Whitelist by Youtube Channel - GM script (UPDATED)

Update to an older blog:
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/435906-whitelisting-by-channel-on-youtube-gm-tm-script

Turns out you can't edit older posts. So instead of having people confused by outdated instructions in the Opening Post, I decided to post a new blog. It's a good way of getting the message out there.

I love Adblock Plus. Such a handy add-on, and its ease of use on Firefox is one of the main reasons I use Firefox over Chrome (along with a lot of other handy little add-ons). Youtube is a big reason I will definitely keep ABP on by default. There are just some channels that don't deserve the ad revenue, like those who monetize videos with ads longer than the actual video. Or supporting any monetized video from IGN.

However, over the last few years, Youtube has become a big thing for a lot of good channels who rely on the ad revenue. And unfortunately, for people like me, the negatives of whitelisting all of youtube outweigh the benefits of supporting channels I care about. So what I did before was middle-click the ABP icon when I was about to watch a video on a channel that I specifically wanted to support.

The problem with this method was that I didn't always remember to do so. Of course, it's the internet, I want that sweet instant gratification, even if some precious approved views to channels were going wasted.

For a while, I used a Userscript by a user named schippi to whitelist specific Youtube channels. However, Youtube changed something in their Video Pages, which caused the script to no longer work. The problem was that the ID for a channel on a video was modified to use a weird string of characters instead of just the channel name.

A few months later, I found a new script from a user named AcasShows. He modified schippi's script to work with the new string of characters that identified a user's id.

I've been using it for a month or two now, and it works perfectly. But then Userscripts.org went down, and I didn't have an easy place to upload this script. But now I have found Greasyfork, which serves as a nice alternative, although it doesn't have ALL the good scripts Userscripts.org used to, yet. And I uploaded it there.

So here's the link to the script and code:
https://greasyfork.org/scripts/2734-youtube-whitelist-by-channel

Code:
+ Show Spoiler +

// ==UserScript==
// @name Youtube - Whitelist by Channel
// @namespace schippi (modified by AcasShows)
// @include http*://*.youtube.com/watch*
// @include http*://youtube.com/watch*
// @description Whitelist Youtube Videos from only channels you wish to support
// @version 1.1
// ==/UserScript==

var u = window.location.href;
if(u.search("user=") == -1){
if (!! document.getElementById("ud")) {
var user = document.getElementById("ud").getElementsByTagName("a")[0].getAttribute("href").split("/")[2];
window.location.href = u+"&user="+user;
}
else if (!! document.getElementById("body")) {
user = document.getElementById("watch7-user-header").getElementsByTagName("a")[0].getAttribute("href").split("/")[2]
window.location.href = u+"&user="+user;
}
else {
alert('script failed');
}

}

Instructions:
1. Install the Adblock Plus Extension for your internet browser.
Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/
Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock-plus/cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb?hl=en-US

2. Install the Greasemonkey Extension for your internet browser
Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/?src=search

For Chrome, you can get TamperMonkey, but keep in mind, I have not tested this script for Chrome:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tampermonkey/dhdgffkkebhmkfjojejmpbldmpobfkfo?hl=en

3. Install the Script: https://greasyfork.org/scripts/2734-youtube-whitelist-by-channel

4. Go to a video by a Channel you wish to whitelist

5. Visual Aid: http://i.imgur.com/J2lbl5e.jpg
Go to the link in the video that links to the Channel Page. Copy the URL, and then copy the string of characters in the portion of the URL after /channel/. That is the "Channel ID". Keep in mind, it WILL be a string of characters in the URL, not a simple channel name like it would be if you went to the channel page, where all the URLs simply use the username.

6. Paste the "Channel ID" to where it says "CHANNEL" into this Adblock Plus filter @@|https://www.youtube.com/watch*user=CHANNEL

7. Go to Adblock Plus >> Filter Preferences (Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+F)

8. Go to Custom Filters >> Exception Rules and click "Add a Filter"

9. Add your new filter. For the example in the Visual Aid, the new filter would be @@|https://www.youtube.com/watch*user=UCy1Ms_5qBTawC-k7PVjHXKQ

Done! Do your part to make sure the channels you like are paid for their hard work. Otherwise, some of them wont be able to keep entertaining you for a living.

What this does is that whenever you go to a youtube link, it will refresh the page to include the user's "Channel ID" at the end of the url. If the video is by one of the channels you whitelisted, Adblock Plus will catch it and Adblock will be disabled.

Some Whitelists I added:
@@|https://www.youtube.com/watch*user=UCAI86CUHDIkKXGA6YpVBhYg
^ ESportsTV's Channel (Proleague's channel): https://www.youtube.com/user/ESportsTV
(Support Proleague and make sure to add this filter!)

@@|https://www.youtube.com/watch*user=UC3kJdy9_bXFg8flaSY3RAcQ
^ TotalBiscuit's Starcraft 2 and Axiom channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TotalBiscuit

@@|https://www.youtube.com/watch*user=UCy1Ms_5qBTawC-k7PVjHXKQ
^ Total Biscuit's gaming channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TotalHalibut

@@|https://www.youtube.com/watch*user=UC-teGPup3KKf9hoAg5yJk8Q
^ Team Liquid's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TeamLiquid

I feel that this is a great way to support the channels you want to support, while leaving Adblock on for the rest of Youtube. If you truly feel a channel has earned you whitelisting it, you can now just add just that channel to a whitelist without having to whitelist all of youtube.

If you feel that channel is no longer uploading videos that deserve your approved view, you can just remove the whitelist entry for that channel. Some channels do work hard for their videos and approved views, so please consider whitelisting just those channels you feel deserve your support. At the very least, you can install the script to give yourself the option to do so.

Other entries in my "How to improve your website browsing experience" series:

Watch Twitch/DM on VLC/MPC(good for low-end users): http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/445573-watch-twitch-dm-on-vlc-mpcgood-for-low-end-users

How to get Twitch to play on SmartTVs via Serviio: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/437509-how-to-get-twitch-to-play-on-smarttvs-via-serviio

Whitelist by Youtube Channel - GM script (UPDATED)

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