Get SheffieldForum on MSN6 (Advanced Users)

[Geoff]

The following is for advanced computer users only - you carry out the following modification at your own risk. I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to your PC as a result of this modification. If in doubt - don't try it!

 

Adding SheffieldForum to your MSN 6...

 

Feeling generous, I have adapted the forum so you can access the 20 most recent discussions via your copy of MSN Messenger 6. You can see a demo of what it does by clicking the link below.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/misc/msn6_demo.gif

 

Instructions (read disclaimer above before proceeding)

 

1. Find this file:

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\MSN Messenger\%number%\ConfigCache.xml

 

2. Right click the file and select copy. Right click again in a white area and select paste to create a back-up file.

 

3. Now right click again on configcache.xml and open it with Wordpad.

 

4. In that file will appear several blocks of code that look like this

 

<tab>

<image>{some text}</image>

<name>{some text}</name>

<tooltip>{some text}</tooltip>

<contenturl>http://{some text}</contenturl>

<hidden>false</hidden>

</tab>

 

These represent the Tabs that appear on the left-hand side of your MSN window. If you want to remove any of the existing tabs then simply delete the corresponding block of code, otherwise carry on to step 5.

 

5. Add this block of code to create the SheffieldForum tab

 

<tab>

<image></image>

<name>SheffieldForum.co.uk</name>

<tooltip>SheffieldForum.co.uk</tooltip>

<contenturl>http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/msn6tab.php</contenturl>

<hidden>false</hidden>

</tab>

 

If you want this new tab to appear at the top of your list, then paste the code directly under <msntabdata> (i.e. before the other <tab> blocks). Alternatively, if you want it to appear at the bottom, then paste the code just above </msntabdata> (which appears below the very last <tab> block).

 

6. Save and close the file. Then close and reboot MSN.

 

You should now see a blue question mark tab in MSN. Click it and you should see the last 20 discussions on the Forum. Also, while having that window selected, you can press F5 to refresh the information.

 

If anything goes wrong then go back and replace ConfigCache.xml with the back-up you made in step 2.

 

This is a great feature - but attempt it at your own risk

[nomme]

This is actually pretty easy to do and quite cool.

 

Give it a go.

 

As long as you make a backup copy of the file that you are editing you can always get back to your starting position if you make a mistake.

 

cheers

Nomme