I'm sort of tired of any given Wolf Web page being a horrible mess of nested anonymous tables, so I've started working on a Greasemonkey script to add meaningful IDs and class names to significant page elements. While I'm at it, I might as well implement some other neat stuff.

I'm looking at some other stuff other users, like agentlion, have already done. Some of that old stuff is here: message_topic.aspx?topic=327923

Is there anything that's bothered you about the Wolf Web that you think could reasonably be changed on the client side? For example, it bugs me that when I reply to a thread, the first page loads in the IFRAME instead of the last one, so I'm going to address that. Anything else you guys might like? I'll entertain pretty much any sensible suggestion, and if I don't decide to implement it, I'll explain why and suggest alternatives.

I'm not sure when this will be available, but you'll be the first to know.

7/26/2009 10:45:41 PM

Quote :

"when I reply to a thread, the first page loads in the IFRAME instead of the last one"

this has always annoyed the fuck out of me.

I will sleep on it and get back to you.

7/27/2009 12:03:07 AM

i'd like an auto-logout feature plz

7/27/2009 12:17:57 AM

i'd like a school tool feature.

7/27/2009 6:18:02 AM

qntmfred: Perhaps I could track the number of posts you've made this session and log you out once you go over 20 or something.

casummer: I will rewrite the HREF of the School Tool link to send you here: http://www.scsaberg.com/gd/

7/27/2009 7:07:10 AM

fuck it, i'll finish up the school tool replacement i was writing

7/27/2009 11:17:15 AM

oh yeah, i almost forgot that even started something and didn't finish it.

7/27/2009 11:32:13 AM

I'd love an ignore feature. The user block works well but it doesn't stop seeing thread titles. I'm pretty sure chit chat would be bearable if I could block most of the people that fuck it up.

7/27/2009 12:53:43 PM

Quote :

"I'd love an ignore feature"

7/27/2009 1:08:51 PM

Quote :

"fuck it, i'll finish up the school tool replacement i was writing"

LIES

ps that scanner app got brought up again today at work. so, might can ge tyou some $$$ for fixing that shit, yo

7/27/2009 2:53:11 PM

When editing a post, I'd like it to be just like the 'Post Reply' page, where you can see the thread. Useful for correcting carrots. Except maybe have the "Post Reply!" replaced with "Edit Post!" so you know you're not posting or something

Pages that are made ridiculously wide from a huge image or long string of text push out the Reply To Thread/etc links. If those could be floating and just stay at the edge of the screen that would be pretty cool

7/27/2009 4:20:01 PM

On my lunch hour today, I started adding more semantically useful information to the major page elements on the message boards and threads lists. Then, I realized that trudging through this mess with XPath expressions made me want to kill myself, and doing it that way would just make it harder for users to extend the script's functionality.

So instead, I've implemented jQuery for this script. If you're familiar with the library, you'll be able to more easily add your own features and customizations.

I figured being able to ignore users was going to be a popular request. Would you like the posts removed completely, or would you prefer to have the user's post simply blanked out with an option to activate it? How about threads by those users in the thread lists?

7/27/2009 5:03:40 PM

Please just make RD not exist on my screen.

7/27/2009 10:02:13 PM

I want the option for either.

a "completely block every damn thing" option so I don't see shit from them. no posts, no threads, nothing.

and an "ignore" like the current one that just makes their posts blank

edit: nvm, we need 3. those 2 plus an RD and alias "block every damn thing" that's mandatory

[Edited on July 27, 2009 at 10:04 PM. Reason : asf]

7/27/2009 10:03:36 PM

how about a "quote" link that appears below the current "user info" and "edit post" links?

obviously, it would quote the post







basically you should retitle this thread: "Shit that should have been available on TWW from the start, but wasn't because CrazyJ is absolutely fucking inept"

7/27/2009 11:48:42 PM

I tinkered a little more on the code last night. I've scaffolded the major message board pages, and now I'm working on speeding up the process on each page load using jQuery's elemental data storage. I've also prototyped a few features, including an ignore.

7/28/2009 11:47:30 AM

Some shots of the progress from my lunch hour!

This is an example of the kinds of features you'll be able to build off my framework. I added a simple function that does a regular expression comparison to identify and class threads that are labeled NSFW.



Here is a vanity feature implemented in the same rough way that you might use for a simple block. I'm just highlighting my own threads with a user style sheet.



And there's more than just dumb CSS tricks. I'm also adding some useful new nodes to certain types of documents, as you can see below:

7/28/2009 3:06:46 PM

cool man

7/28/2009 4:07:20 PM

aw shit, you're doing some stuff i had started to work on before but (surprise!) never finished

gg man.

i'd love to help out if you need anything.

7/28/2009 7:08:14 PM

ITT Froshkiller punks evan

7/28/2009 8:33:39 PM

Been tinkering around this evening. Managed to cut most of the time spent parsing a given page by two thirds. About to start commenting the source. Will probably cut out all but the basic scaffolding stuff and make an initial release.

