Stack Exchange in read-only mode

Question

This userstyle aims to remove almost all interactivity with the Stack Exchange network for logged in users. Notably it leaves:

Chat
Following a post
Saves

Removes most other features that produce visible feedback:

Close voting
Commenting
Editing
Flagging
Posting
Reviewing
Starting a bounty
Voting

This is done completely light-weight by using CSS to remove the elements. Notably, this means that keyboard shortcuts would still work. This is an accepted limitation - do not use keyboard shortcuts if you do not want to interact with the site. Or directly disable them.

You need a userstyle manager like Stylus:

Stylus for Chrome - also works in Edge and Opera
Stylus for Firefox

/* ==UserStyle==
@name         StackExchange read-only mode
@description  Disables interactions such as posting or leaving any feedback on posts. Only leaves read-only features. If you browse the sites logged in, you would be able to save posts for later. Leaves flagging intact but removes close reasons. Does not disable keyboard shortcuts.
@namespace    https://github.com/PurpleMagick/
@version      1.5
@author       VLAZ
@license      MIT
==/UserStyle== */
@-moz-document domain("stackoverflow.com"), domain("superuser.com"), domain("serverfault.com"), domain("askubuntu.com"), domain("stackapps.com"), domain("mathoverflow.net"), domain("stackexchange.com") {
    .js-vote-down-btn,
    .js-vote-up-btn,
    .js-edit-post,
    .js-post-notice-edit-post,
    .js-suggest-edit-post,
    .js-edit-pending,
    #edit-tags,
.js-add-link.comments-link,
.js-comment-flag,
.js-comment-up,
.js-comment-edit,
.js-comment-delete,

#post-editor,
#submit-button,
a[href$='/questions/ask'],

#review-button .s-activity-indicator,
.review-dialog ul, 
.review-dialog h3, 
.review-dialog a[href$=&quot;/review&quot;], 
.js-actions-sidebar,

.js-accept-answer-btn[aria-pressed=&quot;false&quot;],

.bounty-link,
#btnProtectLoggedIn,

a[href*='/edit-tag-wiki/'],

.js-join-community,

.js-admin-dashboard-button,
.js-mod-inbox-button,
.js-mod-menu-button,
.js-mod-message-menu,
.js-post-flag-bar,
.js-comment-flag-options,
.js-resolve-action,
.js-post-flag-options,

.js-flag-post-link,
.js-close-question-link,
.js-delete-post,
#popup-flag-post ul li:not(:nth-child(1)):not(:nth-child(2)):not(:last-child),
#popup-close-question li
{
    display: none !important;
}

.js-accept-answer-btn[aria-pressed=&quot;true&quot;]
{
    pointer-events: none;
}

}

See the code on GitHub (Direct installation)

This is going to make it really difficult for users to contribute to improving the quality of the site's content... oh, I get it. — Cody Gray - on strike, May 31 '23 at 07:22
I get a cryptic "invalid userscript" error when trying to import this using tampermonkey on Brave. Is that expected? — terdon, Jun 05 '23 at 08:56
@terdon It isn't a user-script, it is a user-style. I posted a version in my answer that will run in Tampermonkey. — Stephen Ostermiller, Jun 05 '23 at 09:00
Consider adding .js-post-flag-bar, .js-comment-edit, .js-comment-delete, .js-comment-flag-options, .js-resolve-action, .js-post-flag-options, (misc. parts of the UI visible to moderators). — wizzwizz4, Jun 05 '23 at 17:50

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 05 '23 at 20:56

Here it is as a user script. I couldn't find a user style extension for my browser, but I'm already running Tampermonkey.

// ==UserScript==
// @name StackExchange read-only mode
// @namespace https://github.com/PurpleMagick/
// @version 1.5
// @license MIT
// @author VLAZ
// @contributor Stephen Ostermiller
// @description Disables interactions such as posting or leaving any feedback on posts. Only leaves read-only features. If you browse the sites logged in, you would be able to save posts for later. Leaves flagging intact but removes close reasons. Does not disable keyboard shortcuts.
// @match https://*.stackexchange.com/*
// @match https://*.stackoverflow.com/*
// @match https://*.askubuntu.com/*
// @match https://*.superuser.com/*
// @match https://*.serverfault.com/*
// @match https://*.mathoverflow.net/*
// @match https://*.stackapps.com/*
// @grant GM_addStyle
// ==/UserScript==
GM_addStyle(`
    .js-vote-down-btn,
    .js-vote-up-btn,
    .js-edit-post,
    .js-post-notice-edit-post,
    .js-suggest-edit-post,
    .js-edit-pending,
    #edit-tags,
.js-add-link.comments-link,
.js-comment-flag,
.js-comment-up,
.js-comment-edit,
.js-comment-delete,

#post-editor,
#submit-button,
a[href$='/questions/ask'],

#review-button .s-activity-indicator,
.review-dialog ul, 
.review-dialog h3, 
.review-dialog a[href$=&quot;/review&quot;], 
.js-actions-sidebar,

.js-accept-answer-btn[aria-pressed=&quot;false&quot;],

.bounty-link,
#btnProtectLoggedIn,

a[href*='/edit-tag-wiki/'],

.js-join-community,

.js-admin-dashboard-button,
.js-mod-inbox-button,
.js-mod-menu-button,
.js-mod-message-menu,
.js-post-flag-bar,
.js-comment-flag-options,
.js-resolve-action,
.js-post-flag-options,

.js-flag-post-link,
.js-close-question-link,
.js-delete-post,
#popup-flag-post ul li:not(:nth-child(1)):not(:nth-child(2)):not(:last-child),
#popup-close-question li
{
    display: none !important;
}

.js-accept-answer-btn[aria-pressed=&quot;true&quot;]
{
    pointer-events: none;
}

`)

Stack Exchange in read-only mode

1 Answers1

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