Many of you have been asking about the new photo post notification preview feature that I added over the weekend. The question I get most often is if I could add the ability to show the number of notes a post has in the little preview box, much like the XPreview script that the idea is based on. The reason I have not included this yet is that in order to get the image AND the number of notes, it is necessary to do twice the number of Tumblr webpage loads in the background. I strive to look for ways to implement neat features without creating too much extra work for your browser. To that end, I am still looking for ways to do this that won’t cost too much in terms of performance.
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Many of you have been asking about the new photo post notification preview feature that I added over the weekend.

The question I get most often is if I could add the ability to show the number of notes a post has in the little preview box, much like the XPreview script that the idea is based on.

The reason I have not included this yet is that in order to get the image AND the number of notes, it is necessary to do twice the number of Tumblr webpage loads in the background. I strive to look for ways to implement neat features without creating too much extra work for your browser. To that end, I am still looking for ways to do this that won’t cost too much in terms of performance.

I’m trying to speed up your Missing e dashboard, but I need your opinion on something! In the last week, I’ve been working on improving dash performance. A few of the features need to manipulate posts loaded at the bottom of your dash when you are using Tumblr’s “endless scrolling”. If you are using a slow computer or your computer is busy with lots of other work, there can be a noticeable delay. I’ve already modified some features to work much faster, but now I’m overhauling Safe Dash for the same purpose. Aside from a possible performance improvement, the only difference you’ll notice is that hidden images when Safe Dash is on will have a grey background with a lock icon at the top-right instead of in the middle. However, working on this has brought up a good question on which I need your opinion: When Safe Dash is “on”, should hovering your mouse over one image in a photoset show all of the photos, or just that one?
Goto Post

I’m trying to speed up your Missing e dashboard, but I need your opinion on something!

In the last week, I’ve been working on improving dash performance.

A few of the features need to manipulate posts loaded at the bottom of your dash when you are using Tumblr’s “endless scrolling”. If you are using a slow computer or your computer is busy with lots of other work, there can be a noticeable delay.

I’ve already modified some features to work much faster, but now I’m overhauling Safe Dash for the same purpose.

Aside from a possible performance improvement, the only difference you’ll notice is that hidden images when Safe Dash is on will have a grey background with a lock icon at the top-right instead of in the middle.

However, working on this has brought up a good question on which I need your opinion:

When Safe Dash is “on”, should hovering your mouse over one image in a photoset show all of the photos, or just that one?

Version 2.3.15: Missing e’s problematic update

Thanks to a mistake I made late Thursday night when I uploaded a new version of Missing e, some users had a problem with the Safe Dash feature becoming activated for photo posts, despite not having turned it on. Thanks to some quick messages from your fellow users, I was able to find and fix the mistake that same night. The next problem was a change to the Dashboard Tweaks feature that replaces buttons on dashboard posts (“reblog”, “edit”, etc) with icons. Basically, I modified the image that Missing e uses, changing the order of the icons. So, for a little while some users had their icons out of place.

Note that if these problems still happen for you, all you need to do is to update Missing e (instructions later in this post).

Now that the issues have been fixed for most users, I just wanted to let you know what the changes actually were!

It used to be that when new posts are loaded into your dashboard (especially with Tumblr’s “endless scrolling” dash), Missing e would have to run through every one of them to replace icons. This wasn’t extremely slow, but it wasn’t fast either.

As of the last few versions of Missing e, this process is done once when you first load the page, and left to the browser to do for new posts. This makes icon replacement a lot faster. Most users may not notice a difference, but people using slower computers or computers that are hard at work on lots of other things may notice a speedup!

In the future, if you are experience problems with Missing e or have any questions about it, please feel free to drop by the askbox to let me know!

Updating

If you want the new version immediately, DO NOT uninstall and reinstall Missing e, instead, read the instructions on how to update:

Instructions on how to update

***

Firefox users: Until the new version of the extension is reviewed by the Mozilla Add-Ons site, you can update just by installing the new version over top of your existing one from the versions page.

If version 2.3.15 or higher does not appear in the list, you can wait until later, or use this direct link to install.

Missing e - Performance Tips for Slower Computers

Some users with older computers or machines that have slowed down with many other things running may sometimes notice that Missing e can make the Tumblr experience feel a little sluggish.

