The scripts that I've submitted were developed using Microsoft Visual Studio. Their
(you need an account to see links) is free, and includes useful tools for JavaScript programming! If you'd like to jump right in, I'd recommend installing
(you need an account to see links) for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, then creating a "Hello World" style UserScript as a placeholder while you learn. Perhaps something like:
This script will insert the text "Hello from Travis!" into every page you visit on Neopets, directly above the page's content, like this:
You can code your UserScript with Visual Studio's IDE, copy and paste it into Tampermonkey, save your changes, then observe them by refreshing whichever Neopets page you're on.
I'd recommend reading W3School's guide to
(you need an account to see links). It describes common methods and properties within the DOM and HTML elements themselves that you're going to encounter each and every time you build a UserScript. Mozilla, the creators of the Firefox browser, also have a
(you need an account to see links) for JavaScript as well.
Learning how to program with the jQuery API is a big plus. jQuery will dramatically cut down on the difficulty of sifting through complex layers of elements in web pages. I'd recommend both the
(you need an account to see links) and the
(you need an account to see links) guide for in-depth explanations.
Lastly, I suggest learning how to use your favorite browser's Development Tools, also known as DevTools, Web Development Tools and so on. Mozilla provides a
(you need an account to see links) which describes what these tools are, and how you can use them for development. If you're looking for a crash course in a certain browser's tools, then here are guides for
(you need an account to see links) and
(you need an account to see links). You can use these tools to look around web page structures and familiarize yourself with how they design their HTML and JavaScript interfaces.