NationStates++ | Browser Extension for NationStates

[Shadow Afforess]

What Klaus is getting at is that many regions do store IP addresses. There are blacklists shared among the GCRs, for example, where IP addresses are matched up with players. New citizen applicants are checked against those blacklists. It's not just about banning, but also preventing multiple citizenship registrations or enemy registrations. Citizen applications are also denied for political reasons.

The R/D community is super protective of IP addresses and wants uber-privacy. But they also like hoarding IP addresses as part of basic intel ops.

I guess I don't really care. It's a dumb practice. IPs are not proof of identity and all the lay person has to do is use their 3G data on a phone as an instant proxy. I'm not sure I care if any of the GCRs will use this or not.

It's a lose-lose for me, but I think the loss of trust from handing out IPs to any regional admin that asks is worse than the acceptance of a few R / D forums.

[Glen-Rhodes]

IPs are not proof of identity and all the lay person has to do is use their 3G data on a phone as an instant proxy.

Most people in R/D have an incorrect view of how useful IP addresses actually are, like most of the internet. I'm with you, I just think it'll be hard getting people to both trust your security efforts and give up their IP obsessions. I'm sure a lot of small regions would utilize the forums, though.

[[violet]]

Request: Could NS++ not default to removing all ads and the "by Max Barry" credit? It's fine as options, I'm just talking about the default, for people who don't care enough to change it.

Currently NS++ is sending our server load in one direction and ad revenue in the other.

[[violet]]

Relatedly: I use NS++ on a nation with ads turned on. However, NS++ freezes the sidebar panel so that some or all of the ad is invisible, and cannot be scrolled down to.

[Shadow Afforess]

Request: Could NS++ not default to removing all ads and the "by Max Barry" credit? It's fine as options, I'm just talking about the default, for people who don't care enough to change it.

Currently NS++ is sending our server load in one direction and ad revenue in the other.

Do you mean "by Max Barry" footer that appears on pages? Because I haven't removed any, although it may be hard to see the footer on regions with infinite scroll enabled. Or did you mean the Lexicon image that appears in the sidebar? ( I did switch "Hide Ads" to default to off )

As for server load, I have some plans to substantially reduce it. I am working on removing the ajax-polling the extension does on various pages for newer happenings, latest RMB messages, etc. This information will instead be sent by a websocket from my server. This will cut down on the unneeded waste of users, and your bandwidth, and allow for faster updates. Websockets allow a true server-push and so any relevant information can be sent to the user as it happens, instead of having to check over and over if a condition has occurred.

Relatedly: I use NS++ on a nation with ads turned on. However, NS++ freezes the sidebar panel so that some or all of the ad is invisible, and cannot be scrolled down to.

Huh, so it does. The sidebar is not an ideal place for an ad, the text for the nation sidebar and latest forum topics consume so much space. I know for smaller screens you can not even see the entire sidebar, so there is no way they would see the ad either. I also noticed on the region page if you use infinite scroll you can't see the footer ad either. I suggest placing an ad every 10 RMB posts, inside of the RMB area. You'd get a lot more views from people.

[[violet]]

( I did switch "Hide Ads" to default to off )

Thank you for that.

The sidebar is not an ideal place for an ad, the text for the nation sidebar and latest forum topics consume so much space. I know for smaller screens you can not even see the entire sidebar, so there is no way they would see the ad either.

It's not an "above the fold" ad, i.e. always visible without any scrolling, but it's there if/when people scroll down. That's very different to being permanently hidden (either fully or partially), which is what happens on NS++ even when I've checked the box to say I want the ads.

I also noticed on the region page if you use infinite scroll you can't see the footer ad either.

Oh yes, that's another one I noticed. I forgot to mention it.

I suggest placing an ad every 10 RMB posts, inside of the RMB area. You'd get a lot more views from people.

Probably, but it would be a lot more intrusive. We've always avoided putting ads in the actual user content. It was one of the reasons we left Jolt/OMAC: they insisted on inserting an ads into one of the posts on each forum page.

Since NS++ already flips the RMB upside down, what about simply shifting the ad that's currently below it to above it?

[Shadow Afforess]

It's not an "above the fold" ad, i.e. always visible without any scrolling, but it's there if/when people scroll down. That's very different to being permanently hidden (either fully or partially), which is what happens on NS++ even when I've checked the box to say I want the ads.

I don't know of any good way to accommodate an ad placement there while also allowing the fixed position on the sidebar.

I also noticed on the region page if you use infinite scroll you can't see the footer ad either.

Oh yes, that's another one I noticed. I forgot to mention it.

I saw an interesting idea another extension (for hacker news) used with infinite scroll. When the user stopped scrolling, the footer was floating at the bottom, above the rest. When scrolling it disappeared. I think I will do that. I changed the region page to make the footer appear once you scrolled into the RMB area, fixed at the bottom.

