Webhelp blocked by NoScript ABE rules in Firefox

[trent the thief]

Hi,

Someone will ask this eventually. NoScript is a Firefox plugin that prevents scripts from automatically operating when a user reaches a page. It's very handy and a good security measure. But the recent addition of the Application Boundaries Enforcer (ABE) module can cause problems for webhelp users.

http://noscript.net/abe/

This situation may not apply to everyone. My help system is delivered to my NYC desktop via internet from a different office. It's not ideal, but it's what we have.

So, if you or your audience gets help from the net with Firefox (having a recent version of NoScript), you'll need to add this rule to the ABE tab's SYSTEM Rules:

Site http://your.domain.here
Accept ALL from http://your.domain.here
deny

Change the http to https if appropropriate. You can also wildcard the "your" portion with the * or restrict it to the proper subdomain (e.g., https://help.domain.here).

[RamonS]

But isn't that a client side setting? You don't have much control there anyway, the client may have JavaScript or scripting in general turned off completely together with displaying pictures. Nevertheless, this is a good tip to pass on to the support teams.

[trent the thief]

Hi Ramon,

It is most definitely client-side, and also dependent on which browser they use. Anything I can do to help out my reader is fine by me. I discovered the problem yesterday after firefox updated my plugins. It's always good to be informed of potential issues and tell clients about them so they don't need to contact tech support.

[RamonS]

Although, isn't it that commercial clients and their inept IT departments make the use of IE6 mandatory?

[trent the thief]

Not all of them. There are a lot of shops running one *nix or another. They all ship with Mozilla, and most of those run firefox instead. A lot of my company's clients have been using FireFox since CERT issued that IE6 vulnerability alert last year. I don't know of any places running IE8. Of the clients who run IE, most are on 7. The bulk of our clients are using firefox.