17 votes

Re-Nav: a WebExtension to create custom redirects for any website

25 comments

  1. [4]
    Bauke
    Link
    cc. @cfabbro @drannex @kfwyre I just published version 0.2.0. Chrome/MSE versions are in review. On Firefox you can already update it by going to about:addons, inside the gear icon button click...

    cc. @cfabbro @drannex @kfwyre

    I just published version 0.2.0. Chrome/MSE versions are in review. On Firefox you can already update it by going to about:addons, inside the gear icon button click "Check for updates". It'll ask for extra permissions because Re-Nav has some new features, notably:

    • A toggle all redirecting button via the extension icon. Right-click -> Toggle all redirects.
    • You won't be redirected clicking on links/opening new tabs if your current tab is a website with the same redirect. So if you're on example.org and click a link there that leads to another example.org page, it won't redirect you.
    • The default new redirect is now hostname -> hostname.
    6 votes
    1. kfwyre
      Link Parent
      Awesome! Also, now that I’ve had this installed for a while and have used it in my daily browsing, I’d like to let you know how wonderful it is. It has smoothed over some minor but frequent...

      Awesome!

      Also, now that I’ve had this installed for a while and have used it in my daily browsing, I’d like to let you know how wonderful it is. It has smoothed over some minor but frequent frustrations. For example, for some reason Imgur doesn’t play nice with my VPN and it’s a crapshoot as to whether or not something on there will actually load. Thus, I did a redirect to rimgo, an alternate Imgur frontend, and links now load perfectly every time.

      Same goes for reddit redirects to libreddit. I know it’s passé to hate on the “new” interface, but I really don’t like it. Part of my reason for using r.nf isn’t even for privacy reasons — it’s simply because I like the interface way more. Now that links consistently forward to that, it’s a lot more fluid and easy to browse things. I’ll often search reddit through a search engine then click through to the page that I want, and in doing so I used to have to manually switch the URL. Your extension does that automatically for me now flawlessly.

      Thank you for developing this and sharing it with us.

      4 votes
    2. [2]
      cfabbro
      Link Parent
      But how do you get to that website in the first place when even typing it in the address bar still redirects you away from it? :P Regardless, the right click to disable/enable all redirects is...

      You won't be redirected clicking on links/opening new tabs if your current tab is a website with the same redirect. So if you're on example.org and click a link there that leads to another example.org page, it won't redirect you.

      But how do you get to that website in the first place when even typing it in the address bar still redirects you away from it? :P

      Regardless, the right click to disable/enable all redirects is sufficient for me, and a hell of a lot more convenient than having to temporarily disable/enable an addon entirely, as I was having to do before. So thanks for adding that.

      1 vote
      1. Bauke
        Link Parent
        I did try to get it to work but it's not possible to do seamlessly. One potential way that would work is to add a check for something like "re-nav-disable" in the URL, then remove that (so it...

        I did try to get it to work but it's not possible to do seamlessly. One potential way that would work is to add a check for something like "re-nav-disable" in the URL, then remove that (so it doesn't interfere with the website) and don't do any redirects. But I don't know if I really like that, since websites could use that to bypass the extension too.

        2 votes
  2. [2]
    asterisk
    (edited )
    Link
    Sorry, Iʼm late but thereʼs Redirector. Iʼve already use it for some purposes: Mobile → desktop version: ^(https?://)([a-z0-9-]*\.)?m(?:obile)?\.(.*) → $1$2$3 Because some sites cannʼt do it...

    I've looked around for other extensions that can do this, but haven't really found anything like it. There's a few that redirect all requests, but I only want the navigation ones to count. There are a few that do this for specific sites, like Old Reddit Redirect. But none I've found that do this for anything you want.

    Sorry, Iʼm late but thereʼs Redirector.

    Iʼve already use it for some purposes:

    • Mobile → desktop version:

      ^(https?://)([a-z0-9-]*\.)?m(?:obile)?\.(.*)$1$2$3

      Because some sites cannʼt do it themselves — hello, Wikipedia! Usually itʼs enough.

    • Change language

    • Change to some alternative site like:

      (https?://)(.*)?\.medium\.com/(.*) → $1scribe.rip/$3

    5 votes
    1. Bauke
      Link Parent
      I did come across Redirector when searching some months ago but found it too cumbersome to use for small things. Particularly, having to know regular expressions (or get someone to create one for...

      I did come across Redirector when searching some months ago but found it too cumbersome to use for small things. Particularly, having to know regular expressions (or get someone to create one for you) makes the barrier to entry quite high.

      Thus Redirector didn't satisfy my needs, but I also just really like making my own tools.

