Social photo-sharing and bookmarking website Pinterest has become quite a rage. Just last month, it overtook Google Plus to become the third most popular social network (behind Facebook and Twitter). Much of the success of Pinterest can be attributed to it’s simple but intuitive user interface (UI). Now, by using a simple userscript, you can skin your Google Plus stream to look like Pinterest.

Pinterest UI for Google+ is currently only available as a Greasemonkey script for Firefox; however, Chrome support is on its way. The script reformats Google+ into a multi-column grid layout ala Pinterest. It is designed for screen resolutions larger than 1024×768. On smaller screens, the script will automatically disable itself. The layout is completely fluid and adjusts to the resolution and browser window size. The new Google+ layout received a lot of flak for wasting enormous amounts of screen real-estate. This script solves that issue by making use of the entire screen width. It ensures that there is always at least three columns. When your screen is not wide enough, the posts are “compressed” into a smaller size to fit the screen width. Here’s how my stream looks with the Pinterest UI installed.

One of Google Plus’ strong points it is media integration. Large thumbnails, tight coupling with YouTube, and support for GIF animations lends it an edge over Facebook. As a result, pictures and videos often constitute a sizable portion of the Google+ activity stream. Pinterest interface for Google+ is ideally suited for circles in which a lot of media is being shared. It’s a bit messy for sure, but it also has its own advantages.

[ Download Pinterest UI for Google+ Greasemonkey Script ]

Just like the new Facebook timeline, Gmail also recently forced their new theme on users and apparently many people are not happy with this decision. While Gmail earlier provided a simple way to revert back the Gmail interface, that option is no longer available. This has definitely not gone down too well with Gmail users.

So is there any way in which you could revert back to the old Gmail interface? Well, not officially, but you can still do it thanks to a Stylish script.

The Return of Old Gmail Stylish script is one which resembles the “Old Gmail” interface the most. Although the overall interface is not as neat (see screenshot above), it definitely is one of the best options if you despise the new Gmail interface. The script in question reverts back some of the Gmail styles to the older one and also reverts back the top navigation in Gmail.

You will also find several other Stylish scripts for Gmail, however, the one listed here seems to be the best alternative to get back the old Gmail interface. You can also try out several other themes for Gmail by using this Stylish search.

Please note that Firefox users will have to install the Stylish add-on before using the scripts. Google Chrome users can also install the Stylish extension or install the Stylish script as a Greasemonkey script and run it as an extension.

The best thing about recent redesign of Google homepage is probably the black navigation menu bar.

Personally, I am not a big fan of the fancy black background color but considering the fact that this menu bar integrates tightly with Google Plus and other Google services, I think it’s highly useful.

When you are using other Google services like Gmail, Google Reader or Google blog search, you get real time notifications from your Google Plus account. You can read and reply to comments directly from Google’s notification bar, without having to open your Google Plus account over and over again.

This concept can be extended to Gmail and Google Reader, thanks to the Google + Enhancer Greasemonkey script

Google Plus enhancer lets you see unread email count of Gmail and unread count for Google reader items right from Google’s menu bar. Once the script is installed and you are signed in to your Google account, the script will show real time notifications of Google Reader unread items and number of unread email in Gmail, as shown below:

The script works universally, no matter which Google service you are using. In addition to showing unread email count from Gmail, the script will also shows you notifications from Google Calendar, Google Maps, iGoogle, Google News and Google Images.

Please note that the script wont work if you are using multiple or separate Google accounts for Gmail, Google Reader or Google Plus. The script can fetch notifications for the currently active session of the logged in user, so if you are using Google Apps for Gmail and a regular Gmail account with Google Reader the notifications won’t work for all services. The notifications will only be shown for that Google account which is being used last.

And since this is a Greasemonkey script and not a browser specific extension, it will work in most modern browsers e.g Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera. Also read our earlier tutorial on how to run Greasemonkey scripts in Opera, Internet Explorer or Safari.

Note: Keith has earlier developed Google Black bar hider another Greasemonkey script which completely disables the black navigation bar across all Google services. If you hate Google’s new black menu bar and have installed the Google black bar hider script, this Google Plus enhancer one won’t work at all. This is because Keith’s script will completely remove the notification bar, so the Google Plus enhancer script will never be shown in the first place.

Facebook recently rolled out a new change to their user interface where they got rid of the Comment button and allowed users to comment by hitting the Enter key. However, this was a bit annoying to users who did not know about it and innocently hit enter to add a new line to their comment. When they did this, the comment was automatically posted. (Hint: use Shift + Enter to add a new line)

If you are someone who has been annoyed by this problem, there is a quick and easy fix to get back the old comment button on Facebook through a Greasemonkey script.

To get the old comment button back in Facebook, head over to http://www.crypticide.com/alecm/chrome/ and click on the FixSillyFacebook.user.js to install the Greasemonkey script in Google Chrome and Firefox (you will need the Greasemonkey add-on). If you are using Opera or Internet Explorer or Safari follow our earlier post on Installing Greasemonkey scripts in Opera, IE and Safari.

P.S. The above script was a modification of another script created by Daniel Wood because it lacked the ability to work on the www subdomain in Facebook.

Wikipedia is no doubt one of the best resources for anyone looking to find more information about topics they are researching on. It is also the 5th largest site in the world, however, Wikipedia does not run ads and instead relies on donations from its users to run the huge database of articles it has.

At last count, Wikipedia has over 35 million articles in the English section and there are more documents in other languages too. That’s really good, however, in the past few months, users who visit the website are being shown a banner, which is an urgent appeal from Jimmy Wales, the Wikipedia founder on getting donations for the site.

