If you haven't done so already, install the script.
This guide is accurate for VT 1.1.2
FAQs
Why are the boards so slow?
Apply these changes in order and refresh after each change to see what's causing the problem:
-Disable IGN's quick reply and IGNBQ. They do not play well together with VT.
-Use smaller drop shadow offset
-Disable drop shadows
-Use longer autorefresh intervals
-Disable autorefresh
-Disable integration
-Disable autoWUL
-Disable Ignore Users
-Disable WUL links
-Disable link hijacking
-Disable Show/Hide Reply buttons
If you find that one change suddenly improves performance, backtrack and turn on other features to see if they don't slow things down. Vesti Tools is a pretty demanding script, so your computer might just be slow.
Adblock Plus seems to have a very drastic effect on page loading with Vesti Tools. When I disabled it, lag pretty much disappeared. Other people are having similar issues here.
This seems to be fixed with VT 1.0.0 and ABP 1.1.1.
Firebug can also cause slowdowns.
Why does the script take a second to apply itself?
This is something inherent in all greasemonkey scripts. Greasemonkey cannot do anything to a page until it's completely loaded, so WUL links, Hide Reply links, and extra buttons can take a while to show up. Be aware that the script is completely off during this intermediate period, no extra features are on.
How do I choose my usercolors?
Usercolors
Something doesn't work or looks weird, what's wrong?
Standard diagnostic. Do it. I find that about 50% of people's problems come from other stuff interfering with Vesti Tools. Don't ask me about something not working until you've at least tried a clean profile on the latest version of Firefox, Greasemonkey, and Vesti Tools. If it works on a clean profile, one of your extensions/themes/stylesheets/scripts/preferences is causing a problem. Disable them one-by-one until it's fixed, restore default settings on Vesti Tools. Still doesn't work? Do a full reinstall.
This script was developed on Firefox 3.5.7, Windows 7 64-bit. Don't be surprised if it doesn't work elsewhere.
Also, beware of these problematic things:
IGNBQ and IGN's quick post - Turn them off
Bluetex 2 Main Stylesheet (usercolor problems) - Use this instead
Emoticon Cache (weird looking faces) - Use this instead
It's All Text! (slow panels) - Turn it off, very buggy
Bluetex 2 Anti page stretch and No scrollbar in quotes(screen tearing) - Don't use them. Here's a nickel kid, get a better monitor.
Bluetex 3 Main Stylesheet - Results in incorrect placement of Vesti Wiki search button, makes integrated tools look weird
Firebug can slow it down
Try disabling all other features
How do I use the eval() input?
Open up any panel. Hover your mouse around the bottom right of the panel. Your cursor will turn into a text cursor, click. From here, you can input javascript that will be evaluated in the script's context.
You can also tab to it from any of the panel's input fields.
Why am I double posting?
This is usually caused by somehow installing two Vesti Tools scripts and running them at the same time. For example, if you update from a version lower than 1.0.0 to one at or higher than it without removing the old version, you will have a script called "Scrolling Vesti Tools" and one called "Vesti Tools". Remove or disable the older version.
In versions lower than 1.1.2, you can also double post by submitting a post twice, like double clicking the post button. Version 1.1.2 tries to prevent this by disabling the post button until the post goes through.
How do I remove Vesti Tools?
Right click the Greasemonkey icon (usually in the bottom right of your window), then click Manage User Scripts...
Find Vesti Tools on the left, click it, then click Uninstall at the bottom. Note that you will still have Greasemonkey installed, you can uninstall that like any other extension.
But, preferably before that, tell me why you're removing it or if you have a problem with it.
Features
Panels
Vesti Tools uses panels to post content to IGN. They come in four forms: Reply, Topic, Edit, and PM. They consist of:
1. A header with the type of panel on the left and control buttons on the right. Minimizing makes the panel smaller, maximizing makes it bigger, and closing closes it. Closed panels lose their contents.
2. A subject, username, and/or lock checkbox. All panels have a rightmost subject field, PM panels have a username field on the left, and Edit panels have a checkbox on the left to lock topics with. Don't check this off if you're editing a reply. Subject fields have a built in "characters remaining" display.
