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Author Topic: Greasemonkey script for GasBuddy Topic is locked Back to Topics
ScroogeMcPump

Champion Author
Philadelphia

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Message Posted: May 24, 2008 7:57:15 PM

As many of you already know, I've written a script that modifies the appearance of the GasBuddy Web sites. To use it:

- First, you'll need a compatible browser, which means either Firefox or Opera. You should download and install at least one of these, if you haven't done so already.
- Second, if you use Firefox, you'll need to get the Greasemonkey extension for it; if you use Opera, you'll need to set up a user scripts folder for it. This is what makes the modifications possible.
- Finally, you'll need to get my script - either the Firefox version or the Opera version, as appropriate for the browser you're using.

I'll be using this topic to keep everyone advised of changes and updates to the script; likewise, if anyone has questions, comments, problems, or suggestions regarding it, please post them here.

[Edited by: CC at 8/13/2008 7:10:25 PM EST]
REPLIES (newest first)
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kwzh
Champion Author San Jose

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Message Posted: May 21, 2009 12:37:26 AM

bytebug writes,
> No need for anyone here to take donations, as there is already a way to donate via the script site.

Ah, I'd forgotten about that. Though we could still use my proposal if we decided that a single lump sum would be more impressive.

> As well, since this is a script, anyone else with an interest could take over maintenance.

True, and in fact I'd considered that if he wasn't up to doing the scriptwork himself, then maybe he'd accept the payment to train a successor instead -- I assume it would be easier to figure it out if he does a walkthrough.

mapcat writes,
> have you checked with Scrooge to make sure he's interested and up to doing it?

No, but I have a strong hunch he'd do it.

> And even if you treat it as a donation instead of as a contract, are you sure he would accept a donation? Some people are averse to accepting charity.

I think bytebug's observation answers this one in the affirmative.
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mapcat
Champion Author Ohio

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Message Posted: May 20, 2009 9:18:58 AM

kwzh--have you checked with Scrooge to make sure he's interested and up to doing it? And even if you treat it as a donation instead of as a contract, are you sure he would accept a donation? Some people are averse to accepting charity.
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bytebug
Champion Author Orange County

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Message Posted: May 20, 2009 8:42:25 AM

No need for anyone here to take donations, as there is already a way to donate via the script site.

As well, since this is a script, anyone else with an interest could take over maintenance.
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kwzh
Champion Author San Jose

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Message Posted: May 20, 2009 1:48:51 AM

So, my understanding is that the script is currently broken, and ScroogeMcPump, due to financial problems, is at least temporarily retired from GasBuddy and so is not here to fix it.

Here's an idea to address both issues. We take up a collection, strictly voluntary, among the users of the script or anyone else who feels up to it; send the money to SMcP as payment for a contract to fix the script, or just as a donation with encouragement to fix the script (whichever is less hassle). The recommended amount could be $5 if you're unemployed or otherwise in financial distress yourself, $10 if you're doing OK, $20 if you're feeling generous.

If this plan is acceptable, I'd be OK with being the middleman and sending him the money as a single check, since I do have his address. I imagine not everyone knows me well enough to trust me blindly, but we could nominate one or more other members to confirm the accounting, and I assume SMcP himself would acknowledge the total amount received.
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movrshakr
All-Star Author Florida

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Message Posted: Apr 27, 2009 11:29:34 AM

.
>He signed in last week to let everyone know he was ok, just having some financial problems that have kept him elsewhere.

Very good news he is OK. Sorry about the financial issue though. Too much of that going on these days.
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boolphrog
Champion Author Connecticut

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Message Posted: Apr 27, 2009 9:28:57 AM

glad to hear that he is okay
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WR-INC
Champion Author Twin Cities

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Message Posted: Apr 26, 2009 5:36:14 AM

He signed in last week to let everyone know he was ok, just having some financial problems that have kept him elsewhere.
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boolphrog
Champion Author Connecticut

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Message Posted: Apr 25, 2009 10:51:01 PM

I see Scrooge's srtpes are gone --when did he sign back in ?
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Mar 27, 2009 11:30:52 AM

I can get along with well without the Greasemonkey script, and I will continue to do without it unless Scrooge is able to update it. I am honestly not sure how things are defined to where I might be able to try using conditional formatting using "if" statements.
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VAtraveler
Champion Author Spartanburg

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Message Posted: Mar 26, 2009 11:18:48 PM

no1lakersfam asked,
>>is there a way to do conditional formatting with Platypus?<<

Not that I've used but I've not tried using the "Modify HTML" nor the "Insert HTML" functions available in Platypus thus far. I use it primarily to minimize the redundant and unwanted stuff on pages here. I'm here to Search for gas prices and Report gas prices primarily, so I give those top priority. I've also changed some of the color scheme and fonts to suit my own taste.


