Finally!
After about two months of hard work finishing up all the rough edges on the stuffplug code I had back then, it's finally ready to be released!
First and foremost, it's now compatible with WLM 8.5!
Other changes from 3.0.387 include, but are definitely not limited to:

• *loads* of bugfixes
• Complete User-Interface overhaul
• New feature: ProperColorize
• New feature: GroupBlock
• New feature: Security Speedup
• Updated feature: FakeInvite
• Updated feature: FriendlyName Editor (you can now enable and disable without restarting)
• Non-finished features are now in a user-accessible "Experimental" menu.

This isn't quite the long list you've probably expected for such a major release, but that's because most of the changes are actually internal or related to new features that are still far from finished.

Also, please note that this version is not compatible with Windows Live Messenger 9 beta for now.
We will release a seperate, new, version for that later.

Anyway, download here

Have fun,
TB

Hi all,

Windows Live Messenger 8.5 has been released a while back, and messenger 9.0 is already leaked, and as of now, there's no officially compatible version of StuffPlug for either of em.
I currently can't be bothered to write a proper report on how things are going, so here's a quick list of things that still need mentioning

• The current beta of StuffPlug 3 can be installed using this trick. It's not 100% compatible, but it works
• StuffPlug 3.9, to be released soon, will be compatible with WLM 8.5, but not with 9.0.
• StuffPlug 4.0, to be released somewhere next year, will be compatible with WLM 9.0, but not with earlier versions. WLM 9.0 has changed too many things internally to make a version that is both compatible with 8.0 and 9.0, so SP 3.9 will be the last version for WLM 8.x, and SP 4.0 will focus purely on WLM 9.0.
• As I'm currently in a rather nasty personal situation, none of the above mentioned release dates or spans are definitive. It all depends on how soon I get my ability to concentrate on this stuff back.
• the new major version number was mainly due to a complete overhaul of the user-interface, but as having a seperate major release for WLM 9.0 makes much more sense, this user-interface overhaul will now be in 3.9 (and in 4.0 too, but it won't be an overhaul then, will it )

I recall somewhere that I wanted to add more to this list, but I don't quite know what it was, so I'll probably edit this post later to add some things

- TB

EDIT:
First addition about the UI

Today I've opened a new section in the forum to keep everyone informed of the progress of stuffplug 3 development.
If you're interested in upcoming features, technical information about the inner working of SP, or just have no idea what else to read, go check it out

You can find the development blog here

Introduction
Yesterday a rather notorious messenger site thought they had something exclusive and special when one of the
translaters decided to leak the internal beta 3.0.371. However, we caught it quite quickly, the person responsible has been removed from the translators list and permanently banned.
Today, however, a somewhat more reliable site (namely this site) 'leaks' another beta. Or should we just call it a release? Whatever you want to call it, build 3.0.387 is now available to download right here
So much for their 15 seconds of internet 'fame'.

Changes
Changes from version 3.0.286 include, but are not limited to:

• Can be loaded on WLM 8.0.0812, 8.1.0168, and 8.1.0178 (although only the latter is officially supported)
• Removed feature: AdHider has been removed (see further down)
• New feature: replace default emoticons with custom emoticons
• New feature: Ability to turn SP convo button on or off
• New feature: Ability to turn SP contactlist button on or off
• New feature: More than 5 custom emoticons per message
• New feature: Timezone adjustable clock per contact
• New feature: WordwheelAdd, type the email address of someone not yet in your contact list in the word wheel, and you can add em
• New feature: customizable timestamps.
• Fixed feature for WLM 8.1: BlockTalk
• Fixed feature for WLM 8.1: KeyboardLED
• Fixed feature: CE/DP Stealer now shows animated emoticons.
• Fixed feature: use better icons for status-icon features
• Fixed feature: StatusIcons now also changes icon in window itself
• New loader (Should fix Vista x64 problems)
• Loads of (bug)fixes
• Loads of UI updates
• New silly alpha animation on drop down options (like chatname, timestamps, flashled)
• Windows of the same type now only open once.
• Fixed several memory leaks.
• Made installation directory choosable
• Removed button from login window

AdHider Removed
Although I had done my best to provide an Ad-hiding method that would be less severe to MS than completely removing it whilst still useful for the user.
However they feel that anything that tampers with the advertising, be it just hiding or completely removing, would damage their advertising income, and as such the feature would have to be removed.
As the Windows Live network relies solely on advertising, I feel that they are certainly in a position to state this, which is why I have chosen to honour their request.
I can understand those ads can be nuisance, but it's a lot better than having to pay for messenger, so you'll just have to live with it.

