Wizmage Image Hider

Wizmage hides images in a way that minimizes the impact on the user's browsing experience.Ever wanted to surf the web without seeing all the images, but haven't found a method that keeps full Internet functionality?

This extension provides a solution: (NOTE: It does not save bandwidth - see later.)

It hides the images by displaying a coloured texture where they would be. Small images, and many background patterns are recognized, and will always displayed.

Any individual image can be displayed simply by moving the mouse cursor over it, and clicking on the eye that appears (or press ALT-a). The eye will then turn into an undo symbol - click on it to hide the image again (or press ALT-z).

There is an exception list (right click the icon and click Options). When navigating to a URL that contains one of these exceptions, Wizmage will be disabled for that page. For example, if you have 'google.com' as an exception, then the whole google.com domain will be excepted. If you have 'blog' as an exception, then all URLs containing the word 'blog' will be excepted.

You can also have a Black List, whereby Wizmage only runs on selected sites. This options can be found in the Options page.

An extension icon appears in the top right of the browser - clicking it displays 5 options:

1. Add or remove the current domain name as an exception.
2. Similar to 1, but only applies to the current tab.
3. Show all images just this time.
4. Pause / Unpause Wizmage.
5. Pause Tab - this will pause the current tab for any site.

The extension will update itself automatically as it improves and will always be free.

If you want a good image-free internet experience, you will also have to set Flash not to run automatically. To do this, type chrome://settings/content in the address bar, scroll down to the 'Plug-ins' section, and click 'Click to play'.

TROUBLESHOOTING

(Q) ALT-a isn't displaying the image:
(A) Try clicking next to the image, then move the cursor back over the image and press ALT-a. (Perhaps you only had to move the cursor away from the image and then back again.) Note that some images cannot be individually displayed, as there is an invisible element over them.

(Q) I want add a particular page to the exception list, not the whole domain:
(A) Right click the Wizmage icon, click Options and add the URL.

(Q) Text is camouflaged by the coloured textures, and cannot be read:
(A) In the unlikely case that this happens, either 1) Show that image, 2) Reload the page (the colours are random, so you will get fresh colours) or 3) Use the tooltip of that image.

(Q) It is not working 100% (or not at all):
(A) Please report the problem by clicking 'Send Feedback' in the Details tab. Alternatively, send me an email at [email protected].

NOTES

• This extension uses raw JavaScript without libraries such as jQuery, to improve performance. (The Options page does use jQuery.)

• Wizmage was not written to save your bandwidth - many images are loaded in the background. This is necessary to determine whether they are real images or icons.

• It is impossible to add parental controls, since for security reasons, Chrome makes it very easy to disable/uninstall any extension.

• As much as possible, tooltips are given to hidden images, so you can tell what they're about.

• Source code at https://www.assembla.com/spaces/wizmage.

• Tree icon from http://dapinographics.com/ under the conditions of the license there.