[Edited by: VAtraveler at 3/26/2009 11:20:18 PM EST]
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Mar 26, 2009 12:11:12 PM

VAtraveler, is there a way to do conditional formatting with Platypus? I have been trying to do some things like that but do not know how or where to construct the if statements to format based on certain conditions.
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VAtraveler
Champion Author Spartanburg

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Message Posted: Mar 26, 2009 12:07:16 AM

no1lakersfam & all, If Firefox is your browser, you can use Platypus to easily (point & click) create your own script files which will run in GreaseMonkey. Final results won't be as good as Scrooge's GasBuddyBlues script, but you can certainly clean up the new pages using it. Read about using Platypus
I was one of the people running a supplemental script with Scrooge's GasBuddyBlues script. Since his script is not written using Platypus, I wouldn't think of trying to modify it myself. Temporarily I'm only running my own script on GasBuddy pages until the GasBuddyBlues script is updated.
I do hope Scrooge is OK, but his long absence here worries me.

[Edited by: VAtraveler at 3/26/2009 12:09:03 AM EST]
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mapcat
Champion Author Ohio

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Message Posted: Mar 25, 2009 2:06:38 PM

Here's one other feature that no longer seems to work:

- When posting prices from a particular FSL, the script no longer displays the same FSL below the prices on the "Thank you" page

I couldn't remember if this was an option that could be set on about:config, but it appears that it is not.
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Mar 25, 2009 1:21:49 PM

I know very little about scripting, but from what Scrooge noted after other major changes, they most likely modified many of the tags that this script is attempting to modify. Because I am not too familiar with scripting, nor do I have much time to learn or mess around with it, I am unable to help make the script work better with the new changes.

I think that there were some people in here that either created a different script to supplement this one, or modified this one even further to meet their needs. If they are still around maybe they might be able to revise it and post an update.

I did send a follow-up e-mail to Scrooge letting him know that there have been many changes to the site in the past couple weeks that have caused the script to not behave properly anymore. I will see what kind of response I receive, if any, and post here what I hear.
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mapcat
Champion Author Ohio

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Message Posted: Mar 25, 2009 9:45:04 AM

In case Scrooge comes back, or in case someone else wants to work on his script, I thought it might be helpful to start listing some of the fixes that no longer work with the new site format. Here's what I've noticed so far:

- The (unneeded IMO) "Home" button in the top menu ends up a line above the rest of the menu
- The Google Custom Search box isn't in an ideal place anymore (I'd suggest somewhere to the left of the "Search for gas prices" box)
- The forum column is missing from the Favorite Topics list
- Forum posts I've made are no longer highlighted within a topic
- "Hide top Msg" in the forum does not work
- Occasionally, the PM inbox does not display
- The legend for the Gas Price Temperature Map spills off the bottom of the map
- "Topics X started" and "Topics X Participated in" are missing from X's member profile
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Mar 21, 2009 2:16:03 PM

Since we have not heard anything from Scrooge in about 2 months I do not think the script will be fixed anytime soon.

I have not received anything back in an e-mail yet from him, either, so we are still left to wonder where he is.
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kbsparky
Rookie Author Delaware

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Message Posted: Mar 21, 2009 2:06:13 PM

This script no longer works with the new format. Any chance it will be updated soon?
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a5
Champion Author Ontario

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Message Posted: Mar 3, 2009 9:46:48 AM

I think his last message was around Jan 29 - his birthday was Jan 24.
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mapcat
Champion Author Ohio

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Message Posted: Mar 3, 2009 9:27:01 AM

no1--thanks for doing that.



[Edited by: mapcat at 3/3/2009 9:28:27 AM EST]
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Mar 3, 2009 8:22:43 AM

I have Scrooge's e-mail address, and I will try and contact him that way to see what is going on. I will let you know whatever I find out.
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jrsva
Champion Author Virginia

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Message Posted: Mar 3, 2009 12:03:39 AM

I came by looking for Scrooge too.

"someone active for several years may choose to stop using the site one day, and their stripes would be there forever." Or perhaps stopped using the site without choosing to. I find it a fitting memorial to leave the stripes of a faithful member on forever. I hope Scrooge comes back and re-earns his stripes.
 