7/28/2009 10:57:42 PM

Check it out. Initial release: http://jlhamilt.freeshell.org/better_wolf_web.user.js

7/28/2009 11:39:49 PM

Quote :

"About to start commenting the source."

!

7/29/2009 8:00:07 AM

Now, how do I use that?

7/29/2009 8:20:37 AM

Use Firefox, install the Greasemonkey add-on, then click the link to the file.

Greasemonkey: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748

7/29/2009 8:24:19 AM

oops, nvm..got it going before i read that (durrr)

cooool. works awesome. when ya gonna add blocking?

7/29/2009 8:26:09 AM

I've got a very basic version of blocking working on my development build, and I'll probably roll that out in the release after the next. You could sort of add crude support for it in your Firefox user style sheet with just my initial release, though. It'd look something like this to block me:

.thread_by_3479, .post_by_3479 { display: none !important; }

7/29/2009 8:44:59 AM

doesn't seem to be working for me...at least, the NSFW in chit chat isn't being highlighted

*shrug*

7/29/2009 8:55:09 AM

Quote :

"This is an example of the kinds of features you'll be able to build off my framework."

7/29/2009 9:03:26 AM

my apologies...i thought you included it

7/29/2009 9:16:31 AM

No worries. Here is my road map:

Version 0.1 (next release)
* Image parsing within threads (smileys vs. photo links vs. traditional images)
* Image width correction relative to viewport width (via CSS max-width property)
* WolfWebState object replaced by GM_setValue & GM_getValue
* Extensible RegExp-based thread classer (e.g. NSFW highlighting)

Version 0.2
* Simple user blocking
* Private message parsing (all mailboxes, messages)

7/29/2009 9:26:08 AM

k i had to disable it. makes browsing too slow.

7/29/2009 10:25:50 AM

What are your specs? I'm seeing less than half a second's delay in the worst cases. None of the specific changes the script makes to the document should affect how quickly the content loads anyway.

My priorities for optimizing speed include moving to native for() loops and relying on ID selection rather than class selection after the page has been scaffolded. That should give you a noticeable performance improvement.

[Edited on July 29, 2009 at 10:35 AM. Reason : .//]

7/29/2009 10:31:46 AM

2.2ghz, 2gigs ram. half a second delay on every page is annoying when i'm trying to just jump between a few sections and check a few things. feels more like a second or so to me.

7/29/2009 10:57:32 AM

There shouldn't be a delay in page rendering at all. Are you using any other add-ons besides Greasemonkey?

7/29/2009 11:03:30 AM

nope

i'm not sure why, but it seemed slower mainly when flipping through the sections real quick. i just added http://brentroad.com/message_section.aspx?section=* to the pages that it disables the script on and that seems to be a lot better. it's not much of a delay..hell, maybe it's just mental

[Edited on July 29, 2009 at 11:29 AM. Reason : asfd]

7/29/2009 11:27:05 AM

I haven't noticed any speed decrease in my TWW browsing.

7/29/2009 12:06:03 PM

^

7/29/2009 12:38:43 PM

yeah everything has been slow here since lunch so i can't tell a difference anymore. i'll try it again tonight from home

7/29/2009 1:34:56 PM

Okay, played around at lunch. I think the majority of the time to execute is spent traversing the DOM, but I expected that. The script runs as soon as the DOM is loaded, and it doesn't prevent the content from loading and being rendered. I tried some native methods, but they actually weren't appreciably faster.

The only real side effect is that there may be a noticeable delay in page updates, styling, and effects created by script activity, but that was bound to happen anyway. I rather like watching stuff pop into being on the page.

REMINDS ME OF THE CENTURIONS

7/29/2009 1:44:10 PM

I like the direction this is taking... as far as the slowness - I didn't really notice any, but its hard not to attribute it to this already busted site and how temperamental it is.

7/29/2009 11:18:53 PM

trying this out as well

7/30/2009 9:43:55 AM

trying it again this morning while the internet is working better than yesterday. i don't really notice any slow downs. sometimes it seems like a slight delay but i can't blame it on the script.. esp on this site, as stated earlier. lol

7/30/2009 9:50:25 AM

Currently adding some more noticeable features since a lot of the functionality is invisible to most users right now. Will have an update shortly.

7/30/2009 9:56:08 AM

Updated: http://jlhamilt.freeshell.org/better_wolf_web.user.js

All features I promised you in the 0.1 release are here with one minor addition: The post count beneath each user's status name has become a link to search for all his posts.

7/30/2009 11:24:09 AM

cool

7/30/2009 12:19:17 PM

Wait, you're an English major?

7/30/2009 12:26:18 PM

Sure! I hold a B.A. in English.

Tentatively adding the following new features to version 0.2:

* Converts MP3s linked in posts to embedded streaming Flash players with optional download links
* Adds a convenient message board search bar below the header toolbar

7/30/2009 12:29:42 PM

Did you pick up web programming as a hobby or is that you're career now or what?

7/30/2009 1:10:23 PM

YOU ARE CAREER

7/30/2009 1:13:11 PM