3. A markup bar, which is explained in more detail later on.
4. The body field for the body of a message, either white or gray.
5. An information box on the bottom left. This will indicate when the panel is getting keys, ready, posting, or has an error.
6. A post button labeled either "Post Topic", "Post Reply", "Post Changes", or "Send Message". Clicking this will send your topic/reply/changes/message off to IGN. If you double click it, it will be sent twice, resulting in a double post or what have you.
7. A button to switch between WYSIWYG and Code editing.
8. An eval() input, used for debugging.
9. Hidden fields for other data (topic number, keys, etc.).
What's cool and useful about these panels is that they're completely asynchronous, infinitely many can be open at the same time, and they can be scaled to pretty much any size. You don't require a page reload or anything like that to post something. However, because of an IGN security feature, extra data must be retrieved in order to find "keys" so you can post. So, as soon as you open up a panel, it will find these keys, as indicated in the information box. You will not be able to post until these keys are found.
Panels can be either integrated or floating. Integrated panels are actually within the page where you'd expect them to be (under the link you clicked), while floating panels float above the page and scroll with you. You can change which panels are integrated under "Integration", under "Post Settings". Edit panels are always integrated. There is an additional "Follow" option which makes an integrated panel follow you after quoting someone, and an "Autoclose" option that makes panels automatically close (and lose their contents) after successfully posting.
There are some Redirection options to the left of those that let you choose to redirect your browser window to wherever IGN normally does after successfully posting. "Reply WE" applies to replying without entering. The additional "Go Home" option makes your redirection bring you back to the home board instead.
The "Link Hijacking" options to the left of those let you choose which links you want to be opened with panels instead. If you want to go to a normal form, you can still middle click the link to open it in a new tab.
Text Editor
The text editor found in panels can be either WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) or plain text. The plain text editor uses the same markup that the boards normally use. You can switch between the two with the "WYSIWYG"/"Code" button at the bottom of a panel. You can change the plain text editor to be the default editor by unchecking "Default" under "WYSIWYG", under "Post Settings". Keep in mind that the stuff in the WYSIWYG editor must be converted back to board code before it is posted, so if you copy something weird into it, it might not come out the same.
Above the body field itself is the markup bar. Here you will find Bold, Italic, Underline, Link, Image, Blockquote, Horizontal Rule, Highlight, Color, Ordered List, Unordered List, and Erase buttons. B, I, U, [bq], hl, and erase will change any selected text and any text you type after it. Link only changes selected text in the WYSIWYG editor.
You can Unlink text in the WYSIWYG editor by selecting it, clicking the link button, typing nothing in the box that pops up, and pressing OK.
Erase will erase text formatting (not links), but doesn't do anything in the plain text editor.
For blockquotes and lists in the WYSIWYG editor, you may want to leave some trailing line breaks so that you can "leave" the list or blockquote and type after it. Otherwise, you may have to switch to code view and add them later.
Highlight and Color require you to input any valid CSS color, including a hashmark if necessary (#c1c2c9, red, #333).
Quote requires a username, but a blank username will work.
Next to the markup bar is the faces area. This area includes every face, but you may need to hover over the area in order to see all of them. Simply click a face to add it to your message body at the cursor position.
Occasionally, you may see anchors around certain elements that let you drag them around and resize them; I assure you that these do nothing to the final message.
If something doesn't come out right when you post it, let me know.
Autocensor
Autocensor will automatically censor bannable words when the post button is brought into focus. For this reason, it is recommended you press tab (instead of clicking) so that you can see how autocensor changes your post before you actually send it off.
Autocensor can be activated separately for posts and/or private messages in settings under "Autocensor", under "Post Settings".
Contextual censoring will try to censor words which are only bannable in certain contexts.
Checking off "Asterisks" will make it use asterisks to censor instead of changing the word.
