Anyone here have the skills to produce a posting form enhancer like thee one Freeper cynwoody posted here years ago.

The old link ^ | 10/13/24 | Vanity

[TangoLimaSierra]

Had to reload my PC and when I went to cywoody's page to reload the posting enhancer the add-on link is dead. He disappeared from FR years ago but the page remained. Now, his page is there but the link to the add-on is dead.

I loved that add-on and used it for years. I am not smart enough to create it so I'm hoping one of our coders here would take on the job. I know a lot of Freepers use it, too.

[daniel1212]

Odd, a couple of people have installed it with that link. As far as I know, Cynwoody hasn’t been here for years. No readme or terms.

Yes, I have tried to find him, MIA. I trust he would want it shared. Thank God for the old FR forum software in this case.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Do have any contact with Cynwoody,

He has not been heard from for years.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Even if you were serious, that is not the type of stuff I would want any software to be used for.

It was a Laz joke. Relax.

[linMcHlp]

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Freeper cynwoody's Free Republic Posting Form Enhancer (FRPFE) does work on the Brave Browser (Chromium engine) Internet browser.

- - -

There are at least three current [Tuesday, 10/15/2024] sources for the FRPFE extension (aka add-on, plug-in):

1) At cynwoody's appspot.com webpage (works sometimes):
     https://cynwoody.appspot.com/fr_posting_form_enhancer.html

     there is an HTTP link to file "frpfe.xpi":
     http://cynwoody.appspot.com/xpi/frpfe.xpi
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2) At Pollard's FreeRepublic Profile webpage:
     https://freerepublic.com/~pollard/

     there is an HTTPS link to file "frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com.xpi":
     https://route66custom.com/frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com.xpi
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3) At daniel1212's FreeRepublic reply 58:
     https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4270733/posts?page=58#58

     there is an HTTPS link to file "frpostfenhancer.xpi":
     https://www.peacebyjesus.net/frpostfenhancer.xpi

Among those 3 FRPFE extension file sources, there are 3 XPI files with different names:

1) frpfe.xpi
2) frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com.xpi
3) frpostfenhancer.xpi

I downloaded all 3 of those. In order to expand each of those, I duplicated the files and then changed the filename extensions of those duplicates (.xpi) to ".zip" (no quotes), to get:

1) frpfe.zip
2) frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com.zip
3) frpostfenhancer.zip

. . . and expanded each. Then compared each resulting folder, and found what appears to be the exact same contents in each - for example (using the downloaded XPI file - via Pollard):

frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com (a folder):
      date.txt
      FRPFE.png
      manifest.json
      META-INF (a folder):
           manifest.mf
           mozilla.rsa
           mozilla.sf
      script.js

The contents of each date.txt file are "Thu Oct 26 18:08:10 EDT 2017". The FRPFE.png files, are the same. The contents of the manifest.json files, are exact matches. The contents (names of files AND their contents) of the META-INF directories, are exact matches. The contents of the script.js files, are exact matches.

- - -

The considerations and steps that follow here, are for installing the FRPFE extension in/on a Chromium-engined Internet browser such as Brave Browser . . . NOT about: installing in/on the Firefox browser:

The META-INF directory contains Mozilla's cryptographic signature assuring that the extension has not been modified IF you are installing in/on Firefox. IF you modify the FRPFE extension for use with Firefox, THEN you need to consider: "Modifying a Firefox Addon" - see cynwoody's webpage:

https://cynwoody.appspot.com/modifying-a-firefox-addon.html

When you visit that webpage, within the text of the body of that webpage, at the top, the title of cynwoody's article is CORRECTLY: "Modifying a Firefox Addon" - BUT the browser window title is NOT CORRECT: "Installing User Scripts in Chrome".

The HTTP link to cynwoody's actual, correct "Installing User Scripts in Chrome" webpage:

http://cynwoody.appspot.com/installing-in-chrome.html

Installing User Scripts in Chrome

Installing a user script into Chrome used to be trivial. You simply opened the script file (ending in .user.js), and Chrome automatically turned it into an extension.