If you are one of those, you might think about turning off some of the Missing e features that take the most processing.

Here are the ones you should think about turning off. Each one can be found in the settings page (find out how to get there) under the Dashboard Features tab.

[Safe Dash]

  • This feature works in the background to convert images in dashboard posts so that when you click the “Safe Dash” button in the sidebar, it will immediately hide them
  • Turning off the “Safe Dash” button in the sidebar isn’t enough, you have to turn off the whole feature in the settings

[Timestamps]

  • This feature adds timestamps to posts in the dash

Disabling any one of these will improve Missing e’s responsiveness. It is not required to disable all of them!

The Bookmarker and Magnifier feature also run a bit of code for every post loaded into the dash, but they are much simpler by comparison to the three mentioned above. The Reblog Yourself feature also runs on every one of your own posts in the dash, but it is really only somewhat significant when viewing your own “tumblelog” dash page (i.e. www.tumblr.com/blog/your-name).

‘Missing e’ 1.7.6 - Resizable Rich Text Editor, Performance Improvements

A rather minor update to Missing e went out this morning.

Included in this update:

  • Performance improvement for calls to the Tumblr API (used for the Better Reblogs, Magnifier, Reblog Yourself, and Timestamps features)
  • Ability to resize the editing box for Tumblr’s Rich Text Editor [suggested by thefrogman] Resize by dragging this guy

If you want the new version immediately, DO NOT uninstall and reinstall Missing e, instead, read the instructions on how to update:

How do you update?

Firefox users: If you do not see 1.7.6 in the version list, try this direct link

Download Missing e at missinge.infraware.ca

If you enjoy this extension, please consider donating to support future development.

For the interested, and technical-minded…

I just successfully implemented pseudo-condition variables in the background process for Missing e.

What this means is that when you have Timestamps, Magnifier and Reblog Yourself all turned on, the number of AJAX calls Missing e does in the background has dropped nearly 60%! Instead, multiple requests for the same post’s information go to sleep waiting for the first request to finish. When it does, the sleeping requests are all woken up, and can get their information from a small cache rather than making another HTTP request!

Hopefully, this will mean a drop in the memory and processor usage of Missing e in upcoming versions.

Neat!

I just wanted to remind people that Missing e version 1.7.0 is out, and it includes some very decent performance improvements. Especially for Firefox users! You should get it soon! missing-e: I’ve decided to release Missing e version 1.7.0 sooner, without adding any of the new features in my queue. I would like for anybody who wants to check out the enhanced performance to get the chance sooner rather than later. (see this post for details) I’m hopeful I have not introduced any bugs, but I’d love to hear about any I’ve missed. I will be holding back new features for at least a week or two. I would like the Firefox version of Missing e to have enough time to get through the review process (and hopefully, this new version has addressed all the concerns of editors over at Mozilla Add-ons). Currently, Missing e is 183rd in a queue of 183 add-ons to be reviewed. Lately, they’ve been reviewing more quickly than they did around the release of Firefox 4. If you want the new version immediately, DO NOT uninstall and reinstall Missing e, instead, read the instructions on how to update: How to update on ChromeHow to update on FirefoxHow to update on Safari Firefox users: If you do not see 1.7.0 in the version list, try this direct link Download Missing e at missinge.infraware.ca If you enjoy this extension, please consider donating to support future development.
Pop-upGoto Post

I just wanted to remind people that Missing e version 1.7.0 is out, and it includes some very decent performance improvements. Especially for Firefox users! You should get it soon!

missing-e:

I’ve decided to release Missing e version 1.7.0 sooner, without adding any of the new features in my queue.

I would like for anybody who wants to check out the enhanced performance to get the chance sooner rather than later. (see this post for details)

I’m hopeful I have not introduced any bugs, but I’d love to hear about any I’ve missed.

I will be holding back new features for at least a week or two. I would like the Firefox version of Missing e to have enough time to get through the review process (and hopefully, this new version has addressed all the concerns of editors over at Mozilla Add-ons). Currently, Missing e is 183rd in a queue of 183 add-ons to be reviewed. Lately, they’ve been reviewing more quickly than they did around the release of Firefox 4.

