Flashblock is a content-filtering extension for the Mozilla Firefox- and Mozilla Application Suite

Mozilla Application Suite

The Mozilla Application Suite is a cross-platform integrated Internet suite. Its development was initiated by Netscape Communications Corporation, before their acquisition by AOL. It is based on the source code of Netscape Communicator...

-based web browsers. Flashblock allows users to prevent page elements, such as HTML object tag Browser plug-ins and advertisements

Online advertising

Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web to deliver marketing messages to attract customers. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, blogs, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, interstitial...

, from being displayed. Flashblock does neither stop the download of Flash content nor does it prevent its execution completely.

The extension uses XBL

XBL

XBL is an XML-based markup language used to declare the behavior and look of XUL-widgets and XML elements.XBL was developed by the Mozilla project for use in the Mozilla Application Suite; the language is not currently described by any formal standard and is thus proprietary to Mozilla, with the...

 and CSS

Cascading Style Sheets

Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...

 to prevent elements of Silverlight

Microsoft Silverlight

Microsoft Silverlight is an application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications, with features and purposes similar to those of Adobe Flash. The run-time environment for Silverlight is available as a plug-in for web browsers running under Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X...

, Java applet

Java applet

A Java applet is an applet delivered to users in the form of Java bytecode. Java applets can run in a Web browser using a Java Virtual Machine , or in Sun's AppletViewer, a stand-alone tool for testing applets...

s, Macromedia Authorware

Macromedia Authorware

Macromedia Authorware was an interpreted, flowchart based, graphical programming language. Authorware is used for creating interactive programs that can integrate a range of multimedia content, particularly e-learning applications...

, Adobe Director

Adobe Director

Adobe Director is a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia—now part of Adobe Systems. It allows users to build applications built on a movie metaphor, with the user as the "director" of the movie...

 and Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...

 from being displayed. Flashblock does not prevent the elements from being downloaded.

Flashblock provides a mechanism that allows users to display the blocked elements by clicking on them, or by whitelisting.

Flashblock is based on a bookmarklet

Bookmarklet

A bookmarklet is Unobtrusive JavaScript stored as the URL of a bookmark in a web browser or as a hyperlink on a web page. The term is a portmanteau of the terms bookmark and applet, however, an applet is not to be confused with a bookmarklet just as JavaScript is not to be confused with Java...

 by Jesse Ruderman.

Flashblock version 1.5.x is compatible with Firefox 3.0 to 9.0 only. Version 1.3.x is compatible with SeaMonkey and all other browsers.

See also

• Adblock Plus
• NoScript
  NoScript
  NoScript is a free and open-source extension for Mozilla Firefox, SeaMonkey, and other Mozilla-based web browsers, created and actively maintained by Giorgio Maone, an Italian software developer and member of the Mozilla Security Group...
  
  
• List of Firefox extensions

External links

• Firefox addon
• Flashblock Homepage on Mozdev