Hey AltoRetrato,

I guess IMDB changed something again. I cleared the highlighted database and tried to do a new refresh, but no highlights.

I am on the latest Chrome version (Version 126.0.6478.127 64Bit), Tampermonkey 5.2.0, Scrip version 1.5.3 with no changes.

Maybe u will have some time to have look.

Best regards

Please, a minute of silence for this Titanic moment: the script hit the IMDb iceberg and sank! 😔

It's Dead, Jim!

Remember when I said that IMDb is changing the way lists are exported?

The script IMDb "My Movies" Enhancer was created in 2008, and since 2011, the "highlighting" data came from downloading the IMDb lists via export links.

If you open the JavaScript console in your browser(Ctrl+Shift+J) and "Refresh highlight data", you'll see many 404 errors like "Error 404 downloading https://www.imdb.com/list/ls0000xxxxx/export".

The export links are "Gone with the Wind" - IMDb just blew them away!

Basically, before today (or whenever IMDb changed the list export system), there was a single URL to export each of your IMDb lists, and the script downloaded and used the data from them. Now, those URLs don't exist anymore, rendering the script unusable as it is. Exporting IMDb lists is now more complex and, most importantly, seems to be slower. So, even if I manage to use the new export system, the script could become almost unusable, especially for users with many large lists. Additionally, there could be other limits implemented in the new export system (e.g., a max total number of lists being exported at once or per day / week / month) that would only become apparent after spending time implementing the required changes.

Back to the Future

I also mentioned I had ideas to revamp the script and reduce the number of refreshes - or even remove them entirely! I could also take the opportunity to implement new features I've always wanted, such as new highlighting styles, personalization without users editing the code, and many more. The downside is that implementing those ideas requires writing a brand new script (or browser extension) from scratch. At this moment in my life, I just don't have the free time to do it, and frankly, neither the motivation to do more work (and more sophisticated work) for free (including constant maintenance).

I currently see the following options moving forward:

1. If anyone has a good idea for a simple and fast workaround, I could patch the script to bring it back from the Land of the Dead.
2. Ask IMDb to bring back those export links (That was a joke - Haha - Fat Chance)
3. Use a crowdfunding platform (or some other means) to cover the development cost of a new script / browser extension.
4. Hope someone else rolls up their sleeves and do the dirty work for me.
5. Do nothing. It had a good run, and all good things must come to an end...

Any other thoughts?

Thank you for your feedback.

I completely understand what you mean. IMDB doesn't make it easy with all the changes in recent years (many of which have been rather bad).

Unfortunately, I don't know much about the whole thing, so I can only imagine how much work it is.

Your script has been the best IMDB feature for me in recent years. I can see directly in the overview of an actor which movies I have seen and which I still want to see. It's so easy with your script. There is simply no alternative. Without your script I would have to click on each movie to see if I have it in a list or not.

Since IMDB makes little sense to me without your script, I would definitely be willing to support you for your work on it.

However, as you say, the reprogramming will take some time. So I will have to do without your great script for a long time.

I hope there will be a solution so that it is not really the end.

Oh noooo, this moment has finally come... :-/
Thanks for your work and for the details of the sinking.

So, the export feature still exists, and it seems to still use the same format. Would it be possible to make it so the user could manually download the .csv and copy/paste its contents into a form? It would make the script a lot more impractical, but still usable for those of us willing to take a minute to set it up. And I imagine not a lot of new code would need to be written, since it's mostly taking features out. It's a shame it has come to this, but it seems to be the only solution that wouldn't require a lot of your time.

Either way, thanks for all your work on this. Weird to think I've been using this little script for over a decade now.

Re: @alienfoil: Thanks for your comment! While your suggestion would work in theory for some, it would be impractical for many users with hundreds of lists (or those with even a few that are updated constantly). I'd rather spend more time creating code to update the data automatically than spend less time on the code and more time updating the data manually later.