If you want the new version immediately, DO NOT uninstall and reinstall Missing e, instead, read the instructions on how to update:

How to update on Chrome
How to update on Firefox
How to update on Safari

Firefox users: If you do not see 1.7.0 in the version list, try this direct link

Download Missing e at missinge.infraware.ca

If you enjoy this extension, please consider donating to support future development.

(via missing-e)

So, anyone noticing a difference with speed in ‘Missing e’ 1.7.0?

It is likely that Firefox users will notice the improvements more. Mostly when loading new posts with Tumblr’s Endless Scrolling dashboard.

Haven’t updated yet? Read this post about the newest version of Missing e.

I’ve decided to release Missing e version 1.7.0 sooner, without adding any of the new features in my queue. I would like for anybody who wants to check out the enhanced performance to get the chance sooner rather than later. (see this post for details) I’m hopeful I have not introduced any bugs, but I’d love to hear about any I’ve missed. I will be holding back new features for at least a week or two. I would like the Firefox version of Missing e to have enough time to get through the review process (and hopefully, this new version has addressed all the concerns of editors over at Mozilla Add-ons). Currently, Missing e is 183rd in a queue of 183 add-ons to be reviewed. Lately, they’ve been reviewing more quickly than they did around the release of Firefox 4. If you want the new version immediately, DO NOT uninstall and reinstall Missing e, instead, read the instructions on how to update: How to update on ChromeHow to update on FirefoxHow to update on Safari Firefox users: If you do not see 1.7.0 in the version list, try this direct link Download Missing e at missinge.infraware.ca If you enjoy this extension, please consider donating to support future development.
Pop-upGoto Post

I’ve decided to release Missing e version 1.7.0 sooner, without adding any of the new features in my queue.

I would like for anybody who wants to check out the enhanced performance to get the chance sooner rather than later. (see this post for details)

I’m hopeful I have not introduced any bugs, but I’d love to hear about any I’ve missed.

I will be holding back new features for at least a week or two. I would like the Firefox version of Missing e to have enough time to get through the review process (and hopefully, this new version has addressed all the concerns of editors over at Mozilla Add-ons). Currently, Missing e is 183rd in a queue of 183 add-ons to be reviewed. Lately, they’ve been reviewing more quickly than they did around the release of Firefox 4.

If you want the new version immediately, DO NOT uninstall and reinstall Missing e, instead, read the instructions on how to update:

How to update on Chrome
How to update on Firefox
How to update on Safari

Firefox users: If you do not see 1.7.0 in the version list, try this direct link

Download Missing e at missinge.infraware.ca

If you enjoy this extension, please consider donating to support future development.

Missing e version 1.7.0 is almost ready! Depending on the time I have available, I may also be adding a feature or two, but the big news for version 1.7.0 is performance! I’m excited to say that the lag time for Missing e changes to posts loaded with Tumblr’s Endless Scrolling dash (after the initial load of the page) seem to have ALMOST COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED on all browsers. Read about the changes I’ve made in this post. Keep in mind that initial load time for Missing e features remains the same, as this is an unavoidable limitation of the extension APIs used for each browser. If results from my test machine are to be believed, Firefox users will see the most difference due to enhanced performance. What often took a second or two when you scroll to the end of a dashboard page until the Missing e icons appeared on the newly-loaded posts is almost instantaneous. Unfortunately, the startup when you first load the page remains the same.
Pop-upGoto Post

Missing e version 1.7.0 is almost ready!

Depending on the time I have available, I may also be adding a feature or two, but the big news for version 1.7.0 is performance!

I’m excited to say that the lag time for Missing e changes to posts loaded with Tumblr’s Endless Scrolling dash (after the initial load of the page) seem to have ALMOST COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED on all browsers. Read about the changes I’ve made in this post.

Keep in mind that initial load time for Missing e features remains the same, as this is an unavoidable limitation of the extension APIs used for each browser.

If results from my test machine are to be believed, Firefox users will see the most difference due to enhanced performance. What often took a second or two when you scroll to the end of a dashboard page until the Missing e icons appeared on the newly-loaded posts is almost instantaneous. Unfortunately, the startup when you first load the page remains the same.