However, since about version 21, due to security concerns, Chrome has discouraged installing extensions not obtained from the App Store. It is still possible, but you have to take some quite deliberate steps:

1. Open the Chrome Extensions page (browse to URL chrome://extensions).
2. Ensure that the "Developer mode" checkbox at the upper right is ticked.
3. Download the user script, already packaged as a Chrome extension, to a convenient spot in your filesystem, e.g. Desktop or Downloads.
4. Unzip the download (should result in a directory with the same name as the downloaded zip archive).
5. Click the "Load packed extension..." button near the top of the Extensions window, navigate to the unzipped folder and select it.
   
   Alternatively, drag the unzipped folder from a Finder or Explorer window to the Chrome extensions page. A box should pop up prompting you to "Drop to Install".

The extension you downloaded should now be listed among your installed extensions.

The relevant contents of that webpage are somewhat helpful (but there will be some significant changes; and a modified installation guide, later down the page at section: "Installing the FRPFE extension in/on Brave Browser (on a Mac)").

- - -

Some changes, plus more steps

I used Pollard's source (frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com.zip) for the following:

The contents of the manifest.json file must be modified, because of some increased security changes within Chromium-engined browsers. The existing contents of the un-modified manifest.json file (note: it is manifest_version 2):

{
    "applications": {
        "gecko": {
            "id": "frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com"
        }
    },
    "content_scripts": [
        {
            "js": [
                "script.js"
            ],
            "matches": [
                "*://*.freerepublic.com/perl/post*"
            ],
            "run_at": "document_idle"
        }
    ],
    "description": "Makes the posting page easier to use.",
    "icons": {
        "94": "FRPFE.png"
    },
    "manifest_version": 2,
    "name": "FR Posting Form Enhancer",
    "version": "1.0"
}

New, modified manifest.json file (note: it is manifest_version 3):

{
    "content_scripts": [
        {
            "js": [
                "script.js"
            ],
            "matches": [
                "*://*.freerepublic.com/perl/post*"
            ],
            "run_at": "document_idle"
        }
    ],
    "description": "Makes the posting page easier to use.",
    "icons": {
        "94": "FRPFE.png"
    },
    "name": "FR Posting Form Enhancer",
    "manifest_version": 3,
    "version": "1.0",
    "permissions": ["scripting", "activeTab"]
}

Before I modified the manifest.json file, and during my first attempt to install the FRPFE extension in/on Brave Browser (on a Mac), the browser's Extensions window at brave://extensions/ indicated an error:

Manifest version 2 is deprecated, and support will be removed in 2023. See:

https://developer.chrome.com/blog/mv2-transition

I looked over that Chrome.com webpage; and also, elsewhere online, I found:

chrome.scripting - API - Chrome:

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/scripting

. . . and there, borrowed from this part:

Manifest

{
    "name": "Scripting Extension",
    "manifest_version": 3,
    "permissions": ["scripting", "activeTab"],
    ...
}

Some of that, you see in the modified manifest.json file, above.

- - -
- - -

Installing the FRPFE extension in/on Brave Browser (on a Mac)

Be prepared, with an expanded (un-compressed) FRPFE extension. I chose Pollard's source and modified the manifest.json file. I ignored the META-INF directory, and let it remain intact:

frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com (a folder):
      date.txt
      FRPFE.png
      manifest.json (now modified)
      META-INF (a folder):
           manifest.mf
           mozilla.rsa
           mozilla.sf
      script.js

I created a parent folder for that; and, gave the parent folder a name, something like: "FRPFE_EXT"

1. Park the parent "FRPFE_EXT" folder on your computer, where it will be secure and NOT in a "BraveSoftware" nor in a "Chrome" directory.
2. Example: On a Mac OS machine: /Users/YourNamePossibly/Library/FRPFE_EXT
3. Example: On a Windows OS machine: C:\Users\YourNamePossibly\AppData\Roaming\FRPFE_EXT
4. Open the Brave Browser Extensions page (browse to URL brave://extensions).
5. Ensure that the "Developer mode" checkbox/slider selection switch at the upper right is enabled.
6. Over to the left of the "Developer mode" checkbox/slider selection switch, there are three buttons: "Load unpacked" | "Pack extension" | "Update". Click on the "Load unpacked" button.
7. Navigate to where you parked the "FRPFE_EXT" folder, open that, and Select the "frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com" folder.