Posting
Posting can be done in several ways. Clicking the "Post New Topic" button on a board will open up a panel for you to post a topic with. This can also be triggered by clicking the Post Topic button in the Boards drop down menu, but it will be a floating panel instead. You can open up a reply panel by clicking "Reply"/"Post Reply" under a user's post, or quote them with "Quote"/"Quote Reply". You can quote multiple posts into a panel by clicking the same link (they are quoted into whichever panel you had open last). Type up your subject in the top white field (if necessary), and the subject in the bottom one. Then click "Post Reply" or "Post Topic" on the bottom of the panel to send it off to IGN.
Private Messaging
To open an empty PM panel, click the private message icon in the Boards drop down menu (the envelope). Alternatively, if you want to message a specific user quickly, you can click the "Private Message" link below their post (or in their board info box if you're on a new layout, hover over their icon). If necessary, choose the user that you want to send the PM to by typing it in the top left field. Type in your subject and message, then click "Send Message". If you feel the need to change the recipient to someone else in a thread, you can click their "Private Message" link.
Quoting
Click the "Quote Reply" link below a user's post like you normally would. The Reply panel will open with the post already quoted in the text field, and two line breaks added for your convenience. You can quote multiple people by clicking their "Quote Reply". Replies are quoted into the last open panel that isn't minimized.
Editing
Click the "Edit Message" link under the post you want to edit, edit the post, and click "Post Changes". If you don't have Autoclose on, you can click "Post Changes" many times in order to make it look like you've edited your post a billion times. Also, if you leave your window open, you seem to be able to edit replies well past the time limit.
Posting a reply without entering the thread
To post a reply without entering a thread, click its corresponding icon to the left.
You can also preview the thread and click the reply button.
Autorefresh
Autorefresh is enabled by default. It will automatically refresh the list of topics, list of replies, and your PM count over time. The refresh process for topics will be prevented by moving your mouse over the table of topics, so the list won't suddenly refresh as you're about to click a topic.
You can see the status of the board and thread autorefreshers by looking at the colored outline around their applicable areas. If there is no outline, nothing's going on. If it's green, new data is being found. If it's red, you've temporarily disabled autorefresh.
Pressing CTRL + `~ will temporarily toggle autorefresh on or off. Pressing CTRL + F5 will trigger a refresh.
Note that this feature can be very bandwidth intensive, especially with a low refresh interval and multiple boards open. For me, it uses nearly 7 MB/min with one page autorefreshing once every 3 seconds.
You can toggle autorefresh on and off under display settings by checking/unchecking the checkboxes labeled "Topics", "Replies", and "PM Count". You can set the amount of time the script will wait before fetching a new list (in milliseconds, 1000ms = 1s) in the field below it. Unchecking "Edit" will prevent the reply autorefresher from changing posts after they've been edited. Unchecking "Polls" will prevent it from changing polls.
WULs
WUL/deWUL links are added under each post so you can easily WUL or deWUL users. You can turn these links off by unchecking "Links" under "WULs", under "Display Settings"".
AutoWUL allows you to WUL people in a much easier way, especially if you need to WUL a thread full of people. When you click a WUL or deWUL link, your browser will stay on the current page and begin the operation, with the status indicated by the link's background color. Don't go to a different page or close the tab until the link turns green, or else the WUL/deWUL may not go through. You can perform as many WUL operations as you want simultaneously, but keep in mind that running too many may slow your browser/internets down. You can turn this feature off by unchecking "AutoWUL" under "WULs", under "Display Settings".
Note: You can still go to the WUL page from the WUL links if you open the link in a new tab (default middle click in Firefox)
Ignore Users
Vesti Tools allows you to ignore posts from certain users. This will make it so you can no longer see their icon, post, or signature. To add someone to your ignore list, click the "Ignore" button under their post. The next time you see them, they'll be gone. You can also temporarily hide posts with the "Hide" button. To remove someone from your ignore list, click their "unIgnore" button.
You can toggle Ignore with the "Ignore Users" checkbox under "Ignore", under "Display Settings". This will make it so that your ignore list simply isn't enforced, it does not delete your list altogether. You can also erase your ignore list below it. Below that you can toggle the Ignore buttons, but they will always appear below ignored posts. You can manually add or remove a user by typing a username in the field below that and pressing enter.
