Feature Insert fight page custom buttons at left instead of right

Hi! :D
Big thanks to everyone who contributes to KoLmafia, these forums, the Forums of Loathing thread -- everything mafia!

In KoLmafia Preferences, I really like to have this one marked in the "Browser" section:
Add custom buttons to the top of fight pages
I've been using it for years and years, and I really like it. I tried the KoL Combat Action Bar. Did not like. I guess at the time it was too complicated, didn't have a "Handy Reference Guide," worked differently from my beloved KoLmafia buttons, and so on.

But there's this one thing about the KoLmafia combat buttons. When I use a skill that is not currently represented in the buttons, KoLmafia adds the skill -- at the far right, where I cannot even see the button. Disregarding the fact that I purposely chose a netbook with an 8.9-inch display because I felt 10.1" was too much (insert joke about inserting), it seems to me that adding (or changing, if you see it that way) the button at the far left (to the right of stationarybutton5) makes a lot more sense. It's easier to reach. Right? I mean, Left?

You might guess I see this as, "Well, it's just the only sensible way to do it!" -- lol. Yeah, I know, it's just my point of view. But it seems like it would be an easy adjustment for users who are accustomed to having it the way it has been. And it would make the feature actually usable for others. Or, for me, at least. ;-)

As for actual implementation, of course I have no idea if that would be easy or not! But Dear KoLmafia Developers, will you consider it, please? Maybe you could add a little switch? A sub-preference that says, "Add new skill buttons at left instead of right," or something? In case someone hates 'em on the left? Please? :D
 

lostcalpolydude

Developer
Staff member
I haven't used those buttons in forever, but I think relaySkillButtonCount (default 5) controls the number of buttons that mafia shows. Fewer buttons would mean that they aren't so far over to the right, though it would also mean fewer skills available as buttons. But with some of the buttons useless off the right side of the frame, that doesn't seem like too much of a problem.
 

tgetgel

Member
Is this more of a "fit it within the frame" question? If it encroaches upon or is hidden by something on the right then put it on a second row?
 

Veracity

Developer
Staff member
I run with "relaySkillButtonCount=10". I.e., 10 skill buttons per character.
They automatically wrap to a second row or third row.
If I resize the window and grow or shrink the center pane, they re-wrap.

As I said, in the revision history for 8199 on 2/27/2010:

Remove manifest constant defining number of buttons and make it a preference: relaySkillButtonCount defaults to 5 and is the number of non-built-in buttons shown on fight pages. There is no interface to change the value, other than the CLI, but there should be no problem setting it higher; buttons will wrap into a second row, if necessary.

I am surprised that it does not behave that way for you, since it behaves exactly as I'd hope (and exactly as HTML specifies) on both Safari and Firefox.

What browser do you use?
 
Last edited:
It wraps in Firefox v3.6.16, but not in Internet Explorer v8.0.6001.18702. Windows XP SP3, KoLmafia v14.5 r9246. 8.9" netbook display. (I aimed for the smallest I could get.) :D

EDIT: By the way, I still strongly feel that the most recently used skills should appear from the left in the group of [what are they, "non-stationary"?] buttons, not at the far right. Having them appear at the far right seems counter-intutitive to me. Since the stationary buttons are at the left, I think that's reason enough to have the newly used skills appear to the left in that right-side group. Don't you think so, too (everyone)? I swear, it's not just my English-reading-and-writingness of wanting things to be read from left to right. Is there a programming reason why they are added at far right instead? Or someone's preference?

EDIT the Second: I almost always use IE8, rarely switch to Firefox. And I never use KoLmafia without the relay browser.
 
Last edited:
By the way, I found the line
relaySkillButtonCount=5
in GLOBAL_prefs.txt of the "settings" folder (remember I'm in WinXP) and changed it to
relaySkillButtonCount=2
I like it! I even monkeyed with the mysterious "Update hotkeys" thing. Interesting.
 
Top