# Userscripts Help

**URL:** <https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469>\
**Category:** API And Third-Party Apps\
**Created:** [December 1, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469 "2020-12-01T18:13:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AllHailTheCrabigator](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/allhailthecrabigator/32/365479_2.png) [@AllHailTheCrabigator](https://community.wanikani.com/u/AllHailTheCrabigator)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/1 "2020-12-01T18:13:01Z")

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Hey guys, as a newbie, I have a question. So, I generally peruse the community in between my reviews, and obviously have noticed a lot of talk regarding userscripts. People have suggested them to me in some of my other posts, but I have looked at them and they honestly look really complicated. I also generally don’t have access to a computer (only at work, and work at a bank, so can’t install extensions etc), and only do WaniKani on my phone when not at work, so I’m unsure if the userscripts are even available for phones. What would you say to a newb like me about this? I get the feeling from most of the things I’ve read on here that userscripts are _extremely_ important, but I’m not sure how/if I can use them. Please help!

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**Author:** ![Sorrymasen](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/sorrymasen/32/290268_2.png) [@Sorrymasen](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Sorrymasen)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/2 "2020-12-01T18:27:32Z")

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The most used scripts seem to be the ones allowing you to cheat : skip vocab lessons, retry mistakes… Not only can you do WK without scripts but chances are it’s also better for you unless you really know what you’re doing.

Remember WK is just a crutch, learning is made during immersion.

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**Author:** ![AllHailTheCrabigator](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/allhailthecrabigator/32/365479_2.png) [@AllHailTheCrabigator](https://community.wanikani.com/u/AllHailTheCrabigator)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/4 "2020-12-01T18:32:21Z")

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I use an iPhone, so that wouldn’t work for me. Right now I’m not having issues, and am planning on starting Genki and Tae Kim sometime soon, so I’ll have all that going for me as well. I just don’t want to screw myself over.

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**Author:** ![ekg](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/ekg/32/680984_2.png) [@ekg](https://community.wanikani.com/u/ekg)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/5 "2020-12-01T18:39:00Z")

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While there are several scrips I use now, it wasn’t until level 20 or so that I actually installed some. There are users who’ve made it to the very end without ever using user scripts. So, don’t be discouraged if you _can’t_ use scripts.

Depending on how you feel your studies are going, you might wanna complement WK with your own ways of tackling roadblocks (leeches, extra-study of those hard-to-remember-items), because some scripts help you with that. But, self-study can take many forms so just find something that works for you in your everyday life.

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**Author:** ![AllHailTheCrabigator](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/allhailthecrabigator/32/365479_2.png) [@AllHailTheCrabigator](https://community.wanikani.com/u/AllHailTheCrabigator)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/6 "2020-12-01T18:41:01Z")

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Thank you! Another question. What are leeches? I’ve seen that term thrown around WaniKani too.

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**Author:** ![qpqpqp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/qpqpqp/32/643560_2.png) [@qpqpqp](https://community.wanikani.com/u/qpqpqp)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/7 "2020-12-01T18:41:04Z")

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i do reviews on both my school laptop and my personal laptop. the school blocks most extensions so i can’t install/use any userscripts on it. on my laptop at home i do have userscripts installed. so i do reviews on both

i’d say they maybe make the experience better, but it’s not too bad without them either. 🤷‍♂️ for me mainly it’s the lesson reordering, because otherwise i’d have to do like 30-40 vocab lessons after leveling up to get to the radicals/kanji. its not a huge deal i think if you can’t have them, imho.

obviously i’m new too, i’m just sharing my thought process 😅 take my words with a grain of salt

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**Author:** ![Sorrymasen](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/sorrymasen/32/290268_2.png) [@Sorrymasen](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Sorrymasen)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/8 "2020-12-01T18:41:54Z")

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Leeches are items (words, kanji…) that you always get wrong and keep coming back to haunt you because you never manage to burn them

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**Author:** ![qpqpqp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/qpqpqp/32/643560_2.png) [@qpqpqp](https://community.wanikani.com/u/qpqpqp)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/9 "2020-12-01T18:42:53Z")

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o-o _shivers_

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**Author:** ![anon89323260](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@anon89323260](https://community.wanikani.com/u/anon89323260)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/10 "2020-12-01T18:49:25Z")

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Since you’re using your phone, here are some apps I would recommend that would bring a lot of the same functionality you would find in userscripts (or in some cases, offer some unique features of their own):

[[iOS] Tsurukame - native app with offline lessons and reviews](https://community.wanikani.com/t/ios-tsurukame-native-app-with-offline-lessons-and-reviews/30635)

[[iOS/Android] Jakeipuu](https://community.wanikani.com/t/iosandroid-jakeipuu/45634)

[[iOS / Android / Web] Juken - Review App for WaniKani](https://community.wanikani.com/t/ios-android-web-juken-review-app-for-wanikani/43841)

I think there are some other Android-supported apps, but since I have an iPhone I don’t have any personal experience with them. I’m sure others will chime in on those, if that is what you use.