Usercolors
Usercolors are custom styles users can add to their name. These colors will apply to any link to their profile. Usercolors are shared with IGNBQ; if you update your colors on Vesti Tools, IGNBQ users should be able to see them and vice-versa. Colors update automatically if they haven't been updated for 24 hours. To turn them off, uncheck "Apply" under "Usercolors", under "Display Settings", in the settings panel.
To change your usercolors, access the settings panel. On the bottom, under "Usercolors", under "Display Settings", you will see your username and a bunch of fields. Hover your mouse over a field to find out what it does. The text fields on the left handle text color, background color, and border color, while the drop down menus on the right handle font weight, font style, and font decoration.
Colors must be inputted in six-character CSS standard hexadecimal format, no hash mark. Examples:
000000
abcdef
c1c2c9
The pairs of characters measure red, green, and blue, respectively. ff0000 would be plain red, 00ff00 green, 0000ff blue. Each character can be 0-9, A-F. You can also choose font weight, style, and decoration in the drop-down menus.
The usercolors preview will update when you change your colors. The color around each color field will change to reflect your choice.
If you want to use the default color value for something, simply erase the field.
When you're done choosing your colors, click "Post". This will post your colors to the server. When it says "Done.", the usercolor list will automatically refresh. This will update your usercolor list so you can see your colors when you post. If you still can't see your colors, try clicking the "Refresh" button or try posting them again. The "Refresh" button will also refresh everybody else's colors so you see their most recent changes.
For an explanation of CSS colors, click here.
Quick Stats
You can get more information on a user by Alt + Clicking their username or any link to their profile. It will show you their colors (as defined by IGN), title, post count, WUL count, user type, real post count (some number that differs slightly from the displayed post count, not entirely sure what it is), UID, registration, last post, login, and profile change dates, and icon. Normally, you'd have to go to their (usually very slow) board profile to get this info. You can hover over times to get the time of day. Below this area are links to WUL, deWUL, and PM the user, and see their post history. AutoWUL applies here. You can drag their icon into posts by grabbing at least the rightmost 5 pixels of it.
Thread Preview
You can Alt + Click a link to a thread to preview it. This will work anywhere on the boards (like in your recent posts area). Each post is displayed with the same content, but without signatures, sub links, user information, or subject line for each post. Polls are displayed, but you can't vote without a page reload. In long threads, links to the other pages will be displayed at the top, but you have to Alt + Click these links - they will not automagically open up in the current panel. Autorefresh isn't done on these previews. You can reply without entering by clicking the reply button.
Integrated Tools
Integrated Tools integrates the functions of the old toolbar into the boards themselves. Checking off the "Integrate Tools" option in settings will add Post Topic, Post Reply, PM, and Settings buttons to the Boards drop down menu on the top. It also adds a Vesti Wiki search function to the big search bar. You can optionally enable Extra Board Options below that and make the Vesti Wiki search open in a new tab.
The control buttons will, expectedly, open the indicated panels, but they will be floating.
To use the Vesti Wiki search, type your query into the big search bar up top and click "Vesti Wiki" or tab > tab > enter. This will perform a search on Yab's Vesti Wiki (thanks Yab!).
Extra board options adds a bunch of useful links to the Boards drop down menu. The links include most everything you can find on the Board Options page, and then some. If you think something else belongs there, let me know.
Pretext
Pretext is a general name for text you want inserted into your post automatically. You can access the pretext field in post settings. Though this seems simple, the syntax for this field is rather complicated:
[start][/start] - Insert text at the start of your post, and keep it there
[end][/end] - Insert text at the end of your post and keep it there
[before][/before] - Insert text before quoted text. The script will not automatically add [quote] tags.
[after][/after] - Insert text after quoted text. The script will not automatically add [/quote] tags.
[cursor] - Put the cursor here after text is inserted. If two or more of these are encountered at the same time, the script follows the first one.
[author] - Adds the quote author. Only works with [before] and [after].
You can include regular markup tags and line breaks. Don't move your [end] text around after it's inserted, or else it won't be properly moved after quoting someone. It is unsafe to add line breaks between the [end] tags before text starts - you might accidentally mess up spacing while typing out a post. Use the [start] tags instead. Feel free to add linebreaks or whatever text you want outside of these custom tags. Also, if you use the WYSIWYG editor by default, you will need to press the right arrow on your keyboard when the editor is brought into focus in order to move the cursor to the expected position.