      8 votes
  3. Bauke
    Link
    Re-Nav is the project I made for 𝕋𝕀𝕄𝔸𝕊𝕆𝕄𝕆 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟚, it's a WebExtension for Firefox & Chromium-based browsers (through the Chrome Web Store and Microsoft Edge store). If you've ever used Old Reddit...

    Re-Nav is the project I made for 𝕋𝕀𝕄𝔸𝕊𝕆𝕄𝕆 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟚, it's a WebExtension for Firefox & Chromium-based browsers (through the Chrome Web Store and Microsoft Edge store). If you've ever used Old Reddit Redirect or similar extensions to redirect you to better websites, Re-Nav is basically the ultimate solution to this by giving you total control over how and where you're redirected.

    If you have a use-case not covered by Re-Nav's current capabilities, let me know and I'll figure out how to accommodate it.

    4 votes
  4. [3]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    I gave your addon a try the other day, @Bauke, and I will probably start using it to replace several other separate ones I use that do similar (old.reddit redirect, nitter redirect, etc). But a...

    I gave your addon a try the other day, @Bauke, and I will probably start using it to replace several other separate ones I use that do similar (old.reddit redirect, nitter redirect, etc). But a question for you, if you don't mind. Can I use Re-Nav to accomplishing the following?

    I'm looking for a way to redirect example.site/* links to their alternatives, but only when I click on an external link to that site. When I manually type the domain in myself I still want to be able to go there without being redirected, and navigate around inside the site too. I ask because I often find myself having to temporarily disable the various redirect addons I have because I still need to access the base sites sometimes too (e.g. new.reddit for certain features, imgur which I upload images to, twitter for copying links to submit here, etc.), and it would be awesome if I didn't have to keep doing that.

    Is that possible, and if not, would you be willing to add a feature for that? I would greatly appreciate if you did.

    4 votes
    1. [2]
      Bauke
      Link Parent
      I've rewritten this comment 4 times now, each time giving you a different answer because I keep coming up with a way to do it and then figuring out an edge case that would prevent it. So my answer...

      I've rewritten this comment 4 times now, each time giving you a different answer because I keep coming up with a way to do it and then figuring out an edge case that would prevent it. So my answer for now is maaaybe. I have some ideas and I will try, but no promises.

      4 votes
      1. cfabbro
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Hah, yeah I figured as much. I totally understand that it's likely not as straightforward as it sounds. But in terms of edge-cases, IMO it definitely doesn't need to be perfect, and the occasional...

        Hah, yeah I figured as much. I totally understand that it's likely not as straightforward as it sounds. But in terms of edge-cases, IMO it definitely doesn't need to be perfect, and the occasional hiccup wouldn't bother me nearly as much as having to keep temporarily disabling addons does.

        And no pressure, take your time, and if you can't do it well enough to be satisfied with it then no worries. :)

        p.s. But if you can't find an acceptable way to do it, having a faster, more easily accessible on/off toggle for the redirects would be nice. E.g. If instead of opening up the options page when clicking the addon icon, it opens a dropdown menu which lists the various redirects with individual toggles next to them.

        3 votes
  5. [4]
    drannex
    Link
    Using this now as a replacement to a lot of others that I've used! This is great! works really well on Firefox for Android while the others (which is partially expected) work about 90% of the time...

    Using this now as a replacement to a lot of others that I've used! This is great!

    • works really well on Firefox for Android while the others (which is partially expected) work about 90% of the time or cause browser crashes.
    3 votes
    1. [3]
      Bauke
      Link Parent
      That's interesting, did you install it through Mozilla Addons? I just checked and I don't have the Firefox for Android compatibility set, though I don't know if the compatibility settings do...

      That's interesting, did you install it through Mozilla Addons? I just checked and I don't have the Firefox for Android compatibility set, though I don't know if the compatibility settings do anything anyway. Cool to know it works regardless!

      3 votes
      1. [2]
        PetitPrince
        Link Parent
        Color me interested as well.

        Color me interested as well.

        4 votes
        1. drannex
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Firefox for Android allows you to install any extensions that are used on desktop, surprisingly easy. Enable developer mode (click 5x on Firefox logo in Settings > About Firefox) on Nightly,...

          Firefox for Android allows you to install any extensions that are used on desktop, surprisingly easy.

          Enable developer mode (click 5x on Firefox logo in Settings > About Firefox) on Nightly, create a collection on the addon website, add extensions to the collection, and then enter in the collection name and ID (the ID is the eight digit code found in the url for the collection) into the now activated Custom Addon Collection setting in the app settings (Settings > Custom Addon Collection). Restart the app.

          This reddit comment thread is decent for solving any questions.

          I have a ton of extensions (and tampermonkey!) that work beautifully well.

