Installing Free Republic Update Tonight

[John Robinson]

Will be installing an update tonight that fixes a number of issues. The version that will be installed is currently available on the beta site.

Changes

• Fixed the time-warping "More" links.
• Fixed time zone issues, using JavaScript to ask your browser to format the time stamp. If you don't have JavaScript enabled, you'll see the default Pacific time.
• Reverted behavior of "New comments to you" indicator.
• Updated HTML on index pages (Latest Posts, etc.) We're moving away from font tags, etc., in favor of using style sheets. Big change here is an increased font size of text in article summaries (increased to the "normal size" font)
• Added memory of last tab ("Articles", "Activity", "Comments") visited on index pages. Additionally, each tab remembers it's brevity setting. "Headers" brevity is the same as "Brief", "Text" brevity is the same as "Full". Name changed to hopefully clarify exactly what this does.
• Moved RSS link to bottom of page.
• Moved and renamed "Sidebar Placement" to bottom of page, it is now labeled "Add to My Page", hopefully that is as self-descriptive as "Sidebar Placement" was.
• Other minor tweaks

One last feature I am working to return is the slave windows preference. Will have that working before the new software is installed.

Update: Windows Preference Working

Reimplemented the open-in-new-window preference. It uses different code now. If you use this feature, please let me know if any links are not (or should not be) opening in new windows.

[singfreedom]

Ohhh, I do love all the new changes, too! (Just don't mess with the “Spell Check” for posts and I'll do fine!)

[ThePythonicCow]

Aha - it works. I just used Stylish to change my FreeRepublic background to a very light grey.

[Rudder]

BIG FONT you betcha. Now I am arms’ length from the monitor and can see the details of the room around me. I’m not where I thought I was.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

May I suggest greasemonkey.

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

http://diveintogreasemonkey.org/install/what-is-greasemonkey.html

Combine that with something like this...

http://platypus.mozdev.org/

Used both, but got bored with fixing my regular web sites.

They don’t pay me to do it. ;-)

Fun stuff.

[John Robinson]

Don’t know what is causing a pop-up blocked sound. We’re not using pop ups.

“Brief” comments is now the “Brevity: Headers” option, found in the blue bar just above the listing.

[ThePythonicCow]

May I suggest greasemonkey.

Greasemonkey is a more powerful tool ... it allows for more extensive editing of the page on the fly. Stylish simply imposes itself into the CSS style sheet hierarchy.

For example, the Stylish code I am using now for a FreeRepublic light gray background is just:

@-moz-document domain("www.freerepublic.com") {
  body { background: lightgrey; }
}

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Hello there.

I don’t kow if this has been addressed in another thread but I was wondering about the “edit” feature that has been mentioned.

Is this going to include some kind of “view history” function so people can see the original comments?

I have seen sites implement an edit feature and then turn into the below:

poster1- lol 1 +1 = 14
poster2- you dumb it does not!

2 days later

poster1- *edit edit edit*
poster2- you dumb you said 14
poster1- no I didn’t you liar!
poster2- MODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!

And thus began the war of the screenshots.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Uh, maybe I should actually look at the thread first.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

I gave up on greasemonkey cause it is too much effort in a dynamic environment. I will try Stylish.

Thanks for the heads up.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

I like the new breadcrumby next page thing but IMHO put it at the bottom and call it Older (some name for them)

[John Robinson]

There will not only be a history, but also when displaying a thread, there will be a per-reply indication that the article or the parent comment has changed. I’m not exactly sure what that will look like at the moment, but it will make itself known that the context of the reply may have changed.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

thx : )

[roamer_1]

For example, the Stylish code I am using now for a FreeRepublic light gray background

I thank you, and my eyes thank you, most sincerely. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get to an antique white...

@John Robinson,

Perhaps a hi/lo visibility option... the rather vibrant stark white background has a tendency to give me welder's flash after while...

[kingu]

John, any chance we can have an option to switch article listings back to the old fonts? The new setup is a strain and a half on my eyes, and I don’t want to mention what it looks like on my PDA.

[Uncle Ike]

Thank you, John —

The new fonts on the “Forum” page are taking some getting used-to, but I’ll get over it... ;~)

Thanks for restoring the “open-in-new-window” functionality to all of the links...

And, it may be a serendipitous by-product of your changes, but the 30-90 second lag time for page refreshes - and the partial page loads - that I’ve been experiencing over the past months seem to have been at least partially addressed...

(Yes, I know that a lot of my problems have been due to antiquated equipment on dial-up...)

[Lion Den Dan]

This site was not broken last year. Now it is broken. STOP FIXING IT.

[poobear]

Dear John,

My tagline disappeared after the crash last week and all I got was this UAN thing which I can't access.

Help for a tired poobear in Florida?

[John W]

So, if you click post to respond to me, the tagline space isn’t there below the Your Reply box?

[NY.SS-Bar9]

Thanks John, but “New posts to you” still stuck “on”.

[poobear]

Yes it’s there but I can’t put anything in it. Wait, now I can. For days I couldn’t delete it or type over.

The miracle of a half a cup of coffee at 5:30 AM must have had something to do with it!

Take care and thanks for all the hard work. Try and get some rest!