Examples
You should be able to copy/paste these right into the pretext field
[before][quote=[author]][/before]
[after][/quote]
[cursor][/after]
Default quote behavior, with two linebreaks after it
[before][blockquote][b][author][/b] posted:[hr][/before]
[after][hr][/blockquote]
[cursor][/after]
For some reason, I remember this as a "nonbreaking quote". If I remember correctly, you can nest these as much as you want and you won't break the system with that hanging [/quote] tag business. carlmmii's board code previewer doesn't like it, though.
[start][color=#C1C2C9][cursor][/color][/start]
Start out typing in invisitext
[end][color=#C1C2C9][cursor][/color][/end]
Start out typing in invisitext, but bump it down after a quote if you don't type in it
[start][color=#C1C2C9][cursor][/color][/start]
[before][quote=[author]][/before]
[after][/quote]
[color=#C1C2C9][cursor][/color][/after]
The full invisitexter's suite with normal quote
[start][cursor]
[/start]
[end]_-~*My crazy fake sig*~-_[/end]
The safer way to add a fake sig, be warned that your sig will be placed immediately after a quote
[end]
_-~*My crazy fake sig*~-_[/end]
The less safe way to add a fake sig, since you could mess up the whitespace
Keyboard Shortcuts
There are many hotkeys you can use to speed things up.
| Text Editor (editor must be in focus) |
| CTRL + B |
Bold |
|
| CTRL + I |
Italics |
|
| CTRL + U |
Underline |
|
| CTRL + M |
Image |
|
| CTRL + L |
Link |
Can only link existing text in WYSIWYG |
| CTRL + Q |
Quote |
|
| CTRL + R |
Horizontal Rule |
|
| CTRL + Y |
Faces |
|
| CTRL + T |
Highlight |
Uses last chosen color |
| CTRL + O |
Color |
Uses last chosen color
Can have trouble coloring selected text
|
| CTRL + E |
Erase Formatting |
Does not apply to plain text editor
Does not erase images, links, or hrules
|
| CTRL + W |
Toggle WYSIWYG |
|
| Autorefresh |
| CTRL + `~ |
Temporarily disable/enable autorefresh |
|
| CTRL + F5 |
Trigger refresh |
Can still press CTRL + SHIFT + F5 to refresh (override cache) |
| Other |
| ALT + Left Click thread link |
Preview Thread |
Works on any link to a thread, whether on the list or not |
| ALT + Left Click profile link |
Quick Stats |
Works on any profile link, not just usernames to the left of posts |
| CTRL + Backspace |
Return to board |
If you aren't on a board, this won't work |
Settings
You can access Settings in two ways: by clicking the gear icon in the Boards drop down menu if you have integrated tools enabled, or right clicking the Greasemonkey icon > User Script Commands > Vesti Tools Settings. Here you will see all of the settings you can change. For more information on them, see their relevant sections. Putting something other than numbers in certain text fields will probably break the script. Make sure you click the save button to save your changes. Clicking the close button or outside of the box will close the Settings panel. Changes will (for most things) not apply until the next page load (refresh the page). You can also restore the default settings next to the save button.
Position
Under "Display Settings", under "Position", type in your desired coordinates for the bottom left of floating panels (the default is 20,10). Board coordinates apply to boards, Topic to topics.
Drop Shadows
Under "Display Settings", under "Drop Shadows" are the drop shadow settings. You can toggle their display with the checkbox. The text field below that controls the shadow's intensity. This should be a number 0-9. Below that are the coordinates that the shadow should be positioned at relative to the element it's shadowing.
Offset - Integer - How much drop shadow should be shifted horizontally/vertically (respectively)
Blur - Positive Integer - How much the drop shadow should be blurred
Size - Integer - How large the drop shadow box should be relative to the caster
Opacity - Positive Integer - How dark the drop shadow should be
Update Frequency
You can control the update frequency under "Display Settings". This number is the number of days the script will wait between checking for updates.
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