Can I Customize Images on a Website?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the possibility and methods of customizing images on the Physics Forums website. Participants explore various technical approaches, including local file manipulation and browser extensions, while expressing differing levels of interest and feasibility regarding the customization process.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about replacing Physics Forums icons with personal images and questions the ease of doing so.
  • Another participant warns that access to modify the site is unlikely to be granted.
  • A suggestion is made to redirect image requests to a local server, though some participants express skepticism about the effort involved.
  • Multiple participants discuss using browser extensions, particularly Greasemonkey, to change images on websites.
  • There are varying levels of success reported in changing images, with some participants sharing code snippets for JavaScript solutions.
  • One participant identifies a security restriction in Firefox that prevents linking to local files, suggesting workarounds for this issue.
  • Another participant proposes using the RSS feed from Physics Forums to create customized pages, although issues with the feed's validity are noted.
  • Concerns are raised about the complexity of maintaining dynamically changing webpages.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of interest and skepticism regarding the feasibility of customizing images. There is no consensus on the best method to achieve this, and various technical challenges are acknowledged.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include unresolved issues with the RSS feed and security restrictions in browsers that may affect the ability to link to local files. The discussion also reflects varying levels of technical expertise among participants.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in web customization, JavaScript programming, or those looking to modify their browsing experience on forums may find this discussion relevant.

mattmns
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Is it possible to replace, let's say, some of the physicsforums icons with my own? Maybe have pf look at cache first, and then replace the images with my own?

I guess I know it is possible, just is it easy to do? Danke.
 
Computer science news on Phys.org
Phew! are you sure You want to do it! I mean.. PF is not going to give u access for that!
 
Well, you could like redirect all requests to https://www.physicsforums.com/images/ to 127.0.0.1 (localhost), by editing the hosts file, set up a webserver on your own computer, download all images from PF and replace whatever ones you want to replace. More like a waste of cpu and memory if you ask me.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
mattmns said:
Is it possible to replace, let's say, some of the physicsforums icons with my own? Maybe have pf look at cache first, and then replace the images with my own?

I guess I know it is possible, just is it easy to do? Danke.

el-half gave what I think would be the easiest way. However still seems like a pain for little gain. Our graphics aren't that bad are they? :-p
 
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Hmm looks like a pain I guess.

The graphics are not bad, I have gotten used to them, but I of course would like to be able to change them, or anything, to how I want it to look.

edit...
One of the ways I was thinking was to have the website code downloaded, then edit all instances, of say http://www.website.com/images/image.gif to file:///home/matt/images/image.gif
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think you can change websites with firefox.
 
I was thinking about that too. But I only know how to remove objects with firefox, not change or add, going to do a quick search and see what comes up. Do you have any more info about that?
 
I know there is a firefox extension that does this. I read about it not too long ago. I'll have to look it up.

[edit] I found it!

http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org/
 
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Thanks dduardo, checking it right now :smile:

edit... Wow! That extension is awesome! I have not changed any images on sites yet, but they have some really cool, and useful, scripts!
 
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  • #10
Ok I can change images, but I only know how to change ones that have an id. How do I select an image that just has a source?

I used this to change images with an id, but many sites do not have ids for their images, any ideas?

Code: 
(function() { 
document.getElementById('ID of image').src="location of image"
})();
 
  • #11
Your making it more difficult than it has to be. You can do something like this:

Code: 
ChangeReplyButtons() {
for (var i=0; i < document.images.length; i++) {
if(document.images[i].src=="images/buttons/reply.gif") {
document.images[i].src="/home/david/myreply.gif" ;
}}}

You can add more if statements to change all the buttons. Isn't Javascript/DOM nice. I suggest you use the DOM inspector that comes with Firefox to help you.
 
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  • #12
Thanks. I have the dom inspector installed, I guess the next step is to learn how to use it :smile:

Also, I am assuming from your response that I do not have to enter "file:///" before "home."
 
  • #13
You may or may not have to put file:///blah/blah/blah. When I type /home/dduardo into the browser it automatically resolves to file:///home/dduardo. Try it and see. Also remember that I'm on a linux system so on windows I don't know how this would work.
 
  • #14
Well I am on linux too :smile:

It does not when I enter a specific location of an image that has dashes in the name, it may be something else.

edit... and it does not seem to be working

This is mines.user.js
Code: 
ChangeMinesweeperPics() {
for (var i=0; i < document.images.length; i++) {
if(document.images[i].src=="file:///home/matt/minesweeper-beg-5.png") {
document.images[i].src="file:///home/matt/minesweeper-int-33.png" ;
}}}

This is minetest.html
Code: 
<html>
<title>testing</title>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<img src="file:///home/matt/minesweeper-beg-5.png" />
</body>
 
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  • #15
It may be me, not even my yahoo script is working now :mad:
 
  • #16
I just created a simple script that replaces an image and it works just fine. Here is my code:

test.user.js
Code: 
for (var i=0; i < document.images.length; i++) {
if(document.images[i].src=="file:///home/dduardo/flowchart.bmp") {
document.images[i].src="sales_tax.png" ;
}}

test.html
Code: 
<html>
<body>
<img src="flowchart.bmp">
<img src="sales_tax.png">
</body>
</html>

[edit]Actually, I just realized why your script doesn't work. Your just declaring the function but not actually running it. :smile: :smile:
 
  • #17
ROFL. You were right, it works now. Thanks
 
  • #18
Yay!

It officially works on pf.

http://img172.exs.cx/img172/2250/pfscreenshot4mj.png

Now to add some real images :smile:

Thanks!
 
  • #19
Ok I am beginning to think that this will not work. I am only able to replace the images with other images on the pf website.
 
  • #20
Are you sure?
 
  • #21
I am never sure :smile: But I have not been able to get it to work with images from other websites, or images from my computer.
 
  • #22
I found the problem:

For security reasons, Mozilla does not allow web content to link to local files. An error like:Security Error: Content at url may not load or link to file:///something will appear in the javascript console. If you need to follow links to local paths it is recommended that you drag the link to the location bar and then drop it on the webpage. If you really don't like the security check and are willing to risk all files on your system and that your system can access then you may add the following line to user.js in your personal profile directory. user_pref("security.checkloaduri", false); (Bug 84128)

You can change the image with one on the net.
 

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  • #23
You could also use PF's RSS feed, along with a webserver, to generate pages that look like anything in the world, but contain content from PF.

- Warren
 
  • #24
Huh, why I be darned, there is an RSS feed. The button is so small you wouldn't even know it was there.

If you wanted to go down this route you could write a really simple python script that uses libxml2 and libxslt to generate a xhtml file based on the xml file you get from this site and your own xsl (xml stylesheet) file. Of course you'll need a running apache server.

[edit] Actually it looks like the RSS feed is broken. Firefox is complaining that it isn't vaild xml.
 
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  • #25
Yeah it seems like RSS is temporarily broken. I've told Greg about it -- I don't know what the deal might be. We'll get it back up soon.

I personally think using the RSS/XML feed is the simplest and best way to do it.

- Warren
 
  • #26
Looks like one of the thread titles is breaking the RSS feed. I will investigate.
 
  • #27
Boy o boy!
i never knew that was possible. Nice anyways. but i haven't got how actually the dyanmically changing webpage be kept modified.
 

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