Freilocal

Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox that automatically remove subscription overlays from thelocal.de.

Features

• 🗞️ Automatic Overlay Removal: Removes subscription prompts, membership gates, and cookie consent overlays
• ⚙️ Configurable URL Patterns: Customize which URLs the extension should act on
• 🔘 One-Click Toggle: Enable or disable the extension directly from the popup

⚠️ Important Note on Availability

Due to the nature of this project (bypassing subscription overlays), these extensions will not be available on the official Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons Store.

These platforms generally prohibit extensions that circumvent paywalls or access control mechanisms. Therefore, this project is distributed exclusively as open-source software that you must install manually using the instructions below.

Installation

Chrome Extension

Option 1: Load Unpacked (Recommended)

1. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/
2. Enable "Developer mode" in the top right corner
3. Click "Load unpacked"
4. Select the chrome-extension folder from this project
5. The extension is now installed! You should see the orange "X" icon in your toolbar

Option 2: Install from ZIP Package

To create and use a ZIP package:

1. Create the ZIP package:

   cd chrome-extension
   # Create a zip file (requires zip utility)
   zip -r ../freilocal-chrome-v1.0.zip .

   Or manually zip the contents of the chrome-extension folder.

2. Install:

   • Unzip the file to a folder
   • Go to chrome://extensions/
   • Click "Load unpacked"
   • Select the unzipped folder

Firefox Extension

Option 1: Install from XPI Package (Recommended)

1. Disable signature requirement (required for unsigned extensions):

   • Type about:config in the Firefox address bar and press Enter
   • Click "Accept the Risk and Continue"
   • Search for xpinstall.signatures.required
   • Click the toggle button to set it to false

   Note: This setting only works in Firefox Developer Edition or Firefox Nightly. Regular Firefox requires signed extensions.

2. Install the XPI file:

   • Drag and drop freilocal-firefox-v1.0.xpi into Firefox
   • OR go to about:addons → click the gear icon ⚙️ → "Install Add-on From File..." → select the XPI file
   • Click "Add" when prompted

3. The extension is now permanently installed!

Option 2: Load as Temporary Extension (Development)

1. Open Firefox and navigate to about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox
2. Click "Load Temporary Add-on"
3. Navigate to the firefox-extension folder and select the manifest.json file
4. The extension is now installed! You should see the orange "X" icon in your toolbar

Note: Temporary extensions are removed when you close Firefox.

Creating the XPI Package

To create the XPI package yourself:

# Navigate to the project directory
cd firefox-extension

# Create a ZIP file of the firefox-extension folder contents
zip -r ../freilocal-firefox-v1.0.xpi .

Or manually:

1. Select all files inside the firefox-extension folder
2. Right-click → Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder
3. Rename the .zip file to .xpi

Usage

Basic Usage

Once installed, the extension works automatically:

1. Navigate to https://www.thelocal.de
2. Any subscription overlays will be automatically removed
3. Feel free to use the toggle in the popup if you need to login or temporarily disable the remover.

Configuration

To customize the URL pattern:

1. Click the extension icon in your browser toolbar
2. Enter your desired URL pattern in the input field
3. Click "Save Settings"
4. The page will automatically reload with the new settings

URL Pattern Examples

• *://*.thelocal.de/* - All pages on thelocal.de (default)
• https://www.thelocal.de/20251219/what-to-be-aware-of-when-travelling-in-germany-this-christmas - Only a specific article
• *://www.thelocal.de/tag/* - Any page with a specific tag

Wildcards

• * matches any string of characters
• Use *:// to match both http:// and https://

Reset to Default

Click the "Reset" button in the configuration popup to restore the default URL pattern.

Troubleshooting

Overlays are not being removed

1. Check that the extension is enabled in the popup
2. Verify the URL pattern matches the current page
3. Open the browser console (F12) and look for Freilocal: debug logs
4. Try reloading the page

Configuration not saving

1. Check that you have granted storage permissions (internal to the extension)
2. Try resetting to default settings
3. Check the browser console for error messages

Extension not loading

1. Verify all files are present in the extension folder
2. Check that the manifest.json is valid JSON
3. Ensure the icons folder contains the required PNG files
4. Check the browser console for error messages

Privacy

This extension:

• ✅ Only runs on thelocal.de domains (or custom patterns you configure)
• ✅ Does not collect any personal data
• ✅ Does not send any data to external servers
• ✅ Stores settings locally using browser.storage.sync
• ✅ Is completely open source

License

This project is provided under GPL-3.0 license.