Since NS++ already flips the RMB upside down, what about simply shifting the ad that's currently below it to above it?

Will do. (And done. I had to reposition it with CSS, you can't actually move ads)

[[violet]]

It's not an "above the fold" ad, i.e. always visible without any scrolling, but it's there if/when people scroll down. That's very different to being permanently hidden (either fully or partially), which is what happens on NS++ even when I've checked the box to say I want the ads.

I don't know of any good way to accommodate an ad placement there while also allowing the fixed position on the sidebar.

Oh I see, you cut off the Latest Forum Topics at low resolutions, too. I was thinking it was just misjudging the height of the sidebar.

How about just allowing the user to scroll down to whatever height is required to display everything? It's surely suboptimal to cut off content, regardless of whether that content is an ad or part of the menu or what.

That sidebar ad is what's kept the site going the last five years, and I don't think we get paid if it's not fully displayed. Google sends nastygrams about that. So currently we have the worst of all worlds: people who want to support us via ads are still seeing them, but only the top half (or so, depending on screen resolution), and they can't scroll down to see the other half, and we get nothing for it.

[Shadow Afforess]

I don't know of any good way to accommodate an ad placement there while also allowing the fixed position on the sidebar.

Oh I see, you cut off the Latest Forum Topics at low resolutions, too. I was thinking it was just misjudging the height of the sidebar.

How about just allowing the user to scroll down to whatever height is required to display everything? It's surely suboptimal to cut off content, regardless of whether that content is an ad or part of the menu or what.

That sidebar ad is what's kept the site going the last five years, and I don't think we get paid if it's not fully displayed. Google sends nastygrams about that. So currently we have the worst of all worlds: people who want to support us via ads are still seeing them, but only the top half (or so, depending on screen resolution), and they can't scroll down to see the other half, and we get nothing for it.

I'll see what I can do.

[Halberim]

Afforess can you put a link to the NS store on the sidebar please. It's reallllly annoying to find.

*notes the missing word in the FAQ*

[Port blood]

Do you have any scripts available to create a full dump off a nations stats? I'm going to do a full project trying to map out a complete effect map off issues (including details in stat changes and trying to find a pattern)

[Aglrinia]

Afforess can you put a link to the NS store on the sidebar please. It's reallllly annoying to find.

*notes the missing word in the FAQ*

Why not just manually type www.nationstates.net/page=store
You can do the same for the boneyard, the get help page.

[Ballotonia]

Do you have any scripts available to create a full dump off a nations stats? I'm going to do a full project trying to map out a complete effect map off issues (including details in stat changes and trying to find a pattern)

The available data is here: https://www.nationstates.net/pages/api.html
You can fetch part of the available information, or combine tags into one call to fetch a lot at once.

Example: https://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/ap ... tor+deaths

The same principle works for census scores, if you want those as well.

Ballotonia

[Port blood]

Do you have any scripts available to create a full dump off a nations stats? I'm going to do a full project trying to map out a complete effect map off issues (including details in stat changes and trying to find a pattern)

The available data is here: https://www.nationstates.net/pages/api.html
You can fetch part of the available information, or combine tags into one call to fetch a lot at once.

Example: https://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/ap ... tor+deaths

The same principle works for census scores, if you want those as well.

Ballotonia

Problem being I don't have much scripting knowledge so i hoped afforess had some scripts so i can study them and base it from there

edit:I'm talking about fetching data,and ordering it properly in a good overview so any effects can be documented

[Jeckland]

An asterisk in brackets keeps appearing on the regional news sidebar even though I have read/edited all articles. Why?

[Shadow Afforess]

The available data is here: https://www.nationstates.net/pages/api.html
You can fetch part of the available information, or combine tags into one call to fetch a lot at once.

Example: https://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/ap ... tor+deaths

The same principle works for census scores, if you want those as well.

Ballotonia

Problem being I don't have much scripting knowledge so i hoped afforess had some scripts so i can study them and base it from there

edit:I'm talking about fetching data,and ordering it properly in a good overview so any effects can be documented

Most of the code for the NationStates++ server (which is where I gather and store statistics on nations) would not be useful for you. NationStates++ isn't a script, it's a full-blown NationStates emulator engine. I described it a bit here: http://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=238290

I would try learning python or another high level language that will make the task easier. Programming can be self-taught.

[Shadow Afforess]

An asterisk in brackets keeps appearing on the regional news sidebar even though I have read/edited all articles. Why?

There's a minor bug in tracking whether you have read the latest news article or not. I'll release a fix in the next day or so.

[[violet]]

Afforess can you put a link to the NS store on the sidebar please. It's reallllly annoying to find.