          I've been using this for ~2 years now and support is rather strong for vast majority of extensions, I don't even have really any apps installed since I use their Web versions and can modify and write scripts that make the experience a lot better, faster, and private.

          Edit: I rewrote this entire comment to just be more useful.

          6 votes
  6. Bauke
    Link
    I guess I'll just keep using this topic as a version announcer. (^: Version 0.3.0 is now available! As always, Firefox is already published and Chrome/MSE are in review. Notable features: Toggling...

    I guess I'll just keep using this topic as a version announcer. (^:

    Version 0.3.0 is now available! As always, Firefox is already published and Chrome/MSE are in review. Notable features:

    • Toggling all redirects can now be done by keyboard shortcut (default Alt+Shift+R, configurable in your browser's extensions manager).
    • A "share redirect" button was added. Using it will copy a link to holllo.org/re-nav/share/ with the redirect embedded in the URL. Here's an example.
    3 votes
  7. [2]
    drannex
    Link
    @Bauke, I know this might be a bit more work than I suppose it would be, but would it be possible to have a 'Temporary Disable' button? One we can toggle on and off (maybe just by clicking the...

    @Bauke, I know this might be a bit more work than I suppose it would be, but would it be possible to have a 'Temporary Disable' button? One we can toggle on and off (maybe just by clicking the extension in the toolbar?) that way when we sadly need to see a standard website we can just turn it off without disabling the entire extension?

    2 votes
    1. Bauke
      Link Parent
      I have some plans for this, yeah.

      I have some plans for this, yeah.

      2 votes
  8. [5]
    hook
    Link
    Nice, just added, thanks. As a non-(really-)coder, I find some of the options, even with examples, a bit hard to understand, but the basics are cool. Slightly off topic: I find Nitter pretty cool,...

    Nice, just added, thanks.

    As a non-(really-)coder, I find some of the options, even with examples, a bit hard to understand, but the basics are cool.

    Slightly off topic: I find Nitter pretty cool, but my limited use of Twitter still requires me to log in and engage (post, follow notifications, reply). What is a good solution for that? I already run it in its own Firefox container, of course.

    2 votes
    1. [4]
      Bauke
      Link Parent
      Haha, yeah... It's really difficult to write good documentation for this kind of thing without explaining how it all works. But I've slowly been working on a website with interactive examples and...

      Haha, yeah... It's really difficult to write good documentation for this kind of thing without explaining how it all works. But I've slowly been working on a website with interactive examples and walkthroughs of everything, hopefully that'll help once it materializes.

      3 votes
      1. [3]
        hook
        Link Parent
        I totally understand. At the opposite end I have to explain how and why things like copyright and licenses matter and affect your rights in the code. Also hard to explain to (inquisitive) people...

        I totally understand. At the opposite end I have to explain how and why things like copyright and licenses matter and affect your rights in the code. Also hard to explain to (inquisitive) people without giving them a several hours long intro into “IP” law and licensing.

        Great to hear about the website with examples, that could help heaps. I already learned about Nitter and r.nf – some more such examples (perhaps with alternatives) would be great too.

        3 votes
        1. [2]
          kfwyre
          Link Parent
          @cfabbro mentioned this site in the Timasomo thread which is a great starting point. I picked up a few from there myself.

          @cfabbro mentioned this site in the Timasomo thread which is a great starting point. I picked up a few from there myself.

          3 votes
          1. hook
            Link Parent
            Thanks. I totally forget about this site.

            Thanks. I totally forget about this site.

            3 votes
  9. [3]
    hook
    Link
    @bauke, what’s the best way to submit issues or ask for help? For some reason if I set the following redirect, which is suggested by Rimgo itself, it does not work: ^https?://i?.?imgur.com(/.*)?$...

    @bauke, what’s the best way to submit issues or ask for help?

    For some reason if I set the following redirect, which is suggested by Rimgo itself, it does not work:

    ^https?://i?.?imgur.com(/.*)?$ (regex) ↦ rim.odyssey346.dev$1 (regex, but also tried the other two options)

    2 votes
    1. [2]
      Bauke
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Via email or here on Tildes is fine. As for the regex, the redirected URL is missing a https:// so the parsing for it is failing. Adding it makes it work: https://rim.odyssey346.dev$1. And yeah it...

      Via email or here on Tildes is fine.

      As for the regex, the redirected URL is missing a https:// so the parsing for it is failing. Adding it makes it work: https://rim.odyssey346.dev$1. And yeah it should be regex -> regex.

      I've made an issue to add this automatically, so in the next version it won't be a problem to omit the https. :)

      4 votes
      1. hook
        Link Parent
        This worked, thanks :)

        This worked, thanks :)

        3 votes