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Paypump7
Champion Author Omaha

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Message Posted: Mar 2, 2009 5:38:26 PM

I thought I'd check in here to see where Scrooge is. Looks like he hasn't checked in here lately either... I hope he is well and doing just fine. I hope he's off on a vacation somewhere having fun! And I also hope that he checks in very soon, we miss him!
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Feb 24, 2009 10:01:56 PM

Oh, I did not know that was the way the system worked. I would have thought they would immediately take them away, which makes the most sense because someone active for several years may choose to stop using the site one day, and their stripes would be there forever.
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boolphrog
Champion Author Connecticut

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Message Posted: Feb 23, 2009 11:59:30 PM

you don't lose your stripes until you sign on again --
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Feb 23, 2009 11:21:01 PM

How is his consecutive days 0 but he has racing stripes? Am I missing something, or did they change the rules on the stripes again?
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mapcat
Champion Author Ohio

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Message Posted: Feb 23, 2009 10:07:53 PM

I sent him an email after not seeing him in action here for a week or so, but he did not write back. It's been about 3 weeks since the last time he signed on, after 3+ years of not missing a day. Strange.
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movrshakr
All-Star Author Florida

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Message Posted: Feb 23, 2009 5:50:43 PM

.
"has anyone heard from Scrooge lately? "

hmmm, good point. I hope he's OK. Anybody know him personally?

I went to his profile....discovered it is near impossible to see last time on or last post.
.
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a5
Champion Author Ontario

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Message Posted: Feb 23, 2009 4:46:58 PM

has anyone heard from Scrooge lately?
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movrshakr
All-Star Author Florida

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Message Posted: Feb 21, 2009 11:16:22 AM

.
OK, VAtraveler. Good hints. I already have nosquint, but had my numbers reversed from what you said. I had full=100, text=115--because I wanted text larger for readability. So I reversed them to what you said, set min font to 12, and turned GM back on.

Sure enough, the list page does display OK. I am a bit concerned about what the min=12 is going to do on other sites, but suppose I will be able to noquint them to be OK. I just don't want the settings to create sideways scroll requirements though.
.
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mapcat
Champion Author Ohio

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Message Posted: Feb 21, 2009 9:30:31 AM

I'm having a lot of trouble with Members Messaging Area while running GM. Anyone else notice anything different recently?
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Feb 21, 2009 8:51:50 AM

movrshaker, gas prices posted by you have always been highlighted yellow, even before Greasemonkey was developed. It is this, however, that gave rise to the idea to implement something using the Greasemonkey script to highlight your forum posts.
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VAtraveler
Champion Author Spartanburg

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Message Posted: Feb 20, 2009 10:18:03 PM

@movrshakr - Yes, I'm looking at a price list created by one of my old saved searches. I checked again and if minimum font is set at 14 my price list from the saved search messed up regardless whether Greasemonkey was disabled or enabled. I agree at my 1280 X 1024 resolution a minimum font size of 12 is too small for my old eyes.

With the Firefox browser, an alternative to still use smaller fonts that works for me is to install the NoSquint add-on. It allows you to increase or decrease both full zoom level and text zoom level on any page, and it remembers your settings by domain for future visits.
So now for *gasprices.com I have full zoom level set at 115% and text zoom level set at 100% BUT still have minimum font size at 12 yet everything is very clear and readable. (Note: if I increase text zoom above 100, the Gas price list page messes up again)
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movrshakr
All-Star Author Florida

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Message Posted: Feb 20, 2009 8:30:55 PM

.
That's interesting that turning GM off did not solve it for you, as it DID solve it for me.

I do have my minimum fort set to 14, but I desperately need that on many sites, so lowering it is not an option. And I just tried it at 12 and still have the problem. Are you looking at the price list produced by a search?

I notice that my price entries in in a search list are hilited yellow even with GM off. I thought that was a GM thing. Obviously not. However, with it off, my posts in forums are not yellowed in the left side title block--which is something I like.

I hope Scrooge is still into maintaining this thing, altough it must be frustrating having to chase things that break in the script because the site changes.
.

[Edited by: movrshakr at 2/20/2009 8:34:23 PM EST]
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VAtraveler
Champion Author Spartanburg

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Message Posted: Feb 20, 2009 8:10:43 PM

@movrshakr - I found a similar problem as you described today with the Home page.
Don't think it's script related since turning Greasemonkey off doesn't resolve it for me anyway.

Discovered if I brought my minimum font size down to 12 in Firefox 3.0 the problem disappears. (Was at 14)

Windows Vista & Firefox 3.0.6

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movrshakr
All-Star Author Florida

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Message Posted: Feb 20, 2009 12:02:24 PM

.
Whoa, something suddenly changed. When I go to
http://www.floridastategasprices.com/index.aspx?s=Y&fuel=A&melbourne&tme_limit=24

the page loaded from the site seems OK for the half sec I can see it, but as soon as it is monkeyed, the list of prices on the right re-paints way down the page--below the column of stuff on the left. It seems to be WIDER than the space available for it, so it is moving itself down the page so it will have space.
.
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jrsva
Champion Author Virginia

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Message Posted: Feb 10, 2009 12:24:55 AM

Movrshakr, that's a super-good idea. I've always wondered why it didn't work that way. I think it would be a fairly simple thing for the main site programmer to set up.
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movrshakr
All-Star Author Florida

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Message Posted: Feb 9, 2009 2:08:27 PM

.
Here is a thought....on the MGP page, why not have the balloons pop up as you hover over one of the price icons, and disappear when you move away? Click to have it remain for price editing.

