BrowserPlus - SA-MP Browser replacement [0.2.5-beta]

[Teddy]

BrowserPlus is a standalone favorites Browser for SA-MP. It modernizes the browser experience with some new additional features and improvements over the existing browser. It uses Electron and SampRegTool (our own custom tool) in order to create quite possibly the best launcher experience possible for SA-MP.

Features
- per-server username remembering
- store unlimited usernames per-server
- per-server password remembering
- has multiple themes and color schemes available for ultimate customization
- external link support to server's UCP (requires server host configuration)
- optional passive updating of server data

A simpler breakdown...
Can it remember what server uses what username?
Yes.

Can SA-MP's default?
No.

Can it remember multiple usernames for a specific server?
Yes.

Can SA-MP's default?
No.

Can it remember the server's password?
Yes.

Can SA-MP's default?
No.

Can it twerk?
Maybe.

Can SA-MP's default?
I hope not.

The program is standalone and does not need to be installed to the SA-MP or GTA-SA directory. It also does not depend on SA-MP's client version. Note: you do however need to keep SA-MP installed and it's existing files untouched.

Browser Plus utilizes Electron, a custom modified version of node-samp-query, and SA-MP's own built in command line options to operate. The program is also not restricted or limited to just Argonath, you can add any of your favorite servers to the list easily. It is made possible by the following open source projects: Materialize CSS, Electron Logger, Electron JSON Storage, Photon, and Metro UI CSS.

Previews

Spoiler for Hiden:

Main Page (v0.0.1)


Demonstrating of username switching per-server (v0.0.4)


Demonstration of material design influenced theme (0.0.8)

System Requirements

- A working installation of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- A working installation of San Andreas Multiplayer
- At least 100mb free diskspace
- Windows 7 and greater
- 64 bit operating system

Get it!
Method 1: Use Setup (recommended)

1) Download the BrowserPlus setup file.
2) Extract the setup file anywhere and run it as an administrator
3) By default, it'll now install BrowserPlus to C:\Program Files\ArgonathRPG\BrowserPlus

Method 2: Manual Install

1) Download the latest version of BrowserPlus (find below!)
2) Extract the source files anywhere

Downloads & Files
BrowserPlus Installer

Latest Version:
0.2.3-beta

Other
SampRegTool (included)
Integrated Updater (included)

Frequently Asked Questions
How to add usernames and passwords?

On default (OS X) theme you'll see the username box appear all the time and when you've selected a server that has a password, a password box will appear. By default, usernames and passwords are saved automatically when you join a server. On Metro and Material theme, only once you've click the play button will an action sheet with the username and password box appear.

How to join a server?

The 'play' button will only appear once you have selected an online server. The icon resembles an audio play button.

How do I enable click-to-join from web?

1) Open BrowserPlus, click the 'Settings' tab.
2) Check the box that says 'Allow join server web protocol'
3) Restart BrowserPlus (important! this will register the protocol with your operating system)

If you want to add a click to join link to your website to support B+, use this format:

Code: [Select]

browserplus://join_server/ip:port
Server Host Configuration
(for server hosts!)

Spoiler for Hiden:

You can configure BrowserPlus to link to a panel address for players. If you click on the link it'll redirect to the server's user control panel.

For a server host:
Create a file called 'browserplus.json' in the web root of the weburl you have listed for your server.

Code: [Select]

{
"player": "http://your_panel.com/player/%s"
}(example: http://argonathrpg.eu/browserplus.json)

To-Do
- continue rewrites of core to be more proper
- friends!
- other minor improvements

Known Issues
- first run often seems a bit shaky when adding servers; fix by navigating to "%appdata%\Browserplus" and deleting all files[/i]

Changelog
Current Version: 0.2.5
- added ability to reload the application by pressing F5
- added analytics for timing in order to better understand how to improve the performance of the browser
- added a UUID system; essentially a unique identifier for your install (to be used later for cloud saving)
- added the setting for passive updating [default: disabled]
- added passive updating which enables to constantly check for player and ping changes and update the server table
- added some hotkeys (+ will bring up add server, F5 will reload browser, F6 will open debugging tools)
- added a tray icon for future notifications
- removed 'app info' button from default theme; was too meta
- changed some wording here and there

Spoiler for Hiden:

