1. Flash shouldn't play if you've turned it off
    2. A little red icon will appear in the lower-left bit of the status bar where a globe usually is.

  4. Re:If you're using IE... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Except for that annoying "ActiveX is disabled" nag dialog.