LiveCountdown
DescriptionReplaces invocations of {{User:ToxiBoi/LiveCountdownTemplate}} with a live countdown that refreshes the page on finish
Author(s)ToxiBoi (talk · contribs)
StatusStatus:     Alpha
First releasedApril 15, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-04-15)
Versionv1.4.4
UpdatedApril 17, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-04-17)
Browser supportGoogle Chrome, Firefox[i], Edge / IE[i]
Skin supportCologne Blue, Vector, Modern, Monobook, Timeless, MinervaNeue[i]
SourceUser:ToxiBoi/LiveCountdown.js

LiveCountdown is a userscript that, upon entering a page, checks the page for all {{User:ToxiBoi/LiveCountdownTemplate}} (further referenced with LCT) transclusions and replaces them with a working countdown. The LCT is similar to the {{Countdown}} template, however, the template may switch between the two when necessary.[ii]

Right now, this userscript is in a very basic state, so don't expect much.

Installation instructions edit

Hint: It's much easier if you get ScriptInstaller, then navigate to User:ToxiBoi/LiveCountdown.js and click "Install" at the top.

However, here's the manual method:

  1. Place {{subst:iusc|User:ToxiBoi/LiveCountdown.js}} on Special:MyPage/common.js or a skin-specific page, like Special:MyPage/vector.js.
  2. Clear your cache and enjoy!

To-Do List edit

Feel free to be bold and add anything to this section.
Signing here is encouraged for discussions of items, but items themselves shouldn't be signed.
Items that are struck have been implemented in the latest version of the script.
  • Allow more than one countdowns to be supported
    •   Acknowledged. Right as I find out how, I'll be implementing this as soon as possible. A culprit may be the function inside of the scan loop, so this might work if the two are separated. –ToxiBoi! (contribs) 00:05, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
      •   Done in version v1.2. The function inside of the loop was part of the issue, making the script single-threaded. Moving the loop outside of the function prevents the loop from focusing on just one countdown. –ToxiBoi! (contribs) 04:13, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
  • Add error handling for unknown parameters
  • Add a check to see if the countdown works, without invoking the script directly
    • Maybe in a form of special page that the script will change?
  • Write TemplateData
    •   Done. As relevant to this page, I've added it here. –ToxiBoi! (contribs) 23:33, 16 April 2020 (UTC)
  • Allow modification of {{Countdown}} displays
    •   Not done for now. This may not be possible, as the countdown isn't wrapped in any div or span nor even a class. It's added as a regular paragraph; therefore, a script cannot detect it via regular methods. If it DOES become wrappable in a tag other than "p", then it may even be hard to grab the end date from the display anyway. It's only stored in the module, and the module is pretty much done before the script kicks in. I may consider a non-Lua-based template; however, LCT is the best compatible version of this. –ToxiBoi! (contribs) 23:33, 16 April 2020 (UTC)
  • Allow wikitext/links to be entered in the "event" parameter
    • Right now, wikitext is unparsed, forcing you to add HTML to the page.
      •   Confirmed at User:ToxiBoi/sandbox. This is a potential security hole, so this is high-proirity. –ToxiBoi! (contribs) 04:21, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
      •   Doing... I'll run the event through MediaWiki's API to parse, and then cut away all of the comments. –ToxiBoi! (contribs) 05:24, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
      •   Done in v1.4.3. –ToxiBoi! (contribs) 05:40, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
        •  Y Extra: The v1.4.4 script does some basic XSS detection before the script attempts to start a countdown. Normally, MediaWiki would catch all of the XSS (I couldn't even add it in my sandbox properly  ), but a bit of wool on top of obsidian never hurt in a game of BedWars! –ToxiBoi! (contribs) 10:21, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
          • (And yes, I am aware that I am likely using the wrong initialism...)

TemplateData edit

This is the documentation for the corresponding template (LCT) to be used by VisualEditor and other tools.

See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:LiveCountdownTemplate in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for LiveCountdownTemplate

When used in conjunction with the LiveCountdown userscript, displays a live countdown that refreshes the page on completion

Template parameters

ParameterDescriptionTypeStatus
Tagtag

The HTML tag to wrap the countdown around (for example, "b" or "small")

Default
div
Lineoptional
Event Nameevent

The name of the event (to fill in the blank "there are 2 seconds until _____")

Default
the event begins
Stringsuggested
Custom Datecustomdate

ADVANCED: add a custom date. Adding this parameter will override the other date parameters, but may likely prevent non-users from seeing your countdown.

Stringoptional
Monthmonth

The month of when the countdown should disable. Can be a name (Dec, July) or a number (10, 2).

Stringsuggested
Dayday

The day of when the countdown should disable. Can be a name (Dec, July) or a number (10, 2).

Stringsuggested
Yearyear

The year of when the countdown should disable (2020, 3000).

Stringoptional
Timetime

The 24-hour time (12:00-24:00) when the countdown should disable. This cannot be shown to non-users.

Stringoptional

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c The userscript is presumed to work with this enabled, but it is impossible for the maintainers to test it (as of Thu, 16 Apr 2020 23:00:03 +0000). Proceed with caution.
  2. ^ The LCT checks its parameters to see if it could be referenced with the other {{Countdown}} template, and if so, it will display the Countdown template with an ad: (Tired of purging every few minutes? Try this userscript!)
    If the countdown template errors in the process, a firewall would be shown, preventing users from seeing it without downloading the script: You must have the LiveCountdown userscript enabled to view this countdown.