Best, easiest website blocker

January 25, 2016 11:25 AM

I want to block my daughter's internet access except to three, homework-related websites, from the hour of 3 to 4, Mon-Thurs. This is a mandatory condition of her getting to use her computer for homework in her after school program. Right now she has Chrome and Firefox installed on her MacBook. She is on board and wants to follow the rules, so will probably not go way out of her way to circumvent a blocker program. What is the easiest, bestest extension I should use?
posted by latkes to Technology (9 answers total)

I think that you can do this using Parental Controls in System Preferences.
posted by veedubya at 11:32 AM on January 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

If she's going to be self policing, a 'focus' extension like StayFocusd for Chrome is probably the most straight forward option. It lets you put sites on a whitelist and shut everything else down for a set time.
posted by msbutah at 11:33 AM on January 25, 2016 [3 favorites]

LeechBlock only exists for Firefox, but it's a powerful tool. Before you go with the nuclear option, meaning it cannot be changed simply by going into the apps settings, make sure you've tested it and it works properly. Chrome doesn't have LeechBlock -- I think StayFocusd is as close to it, but it's not as robust in my opinion.

It does appear Macs have a parental controls feature that may be the easiest method: https://support.apple.com/kb/ph18571?locale=en_US
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:51 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

I also highly recommend the "StayFocusd" chrome extension which can do this and more, you can choose days it's active, etc etc. But you would need to deinstall FireFox...
posted by 6am at 12:45 PM on January 25, 2016

I presume you've looked at the parental controls in the system preferences? When I used that with my kids, it was crazy frustrating, because it would block everything---including whatever wack analytics Chrome kept trying to phone home with every two minutes, which was frustrating.

But it did seem to block non-approved websites like whoa.

It might be a hassle to just have the parental controls on for that hour, and then have to turn them off when she wants to use the computer later in the evening, though.

Probably the easiest approach if you wanted to do it this way is to make a second, super locked down account just for the after school program, so she longs into that one at the after school program and then into her normal account (if that's the way you work it) later on. If the homework's all web-based, that should be fine.
posted by leahwrenn at 1:46 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

There is a Mac app called self control that will block websites for a length of time. It looks like it can be run from the command line or scripted, so you should be able to set it up to run automatically on a schedule.
posted by nalyd at 4:19 PM on January 25, 2016 [3 favorites]

I use (and LOVE) BlockSite(by wips.com) in Chrome on my MacBook. The page that comes up when you visit an "illegal" site is cute in how it scolds you (it counts and has a character getting increasingly exasperated with you), but you can also set it to automatically redirect you to whatever URL you'd like whenever you visit a blocked site. It fits your criteria: can whitelist pages, it's automatically scheduled so you can set the times once and forget it, easy to use, available for Chrome and Firefox.

It might not be super clear when you first install it how to block all sites with the exception of your whitelisted URLs, but it's easy! Here's how:
1. Add the sites you want her to be able to navigate under the "Blocked Sites" page. Ignored the word "blocked", the next step will actually whitelist these pages instead of blacklisting them.
2. Go to "Other" and flip the switch to turn on Whitelist.
3. You can set active time and days, and set what page you'd like to redirect to.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 5:05 PM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Focus by Brad Jasper
http://heyfocus.com
does exactly what you want. You specify permitted or blocked URLs (or applications) and it works at the system level. Focus settings apply to any browser or even chat. There's a hard core mode where quitting doesn't clear the limitations. If she tries to use the blocked tools, she gets a motivational quote instead (and one can edit the quotes!)

Best $15 I ever spent, 14-day free trial, and Brad answers tech questions within hours.
posted by Jesse the K at 6:06 AM on January 26, 2016

Came in to highly recommend SelfControl if it works for you -- it's impossible (unless you are very technically skilled) to turn off once turned on, even if you restart your computer*. It was invaluable for me when I was writing my thesis.

*This also means you should be careful, unlike my friend who was careless in typing and accidentally turned it on for 17 hours instead of 1 hour...
posted by andrewesque at 7:35 AM on January 26, 2016