ForumTechnical Corner ► The Third Can: Devlog
EDIT: Download instructions on the Github page

So, back in Spring of last year, I had the thought to make a browser extension to improve TCAS. But there were promises of a big frontend rewrite soon, so I decided to hold off. That ended up not panning out, so I'm back for round two! I figured I'd share my progress over time on here.

So far, I've gotten the extension set up and created a basic configuration interface. It will save the config variables you put in, and I've gotten the first feature working!



The next feature I'm going to add is the ability to set and view pronouns, like in this suggestion. This is an interesting problem because it's important to make sure you can't modify someone else's pronouns. To ensure this, I'm borrowing some of Kylljoy's TSaR code to create a new bot accout, TSaR-REPLICA. When you set your pronouns in the extension, it will secretly send a DM to TSaR-REPLICA and then delete it on your end so as to be as unobtrusive as possible. TSaR-REPLICA will then read your DM and update the internal pronoun database (read: json file) so that it updates for anyone with the extension.

More to come soon!
  
I like.
  
nice
  
I approve of this
  
Beat me to it. That's fine, this seems to be really promising so far. I have been doing JavaScripting for fifteen-thousand years now so if you've, like, got a Git repository or something I could totally help. At some point.
  
just tell me when this is a thing
  
hoylecake said:
Beat me to it. That's fine, this seems to be really promising so far. I have been doing JavaScripting for fifteen-thousand years now so if you've, like, got a Git repository or something I could totally help. At some point.

My plan was to keep the repo private until I released the first version, but if you'd like to help, DM me and I'll invite you to the github repo and the trello board.
  
I have a suggestion for your extension, but I don't know if it is even possible

When you try to post, and you get the "you cant post this soon after your last post" message, it would be nice for it to automatically post your message when the time is up and you can post again
  
That might be doable. I'd have to figure out what the time limit is between posts; do you know?
  
i dont know

i vaguely remember blake making a post when he implemented the post-speed limit. I shall search the forum for such a post and see if he happened to say what the limit was
  
Or you could just brute-force it.
  
I could, but that feels like a bit of a last-resort type thing
  
Had to focus on school stuff today, so I didn't get much done. However, I did prepare it for future development in a couple ways:

  • Improved the default settings
  • Set up permissions for connecting to my server

Sorry to the cat.
  
aprzn123 said:
DM me and I'll invite you to the github repo and the trello board.

I'll DM you just so I can check the progress on it.
  
Got some more work done today, I've written (but not deployed) the API endpoint that will be used to query users' pronouns. It's a pretty simple system where there is a file on the server that looks like
aprzn123;they/them
devery;she/her
antagonist;any

The endpoint returns the pronouns associated with a user if they exist in the file, and otherwise returns a 404 error.

The next step is to finish TSaR-REPLICA so that it can update that file when people set their pronouns.
  
What's to stop someone from sending a message from their account with the exact code
  
What do you mean by the exact code?
  
It sends a message from our accounts right?
So why not just send the thing it expects?
  
What if the user sends the message then immediately blocks TSaR-REPLICA?
  
each date should have it's own "secret code" that gets appended to the message automatically sends, so you cant manually send the message to tsar replica
  
I want people to be able to manually send the message because then they can set their pronouns for users of the extension even if they don't want the extension themselves.
  
hoylecake said:
What if the user sends the message then immediately blocks TSaR-REPLICA?

If the script reads the message in time, then they'll be added, otherwise they won't be
  
Question: do you think it might be a good idea to use jQuery?
  
We could, but I don't know if it would be particularly helpful other than shortening a few two-liners down to one-liners
  
(sorry to the cat)

Big news! While you can't set your pronouns yet, the API endpoint is set up and deployed, and the extension can display your pronouns!

For now, the pronoun list is just copied from Jest's pronoun thread, but once I finish TSaR-REPLICA, you'll be able to set your own.
  
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