Go Firefox Now!

In the 4 years since I last updated this blog I have been exploring new web technologies.  I've tried my hand at Firefox add-ons, Flex applications, the Facebook api, MySpace (shudder), DotNetNuke, ASP.Net, XML, LDAP, Android / iPhone apps, and others that I have undoubtedly forgotten.  Now I am back to enhancing my javascript skills beyond what I learned using Greasemonkey when I wrote the editor for Firefox and the other scripts for Firefox. 

One of the hot technologies lately is jQuery and Ajax.  Essentially, these use javascript and other technologies to make the browser act more like software that is installed on your computer.  I wanted to learn more about jQuery, since it makes heavy use of javascript which is what I used to write the editor.  I learn best by doing so I decided to try out jQuery inside of Greasemonkey.  It's unbelievable how much easier it is now to create effects using Greasemonkey when I can use the jQuery library :) 

I am currently working on the script that I talked about years ago - categorizing forums on the My Forums page.  I am VERY excited.  There are so many things that can be done, like tabs, hiding/unhiding sections, filtering, drag and drop, sorting, and more.  I'm going to have to contain myself and not add too many special effects :)  It will still take me a while to finish, because there is so much to learn. 

To start, I fixed up the javascript on this blog, because pieces of it weren't working due to some changes in Delphi's code and to a counter that expired long ago.  So the blog has 3 columns again.    

Enjoy!

In a flash of inspiration this morning, an idea for using RSS feeds and Greasemonkey to display info about Delphi blogs on the My Forums page came to me.  It started when I noticed that I had missed reading a comment on my blog.  I was thinking that it would be so nice to be able to have an indicator on My Forums page so that I know there is a new comment.  For some reason, the RSS feed from the blog came to mind.  There is a possibility that  Greasemonkey could trigger an RSS feed and display a message depending on the results of the feed.  I'll have to look into this.  I don't know much about RSS feeds.  This would be a great opportunity to learn more about them!

The new script for checking the moderation queue of all your forums at once is ready to go.  Forum staff members are excited about this new feature for Firefox users.  With this Greasemonkey script, forum staff members can see the number of unapproved messages right on the My Forums page.  The script even has an automatic timer, so if you forget, the script will check every 4 hours. 

Attached are a couple of screenshots of the My Forums page.  The first shows the new button for checking the moderation queue.  The second shows the new link for unapproved messages.  When clicked, you're taken right to the moderation page for that forum.   The complete details are at the Go Firefox! forum.

This script was much easier to write than the one for the editor.  Greasemonkey provides some nice functions, so it didn't take long at all to write the code to check the moderation queue.  What took longer was the code for a person to enter the webtags of the forums they want to check.  Most of that I copied from the editor script, so that wasn't hard either.

I plan on taking a little break before creating more scripts for Firefox, or updating the editor.  I had another idea for a script today - lol.  I don't know how many other people would be interested, but I would like it.  I often check the privacy policy and terms of service to see if anything has changed.  It's sometimes hard to tell.  So I thought a script that would save the last version, and just compare it to what is on the page now, would help me.    The javascript for doing that would be very simple.  I don't think I will ever run out of ideas for what can be done with Greasemonkey - lol.

In other good news, the Go Firefox! forum was added to the DelphiForums Help page as an unofficial support forum.  I was very, very pleased.  Members of the forum have worked hard to create a helpful, informative forum.  It's such a pleasure to host the forum.

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