Salon Letter Filter Script beta

[(11/10/09) Salon has again changed its Letter format in conformance with its new beta page layout. Presumably this change will be permanent]

Salon has changed the format of their letters pages, obviously in order to make them even less readable than they were before, and the earlier Salon Letter Filter Greasemonkey script no longer works. Here is the text of a revised script that should function until Salon changes the format again. To install, copy everything between //BEGIN CODE and //END CODE into a text file (do not copy //BEGIN CODE and //END CODE). Name the text file salonletterfilterbeta.user.js and save it. If you already have Salon Letter Filter installed, you do not need to uninstall it before installing the new file. Simply open the new file in your browser (you can drag and drop). If Greasemonkey is installed and active, when you open the file a Greasemonkey dialog will appear asking if you want to install the script. Click on install.
Alternatively, if you think you know what you are doing, you can simply edit the installed script and replace those lines of code that have been changed with the new ones.

IMPORTANT: Your file name must end with .user.js for Greasemonkey to recognize it as a user script.

Do not panic if it appears that the lines of code end in midair on the blog page. It is all there even if it doesn't display because of the Blogger page layout. Simply select the code, copy it, and paste it into a new text file. Notepad or some other fairly simple text editor is recommended for this.
This version also removes ads from Salon Letter pages. If you actually prefer to see the ads, simply remove the code at the end that begins with “// ad remover”.
There is also an enhancement that increases the size of the poster's name slightly to make it easier to see. If you prefer the original setting, edit the file and put “//” at the beginning of the line that begins “thisAuthor.innerHTML = "<span style=”.
The greasemonkey script for the letter filter is no longer available as a download. To install it, you must copy the code from here into a file on your own computer. We regret the inconvenience.

//BEGIN CODE
//
//          MANUAL CONFIGURATION REQUIRED
//
// To configure the letters filter, you must have a "killfile" variable configured.
// A template for this variable is given below.  The "killfile" varable includes a 
// comma-delimited string of the nyms of the authors that you wish to filter out.
// A sample "killfile variable configuration looks like:
//
//            new String(killfile = 'author1,author2,author3');
// or
//            new String(killfile = 'author');
//
// Simply replace the word "authors" in the template below with the nyms of the authors you
// wish to expunge, each one separated by a comma, and save the file.
// Entries are case insensitive. Since the "killfile" will become a regular expression,
// regular expression metacharacters (such as "." or "+") appearing in a nym should be
// preceded by a backslash ("\"; e.g., 'L\.W\.M\.') in order to work properly.
//
   new String(killfile = 'authors');
   if (killfile.length == 0) exit;
//
// --------------------------------------------------------------------
//
// This is a Greasemonkey user script.
//
// To install, you need Greasemonkey: http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org/
// Then restart Firefox and revisit this script.
// Under Tools, there will be a new menu item to "Install User Script".
// Accept the default configuration and install.
//
// To uninstall, go to Tools/Manage User Scripts,
// select "Letter_Filter", and click Uninstall.
//
// --------------------------------------------------------------------
//
// ==UserScript==
// @name          Salon Letter filter beta
// @author        Frankly, my dear, ...
// @namespace     http://language-grammar.blogspot.com/2009/09/salon-letter-filter-script-version-002.html
// @description   Filter letters from Salon. WARNING: manual configuration required. Before use you must edit the script and enter your "killfile" in the string variable near the top of the script.
// @include       http://letters.salon.com/*
// @version       0.0.1
// ==/UserScript==

//
//  Set debug to 1 to see debug output in Javascript console
//
var debug = 1;
// 
// Only print information to console if debug is on
//
//function myGM_log(args) {
//  if (debug == 1) {
//    GM_log(args);
//  }
//}    

//
// Shortcut function to evalute an XPath in the document
//
function xpath(query, sourceDoc) {
  return document.evaluate(query, sourceDoc, null, XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE, null);
}

myregexp = new RegExp(killfile.replace(/, */g, "|"), "i");
//alert(myregexp);
var allLets, thisLet, allAuthors, thisAuthor, allFooters, thisFooter, allHeads, thisHead;
allHeads = xpath("//div[@class='posts']/div[@class='letter']/h2[@class='headline md']",document);
allLets = xpath("//div[@class='posts']/div[@class='letter']/div[@class='deck md']",document);
allAuthors = xpath("//div[@class='posts']/div[@class='letter']/div[@class='byline'] | //div[@class='posts']/div[@class='letter']/div[@class='byline premium']",document);
allFooters = xpath("//div[@class='letter_entry_footer']",document);
for (var i = 0; i < allLets.snapshotLength; i++) {
 thisHead = allHeads.snapshotItem(i);
 thisLet = allLets.snapshotItem(i);
 thisAuthor = allAuthors.snapshotItem(i);
 thisFooter = allFooters.snapshotItem(i);
 var author = thisAuthor.innerHTML;
thisAuthor.innerHTML = "<span style='font-size:90%;color:black'>" + thisAuthor.innerHTML + "</span>";
 if (myregexp.test(author)) {
  mymatch = myregexp.exec(author);
  thisLet.innerHTML = "<h2><b>Letter from " + mymatch + " deleted</h2></b>" + thisFooter.innerHTML;
  thisHead.innerHTML = "";
  thisFooter.innerHTML = "";
  thisAuthor.innerHTML = "";
  //thisLet.innerHTML = "";
 }
}
// ad remover
var allAds, thisAd;
allAds = xpath("//div[@class='ad_content' | //div[@id='ad_Top']",document);
for (var j = 0; j < allAds.snapshotLength; j++) {
 thisAd = allAds.snapshotItem(j);
 thisAd.innerHTML = "";
}
//END CODE