Check the forums without visiting them

[Nick Foghorn Leghorn]

I was put to work on this problem a while ago: how to inform people of new topics on the forum, and display which topics are new. While I myself have failed miserably with the PHP script, mostly due to the fact that setting a script to search a source code is harder than I thought, someone else has succeeded.Using Konfabulator, someone has devised a widget that will automatically display the latest topic posts and updates right on your desktop. The version I present should already be configured, and is completely open source. For the widget, clickhere. ________________It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word.-Andrew Jackson

[Fax Celestis]

I shall see if I can integrate it into the ShireFox. Viatax Sitadi Axdivijink Regigoraauk

[Nick Foghorn Leghorn]

doubt it. It's a widget, a completely different kind of application. But if we had a ShireWidget...*breaks out Java compiler* ________________It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word.-Andrew Jackson

[Fax Celestis]

You DO know that the ShireFox is built in Java? Viatax Sitadi Axdivijink Regigoraauk

[Nick Foghorn Leghorn]

reeeally now? Email me the source code. ________________It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word.-Andrew Jackson

[AngelGuardian93]

You! WHY?! BIG WORDS!!!! AARRRRGGHHH!!! There are no flowers, no not this time. There will be no angels gracing the lines, just these stark words I find.

[Nick Foghorn Leghorn]

big... words? ________________It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word.-Andrew Jackson

[Fax Celestis]

Or you could just download the .xpi file and unzip it. .xpi is a fancy filename for a .zip that's recognized only by FireFox.You can get 1.3c, the most up-to-date release, here.It's got a few features that aren't on yet, but they will be shortly...ie: when I get a chance to sit down and program. Viatax Sitadi Axdivijink Regigoraauk

[Ari Rahikkala]

Two things, one of them unimportant and the other one vitally important...Firstly, both Konfabulator widgets and Mozilla extensions are written in JavaScript. Not Java. JavaScript. JavaScript is weakly typed, Java is strongly typed. JavaScript is usually interpreted (though things like Rhino can do that differently, being interpreted is not a language feature), Java is usually bytecode-compiled (though things like gcj can do that differently, being bytecode-compiled is not a language feature). The most important library that JavaScript is usually used with is its implementation of the HTML DOM, the most important library that Java is usually used with is the Java SE, etc. etc.. They're completely different languages and despite irresponsible marketing decisions should not be confused with each other.Secondly, the default update interval (and, in fact, the selection of update intervals that's available) is grounds for landing the author of the widget into the nearest asylum for the criminally insane. Get this: By default, the server is checked for new topics *every 60 seconds*. Slightly under one and a half thousand times a day if you keep your computer on all the time. There's a distinct possibility that Konfabulator is smart about that and, say, shuts down its timers when you aren't doing anything on the computer or aren't seeing the desktop, but I find it unlikely that that's done. I'd like to compare that count to to the total pageview count that we'd get otherwise if the forum stats existed this one time that I actually have a use for them... anyway, it's ridiculously many views.The two hours interval is much better and, in fact, for a community like Shireroth quite responsible. For something like an RSS feed reader it would be way overkill (a day or so is a good update interval for one), but Shirerithians are a rare bunch and tightly knit. If you want to recommend the widget to anyone... well... I solemnly request, nay, order you as a Knight of the Northern Calculus, Defender of Good and Proper Computing, Party of Those Who Carry the One Ever Forward, Supporter of the Insufficiently Informed, and Publisher of Topical Minor Treatises in Relevant Places, to do one of the following: Either place a warning text in huge bold red letters before the download link, telling people in certain terms to limit the update interval or pay the cost of their board use, or only distribute a modified version where the default update interval is two hours and the very lowest option is half an hour. Jag har glömt hur pjäserna stod!

[Ari Rahikkala]

Oh, and I had a look at the widget. Most of the actual work it does is fancy processing on the ezBoard page retrieved, and most of that uses nothing outside of the JavaScript language itself - i.e. that part should be portable to Firefox. The timecost of porting that code would be way less than that of developing it yourself, especially if the original developer will update the code for incompatible changes in ezBoard pages (it could be even better, of course. If said author refactors all of the HTML parsing stuff into, a nice, clean module of its own with a clean interface, he could change that file for whatever change that ezBoard makes, yet you would be able to use the new version of his code simply by copying the right file over). Jag har glömt hur pjäserna stod!

[Fax Celestis]

Have you had an opportunity to look at ShireFox itself? Viatax Sitadi Axdivijink Regigoraauk