Re: @AltoRetrato:

I have been using this script for more than seven years
Thank you for the beautiful work
I want to know how we can get you to update the script and work well with the new site?
If you have a Patreon page, I will give you some money even if you don't update the script
You are an amazing person and you deserve it

Re: @kaser4: Thanks! One of the issues is that IMDb constantly changes and increases the complexity of the website. To create a new script or browser extension that is more resilient to these changes, I need to write more redundant code and apply fixes more frequently. In other words, it will take much more time and effort. Monetizing this work would be the simplest and fastest way to address the issue. After all, I'm a freelancer, so time spent on this script for free means less time working or finding a paying contract.

As soon as I get a crowdfunding ready I'll post about it here.

Re: @AltoRetrato:
If you think of making a new script and need money just post it here
We will support you.

Definitely willing to contribute.
Feel like I've been blinded on IMDb without the Enhancement. (Got a new computer, so all colors are lost.)

The IMDb "My Movies" enhancer script is so useful that I just restored Firefox back to a backup from last week to restore the highlights.

My vote would be for a quick-and-dirty temporary solution, such as user downloading the .CSV files and then uploading them back to the script, even if this is by no means a long term solution. Because, anything is better than nothing.

I would definitely be willing to contribute.

Note: I only main a handful of lists, of which "seen movies" is the largest and most frequently modified. I only update the highlights a couple of times a year.

Same here: It almost feels like if IMDB became useless to me since the 'My Movies' enhancer script doesn't work anymore.

I hope you (@AltoRetrato) or someone else will build a new (future proof) script / browser extension.

Like many others have said, I'm definitely willing to contribute to the project.

If not I hope someone will be able to work on a temporary solution mentioned by msschmitt, where we need to download and (re)upload our lists to be able to match it with the script. Anything better that not having the script at all.

Hi everyone.

First at all, thanks to AltoRetrato for his user script. For me, it has been indispensable on IMDb over all the years. I sorely missed it and spent months searching unsuccessfully for alternatives. It's a shame that IMDb has made it so difficult to keep the script up to date with all the changes to the site. I hope AltoRetrato will pick up the project again at some point.

Since I haven't found anything comparable, and unfortunately, I'm not capable of programming something like this on my own, I tried it with the help of AI. The result is more or less a combination of the basic framework of AltoRetrato and ChatGPT. Not everything works as before, for example, I haven't found a way to automatically import the rating list (you have to go through a bit more complicated procedures here now).

So far, I've only been able to test it on Windows with the latest version of Chrome/Firefox and the Tampermonkey add-on. There are certainly quite a few bugs. Feel free to collect them, but I can't guarantee whether I have the time or the ability to fix them.

Perhaps AltoRetrato can use this as a basis and publish a fully functional version of his own user script.

I hope this helps some people. Enjoy!

https://openuserjs.org/scripts/tronix42/IMDb-Lists-Highlighter

P.S. AltoRetrato, if you have any objections to this publication, just let me know and I'll delete everything.

I'm working on a hacked script too. I've got it working for importing one list at a time, now working on a better import interface.

I too hacked the My IMdb My MOvies enhancer script to allow the user to import the CSV files. And I too needed help from an AI; I'm a programmer but not a Javascript programmer.

The way it works is the user first manually exports their lists from IMDb. Unlike the original script, the user will choose which lists they want to have highlighted. And that means you don't have to export_all_ of your lists, only the ones you intend to import into this script.

You also don't need to export lists that haven't changed since the last export, assuming you save the .csv file. But since the "Refresh highlight data" function first erases all of the previous data, you must import your full set of lists (that you want to be highlighted) every time.

This version gives a dialog with a list of your lists and an import button for each one. Note that is important that you import the correct .csv file for a list, because there's nothing in the .csv file that can be used to match it to a list name. And that means you need to correctly rename the .csv files when you export them.

This script still has the old download code; the main changes are in the importLists and downloadOK functions.

You can copy the list from here. Let me know if there are any questions.

... @tronix42 I just peeked at yours, that's a lot more advanced!

Thanks a lot for your propositions @msschmitt and @tronix42.