How to block those slide in or pop up boxes on websites

July 27, 2013 8:07 PM

What are those slide in or pop up boxes on websites called? They often block the view or darken the entire screen until clicked away. This is different than pop-ups that used to appear before gaining access to a website--there are blockers for that and I use them. I most always use Chrome as my browser. Is there a way to prevent these newer kind of annoying & delaying boxes?
posted by NorthCoastCafe to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

They're known as "modal popups," and typically executed with JavaScript. You could block JavaScript in your browser but that would hobble an awful lot of sites. You can use a browser extension for Chrome such as this to easily blacklist/whitelist sites.
posted by trunk muffins at 8:26 PM on July 27, 2013

What they are called, technically, is "annoying."

You might be able to block some of them with a well-crafted hosts file, but I swear by Printliminator.

It's a javascript bookmarklet that, when invoked, means clicking on any element makes. it. go. away.

Well, mostly, I've found a few annoying bits that seem immune, but they are few and far between.
posted by drfu at 2:45 AM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]