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About Forum Reformatter
This script reformats the About.com forum pages. It removes most of the clutter and wasted space. You can even make it look like Delphi forums. Customize the functionality through the Tools->GreaseMonkey->User Script Commands.
Current configurable settings:
Block Signatures
Removes all the signatures from the messages. (default: off)
Allow blocking of individual Signatures
This will add a little check-mark under each message that allows you to remove signatures of individual posters. Once checked, the signatures of that poster will be removed. Other signatures will still appear. (default: off)
Block Avatars
Removes the little pictures of posters. (default: off)
Block right-hand part of the message window
Removes the right-most part of the message window and expand the message part to take up the additional space. (default: off)
Block the thread-temperature icon
In the thread list is a hidden icon for the 'temperature' of the thread. It shows how popular a thread is. Normally this icon is hidden. With this setting you can have it shown. (default: on)
Remove Message Formatting
Removes all formatting of posts. All the font settings, bold, italics, colour and the like will be removed from a post. (default: off)
Remove Prev/Next Discussion Buttons
Removes two links that are located next to the thread-navigation icons. It caused confusion and accidental incorrect clicking. (default: on)
Resize Avatar
Change the size of the little pictures of posters to a maximum height of 50px. This will make the header above each post smaller. (default: off)
Show Member's Full Name
Instead of just showing the nickname of a member, it will show the nickname and the login name. This is how the names were shown before the format change. (default: on )
Thread List on the left (Delphi style)
When this setting is enabled, the right-hand part of the thread display is removed completely and a list of threads is displayed on the left-hand side. This style was used by About some years ago, and Delphi still uses that format. The search block that is normally on the rigght-hand side is moved to the bottom of the thread list. (default: off)
(Delphi style) Load pages in the background
When in the Delphi style layout, enabling this setting will load new pages in the background. This removes the flickering of the message window and the original page layout will not be visible at all. It also speeds up the loading of messages significantly. The objects that will be removed do not need to be rendered first, resulting in a faster response. (default: off)
Caveat: the URL of the browser doesn't change. So a refresh will take you back to the page you started at.
Style for quoted text
When answering a message, an extra button is inserted, allowing you to highlight some text in the original message window and pressing the button to quote it in your message. The style of this block of text can be altered.
Check for Updates
The script can check for updates. It will do this only once per day and in the background after the whole page is reformatted. If an update is available, you will be prompted if you want to allow the update. If you deny an pdate, the script will not ask again until a new version is available. (default: off)
Force update
This allows you to force an update. Regardless of the version currently installed, it will load the most current version. (default: off, revert to 'off' once the update is installed)
History:
v0.0.1 Initial Proof Of Concept
v0.0.2
New functionality:
* Reformat the 'Reply' page.
* Add 'Quick Quote' button to reply page. Just select some text
from the original message and press this button to quote it in
your reply window. The quote style can be changed in the
Configuration window.
* Turn on the Firefox Spell Checker in the reply window.
Bug fixes:
* Script now works on all About.com Forums.
v0.1.0
New functionality:
* The script can now update itself if a new version is available.
Turned off by default. The version check will only be done once
a day at max to reduce overhead. Once a new version is denied by
the user, the update function will ignore that version in future
checks.
* Right-hand part of the messages window can now be removed without
turning on the threadlist on the left. The searchbox and visitor
list is moved to the bottom of the messages.
* Added a Refresh button to the thread list on the left. It will
refresh the list without reloading the whole page.
* Display the thread-temperature icons on the thread list page.
Bug fixes:
* Restored the messages tools. Moved them to the bottom of the
message.
* Restored the 'report violation' link.
* Added a small icon to the reply link.
* Restored the style for signatures.
* Removed additional space between message and signature.
* Reformat the 'View Full Message' page.
* Reformat the thread list page.
v0.1.1
Bug fixes:
* Attachments would remove the reply button. Corrected.
* Added a URL About.com uses for threadlists
v0.1.2
New functionality:
* Make the thread-temperature icon user-selectable (configuration).
* Bypass the 'continue' page after posting a message.
Bug fixes:
* Eabled script on the Edit Message page.
* Added URL pattern About.com uses when you're re-directed from the
Edit->Apply page.
* Changed the layout of the message tool buttons at the bottom of
each message.
* Added code to display the full member name [nickname + (login name)]
Code is currently turned off (due to potential speed impact)
v0.1.3
Bug fixes:
* Last Version Check was updated incorrectly, resulting in no updates
if the script was used without a gap of at least 24 hours.
v0.1.4
New functionality:
* In the Delphi layout
- Clicking on thread-group headers refreshes the thread list on the
left side instead of opening it in a new window.
- Posts are loaded in the background and refreshed in the window
without reloading the whole page. This removes the flickering of
the message window and the original page layout will not be visible
at all. It also speeds up the loading of messages significantly. The
objects that will be removed do not need to be rendered first,
resulting in a faster response.
Caveat: the URL of the browser doesn't change. So a refresh will
take you back to the page you started at.
Bug fixes:
* In the Delphi layout, the 'Show Discussions' option has been restored.
* Image resizing bug that caused distortions is now fixed.
v0.1.5
Bug fixes:
* Render polls correctly.
v0.1.6
Bug fixes:
* Background loading of pages in the Delphi Style mode caused errors with
the About.com ads. This stopped the rendering of pages. Using AdBlockPlus
will prevent this error. Those without ABP can turn the background loading
off in the configuration.
v0.1.7
Bug fixes:
* Render ignored poster headers correctly.
* Fix configuration save problem.
v0.1.8
New functionality:
* Member Full Name can now be displayed
* 'Prev/Next Discussion' links can be removed
* Search Results page added to processed pages
* Change the discussion navigation icons with smaller, higher contrast ones.
* Added 'Started by ...' to the popup of links in the treadlist of the
Delphi view.
Bug fixes:
* Remove 'Hello, ....' from all pages
* Posts accessed through search-results were not reformatted. This is now
corrected.
v0.1.9
Bug fixes:
* Added another URL include for email notification links
* About.com changed the post editor, breaking the code used to implement
the Quote button. Fixed.
v0.2.0
Bug fixes:
* Redesign because of changes in About.com's forum formatting
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