No, it doesn’t. You can also circumvent it by disabling JavaScript, writing a screen scraper, using the RSS feed or pressing the Print Screen key. (I wrote about this on my blog at http://fourisland.com/blog/and-like-magic-nothing-happens/ but the post will not be available until 12:30 EST tomorrow)
dgw
(@voyagerfan5761)
Yes, I was just thinking the same thing. Any plugin referring to a “little known JavaScript algorithm” can’t be too effective. Copying isn’t usually done manually anyway; indeed, scrapers and robots take care of most of it.
I look forward to your post, hatkirby. I think I’ll write one of my own and compare notes with you.
Also posting a new topic titled “Plugin is useless”.
The Tips & Techniques show how to prevent view source context memu from popping up.
Thanks for the comments and the rating!
@phkcorp2005 The source code of a website can be viewed in other ways than right clicking on the screen. Plus, whatever JavaScript you are using to disable the context menu will also be bypassed if the page is rendered in a JavaScript-free environment like the text-based browser lynx. Lastly, you will severely annoy your visitors if you disable the context menu. Trust me.
@voyagerfan5761 My post is out now. It’s just a little rant on the subject but feel free to read it if you wish.
You’re right! Disabling the context menu can annoy users and Houdini does not do this, in the Tips & Technique page shows you how. Remember that most users do not use the context menu, and those users that do most likely use to look at your source code. Do you want to give access to your source code? Only you can answer that question, Houdini just provides information and a tool to further secure your web pages.
Keep the comments coming!
Um, what? Do I want to give access to my source code? Public access to a webpage’s source code is a fundamental underpinning of the Internet and it’s literally impossible to prevent someone from viewing your source code because the source code is required to render the page. It’s not possible to make it so that only web browsers can read and render your code.
Also, I was not able to find the “Tips & Technique” [sic] page that you are talking about.
dgw
(@voyagerfan5761)
@hatkirby: Many thanks for the blog post. I enjoyed reading it, and I’m including a short quote or two and a couple links to it in my upcoming post.
I’d also like to weigh in on the context menu discussion. Many modern browsers (such as Firefox) offer options to control what JavaScript code can do. One of those options is generally to disable the ability for JS to remove or replace the context menu. Just to poke another hole in that theory. 😉
The Tip & Technique page is from the Admin login dashboard, Scroll down to the Settings menu and look for Houdini, then click on Houdini.
dgw
(@voyagerfan5761)
I swear I used to be able to edit my forum posts on this site… But since I can’t, I must add a new post to point to my upcoming blog post at http://technobabbl.es/2010/01/houdini-plugin-for-wordpress-is-no-magician/ to be published 2010-01-30T16:00:00 (UTC)
The Tip on the Tip & Technique page for disabling the context menu popup has been verified to prevent the context menu from popping up on both Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Thanks for your comment.
Keep the comments coming?
@voyagerfan5761 Thanks! I look forward to your post too, and not just because you said you liked mine. 😛 And you are able to edit your posts, but only for a certain amount of time, it seems.
@phkcorp2005 I use Google Chrome. How ’bout that? 😛 And I see you have no response to my comment about webpage source code.
The context menu isn’t the only way to access the source code of a page from a web browser. Even if we disregard the fact that the source code of a webpage can be accessed in many, many ways, there is still the fact that, in every major browser, you can view the source of the webpage from a non-context menu. In Chrome, it is under the Page menu, in Firefox, View. (I’m not sure about IE because I haven’t used it in such a long time) The fact is, disabling the context menu is one of the most useless ways to prevent a user from doing something because, by definition, the context menu exists solely to make accessing certain commands and options easier. There should never be anything in a context menu that isn’t invokable from another location such as a non-context menu.
Houdini is only a deterant as so claimed. If you want more security, then you need to write your own browser and remove the security holes that already exist, then you have to remove the existing browser from your operating system, though this is feasibile to do, the problem arises to getting market acceptance and market share or your browser would be useless. A KidSafeWebBrowser was first developed in January 2000 but the project was halted for this vary reason.
There are also other wordpress plugins that address security and plagiarism, and though not verified, houdini used in conjuncion with these other plugins is better than using houdini alone. The complexity of the internet presents itself to more questions than answers regarding security. Houdini is just another tool to use in your arsanal against security breaches.
For an analogy, if you live in a neighbor with a higher than normal crime rate, would you not want to have extra security on your home by installing additional locks or a security alarm system? Is this not the same for your web home?
Thanks for your comment.
Keep your comments coming?