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**Author:** ![ekg](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/ekg/32/680984_2.png) [@ekg](https://community.wanikani.com/u/ekg)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/11 "2020-12-01T18:53:53Z")

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Leeches are items that you struggle with. Like you manage to guru an item, but then fail it and it goes down to apprentice. You get it to guru. Then fail it again. And so on. So it doesn’t progress. Right now I have 105 leeches! 😂 There are some scripts that help you count them and quiz them specifically, since they may need some extra effort since you keep failing them. ^^;

There are people who’ve made it to lv 60 without ever addressing their leeches, but it will increase the amount of daily reviews the more of them you have (since they’re items in Apprentice and Guru all the time! 😅 )

So, that’s what leeches are about. Hope that helps. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Saida](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/saida/32/348936_2.png) [@Saida](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Saida)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/12 "2020-12-01T19:21:45Z")

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> [@Sorrymasen](#):
>
> The most used scripts seem to be the ones allowing you to cheat : skip vocab lessons, retry mistakes…

Correction: The most discussed about.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sorrymasen](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/sorrymasen/32/290268_2.png) [@Sorrymasen](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Sorrymasen)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/13 "2020-12-01T20:00:30Z")

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Right.

The points I really wanted to make in my post were :

1. cheat-scripts aren’t recommended for people beginning the journey
2. QoL scripts make the experience less “basic”, but I believe WK is a basic tool anyway and shouldn’t steal too much of one’s time, so, while using scripts makes it a bit better, it’s far from necessary

I use some scripts myself, I’m not against them at all, just wanted to say they’re not “extremely” important, as OP has been told by some. He shouldn’t let such opinions make him feel like he’s missing out, because he isn’t.

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**Author:** ![alo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/alo/32/239506_2.png) [@alo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/alo)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/14 "2020-12-01T21:21:49Z")

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Tsurukame for IOS is the only reason I’m able to do WK at all. I just don’t have the “sit-down” time at my computer to be able to use the website regularly.

Here’s what I would recommend for settings:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/4/d/c/4dcd9c5ea88497b1291aaa2f224aca5c97b7f295.jpeg)

You have to be strict with yourself when using the “Allow cheating” option, but it’s absolutely required with a mobile keyboard. One good habit is to say the meaning and reading to yourself for each review item and then to let it be wrong if you missed either of those.

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**Author:** ![sansarret](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/sansarret/32/370654_2.png) [@sansarret](https://community.wanikani.com/u/sansarret)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscripts-help/47469/15 "2020-12-02T00:12:47Z")

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EDIT: Dear OP, I missed the part about not having access to computer, feel free to ignore the rest.

One of the scripts that is very helpful and enhance your knowledge of Japanese is this one:

> [@\[Userscript\] Keisei 形声 Semantic-Phonetic Composition](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscript-keisei-%E5%BD%A2%E5%A3%B0-semantic-phonetic-composition/21479):
>
> warning This is a third-party script/app and is not created by the WaniKani team. By using this, you understand that it can stop working at any time or be discontinued indefinitely. Keisei Semantic-Phonetic Composition by acm I am proud to release the stable version of my first script, Keisei Semantic-Phonetic Composition! Installation Instructions Get Tampermonkey (installation instructions [in this thread](https://community.wanikani.com/t/visual-guide-on-how-to-install-a-userscript/12136)) Click on the [installation link](https://github.com/mwil/wanikani-userscripts/raw/master/wanikani-phonetic-compounds/wk_keisei.user.js) (Tampermonkey should auto-detect .user.js files) I…

It identifies kanjis that were created with common phonetic compound and therefore the reading is the same. Native speakers are aware of this feature of their language and they sometimes can guess the reading of unknown kanji.

Because of that script I always try to do my lessons on computer.

Many other scripts just make your overall experience more pleasant. Some give insight into your journey (historical data), like Heatmap:

> [@\[Userscript\] Wanikani Heatmap](https://community.wanikani.com/t/userscript-wanikani-heatmap/34947):
>
> warning This is a third-party script/app and is not created by the WaniKani team. By using this, you understand that it can stop working at any time or be discontinued indefinitely. What is Wanikani Heatmap This script adds a so called heatmap to your dashboard, which displays how many reviews and lessons you did on each day. The reviews heatmap additionally features a forecast for upcoming reviews. Along with the heat maps you also get a number of interesting stats, such as how many days y…

So try one or two from here:

> [@The New And Improved List Of API and Third Party Apps](https://community.wanikani.com/t/the-new-and-improved-list-of-api-and-third-party-apps/7694):
>
> warning This is a list of third-party script/app and is not created or managed by the WaniKani team. By using any of the script/apps listed here, you understand that it can stop working at any time or be discontinued indefinitely. This is a wiki post, please feel free to edit it and add to it! [Requests Userscripts Here](https://community.wanikani.com/t/x/3838)[How to use userscripts](https://community.wanikani.com/t/x/12136)[Discord server for discussing userscripts](https://discord.gg/bbYy4nsJrd) Note that UserScripts may not work well in mobile browsers; but [not entirely impossible](https://community.wanikani.com/t/x/12136#heading--mobile-start). Other things like…

see if you like it. You can always disable/delete all of them.
