Is it possible to add it to Msg+, since SP3 was not actively updated in over 2 years and doesn't work in latest WLM? Would be great to have a timer just below the contact's avatar, click on it, and select the timezone, and it just stays there. Just like in SP3.

I tried the Timezone script, I have no idea how to use it in WLM 14.0.8089.726


Thanks, everyone.

I could certainly do this as a script. However I wouldn't put it in the avatar. How would you feel if it were before the contacts name in the header of the conversation window, it could be like (4:38 PM) John Doe or (16:38) John Doe?

That is easy enough to do.

Sorry for the double post.

CookieRevised and I worked last night a bit throwing ideas around and managed to get the time to display properly before the contact's friendly name in the conversation window. However there is a problem with doing so. Because we are changing the field that has already been parsed (mean the colours and emoticons are already displayed) adding anything to this field will remove the parsing. The other option is we can show the time where the status of the contact is displayed in the chat window and move the status to the title bar so for example it would read (XX:XX) John Dow <johndoe@hotmail.com> - Conversation (or something along these lines).

What do you think of this?

quote:

---

Originally posted by matty
However there is a problem with doing so. Because we are changing the field that has already been parsed (mean the colours and emoticons are already displayed) adding anything to this field will remove the parsing.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by matty
The other option is we can show the time where the status of the contact is displayed in the chat window

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by CookieRevised
not possible as far as I quickly checked last night... the status text is actually the name of the AA object, not the value; and as far as I found out, you can't change the name (it's read-only) only it's value (which is empty).

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by CookieRevised
Or you could simply show the time in the titlebar though...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by matty

quote:

---

Originally posted by CookieRevised
not possible as far as I quickly checked last night... the status text is actually the name of the AA object, not the value; and as far as I found out, you can't change the name (it's read-only) only it's value (which is empty).

---

But I wonder if adding a value to it will show on the conversation window.

---

Anybody knows whatever happened to StuffPlug? I really miss that timezone display, it meant the world of difference to me.

Not sure if anything else than below the avatar would do for me, unfortunately. SP way of doing it was, IMHO, genuinely the best, and simplest.

Isn't there any way to add this as an official feature of Msg+, seeing that SP guys did it (but then seemingly dropped the project altogether without updates in over 2 years)? Basically it would be (I suppose) adding a new widget, which would only be manually settable, and remembered automatically per contact, with option to hide the widget for the contacts in the same timezone. The time displayed would be the system time +/- timezone difference.

Anyways, if it were done with your suggestions, how would the per-contact timezone change be carried out? I hope not with script tweaking

Something like this would indeed be a nice feature to add to Messenger Plus! itself. But don't get your hopes up too much though.

Adding it via a Messenger Plus! script is what is currently being done by Matty (but again, this is done as one of his many side projects, so don't expect it to be finished tomorrow). But note that because of the way scripts are run, they can not do everything what other plugins (like StuffPlug) did.

Setting the proper times and settings would be done like in any other script: either via a command or via a settings dialog or both.

As for the position of the time: under the display picture would be nice, yes. But that is as good as impossible with scripting; it certainly is not the simpliest, no matter what form of tweaking tool (script, plugin, etc) you use.

-----

Note: to make something like this in a proper way, you also need a pretty advanced way of selecting the proper timezone per contact. It is by no means as simple as setting the hour difference between you and the contact!!!!!

This because of the many different DST rules around the world. DST rules are difference per timezone and even per region (they are actually independant of timezones) and they even change from one year to the other for some or even more frequently. They are also not applied at the same time around the world. Note that even Windows itself does not get it right for all regions in the world.

To give an example: the most advanced and correct clock/timezone widget for Windows I've ever found is Anuko World Clock. This gets updated almost every month and almost each time it also includes an update for its timezone and DST rules database (usually this is for more exotic regions though, but it isn't always).

To give an example of how complicated things will get with DSTs: Recently the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and Gaza have decided to end DST during Ramadan and also Egypt cancelled DST during Ramadan only to resume it again after Ramadan. Bahía de Banderas (Mexican state of Nayarit) changed its timezone (UTC-7) to the new time zone UTC-6 on April 4, 2010 to share the same timezone as nearby city Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. San Luis, Argentina (UTC-4) will keep DST after April 11, 2010; it will continue to have the same time as rest of Argentina (UTC-3), thus no DST.

And the list goes on and on and on on a monthly, sometimes even daily, basis. And as you can see, not all of them are stricly for exotic places.

Als note that while the general rule for applying DST is to set the clock one hour ahead, there are again exceptions. Like Lord Howe Island, Australia, where the clock is advanced only half an hour during DST.

Another important note is that the time offsets (eg: UTC-3) aren't always an integral number either! In some places the difference is half an hour or even a quarter hour (eg: Nepal which is UTC+05:45)

All this just to say that simply setting the time difference between you and your contact by selecting some integral number between 0 and 12, like you will find in so many tools which offer some time display, is in no way accurate and absolutely incorrect and insufficient.

And then there is the other problem of what to do when your contact actually travels around the world. Then your settings for that contact wont be correct anymore either... But that is an entirly different problem (which could partially be solved, together with the DST problem, by getting the time from the contact itself though)...

I think SP3 would send the timezone to the contacts over TCP/IP. But then again I have no idea if it did or didn't.

I'm very aware of DST issues, and even .30 or .45 hour timezones. It is not easy.

Perhaps even just getting the IP of the user, then querying the timezone that way. And if the user is behind a proxy, you can screw yourself anyways

Basically, I am not that concerned with 30 or 45 minute differences (don't have such contacts, but I know others would like that), I'd just want a clock below contact's avatar that would be user settable to predefined time offsets - perhaps not even necessary to input timezone and/or DST - just an option to type in the OFFSET from YOUR system clock time. That would be swell.


And I do know that I can't expect it, like, tomorrow. It's not burning under my feet - I'm a patient man. Would be extremely cool if it were a dedicated Msg+ feature. To whom I need to talk to carry the feature request over?

quote:

---

Originally posted by EvilDragon
I'm very aware of DST issues, and even .30 or .45 hour timezones. It is not easy.

Perhaps even just getting the IP of the user, then querying the timezone that way. And if the user is behind a proxy, you can screw yourself anyways

Basically, I am not that concerned with 30 or 45 minute differences (don't have such contacts, but I know others would like that), I'd just want a clock below contact's avatar that would be user settable to predefined time offsets - perhaps not even necessary to input timezone and/or DST - just an option to type in the OFFSET from YOUR system clock time. That would be swell.


And I do know that I can't expect it, like, tomorrow. It's not burning under my feet - I'm a patient man. Would be extremely cool if it were a dedicated Msg+ feature. To whom I need to talk to carry the feature request over?

---

• Getting the IP of the user isn't as easy as one would think.
  
• Adding objects to the window is possible (using the SetParent API) however adding something into the window itself is impossible as a script
  
• The way I would do it (and also the easiest) would be to show the clock in the titlebar. The clock would only show if you were to set a timezone for the user.

I think it could be good as a stopgap measure (or permanent, depending on if this is going to end up as a feature of Msg+, who knows). Would there be a Settings screen or something?

quote:

---

Originally posted by EvilDragon
perhaps not even necessary to input timezone and/or DST - just an option to type in the OFFSET from YOUR system clock time.

---

No, just for those situations when you ask the contact "what's the time there?", then contact replies, and you set the offset manually.


Also, true that WLM should have it natively. I mean, Skype has it!

Slight bumpage for more ideas/opinions/+1's for having this as native Msg+ feature.

Another kind bump.