How to Use StumbleUpon Without the Toolbar
Can you use StumbleUpon without the toolbar? Yes, of course you can, but why should you and how can you do it? Aren't there limitations? What are the benefits?
Why should you stop using the StumbleUpon toolbar?
- It can mess up your browser: My Firefox was broken ever since I installed the StumbleUpon toolbar. I just couldn't believe it! A multi million company (formerly owned by eBay) lets you download a broken extension for Firefox? Impossible, I thought. Every second time I shut down FF it would lose its customization on next start up. So I had to use MozBackup daily. To no avail in some cases. Losing precious time and sometimes data. Finally I disabled the StumbleUpon toolbar and since then it did not happen anymore!
- StumbleUpon is addictive, time consuming and distracting: You end up stumbling sites for 2 hours in a row instead of working.
- Sadly StumbleUpon will not honor your active participation. The contrary is the case, the more you are involved the more you run the risk of losing traffic by automatic filters or people who hate you based on your profession for instance. So contributing too much is rather working for free for SU. Let others stumble you and the effort vs traffic ratio is much more positive for you.
How can you use StumbleUpon without the toolbar?
- Disable it in the Firefox extensions list with a right-click on "Disable"
- Go to the StumbleUpon log-in page and log in. If you do not remember your password let SU send it to you, just enter your nick and it will be send to the mail address you registered with.
- Now you can perform all actions you are used to on your SU profile, add friends, read and send messages or review pages others have stumbled.
- Use the StumbleUpon bookmarklet to visit and thumb up/down or review pages. It's the first option on this list I linked. It says "Bookmark the StumbleBar".
Are there or what are the limitations of using SU without the toolbar?
- You can't send discovered pages directly to your friends
- You can't just stumble through by clicking the thumbs buttons, you have to click stumble each time
What are the benefits if there are any?
- Curbing the time wasted on StumbleUpon, you use the service almost like any other so it's not addictive anymore.
- You can also stumble pages and "like them" with a thumbs up on sites that offer "add to StumbleUpon" buttons or via the bookmarklet
- No distraction while working of course
- Less effort, more choices
- You do not end up being filtered or hated for being too active (or a "spammer")
To discover new sites or news stories in accordance with my interests I prefer other sites anyways. Lately Pinterest of course.
Last updated: March 14th, 2013.
Tad, one great way to submit stumbles without the toolbar is to use the Shareholic Firefox extension.
Ah yes! Shareaholic! I used it for half a week and then uninstalled it as I suspected it to be the reason for my Firefox problems…
Hmmm, I reinstalled it but it has an incompatibility issue with the SearchStatus extension I need for my work… SearchStatus simply disapperead!
I agree with you on most of things including preferring Yoono to discover stuff.
[...] than 1000 but not significantly as I do not stumble pages I dislike in the first place. Why? I am not using the toolbar anymore as some of you might [...]
It is losing not loosing. They are completely different words. Examples:
That nail is loose! (not tight but loose)
I will not lose that nail! (Not be able to find)
Thank you, it’s also “like” and not “lie”. They are both also very different words.