A calmer page for LeechBlock

LeechBlock NG is a browser extension that blocks the sites you choose, at the times you choose. When it stops you, it shows a plain page naming the site you were heading to. That does the job, but it feels a bit like walking into a wall.

This site has two pages you can send LeechBlock to instead. Each one draws a quiet scene coloured for the time of day (misty mountains, rain on a pond or a raked garden) with a single quote or reminder. There’s a one-minute breathing guide and the sound of rain, and no links onward.

• /pause/ is for sites you’ve blocked.
• /delayed/ is for sites you only want to slow down. LeechBlock runs its countdown on the page, then opens the site.

Both work offline once you’ve opened them, so they appear instantly, even on a poor connection.

Blocked sites

In LeechBlock’s options, pick the block set, find How to Block, and enter this as the page to show instead of blocked sites:

https://rscipher001.github.io/pause/#$U

LeechBlock replaces $U with the address you tried to open, and the page tells you where you were heading: “You were about to open youtube.com.” Everything after the # stays in your browser. It’s never sent to this site, and the page clears it from the address bar once it has read it.

LeechBlock uses this page whatever the reason for the block: certain hours, a daily time limit, certain days, or round the clock. Its own default ending, ?$S&$U, works too (https://rscipher001.github.io/pause?$S&$U), but then the address you were heading to is sent to this site the first time you open the page.

Showing when a block ends

If a block set only blocks at certain hours or after a time limit, the pause page can tell you when the block lifts: “You were about to open youtube.com. It’s closed until 7:00 PM.” LeechBlock only shares that time with pages whose address contains lb-custom, so use this address instead:

https://rscipher001.github.io/pause/lb-custom/?$S&$U

LeechBlock gives the time in your own format, with the date if the block lifts on another day. A block that runs round the clock has no end, so there the page simply names the site. Like the delayed page below, this address sends the site you were heading to the first time you open it, and needs LeechBlock’s permission to run on websites (see the note below).

Delayed sites

LeechBlock 1.7 and newer can run its delay countdown on a page of your choosing, as long as the page’s address contains lb-custom. In the block set for the sites you want to slow down, enter this as the page to show:

https://rscipher001.github.io/delayed/lb-custom/?$S&$U

Then set the delay further down the same section, under Delay access to sites by … seconds when delaying page is used. LeechBlock’s other delay options keep working too: loading the site automatically when the countdown ends, cancelling the countdown if you switch away from the tab, and allowing the site for only a few minutes afterwards.

The page shows the countdown in its own way (“amazon.in opens in 12 seconds”, with a thin line filling as the time passes) and offers a way out. Don’t open it stops the countdown and leaves you on the page. If automatic loading is off, an Open amazon.in link appears when the countdown ends.

LeechBlock needs the address in exactly this shape. $S is the block set’s number and $U the address you tried to open, and LeechBlock reads both from the part after the ?. Because that part is sent to this site, the address you were heading to is sent the first time you open the page, before your browser has saved the page for offline use. Once LeechBlock has read it, the page shortens the address bar to rscipher001.github.io/delayed/.

If these pages get blocked too

A block set with broad patterns, such as one that blocks everything except a short list, can end up blocking this site as well. LeechBlock would then keep sending you back to a page it blocks. The pages notice this and say so instead of reloading. To fix it, add this line to the block set’s list of sites:

+rscipher001.github.io

The + makes it an exception, so that block set always lets this site through.

Before you rely on it

Open the pause page once while you’re online so your browser saves it. After that it opens straight away, with or without a connection, and quietly picks up any changes to this site in the background.

The pages start dark at night or when your system is set to dark, and light otherwise. The half-filled circle in the top corner switches between the two, and your choice is remembered.