See only free apps on MacUpdate and VersionTracker

May 13, '09 07:30:03AM

Contributed by: Anonymous

Here's an easy way, using Safari, to see only the free apps at MacUpdate and VersionTracker. What follows is a summary of the process; you can read a detailed walkthrough (with screenshots) on my blog.

  1. Write a simple CSS file for Safari to use. Open TextEdit, and paste in the following line -- make sure TextEdit is in plain text mode.
    .eliminateMe { visibility: hidden ! important; display: none !important; }
    This CSS rule overrides all other rules regarding visibility because it's on a local style sheet (which takes precedence). Save the file somewhere, and make sure you name it something that ends in .css. TextEdit will want to append .txt to the name; don't let it do so when prompted.
  2. Tell Safari to use your local style sheet. In Safari's Preferences, select the Advanced tab. Click the pop-up menu next to Style Sheet, then click Other on the menu and navigate to the CSS file you just created.
  3. Select all of the following text (triple-click it), then drag and drop it onto the Bookmarks bar in Safari. Give it a short useful name (Show Free or whatever) when prompted.
    javascript:(function(){var%20xyz;if(document.getElementsByTagName('a')){for(var%20z=0;(xyz=document.getElementsByTagName('a')[z]);z++){if(xyz.text=='Updater'||xyz.text=='Shareware'||xyz.text=='Update'||xyz.text=='Commercial'||xyz.text=='Beta'||xyz.text=='Demo'){xyz.parentNode.parentNode.className='eliminateMe';}}}})();
Now just visit MacUpdate or VersionTracker, then click the Show Free entry in Safari's bookmarks bar...just like that, you'll see only the free apps in the list. You can probably play around with this to adjust it for use on other sites as well.

[robg adds: This worked as described in Safari. If you want to use it in Firefox (where it also works), you need to create a file named userContent.css in your user's Library » Application Support » Firefox » Profiles » randomtext.default » chrome folder (you'll see two sample files there already). Paste in the above CSS and restart Firefox, then create the bookmarklet. If you need more help with the CSS file, this page has tons of details.]

Comments (11)


Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090513065223496