Shoutout: matthewr's MeFi comment navigator

February 26, 2006 3:57 AM

This script is awesome, and makes MetaFilter a better place.

Just wanted to say thank you, matthewr.
posted by drpynchon to MetaFilter-Related at 3:57 AM (52 comments total)

Thanks! Glad you found it useful.
posted by matthewr at 4:05 AM on February 26, 2006

Drpynchon, thanks for calling this out too...

Matthewr, that's really cool. Thanks.
posted by filmgeek at 4:28 AM on February 26, 2006

That does look pretty awesome.

For anyone who's using it, do any of those actions (like clicking "top" or using "comment navigation") have any effect on the comment box? That is, if you're typing a comment, and you start clicking around, it won't accidentally erase what you've already typed, will it?
posted by Gator at 4:41 AM on February 26, 2006

It works while you're typing your comment without mucking things up, but once you comment preview, the script turns off on the preview screen. That's the only thing missing. Otherwise it's been running like Mussolini's trains thus far.
posted by drpynchon at 4:48 AM on February 26, 2006

Couldn't this be implemented in JavaScript, on the site?

Just wondering for us non-FireFox folks (yes... we exist).
posted by jpburns at 5:00 AM on February 26, 2006

drpynchon: I hardly ever use the preview page, so it hadn't occurred to me to make it work there. I think the script will need a tiny bit of modification, but I can't do that right now - maybe tonight (GMT) or tomorrow. Stay tuned.
posted by matthewr at 5:44 AM on February 26, 2006

Anyone try this while using metafilthy? And..?
posted by peacay at 6:15 AM on February 26, 2006

matthewr,

there's a javascript Metafilter Asynchronos Flagging that this seems to (possibly) break. Also on Userscripts.org
posted by filmgeek at 6:39 AM on February 26, 2006

OMG. How useful is this!

Thank you mathewr. This is just what I've been waiting for.
posted by dash_slot- at 6:46 AM on February 26, 2006

Very nice. But can someone hack it to remove the dropdown boxes?
posted by Saucy Intruder at 6:46 AM on February 26, 2006

Hmmm. installed it and I'm not getting results. I don't view the blue, but opt for the white. Am I out of luck?

(Firefox 1.0.7, and I've tried it with metafilthy on and off)
posted by ?! at 7:11 AM on February 26, 2006

It was Firefox...updated to 1.5.0.1 and now it works.

Thanks.
posted by ?! at 7:15 AM on February 26, 2006

?!: I just tried it on the white, and it worked fine. Probably the problem is that you've got FF 1.0.7. If you want to fix it now, upgrading to Firefox 1.5 and the appropriate GreaseMonkey version should do the job.

If you're happy to wait, I'll download 1.0.7 and see what I can do.
posted by matthewr at 7:19 AM on February 26, 2006

I really should use preview...
posted by matthewr at 7:20 AM on February 26, 2006

very interesting, excellent. thanks
posted by matteo at 7:45 AM on February 26, 2006

Very cool. Thanks matthewr. And drpynchon for pointing it out.
posted by octothorpe at 8:15 AM on February 26, 2006

excellent, thanks mathewr!
posted by madamjujujive at 8:37 AM on February 26, 2006

filmgeek: I've found a fix for the conflict with Plutor's asynchronous flagging script. It's a bit cheeky though, because it modifies his script rather than mine!

Go the last line of his script, which should just say init(), and replace this with window.addEventListener("load",init,false);

That fixed it for me. However, as a solution, it's less than ideal since it involves modifying someone else's script. The problem, as far as I can tell, is that the event listeners he attaches to each flag link somehow aren't being attached (or are being overwritten).
posted by matthewr at 9:34 AM on February 26, 2006

The dropdowns are a bit of a distraction, but they serve a neat purpose. Certainly better than (1, 2, 3, 4 .......17) in some of the more .... heated threads.

cheers, matthewr
posted by terrapin at 9:38 AM on February 26, 2006

To fix the conflict with Plutor's flagging script:

If you want to do what I just suggested, you'll need to know where the scripts are stored locally. They're in the gm_scripts folder in your Firefox profile folder, which can be found here (on XP):

C:\Documents and Settings\Your User Name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\XXXXXXXX.default\

where the X's are just random numbers and letters.
posted by matthewr at 9:43 AM on February 26, 2006

Very helpful, matthewr! And, FWIW, the script works perfectly on both my Mac and Windows boxes. Thanks again.
posted by MiamiDave at 10:05 AM on February 26, 2006

It's a good thing we had that redesign contest!
posted by Kwantsar at 10:39 AM on February 26, 2006

Couldn't this be implemented in JavaScript, on the site?

Nope. Impossible.

Of course it could :) It would take time, design, and desire on Matt's part. He's been content to tell people to just whip up a Greasemonkey script for this or that missing feature in the past, though. If people really dig this functionality on a large scale, perhaps we can win him over.

Nice script, mattewr - but more importantly: good ideas behind it.
posted by scarabic at 10:40 AM on February 26, 2006

Breaks metafilthy on FF1.5.0.1 for windows.
posted by signal at 10:58 AM on February 26, 2006

I've been using this script since it was posted to metafilter projects but it just does not wory reliably at all with Firefox 1.0.7. Nor does the flagging script. Upgrading is not an option for me right now. This sucks.
posted by Rhomboid at 11:07 AM on February 26, 2006

‘Artists of every medium’ thread from 2-25 -- it looks like none of you are online/writing at the moment: cortex, shmegegge, loquacious, jessamyn, etc. -- my ‘weird MetaTalk post’ was the result of a neophyte’s entry into the MeFi world. Thanks for being kind and offering helpful info on how MetaFilter works. Matt also emailed me directly. To be more accurate, I rewrote my statement as two questions and will post to AskMeFi.
posted by Julia Gill at 11:26 AM on February 26, 2006

Signal and peacay: I'll download MetaFilthy and see what I can do.