0.2.4 [June 12th, 2016]
- added the advanced username database!
0.2.3 [June 11th, 2016]
- fixed a bug introduced in latest version that prevented saving of usernames and passwords
- added analytics (Google)
0.2.2 [June 11th, 2016]
- fully integrated the updater
0.2.1 - [June 10th, 2016]
- fixed duplicate BrowserPlus instances when using remote start feature
- added updater
0.2.0 - beta [June 06th, 2016]
- added SampRegTool to replace internal handling of registry tweaking
0.1.6 [June 06th, 2016]
- You no longer need to restart BrowerPlus to change between themes.
- Fixed setting 'Allow join server web protocol' not saving.
- More rewrites to the core and compliance tweaks
- Added add_server to remote start protocol (e.g "browserplus://add_server/samp.argonathrpg.com:7777")
0.1.5 [June 05th, 2016]
- A majority of the core has been rewritten from scratch and some of it is still transitioning to be compliant with code style requirements. I got lazy in the beginning. Should be noticeably faster in some aspects.
- Fixed a few bugs regarding usernames; include not being able to save them appropriately.
0.1.4 [May 08th, 2016]
- added ability to launch user control panel using new browser plus directive file.
- added metro theme
- added ability to properly switch between themes (requires a restart of the application)
0.1.3 [May 08th, 2016]
- changed player list to a table with stats and information for material design player tab
- fixed a bug where the 'connect' button would disappear while using material design theme
- fixed status icons (lock, unlocked, offline) wouldn't show in material design theme
- material design theme now uses colored ping status for players; however only supports high and normal ping modes. No medium.
0.1.2 [May 08th, 2016]
- Added automatic update detection and notification (no auto-update)
- Added release channel for 32 bit architecture
- Added debugger access to material design theme (in settings, click 'Theme' label)
- Updated some internal dependencies
0.1.1 - alpha [May 07th, 2016]
- added tabs to the material design theme
- added settings page for material design theme (limited settings support)
- added player list (to tabs) for material design theme
- added action sheet launcher for material design theme
- added action sheet server setup for material design theme
- added support for windows protocol ("browserplus://") ['remote_start' option must be enabled, disabled by default for security]
- added logging support
- fixed a bug causing registry entry to be invalid (which really fucked shit up)
- fixed a bug in renderer causing problems with those using Aero
- fixed a bug where the browser would close immediately on first run (or when adding a server for the first time)
- made some prettyness changes
0.0.9 - alpha candidate 4  [May 07th, 2016]
- fixed color scheme to match Google's spec for material design theme
- fixed not being able to drag window on material design theme
- added ability to change username (via dashboard button) on material design theme
- fixed a crash causing bug while using material design theme
0.0.8 - alpha candidate 3 [May 07th, 2016]
- added minimize button
- added it so the browser automatically minimizes when launching the game
- fixed a problem causing rendering a broken table row when a server was unresponsive
- added mostly nonfunctional preview of material design theme
0.0.7 - alpha candidate 2 [April 27th, 2016]
- added ping to server table (required even more edits to samp-query module)
- added updating to player count and ping when selecting a server
- added information button to reveal current browser version
- added setting for custom timeout threshold [default 2000 (2 seconds)]
- fixed not being able to delete servers after last update
- enabled setting 'hide_offline' (servers that aren't reachable won't be shown on list)
- changed it so when adding a new server, the server table will automatically refresh
- removed gta directory form and replaced with an open directory dialog
- a shit ton of code clean up
0.0.6 - alpha candidate 1 [April 27th, 2016]
- fixed an issue with hard crashing after launching game
- removed username manager
- added passive and automatic username saving, much like passwords
- added base of settings (right now, edit %appdata%\Browserplus\settings.json" as no editor in-app exists), and not all are working
- changed a few buttons to use better icons
- added lock status icon for locked servers
- added context menu to right clicking servers, only option is still deleting
- added player's id to player list
- remove some redundant code
0.0.5 [April 27th, 2016]
- fixed a bug causing a soft reset when adding a new user
- added passive & automatic password storage
- added auto-fill of remembered passwords when selecting a server
- added automatic updating of existing remembered passwords
0.0.4 [April 27th, 2016]
- Adds the username manager and ability to add new users (updating is still not functioning properly)
- Added selected server indicator above rules
- Added loading username from manager on server select (will not overwrite global username)
- Cleared rules and players before checking selected servers status in case it is offline; this will prevent misleading info
- With above, also hide game launch button for server's not reachable.
- Added error handling (and a debug mode, click text 'Rules' to activate Chrome Inspector)
0.0.3 [April 26th, 2016]
- Fixed a problem with not being able to delete servers (right click server to remove).
- Fixed an issue where the wrong ip:port combination would appear when multiple servers were unresponsive.
- Fixed an issue where trying to send a password to a non passworded server after connecting to a passworded server.

