Re: @Marti:

Hi Marti.

Thanks for looking at this so quickly - and sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I got tied up in real world work and only just got around to doing more to my scripts. Anyway, I did another push from GitHub today, updating the user.js and meta.js at the same time, and the correct one came through fine.

Looks like it's all sorted for me.

I use Github to keep track of my code, and have previously used "Import Script from Github" to load my scripts onto this site, with a webhook to keep them synced. This has worked fine in the past, but recently when I have pushed scripts to my master branch on Github, the .meta.js file has been pushed to this site, rather than the .user.js file. I've had to manually cut'n'paste everything into the Source Code edit box to get them working again - which rather defeats the point of syncing with Github...

Any idea what has changed to make this happen, or what I might be doing wrong?

I have multiple userscripts in separate folders in the same repo. Each script has a meta file as well as the main code, and some have other .js modules as well. I don't seem to be getting random scripts synchronised - but the site seems to be either getting the metadata rather than the userscript file, or getting the correct file but truncating it after the header block, I can't tell which.

Sorry, it looks like GC.com were only testing MapBox briefly, and it's disappeared again from the website now. As MapBox is a proprietary supplier, and the interface looks complicated, I'm not planning on implementing it myself at the moment.

Hopefully this is now fixed with a new update (v0.7.3.2). Let me know if there are still problems - I haven't had time for much testing.

This script isn't working at the moment due to changes on the Environment Agency's website. I'll clear this issue out once I've re-written it, but I'm not planning to get round to it quickly.

As far as I can see from your screenshot, GME is working OK, but the link to the map server is too slow. The "pending" messages mean that your web browser has asked the server for a map tile, and is waiting for the response. There are lots of possible reasons for this, and not much I can do to fix any of them. The problem could be anywhere along your link: on your own PC, any part of the internet connection to the server, or a problem like overloading on the server itself.

One thing I did notice is that you are still using old settings for Mapquest. In recent versions of GME, I updated URLs to use secure versions of the map servers (https URLS). If you click GME's cog icon to see the configuration screen, then click "Defaults", it will start using the new default settings, which may work better. However, this will also remove any custom map codes you had installed, so make sure you get a copy of these first.

I've still not noticed this problem on my own system, but I normally only use Chrome for testing scripts. I'll try using it a bit more often to see if it happens to me.

Given that what you are seeing is intermittent, it does sound like a network issue, but I'm not sure why that would affect GME's maps specifically, and leave the Groundspeak-provided defaults still working.

You can check whether it is a network problem by looking in the Network tab of the Chrome Console. Press Ctrl-Shift-J to open the console, and click the Network tab, then pan the map. You should see messages come up as the website requests new map tiles; there will be three main types. map.info files are data - ignore these for now. map.png files come from geocaching.com and show where the geocaches are. The actual map tiles will come from other servers and have a variety of names, but you should be able to recognise them from their thumbnails.

The status code for each map tile file should be 200. If it's not, let me know the code. 403 means a permissions problem, 404 means the file can't be found on the server. 5xx codes are for server errors. The Type of each file should be image/jpeg or image/png. If it's something like text/html, it probably means the server is sending an error message rather than an image. If the time or latency is high (many seconds, rather than microseconds), it could be that there are problems with your internet connection.

If you don't see any requests in the Network console as you pan the map, then there probably is something wrong with the script.

I'm not seeing this problem myself, so you'll need to give me some more information. Are you using Chrome on a Mac, a PC, or something else? Have you installed GME directly as a native Chrome extension, or are you using Tampermonkey? If you disable GME, does the problem go away? Are there any error messages showing in the Chrome console (on the PC, you press Ctrl-Shift-J to see the console). Can you see GME's icons at the bottom-left of the map window?

Generally, if the map goes grey it means that there is a problem with your one of the map servers - perhaps the one that you use for your default map. If you select a different map, it may fix the problem. It can also happen if the map you are using doesn't have coverage of the area or zoom level you are looking at (e.g. MapQuest Ariel in most of Europe), or if your internet connection has gone down.

You can also try these trouble-shooting tips.

OK, I've got myself a Github account, and started off here: https://github.com/OpenUserJs/OpenUserJS.org/wiki/Userscript-beginners-HOWTO

I've not got much free time at the moment, so bear with me, but I'll write what I can.

Would it be possible to get together a guide to help total newbies install userscripts? I am thinking of something that assumes zero previous knowledge, for people who don't already use Greasemonkey or similar. I want to write scripts that are useful for people who aren't geeks, and who use different browsers and hardware to me, but I don't want to have to write new installation instructions for each script, for every single browser.

I know there's a certain amount of documentation on places like Greasespot.net, but it's hard to navigate and if I am pointing my users at one single place to get my script, I don't want to have to point them at half a dozen different places for installation instructions. Most of the HOWTO guides I've found online are sketchy in detail, outdated, assume one particular browser, mention USO too often, or are covered with "Download now!" spam.

I think we would need to cover the following:

• What are userscripts (in non-technical terms)
• How to get hold of a decent browser if they're using IE.
• Which userscript managers, if any, are required/available for each common browser (Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey, Ninjakit, etc.).
• Which of those add-ons currently work, and whether they have any obvious limitations (e.g. no cross-site XHR). Again, this needs to be in non-technical terms, e.g. "This add-on may not let you run scripts that claim to let you incorporate information from one website into another".
• How to install the userscript manager.
• How to install userscripts, either natively in a browser, or via a userscript manager.
• How to update scripts (if this isn't automatic).
• How to uninstall userscripts.
• Simple fault finding (i.e. disabling scripts to check what is causing a problem; changing execution order).

Pictures would be good, and given the number of points I've just written, it might lend itself to a wiki format rather than a single page. Being able to edit collaboratively would help keep things up to date. I'd be very willing to contribute text for the platforms I'm familiar with.