Now showing this message is fine and many people including me have already donated to them. However, here is the problem, you will see this banner on every page you visit, no matter whether you have donated or not. This is making it quite annoying for users who have to visit Wikipedia everyday.

Are you fed-up too? Here are some ways to get rid of this Wikipedia message. On Google Chrome you can install the extension called Goodbye Jimmy Wales to get rid of this message. Firefox users can use the add-on called Wikipedia Appeal Remover to get this done.

If you use Opera or Internet Explorer, you can use a Greasemonkey script to get rid of the Jimmy Wales Appeal, you will find the User scripts for the same here. Learn more on installing Greasemonkey scripts in Opera and IE.

Facebook and Twitter are both great social networks to find friends and communicate with them. However, both these networks do not notify users when someone unfollows or unfriends them.

Twitter does have several options to know when users unfollow you, however, what about Facebook? How do you figure out when someone unfriends you on Facebook? Turns out there is a way to do that too.

Unfriend Finder for Facebook is a Greasemonkey script which tracks your Facebook friends and then notifies you whenever someone decides to unfriend you on Facebook.

The script tightly integrates within Facebook and sends you notifications whenever someone removes you from your list. It also alerts you when someone ignores your friend request.

The only problem of the script is that it is browser specific and only works on Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera right now. There is no support for Internet Explorer yet, but you can read up some tips on running Greasemonkey scripts in IE.

You can download the script or add-on for your browser from here.

This post answered a question our reader asked us, if you want to get your questions answered use the contact us form or post it on our forums.

Facebook and Twitter are both great social networks to find friends and communicate with them. However, both these networks do not notify users when someone unfollows or unfriends them.

Twitter does have several options to know when users unfollow you, however, what about Facebook? How do you figure out when someone unfriends you on Facebook? Turns out there is a way to do that too.

Unfriend Finder for Facebook is a Greasemonkey script which tracks your Facebook friends and then notifies you whenever someone decides to unfriend you on Facebook.

The script tightly integrates within Facebook and sends you notifications whenever someone removes you from your list. It also alerts you when someone ignores your friend request.

The only problem of the script is that it is browser specific and only works on Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera right now. There is no support for Internet Explorer yet, but you can read up some tips on running Greasemonkey scripts in IE.

This post answered a question our reader asked us, if you want to get your questions answered use the contact us form or post it on our forums.

Download Unfriend Finder

Twitter recently launched a new feature called "Who to Follow" where they display a list of suggestions of people you should be following on Twitter based on certain algorithms. Though this feature could be handy once in a while, it is always in your face whenever you visit the twitter web interface.

Now the problem here is that Twitter does not provide users with an option to disable the suggestions list, and you will have to either use a browser extension or Greasemonkey script to disable the "Who to follow" suggestions box on the Twitter web interface.

Google Chrome users have a choice with two different extensions which will allow you to disable/hide or move the "Who To Follow" suggestions box. The Hide Twitter suggestions extension completely removes the suggestions box, whereas the Hide Twitter suggestions PLUS extension will move the box to the bottom of the sidebar so that it is not in your face every time.

If you are a Firefox, Opera or Internet Explorer you can use a user style to hide the "Who to Follow" suggestions box in Twitter. To do that, open this link in the browser you are using and choose the options provided to you. If you are using Firefox or Internet Explorer you might need to install additional software or add-ons for your respective browser in order to use the User Style.

That’s it, till Twitter provides a way to disable the "Who To Follow" suggestions, you could use this trick to hide it from your web interface.

Fluff Busting Purity is a GreaseMonkey script which cleans out the clutter from Facebook. The clutter here, is all that should not be in your current news feed. This includes unnecessary updates like Mafia Wars, Farmville and other game apps and updates from friends.

It also includes the quiz requests you keep receiving from friends just because your name starts with A or B. Generally, before you are allowed to see your score on a quiz, you are requested to forward it to some friends from a list. The list is in alphabetic order and so names with A, B C and alike come up first.

Facebook has grown a hatred for the Fluff Busting Purity script and is determined to bring it down. However, this is not Facebook’s first outrage against this script. It seems like Facebook has a thing for the developer of this script and has been stalking this script from the time it was released with the name of Facebook Purity. In the last allegation, it was accused of infringing Facebook’s trademark. This time though, Facebook simply demands them to shut down. In an attempt to do this, Facebook has deleted the fan page of this script. It has also asked the official website of this script to shut down.

Fluffy Busting Purity demanded a reply on this matter and Facebook replied with,

You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the Facebook and F logos, FB, Face, Poke, Wall, and 32665), or any confusingly similar marks, without our written permission.

Facebook did not just stop here. It has released a patch to render this script useless but the script creator has devised a method to circumvent this and the script is back on. The script works on almost every browser on every platform out there and is a must have greasemonkey script for Facebook users.

Visit the Facebook Purity homepage as long as it lasts.
[Via: Neowin ]

Last night, we told you how to hide the email updates from Google Buzz, however if you want to further sanitize your Gmail account and get rid of the Buzz updates, the best way is to treat it like just another label.

Unfortunately, Gmail does not provide users with an option to hide the Buzz label, or hide the updates in them. If you are one of the annoyed users who do not want to see updates and the cute icon in your Gmail sidebar, the Hide Google Buzz counter is the best way out.

Google Buzz Hide Count is a Greasemonkey script which will hide the Google Buzz update counter and the Buzz icon in your Gmail account. I tested the script in both Firefox and Google Chrome without issues. So if you have been waiting to get rid of all the buzz, go ahead and download the Google Buzz Count Hide userscript.