Octopus Overlords

I have successfully been using numerous add-ons with Firefox that help manage sites like Youtube - adds, pop-ups, whatever.

One of the best tools I have is uBlock Origin which allows you to block webpage elements by entering a sort of overlay mode where you use the mouse to pick parts of the page you want to block (like a window or notification that pops up) and afterwards every time you load that page, bingo it's gone.

My problem is I've managed to somehow block some of the buttons on various Youtube pages that I'd like to have access to. Namely, things like the "Subscribe" button (which I'm trying to activate to drop a subscription) or a "Join" button (which I'm trying to activate to become a channel supporter). When I click on either of those things, the screen dims a bit but whatever is popping up has been blocked.

I'm afraid to release the uBlock...blocks entirely as I know it will have ads and tracking and whatever schlock Youtube is now slinging my way that's being intercepted. I guess what I'm asking is, is there a way to figure out what I need to surgically disable/enable to let those buttons / features work?

My only other thought was to open Youtube in Edge, log into my account and do whatever it is I need to via a different browser, but I figured I'd ask in case someone else has done something similar.

I haven't had that problem, but I will say that Ublock Origin doesn't have that effect by default (at least on Firefox.) You may have inadvertently done something to block that element. You might see if there's a way to set YouTube back to default settings.

I'm afraid if I do that, I won't be able to re-configure it to keep the nonsense away.

If you've set up custom filters, there should be a list in there... somewhere. You could probably read through them and see if anything stands out.

/edit Try opening the interface for Ublock while on that site, hitting the settings cog, and looking through the "my filters" tab (I just blocked a random item on a site, and that's where I found the entry.)

I did all that - and good lord, it's overwhelming. I was trying to trace it through "block element' which is what I thought I was doing BUT - I have good news! It wasn't Ublock, it was another add-on named Disconnect!

Once I paused Disconnect, I now get pop ups on the page again and can manage settings better.

I'll update the first post, but thanks for helping me puzzle this out - it's been eating me for months.

I get it - I have Firefox's own blocking, Ublock Origin, and Privacy Badger all going, plus LocalCDN and Decentraleyes. When a site breaks for me, I have to check all of them (usually it's Ublock or Privacy Badger, though.)

What you could try is going into uBlock's settings and manually whitelisting the specific elements you want to keep, like the "Subscribe" and "Join" buttons. That way, you can still block the annoying stuff without messing up the important features. You can right-click on the page in uBlock, choose "Block Element," and see if you can identify the elements you need to adjust.