Would that be a monkey or a site change?

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ScroogeMcPump
Champion Author Philadelphia

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Message Posted: Jan 16, 2009 11:41:45 PM

Not yet, but you might get close to that by scanning the doc page for list items prefixed with "[C]" and ignoring the rest.
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Harley37
Champion Author Georgia

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Message Posted: Jan 14, 2009 11:36:13 PM

Scrooge,

I looked at the documentation page referenced on userscripts.org/scripts/show/25918, and it was of necessity, quite detailed.  Do you have a relatively brief summary of the _functional_ (not appearance) changes that the GasBuddyBlues script applies to the *gasprices.com pages?





[Edited by: Harley37 at 1/14/2009 11:37:03 PM EST]
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ScroogeMcPump
Champion Author Philadelphia

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Message Posted: Dec 22, 2008 12:02:11 AM

To "movrshakr", who wrote, "Do you know why they are changing the internal ID tags?": I'm guessing that they're trying to make changes to the format on some pages while simultaneously keeping the old format for others - testing things a piece at a time. They don't want changes to Page X to affect Page Y that uses the same styles, so they give everything on Page X new names.
"did you change the font for post typing?": No.
"It is a serif of some sort, like courier": AFAIK, that's what it always was - what were you seeing before?
"Any chance of making the font in post READING the same as is in post writing?": Done - I shoulda thought of that ages ago!

[Edited by: ScroogeMcPump at 12/22/2008 12:07:42 AM EST]
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Dec 21, 2008 11:08:43 AM

I think the font is the same as it always has been. Unless you are using a different system or made some changes, then I am not sure what would make it appear as a different font.
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movrshakr
All-Star Author Florida

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Message Posted: Dec 20, 2008 9:25:04 AM

.
Do you know why they are changing the internal ID tags? Seems like it would just make things harder for them.

And did you change the font for post typing? It is a serif of some sort, like courier. I like the new one MUCH better! Or am I dreaming again?

Any chance of making the font in post READING the same as is in post writing?

[Edited by: movrshakr at 12/20/2008 9:27:24 EST]
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VAtraveler
Champion Author Spartanburg

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Message Posted: Dec 19, 2008 10:26:42 PM

Thank-you my friend.

[Edited by: VAtraveler at 12/19/2008 10:28:25 PM EST]
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ScroogeMcPump
Champion Author Philadelphia

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Message Posted: Dec 19, 2008 3:42:47 PM

Yet another thing the admins screwed up on me by changing internal tag IDs. Fix should be available by the time you read this.
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VAtraveler
Champion Author Spartanburg

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Message Posted: Dec 19, 2008 10:20:39 AM

Have we lost the piece of script that places the cursor in the typing box (on a post entry page)? I've turned off my own script but don't see that neat feature happening anymore. Thanks.
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ScroogeMcPump
Champion Author Philadelphia

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Message Posted: Dec 18, 2008 9:36:18 PM

The problem is that there are so many different URLs that lead to something resembling the home page that I keep neglecting to include them in the list of pages to scan for this. I just uploaded another version that should deal with the page you were having problems with - and it also has a few bug fixes necessitated by the admins continuing to change all the internal names given to the various page parts.
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no1lakersfam
Champion Author Virginia Beach

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Message Posted: Dec 17, 2008 6:12:46 PM

I have noticed that on my own post for a station where I leave a comment such as "-5¢ with cash" the green highlight doesn't show even though the whole box is highlighted yellow indicating my post. I have even logged out and the -5¢ is not highlighted there either. I can send a copy of the html for the page for troubleshooting if necessary.

Edit to add: This actually happens on the main page or pages that are set up like this. It works fine for pages that are based off the new search setup.

[Edited by: no1lakersfam at 12/17/2008 6:14:50 PM EST]
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ScroogeMcPump
Champion Author Philadelphia

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Message Posted: Dec 16, 2008 2:29:07 PM

I'm still not sure what it is about the script that moves the new search stuff out of position, but I did find a way to compensate for the problem; the fix is available now.
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ScroogeMcPump
Champion Author Philadelphia

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Message Posted: Dec 15, 2008 11:44:42 PM

I don't know what they did, but given the other strangeness going on, I'll leave it for tomorrow, just in case there are more changes in the offing.
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mapcat
Champion Author Ohio

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Message Posted: Dec 15, 2008 10:26:55 PM

I got the same thing No1 is getting, using FF3 in Vista.

[Edited by: mapcat at 12/15/2008 10:27:16 PM EST]
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