Download SchülerVZ Photos with Greasemonkey

The social network SchülerVZ which is targeted at young students is going down on April 30, 2013. I wanted to save some of my friends’ photos and searched the web for some appropriate tool.

I tried the Bilderdownload v2 from svz-styles.com and a Fotoalbum Download für StudiVZ, SchuelerVZ & MeinVZ 1.09 from userscripts.org both  of which did not work for me. So I needed to create a solution on my own.

Custom-Made Approach

The following description is only tested with the Altes SchülerVZ  theme. When I took a look at the HTML code around photos (<div class=”photo”>), I recognized that it is not possible to right-click a photo in Firefox and select Save Image As… because the context menu has been disabled:

<img id="photoDetailBig" oncontextmenu="return false;" 
alt="" src="http://img-a5.pe.imagevz.net/[...].jpg" 
onload="imageWrapperResizer();">[...]</img>

While it is perfectly reasonable that the SchülerVZ guys want to protect their users’ personal rights, in the current circumstances, I personally find it legitimate to circumvent this restriction. Disclaimer: You are responsible for your doings. Ask your friends first, if you may download their photos.

Preparations: Install GreaseMonkey

For Firefox there exists a nice add-on called Greasemonkey which allows you to execute arbitrary JavaScript code on sites of your choice. The add-on can be downloaded from the official Firefox add-on site. (Click here for immediate installation).

Installing the Userscript

After the  installation of Greasemonkey is complete, you still need the script which unlocks the context menu for photos. I uploaded the script to userscripts.org. If the automatic installation does not work for you, you may manually install the script:

  1. Select Tools -> Greasemonkey -> New User Script…
  2. Set the name to Enable SchülerVZ Photo Download (Altes schülerVZ theme)
  3. Set the namespace to http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/165246
  4. Set the includes to http://www.schuelervz.net/Photos/View/*
  5. Confirm with OK.
  6. Copy the whole code into the editor which pops up and save it.

When you now open up a photo, you will be able to open the context menu and save the image.

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