I'm trying to find a good place to put that myself. I don't think it warrants a sidebar link. But I'm not sure where else to put it.

Maybe it is time for that UI overhaul! Sidebars are soooo 2008.

[The Dark Star Republic]

Afforess can you put a link to the NS store on the sidebar please. :D It's reallllly annoying to find.

I'm trying to find a good place to put that myself. I don't think it warrants a sidebar link. But I'm not sure where else to put it.

In the TG screen, at the top left you have options for Select All • Expand All • Preferences. Maybe the Upgrade Inbox list could come after Preferences? Making it small and unobtrusive is generous to those who don't want to use it - but, as noted, a pain for those who do.

[Enfaru]

Afforess can you put a link to the NS store on the sidebar please. It's reallllly annoying to find.

I'm trying to find a good place to put that myself. I don't think it warrants a sidebar link. But I'm not sure where else to put it.

Maybe it is time for that UI overhaul! Sidebars are soooo 2008.

>:D Sounds like a good idea.

If one thing deserves a sidebar link it should be the store, it's rather important to Nationstates I think. Or at the very least put the link in the FAQ...perhaps settings? Anywhere!

As for typing in the page manually... how on earth are newbies supposed to find it then? I only noticed it existed after a moderator posted a link on the forums in response to someone else. I had no idea where on earth to buy stamps from up until that point.

[Shadow Afforess]

Afforess can you put a link to the NS store on the sidebar please. It's reallllly annoying to find.

I'm trying to find a good place to put that myself. I don't think it warrants a sidebar link. But I'm not sure where else to put it.

Maybe it is time for that UI overhaul! Sidebars are soooo 2008.

I agree it is time for a UI overhaul. The sidebar feels old.

What would be nice is a bootstrap-style (not necessarily bootstrap, but same UI theme) fixed top nav bar, with dropdowns.

http://getbootstrap.com/examples/navbar-fixed-top/

For example, see how the navbar is fixed, and you could have 1 dropdown for "Nation", one for "Region", one for "World", etc. It would use a lot less space.

Bootstrap css/js is MIT licensed, free, and has regular updates.

[Inspired By The Novel]

Maybe it is time for that UI overhaul! Sidebars are soooo 2008.

If you change the UI I am going to murder my pet kangaroo.



Now then, Affy:

Code: Select all

if (document.title=="NationStates | Change Region")
{
$(".info a").click();
}

Code: Select all

window.location=$(".info a").href;


I understand the code you have to get past the Change Region page on a move, but I was wondering why either one of my codes above doesn't work in an extension. Both work from the console but neither work in an extension.

I am editing your code to write my own custom extension for defending, and would prefer to do it this way but it isn't working. Any idea why?

Thanks, one love. ♡

[Kazmr]

Ima play devils advocate here and say I like the sidebar I mean, its distinctive and (judging from Wayback at least) we've had some sort of sidebar for years.

I'd be open to some sort of refresh, though I'd hope it wasn't bootstrap style personally. As easy as it is to implement, its just become so... generic in my mind. Seems like every other startup uses it for their landing page

[Shadow Afforess]

Maybe it is time for that UI overhaul! Sidebars are soooo 2008.

If you change the UI I am going to murder my pet kangaroo.



Now then, Affy:

Code: Select all

if (document.title=="NationStates | Change Region")
{
$(".info a").click();
}

Code: Select all

window.location=$(".info a").href;


I understand the code you have to get past the Change Region page on a move, but I was wondering why either one of my codes above doesn't work in an extension. Both work from the console but neither work in an extension.

I am editing your code to write my own custom extension for defending, and would prefer to do it this way but it isn't working. Any idea why?

Thanks, one love. ♡

Submitting the change region button causes your browser to execute a POST request. You can not do a post request from the address bar, only from a form or code. Jquery lets you post with $.post(URL, formdata, callback);

[Shadow Afforess]

Ima play devils advocate here and say I like the sidebar I mean, its distinctive and (judging from Wayback at least) we've had some sort of sidebar for years.

I'd be open to some sort of refresh, though I'd hope it wasn't bootstrap style personally. As easy as it is to implement, its just become so... generic in my mind. Seems like every other startup uses it for their landing page

The Sidebar consumes about 2600+ square pixels (1300x200) on every page. The fixed nabar like bootstrap uses consumes ~1400 square pixels (80 x 1600). That is a big difference. In addition, the sidebar can no longer fit new links. Adding more pushes content out of sight for smaller screens. The fixed navbar can fit theoritically infinite links.

The reason startups use it is because it looks good without much effort. There are tons of ways you can tweak bootstrap too look distinctive if that is a priority. But I expect that very few users here could even tell its a template or name other sites that use it.