Rhomboid: I'm installing 1.0.7 to try and fix this for you, but I'll have to get 1.0.7 to coexist peacefully with 1.5 before I make any progress. Meanwhile: what version of GreaseMonkey are you running?

Julia Gill: Good luck!
posted by matthewr at 11:36 AM on February 26, 2006

Matthew: Thanks, but I struck out again by referencing my website in a post at AskMeFi. It's clear, the best action is to make a swift retreat to reading, not writing, in the MetaFilter world.
posted by Julia Gill at 12:11 PM on February 26, 2006

Great idea. Thank you for this. I wish I had known about this yesterday before trying to follow glider's posting marathon in this thread.
posted by Gamblor at 12:34 PM on February 26, 2006

Great script! Just FYI matthewr, I have my MeFi preferences to launch links in a new tab, and this seems to carry over to the little arrow links for next/previous comment. Perhaps those links should get a target="_self".
posted by stopgap at 2:07 PM on February 26, 2006

stopgap: Done! You can now download the modified script from the same place.
posted by matthewr at 2:22 PM on February 26, 2006

Pretty spiffy!
posted by TwelveTwo at 2:40 PM on February 26, 2006

Great, thanks!
posted by stopgap at 3:21 PM on February 26, 2006

I am running GM 0.5.3 which would seem to be the last version that works with Fx 1.0.x. I really would like to upgrade but I have a long list of required extensions and I have not yet finished determining whether all of them have been ported to Fx 1.5 yet. Maybe this is the kick in the pants that I need to get underway...
posted by Rhomboid at 3:56 PM on February 26, 2006

Rhomboid, the vast majority of extension compatibility problems are caused by a lack of compatible Firefox version numbers listed in the extension itself. Most often the extensions need no "porting," but simply an update to the current version number. For extensions that aren't updated frequently, you can use the Nightly Tester Tools to force compatibility.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 4:12 PM on February 26, 2006

This is nifty.
That is all.

:-)

(Thanks for the hard work, matthewr - it's a really useful script! Even if I did have to Google "grease monkey" to find out what it was...)
posted by Incharitable Dog at 5:05 PM on February 26, 2006

Awesome. Thank you matthewr!
posted by 327.ca at 5:13 PM on February 26, 2006

What we need is an XML feed that we can apply our own user-supplied XSLT stylesheets to.
posted by Paris Hilton at 9:06 PM on February 26, 2006

I might have to install Greasemonkey again to give this a go. Looks very useful. Thanks!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:34 PM on February 26, 2006

Great script, matthewr. Thanks!
posted by Mijo Bijo at 9:59 PM on February 26, 2006

Shit, matthewr, that's quite a userscript. (But I've removed it from my own browser after about ten minutes, since the buttons-and-icons-to-actual-use ratio is rather high.)
posted by Plutor at 4:07 AM on February 27, 2006

This is pretty damn cool I would have to say. Well done!
posted by chunking express at 6:42 AM on February 27, 2006

Awesome. Makes me long for Metafilthy.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:28 AM on February 27, 2006

These things need to go on some page on the unofficial Mefi wiki. Don't make me make one and then make a MeTa post about it to collect the rest of the scripts out there. You do it. Yes, reader: you. (Not because I'm lazy, but because I've posted to MeTa too much already.)
posted by Firas at 9:24 AM on February 27, 2006

Just a word of advice: switch this script off (right click on the monkey) before visiting the uber-thread, 9622. It wasn't built to handle 1729-comment threads (one user has 295 comments there!). Copes fine with most other huge threads, though. YMMV.
posted by matthewr at 10:45 AM on February 27, 2006

Been using it a few days and loving it! Thanks matthewr.
posted by shoepal at 6:58 AM on March 3, 2006

Very cool.
posted by eyeballkid at 8:39 PM on March 3, 2006

it works very well, thanks
posted by matteo at 7:09 AM on March 4, 2006

It's wonderful. If anyone has errors (like me) of the form ...

"0x80520012 (NS_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)" location: JS frame :: chrome://greasemonkey/content/utils.js

.. there is a solution here (it's nothing to do with your script).
posted by grahamwell at 3:51 PM on March 4, 2006

For some reason, it doesn't seem to work for me? I don't see any changes.
posted by JHarris at 11:19 PM on March 6, 2006

I could try to fix it, JHarris. What versions of Firefox and Greasemonkey are you using? Do you have Metafilthy (or similar) installed? What other GM scripts are running on MeFi pages? (To check, go to a MeFi thread, and right-click the monkey. 'MeFi Navigator' should appear, and must be ticked).

Could you do the following to see if there are any Javascript errors:
1. Go to Tools > Javascript Console.
2. Click the 'All' tab, and then click 'Clear'.
3. Go to a recent Metafilter thread (not the homepage).
4. Reopen the console. What's there? (make sure the 'All' button is selected).
posted by matthewr at 5:58 AM on March 7, 2006

I have no other Greasemonkey scripts running, in fact...

Wait a moment, there they are. Nevermind.
posted by JHarris at 7:28 AM on March 7, 2006