CNExtend FAQ
FAQ
- How do I make it do something?
- If I install this extension, will I get banned?
- How do I make my own profile?
- Nothing happens when I select a profile.
- I get a blank screen when I view my nation!
- When I click “View Profiles” nothing happens.
How do I make this do something?
Right click on the green CNx logo in the lower right hand corner of your browser. You should get a menu where you can select profiles. Choose something other than “normal”, and you’ll notice the change when viewing your nation.
Other than that, when you mouse over an improvement or wonder’s associated radio button, you’ll get a tip showing you the financial impact of that transaction. You can also customize a profile by choosing “Select Profile”->”View Folder” and then manually editing the profile you want to change.
If I install this extension, will I get banned?
No. When I originally had the idea for it, I asked the Cybernations admin if the general concept would be alright, and he gave a provisional okay provided a number of constraints were followed. Once the extension was nearly finished with development, I presented a more detailed proposal with screenshots and a description of functionality. This proposal was approved, and I am confident that the extension meets all of the constraints laid out.
See also: this thread, and the associated ones.
However, I can’t vouch for anything that wasn’t directly downloaded from this site. Anything downloaded from other sources may have been tampered with maliciously or include unapproved features. Once installed, Firefox’s automated updater provides a secure way to get extension patches and upgrades.
How do I make my own layout?
The easiest way to get to the layouts directory is right clicking on the CNx logo and choosing “Select Layout->View Folder”. That should open a directory with all your layouts in XML format. View them in your favorite text editor, and you should get a feel for how they correspond with the interfaces they create. If you want to mess with a layout until you get it the way you like it (I suggest starting with normal.xml), you can make a change and then choose “Refresh Layout” from the layouts menu. You’ll see your changes reflected on your screen right away.
Please note that default layouts are overwritten on updates. If you’ve made a custom layout and you want to keep it, make sure that you save it with a different name.
Nothing happens when I select a layout.
This could be a problem with the profile as it is written, or the extension itself. Look for the green CNx logo in your browser’s statusbar. If it is red then CNExtend is disabled or failed to load, and if there is an exclamation point next to it then errors have occurred which you can review by clicking on the logo. The errors should be able to provide a more detailed explanation of why the layout didn’t load.
I get a blank screen when I view my nation!
We use some CSS wizardry to make sure that you don’t see your nation screen before it’s processed. If something goes horribly wrong, then you may get a situation where you get a blank screen where your nation used to be. That’s obviously not desirable, so if changing to a different profile doesn’t work I recommend disabling CNExtend by right clicking on the CNx logo and choosing disable. Download the latest version from this site and re-install, and if it’s still not working let me know along with any error messages accompanying it.
Note: I haven’t actually heard of this happening, but I guess it’s possible in theory.
When I click “View Folder” nothing happens.
It’s probably because the extension is running on a Linux platform, which doesn’t support the reveal command. I believe there is a fix, but until I can test it I’ve opted to leave it out.
Edit: I wasn’t able to get a fix working. Sorry 
.
Errors
Copying Default Layouts Failure
When your installation tried to copy the default layouts to your layout directory something caused it to fail, most likely files of the same name already being there and read only. This isn’t too serious, but it will prevent you from getting the latest layouts which let you know what all the tag ids are.
Critical File Missing
If you’re getting this error, then a file that CNExtend considers vital to processing such as the interface validation file is either missing or broken. I recommend reinstalling, you won’t lose any new profiles created although default layouts provided with the extension will be overwritten. If you’ve installed the latest version and you’re still getting this error, then send a bug report to cnextend@babelphish.net and I’ll see if I can track down what’s going on.
Malformed Layout
There are a number of things that can be wrong with a layout, and the error message should provide some clues to what went wrong.
A valid item tag looks like this:
<item id=an_id
/>
If you want a custom header, the newHeader tag looks like this:
<newHeader text=My New Header
/>
A typical mistake is to exclude the final slash at the end of the tag. Another is misspelling the id of the item you want to appear in the layout. The tag names are case sensitive, so newheader
won’t work. A good strategy for getting working layouts is to start with the normal.xml
file, save it under a different name, and then re-arrange what’s in there. You can preview your profile as you make it by hitting the Refresh Layout
button under the Layouts menu.
Interface Validation Failed
This means that CNExtend was not able to interpret the nation page it’s seeing. CNExtend checks for any changes or additions to the interface whenever it loads a page, and if it detects a difference, such as a new row being added it loads the regular page rather than trying to apply any layouts.
You’ll have to get an updated version of CNExtend to continue using your layouts. Interface changes are going to happen, and CNExtend is designed to be flexible enough to quickly accommodate them so you shouldn’t be waiting more than a couple days for a fix, and probably just a few hours. When a new update is available Firefox will automatically prompt you to download the update, and then things will resume working normally.