[AK47]

Looks a bit too "Mac-ish" for my taste, nice nevertheless

[Teddy]

Looks a bit too "Mac-ish" for my taste, nice nevertheless

yeah, don't worry, I will actually make a skinnable version so it can be customized, one of the first alternatives will be material design

[TheLegitHabibi]

Nice skin sir, I'll give you that.
But does this have anything more to offer apart from aesthetic looks?

I don't mean to bash but I'll give you some good advice.
There's a software widely used by LS PR players. Among other features it offers 2 major things. Chat log backups. In game alerts when friends come online.

If you implement similar or better features into your program (which is just a skin atm :p) then I can see a lot of people using this over the default samp.

[Teddy]

Nice skin sir, I'll give you that.
But does this have anything more to offer apart from aesthetic looks?

I don't mean to bash but I'll give you some good advice.
There's a software widely used by LS PR players. Among other features it offers 2 major things. Chat log backups. In game alerts when friends come online.

If you implement similar or better features into your program (which is just a skin atm :p) then I can see a lot of people using this over the default samp.

At the moment, the main focus is getting the basics working so.. sure it's a bit prettier right now with out much. The idea of when friends come online and such won't work here as this isn't just for Argonath, it can be used for any server.

However, planned features include a username manager allowing you to easily set usernames per server rather than globally and trying to remember what server is what username, and a keychain for actually saving passwords for servers... which SA-MP's default notoriously doesn't.

[AK47]

yeah, don't worry, I will actually make a skinnable version so it can be customized, one of the first alternatives will be material design

Cool!

[Stivi]

will be material design

Sign me up.

[Kalvin]

Looks pretty fine. Can there be an android/iOS version of it, it would be great if one can be created. Up for testing anytime

[Stivi]

Looks pretty fine. Can there be an android/iOS version of it, it would be great if one can be created. Up for testing anytime

How do you expect an android/iOS app for this? What functionality would it have?

[Teddy]

Looks pretty fine. Can there be an android/iOS version of it, it would be great if one can be created. Up for testing anytime

Could, but why.. this is for connecting to servers, you can't connect on Android or iOS.

[Axison]

Sign me up for testing too!

[AK47]

I can help out

[Mark]

I'd like to test it, even tho i won't have much freetime in the next weeks i might be able to help out.

[Teddy]

I'll be sending on 0.0.2 soon to the handfull who have elected to help in testing; here is the manual for it's basic operation.

Code: [Select]

BrowserPlus by Teddy for SA-MP


Version 0.0.2-pre-alpha

The current version is highly experimental and has many undiscovered problems. Usage may be interrupted by these performance, or bugs.

Installation)

Extract the file `browserplus-0.0.2-pre-alpha.rar` to any directory.

Running)

Right click the `browserplus.exe` and select "Run as Administrator" (why admin? In order to set your username the app needs to access to modify windows registry values)


First Run)

You will need to tell the browser where it can find the GTA SA install (if it is different from your SA-MP install, use the SA-MP install directory). Navigate to where it's installed and copy the full address into the box provided.
Following this, fully restart BrowserPlus.

Adding a server)

To make the add server input appear, click the "+" in the main top menu. Copy and paste the server in the format of "server_address:port" (excluding quotes). To confirm and add, click the "+" button again. You can then click refresh to see the server added.

Setting a nickname)

Simply type into the username box. It is automatically saved and applied when joining a server.

Joining a server)

Click on any server, when it's rules set and players appear on the left, you'll see a paper airplane button appear to the right of the refresh button. Click that to join.

[AK47]

Well for some reason it keeps adding server after server so now I have 13 Argonath-ones and a bunch of others :p And it doesn't change the nickname for me and I cannot connect to any servers.

Using Windows 10 Pro