New features
Although most of the new features are self-explanatory, some of them are quite confusing, so here's a little introduction to some of them.

Timezone adjustable clock
I, and many others, use WLM to talk to a lot of international contacts. Most of these contacts also live in a different timezone, and it's really hard to keep track of which timezone everyone is in, and what time it would be in that timezone.
That is why I introduced timezone adjustable clocks to StuffPlug 3. Basically it adds a little clock in the conversation window, below the display picture, that reflects the time in the timezone you have set for that person.
If you click the little arrow beside it, you can choose from a list of timezones, or have StuffPlug 3 request the timezone for the user.
The clock itself can just be enabled even if the other user does not have stuffplug, but the requesting of the other timezone requires the other user to have StuffPlug 3 installed, and the special feature enabled.

Wordwheel Add
The search bar (wordwheel) at the top of the contact list is very useful, but I (and some others on the forum) felt that it lacked one big thing.
If you'd be searching for someone and he wouldn't be found on your contactlist, you'd naturally want to add him. However, this requires you to open up a new menu, and re-typing the e-mail address.
No more with this new feature, if no contacts can be found matching your search string, you are offered to add this person as a new contact with one click of your mouse

Languages included
Because this version was released slightly (a lot) before the planned date, not all translators have had time to properly translate. This is why only the following languages have been included:

• English
• Dansk
• Nederlands
• Eesti
• Finnish
• Francais
• Hebrew
• Italiano
• Korean
• Chinese Simplified
• Slovenian
• Swedish
• Turkish

Download
Download StuffPlug 3.0.387 right now!

Edit: Messed up a little, typo on filename and version number. Fixed now, as well as a french language included, and a new bit to post added

Alright, it's been a while since I had time to work on StuffPlug, and in the mean time Microsoft released Windows Live Messenger 8.1.0178. I don't have a fully compatible version yet, nor do I have a release-ready version at the moment, so you'll have to settle with StuffPlug 3.0.286.

Luckily, StuffPlug 3.0.286 is completely compatible with WLM 8.1.0178 except for the Keyboard-LED flashing and talk while blocked features. I will make sure these features are fixed in the next release, but it's going to take a while.

So yeah, if I'm posting anyway, I might as well give you some news on what'll be coming up with the next release
Gune already posted some pictures here, but there's no real list of what's changed, so here goes:
- WLM 8.0 compatible
- New feature: replace default emoticons with custom emoticons
- Windows of the same type now only open once.
- Fixed several memory leaks.
- New feature: More than 5 custom emoticons per message
- Made installation directory choosable
- Fixed feature: use better icons for status-icon feature
- Status-icon feature now also changes icon in window itself
- New feature: Ability to turn SP convo button on or off
- New feature: Ability to turn SP contactlist button on or off
- Fixed feature: AdHider overhaul
- New feature: Timezone adjustable clock per contact
- loads of UI updates
- loads of other miscellaneous bugfixes

So yeah, the next version will totally rock Be sure to keep an eye out for it

Another update
It took me a while, but I feel i've done more in two days than I could ever have imagined. Basically, I fixed all known bugs, I fixed all broken features, and I even had time to stick in some other tiny fixes

Here's the full changelogfrom 264 to 286:
- Fixed Parsing errors on some locales (swedish/finish?)
- Fixed parsing errors on Remote Desktop/Fullscreen apps/16-bit colors
- Thus fixing all parsing errors
- Fixed Talk while Blocking feature
- Fixed keyboard led flashing feature
- Replaced UI header image with "StuffPlug 3" intead of "Stuff Plug"
- Replaced default language flag for a proper english one (thanks Lord d'Eath!)
- Added language fixes by Lord d'Eath
- Fixed popup-menu always-on-top issues with MessPatch
- Fixed CE/DP Stealer
- Fixed FN-Editor emoticon issues
- Made CE/DP Stealer wordwheel slightly smaller to leave more space for languages
- Most windows now remember their size when closed
- Installer should now close WLM properly
- Languages are now sorted in the language chooser
- Dropdown menu now colorized

So yeah, this one is *way* more stable than any of the previous releases, so grab a copy ASAP
Mind you that this build is still only compatible with WLM8.1

Have fun,
TB

Update (2007-01-06 19:29 +0000): There is now a new version of StuffPlug which should fix these errors!