The Brave Browser should do its magic, and the FRPFE extension should now be listed among your installed extensions.

In my brave://extensions window, there is a pane representing the installed FRPFE extension. It says:

FR Posting Form Enhancer 1.0
Makes the posting page easier to use.

ID: (a long string of lower-case alphabetic characters)

A button: "Details"

A button: "Remove"

Over to the right of that last button, a checkbox/slider selection switch that is enabled (ie the FRPFE extension is enabled).

Click on the "Details" button and review the settings.

Make sure to also create a backup of your work, your "frpfe@cynwoody.appspot.com" folder (or equivalent that you chose) with its modified contents.

- - -
- - -

[daniel1212]

Freeper cynwoody's Free Republic Posting Form Enhancer (FRPFE) does work on the Brave Browser (Chromium engine) Internet browser.

I am getting a connection failure on that today. But my previous attempt was on a browser that already had the FR enhancer and thus showed no response, as did mine. But which installs on a install of Firefox/Floorp (keep reading) browser. Thank God.

Brave is Chromium-based, as most browsers are, and I find such to be inferior to Gecko-based Firefox, Floorp, and Mercury, mainly because you cannot enable multiple tab rows (as you could/can with legacy Firefox, and up to Firefox ESR 52.9 .

However, the best Chromium-based browser IMO is Vivaldi, and you can enable multiple tab rows on that, as you can for Firefox via various instructions, none of which are official options. I found that The Patcher works well (though FF updates sometimes broke it, thus needing an update).

However, Floorp (written by Japanese students) enables this as a feature (preferences>design). See review here.

And with Floorp, I found you can run multiple installations of it (which you can with portable Firefox with a little editing, as I do, each generally for its own purpose). Thank God for such options.

[daniel1212]

And thanks for the helpful work that went into your post. May many others find it helpful in using it for that which is good.

[daniel1212]

Vivaladi-MTR.
FF:

[Pollard]

I hadn't used Vivaldi in years and back then, it wasn't full featured by any means. Then I installed it again earlier this year. Quite a difference and I haven't yet learned all it will do these days. I like the 0.5 second browser start time.

I like the side pane where you can even have a second web page(Web panel) in it while surfing in the main pane. If I wasn't on a mid sized laptop and had a decent size monitor, I'd probably have X always open in the side pane.

I might have to make the swap to Vivaldi anyway. Web Panel would be handy in the early mornings when the only lights I use is a few red LEDs to light up the coffee maker area. The LEDs are on a smart relay that connects to the Ethernet on my router and I can turn it on/off via the browser at a local numeric IP address.

I used a PeppermintOS app called Ice to create a SSB(site-specific browser) for my LED lights. It's a browser stripped of it's menu, address bar and other features to make it more like an app. It uses less resources that way. Ice is for Debian/Ubuntu users. Ice also creates a menu item for your application/programs menu and you can either choose an icon for that or it will use the favicon or it's default icon. By default, it will stick the menu item/icon under the Internet section of the menu but you can choose a different section.

My LED switch web page as an SSB and I did use Vivaldi for it but you can also use Firefox or Brave/Chromium/Chrome.

If I had a big monitor, I would probably have X and FR as SSBs and then have a full browser for general surfing. I have SSBs for RokuTV, PlutoTV & TubiTV websites but rarely use them. I do use one for TuckerCarlson.com and run it on a different virtual desktop and just listen as I surf for the most part.

Ice on github - https://github.com/peppermintos/ice
Ice on Launchpad where a deb install file is available - https://launchpad.net/~peppermintos/+archive/ubuntu/ice-dev/+packages
SSBs on wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Site-specific_browser

Since my Kubuntu menu is fully editable, I could create SSBs manually by adding a menu item and copying what Ice created.

