Changes coming to the uBlock ad-blocker extension

For many years now, all staff and students have used the "uBlock Origin" adblocker extension in Chrome.  This background extension does a critical job in making most Internet sites useful and readable, without all the blinky ads and pop-ups and banners and crud.  Unfortunately, Google is changing how ad-blocking extensions work in Chrome, with the goal of weakening ad-blocking in general.  The uBlock Origin extension will stop working within a few weeks.

Starting Friday the 25th for staff, we will be removing "uBlock Origin" and replacing it with the "uBlock Origin Lite" extension.  Though they share a name, they work differently -- the Lite will not allow us (Tech) to customize your settings remotely.  Some changes you will notice include:

  • When first installed, there will be a new tab introducing uBlock Origin Lite with some settings.  You're welcome to "level up" your settings from Basic to Optimal, but you can also just accept the Basic settings as presented (see the screenshot below)
  • Though you may see a blank space while they are running, YouTube ads in the background may prevent the video from immediately playing.
  • We cannot automatically whitelist district subscriptions and applications.  If you are experiencing issues with a district application, you can still click on the red shield extension, go to settings, and manually add a site


 
Once the staff extension change is made, we will be doing the same for students.

This situation is not ideal and will change a few things, particularly with YouTube.  We appreciate your understanding that this is an industry change out of our control.   

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