ptalk > Typekey, XHTML and Firefox

Typekey, XHTML and Firefox

Several people have complained that they could not make comments on my blog. I eventually tracked this down to Firefox’s strict XHTML interpretation disabling the (somewhat sloppy) Javascript that tries to dynamically generate the comment form. Cleaning up that Javascript was all that it took, although it took me more than an hour to find the bits that needed cleaning.

Here is the relevant code from the individual archive template that I had to change:

<mtentryifallowcomments>

[…]

            <div id="thanks">

Remove (but save) the Javascript that was here. Insert a span with an ID that will hold the commenter’s name, when you know it.

              <p>
                Thanks for signing in, <span id="commenter_name"> </span>. Now you can comment.

[…]

            </div>

Rather than generating the ‘not signed in’ text on the fly, include it here with an ID. We will enable one or the other of these divs in Javascript.

            <div id="nothanks">
              You are not signed in. You need to be registered to comment on this site.

[…]

            </div>

Insert the script that you saved above here. This script retrieves the name of the user if they are logged in to TypeKey.

<script type="text/javascript" src="&lt;MTCGIPath&gt;&lt;MTCommentScript&gt;?__mode=cmtr_name_js"></script>

Replace the script that used to appear here completely. This script uses XML commenting and accessors to insert the user’s name and enable the appropriate message.

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
    // <![CDATA[
    if (commenter_name) {
        document.getElementById('commenter_name').firstChild.data = commenter_name;
        document.getElementById('thanks').setAttribute("style", "display: block");
        document.getElementById('nothanks').setAttribute("style", "display: none");
    } else {
        document.getElementById('thanks').setAttribute("style", "display: none");
        document.getElementById('nothanks').setAttribute("style", "display: block");
    }
    // ]]>
</script>

[…]

Similarly with this script. If you are using TypeKey, the only important bits are whether to remember the URL the user provides or not. (One wonders why that does not come from TypeKey too?)

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
    // <![CDATA[
      document.getElementById('url').setAttribute('value', getCookie("mtcmthome"));
    if (getCookie("mtcmtauth") || getCookie("mtcmthome")) {
        document.getElementById('remember').setAttribute('checked',true);
    } else {
        document.getElementById('forget').setAttribute('checked',true);
    }
    // ]]>
</script>

That’s it!