Quite a lot of you have experienced some weird problem where SP3 windows wouldn't load, giving weird Parsing errors, and even conversation windows fucking up.
I haven't quite fixed that bug yet (don't have time yet), but I did find out what it can be caused by.
If you have the problem, Go to the control panel, Date Time Language and Regional Options, Regional and Language option, and change the top-most dropdown box to English. This should help.
And if it helps in your case, please let me know which language it was originally set to (I know Swedish causes problems, but if more languages cause problems, please let me know!)

Anyway, this is only a temporary fix, I'm working on a permanent fix. So remember what it was set to first, and also don't forget to check for updates every day or two.

Hope this results in a bug-free SP3 experience for all of you!

- TB

Alright, the newyear-release wasn't quite as stable as I had expected it to be, so here's a little update.
The whole problem lies in the fact that I always test with the latest WLM I can get my hands on, which was 8.1.0168 in this case. This required some major changes from 8.0, which made it work only and exclusively on 8.1. I can't really undo those changes just like that, so I'm going to leave them in.
This means that this new beta still requires 8.1.0168, but this time the installer will check your Windows and WLM version and warn you before installing
If you want to know where to get 8.1.0168, check the FAQ.

I haven't had time to fix the talk-while-blocking, keyboard flashing, or the CE/DP Stealer, but I did take a look at the current bugs:
- The "Entrypoint" error message is caused by a wrong version of WLM, just update to the beta and you should be fine.
- The "DBG error" or the Polygamy issues were caused by me opening a file exclusively *grin*, fixed that
- I have no idea where the parser errors came from, I'll need more info on that, but I'll make a seperate post on that once I have time to look into it.

The complete change-list:
- Added instructions on how to translate to installer
- New installer side-image (previously was SPNG image, now says StuffPlug 3)
- Added 20 extra languages to this release
- Solved Polygamy issues (or "DBG error" issues)
- Added WLM version check to installer
- Installer refuses on pre-2000
- Installer warns on pre-XP

Anyway, enough talking, get it while it's hot.
Have fun with this release, report bugs and glitches if you find them, but *please* look if there are any previous reports of them! Duplicate entries only make it more difficult for me to get a quick overview of bugs to fix!

Bye,
TB

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And best wishes for 2007 to everyone

And to start the year of good, I've released the first beta of StuffPlug 3 just a few minutes ago!
It's not 100% functional, as the keyboard-led flashing and the talk while blocked feature are completely broken, and the CE/DP Stealer doesn't appear to pick anything up. Apart from that, everything should be working
However, if you do encounter any bugs, please do report them on the bug manager!
And if you have any question, don't be afraid to ask them on the forum

Have fun,
TB

PS don't expect any updates before 4 jan, I've got a rather important exam on the 3rd

So here I am, still awake at 01:51 AM. This can mean only one thing... well... two actually, either I'm insomniac, or I've started working more actively on StuffPlug again.
I can't tell you which one of those two it is, as I'm not quite sure myself, but I can tell you I just did a little update to the site
Initially I set off to fix the chatbox, but because of some technical stuff (compilers being b0rked) I couldn't fix that without relying on the hosting company, so I figured I'd go fix the download page. It's nothing new really, because it still links to the latest StuffPlug 2, but now at least you get fancy colors and a download counter
As for StuffPlug 3, it still isn't ready for release yet, but at least we did get it to be WLM 8.1 compatible, which was broken before. But now I finally have proper internet and all that (even a shiny new laptop), so I hope I can get StuffPlug 3 ready for release very soon

Anyway, sorry to keep you all waiting so long, but I promise you it'll be worth the wait

Bye,
TB

EDIT:
OLD vs NEW
Spot the differences!