View source for Welcome

'''Work in progress!'''

Hello new user, and welcome to [[Greasemonkey]].
This page is shown to you only once, the first time that you install Greasemonkey.
It should help you get to know what Greasemonkey is, how it works, and how you can get help if you're having a problem.
You can continue reading the [[Greasemonkey Manual]] for more information.

== User Scripts ==

=== Getting Scripts ===

You can get [[user script]]s anywhere on the internet.
However, the most common place is [http://userscripts.org/ userscripts.org], which has been operating since 2005 and now contains tens-of-thousands of scripts.
There is also an active user scripting community at userscripts.org.

=== Problem Troubleshooting ===

Much like Firefox allows you to install extensions, Greasemonkey allows you to install user scripts.
If you are having a problem with Greasemonkey, first it is important to check if the problem is actually with the user script, just like a problem with Firefox may actually be caused by an extension.

If you're having trouble, and you think Greasemonkey is the problem you can try these troubleshooting steps.
(These steps can always be found in the [[Troubleshooting (Users)]] page, with more detail.)

; Enable Greasemonkey (all scripts):
: If you're missing a feature you are used to having, click <tt>Tools</tt>, <tt>Greasemonkey</tt> and make sure "<tt>Enabled</tt>" is ''checked''.
; Disable Greasemonkey (all scripts):
: If something about a site used to work, but is now broken, click <tt>Tools</tt>, <tt>Greasemonkey</tt> and make sure "<tt>Enabled</tt>" is ''unchecked''.
; Disable just scripts selectively:
: If disabling all scripts helped, try figuring out which script is causing the problem.  Click <tt>Tools</tt>, <tt>Greasemonkey</tt>, <tt>Manage User Scripts...</tt>, then for every script, uncheck the "<tt>Enabled</tt>" check box below the list.  If the problem went away, re-enable the scripts one-at-a-time.  If enabling one script causes the problem, you've found the culprit!
; Check for errors:
: If disabling a script helps, there's probably a problem with that script that needs to be fixed.  Click <tt>Tools</tt>, <tt>Error Console</tt>.  In this new window, click <tt>Clear</tt>, then load the problem page.  If new lines appear in the error console, that's very valuable information.  You can select them and <tt>Copy</tt> their text.
; Disable Greasemonkey (the whole extension):
: If nothing else helps, you can try completely disabling the entire Greasemonkey extension.  Click <tt>Tools</tt>, <tt>Add-Ons</tt>, find and pick Greasemonkey, and click the <tt>Disable</tt> button.  Restart Firefox.

=== Problems with a Script ===

If the [[Troubleshooting (Users)|troubleshooting]] steps above identified one script with a problem, then you might be able to get it fixed!
The best thing to do is find the original author of ''that script'', and get them to fix it.
If you installed your script from userscripts.org you should be able to find the author listed there.
The userscripts.org site also has general forums for script support, which might be able to point you to the right place.

== Getting Help ==

=== What to Say ===

If you're having problems, you should always A) start with the list above and B) be prepared to explain what you've already done, and what the results were.
Without that information, even someone who wants to help you can only, at best, guess.
You'll have to type all this information out sooner or later, so doing it ahead of time makes things easier for you and someone who might help, and therefore makes it more likely that someone will be willing to help.

There's also a lot of specifics that may be different from person to person, and may be contributing to the problem.
Please be sure to communicate all of the following information:

* Operating System (E.G. Windows XP, Windows 7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Ubuntu Linux 8.10)
* Firefox version (Open <tt>Help</tt>, <tt>About Mozilla Firefox</tt> then select and copy the last line of text, E.G. "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686 (x86_64); en-US; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6".)
* Greasemonkey version (Find it in <tt>Tools</tt>, <tt>Add-ons</tt>, E.G. <tt>0.8.2009.12.09.4</tt>.)
* Exactly which script, if any, is causing a problem?  Give an exact name, and if '''at all''' possible, the URL where it can be found.
* Exactly which page, if any, is exhibiting this problem.  Please give a URL.  If some sort of registration or login or other permission is required, please state this instead.

And finally, if you are a script author, including the exact code that is causing problems is really important.
The best option is to provide a URL to some sort of pastebin service, like [http://gist.github.com] or [http://pastebin.com/], which can communicate the entire, and exact, source code causing the problem.

If you provide the source code via email, ''please'' do not paste it into the body of your message: e-mail clients will wrap lines, change characters, and generally break the code in other subtle ways.
Attaching the source code as a file makes sure it is not broken in transit.

=== Where to Say It ===

To find assistance, there are three good places to look:
* Mentioned above, problems with one user script should be brought to the attention of that script's author.
* If you ''are'' the author of the script, or otherwise still need help, you can turn to the [http://groups.google.com/group/greasemonkey-users greasemonkey-users] mailing list.
* Also available are the [http://userscripts.org/forums forums at userscripts.org], with multiple appropriate topics.