Chromium/Chrome version is the same of course.

As is Brave

I have Firefox installed as a Snap/snapd application and Ice doesn't see it so I can't create a FF SSB so I don't know what the command is but as you can see above, the command to start any Chromium based browser as a SSB is the same and the same commands can be used in a terminal and any url could be swapped in. --app= is the trigger.

Kind of bugging me about firefox. Seems to only be available as a Snap or Flatpak these days, neither of which Ice will see. Might have to fire up an old laptop and put Ice on it and make a FF SSB to see the command. Firefox removed the ssb feature a few years ago so maybe it simply won't work now. I know I've done it before but it's been a while.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Since I use Firefox I have resigned myself to just load the add-on as a temporary add-on each morning. Works fine. Small price to pay for such a handy utility.

Thanks to everyone who has investigated this.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Update:
stylin19a has gone to the trouble of signing up with Mozilla and has fixed the .xpi files so the Posting Enhancer will run permanently in Firefox.

Anyone needing these files, private mail me with an email address and I'll send them to you. Pollard will also be hosting the files.

[stylin19a]

TLS, thanx.

cripes...I wish I would have followed this thread consistently - it would have saved a lot of time.

I was working with an older version of cynwoody’s stuff.

does anybody have the the newer version of cynwoody’s the FRTV (Tree Viewer) if there is one ?

It also looks like he cleaned up the scripts a bit.

I’ll temporary test them to see what gives...then, if ok...

I’ll modify what needs to be modified (mainly changing “manifest_version” from 2 to 3) and submit these as XPIs to get mozilla signed as version 2 of these extensions.

thanx

[stylin19a]

the scripts are exactly the same...no differences in functionality.
The date on the tree viewer script and enhancer script are the same, so I don't need the Tree Viewer.

The poster report works fine in "chrome" but is not viewable in firefox - it refuses based on permissions as such:
"Error: SecurityError: Permission denied to access property "document" on cross-origin object".
(I'll chase it to see if I can bypass permissions.)

The last time I posted that report, people's heads exploded and I promised I wouldn't ever do it ever again.
That said, here's report for this thread.(lotta FR long-timers)



ping to those on this list as the FR courtesy requires - even to those who have asked me not to ping them.

Thanks to all on this thread.

[daniel1212]

I used a PeppermintOS app

I live the colors, and about 15 years ago I ran PeppermintOS on an old PC, but a much enhanced W/11 is my choice. If I had to, and had the time, energy and help, I might try to create Linux distro that does what I can in Windows as regards customization, and especially as a Christian purpose. But Windows has not gone so far as to require that switch.

[Pollard]

I think cynwoody wrote them as greasyfork addons and later changed them to not need the greasyfork addon.

Hmm, I already have a script manager option gives you this - https://update.greasyfork.org/scripts/4725/FR%20Tree%20Viewer.user.js

Nov 2015 versions are newest on greasyfork. Might be an issue with a 2024 browser. I know nothing about JS.

https://greasyfork.org/en/users/4900-cynwoody

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

try this...https://htmltable.com/

[stylin19a]

thanks. and you are right. he did note in his instructions that greaseyfork is no longer needed.

How that could relate to mozilla i don't know.

the cynwoody script i have is from 06/08/2017 and the differences are minimal...FWIW

[stylin19a]

thanks. i’ll keep this for chuckles and grins.

[Pollard]

See my profile page. Just added links to the Post Enhancer and the Tree Viewer xpi files that TangoLimaSierra sent me.

I already had the post enhancer and just added tree viewer but I see no difference.

Cynwoody’s description says; “FRTV provides a button and a keyboard shortcut to toggle back and forth between the flat view and the tree view.”

I didn’t get a button on Waterfox and Cynwoody’s description doesn’t mention what the keyboard shortcut is.

After giving Tree Viewer permission to access my data for FR, it looks like it did add the Quote feature(s). All hitting quote does is highlight the post above with a yellow background.

[linMcHlp]

Thanks

[TangoLimaSierra]

You two did some good work getting this utility back.
Appreciated.