Saturday, June 02, 2007

Verizon Minutes Used Firefox Extension Version 0.99

The problem with family plan in the version 0.98 is now fixed. You can download the new version here .

81 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Works fine now!
Family share, FF 2.0.0.4

Thanks for the great add-in:)

6/03/2007 08:38:00 AM  
Blogger Leon said...

FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for your diligence, patience, and expertise.

6/03/2007 09:24:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks so much!

6/03/2007 09:36:00 AM  
Blogger Cirtbrethren said...

You are the man. Works on all three of my systems.

6/03/2007 11:30:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great...thank you!!!

6/03/2007 04:27:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good work as always!

6/03/2007 06:02:00 PM  
Blogger Mike LaCon said...

Oh man, thanks so much =]

6/03/2007 06:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Working great for me now! Look for a donation. Thank you for your hard work.

6/03/2007 09:04:00 PM  
Blogger deonva said...

Works great, Thanks
I love this extension!

6/03/2007 11:01:00 PM  
Blogger Dave said...

Great extension! Any chance you can add data usage??! I believe this is displayed on the 'Current Usage Since Last Statement' page.

6/04/2007 01:40:00 AM  
Blogger Andy Lumley said...

Perfect and thanks very much.

6/04/2007 08:49:00 AM  
Blogger David H. said...

Great job, Winston, your work is appreciated

6/04/2007 09:11:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yay, it works. you rock. thanks.

6/04/2007 10:28:00 AM  
Blogger Scott Foust said...

Yep, works GREAT again.

This tool saves me big money every month (that's one reason I donated a little cash).

Thanks for updating it.

6/04/2007 12:13:00 PM  
Blogger Jon Kunze said...

This version is working on my system, but for some reason when I hover over the extension, it doesn't display the additional information except for the first time it checks the verizon site (data like monthly projection, etc.). Anyone else noticing this, or is it just me?

6/04/2007 06:52:00 PM  
Blogger Jon Kunze said...

I think it figured it out. I think the request was timing out. I set the timeout to 60 seconds and it seems to be working fine now.

6/05/2007 12:52:00 PM  
Blogger Josh said...

Mine still just says loading verizon minutes used ALL the time - I have no idea what I should do - any ideas?

It's not family plan, and it's set for west (even though I live in the east which is weird, but it would say bad login if I don't choose west)

6/09/2007 09:47:00 PM  
Blogger werddrew said...

Bomb extension, man, it's handy and functional.

6/10/2007 01:56:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mine still just says loading verizon minutes used ALL the time - I have no idea what I should do - any ideas?

Mine is doing this too. In the past, if I went to the Verizon site and signed in, then it would update, but now there is nothing. I changed the timeout time to 60 seconds as well.

I love this extension and appreciate the work done on it!

6/11/2007 11:07:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ignore my previous post ^^^

I got it now. I couldn't get firefox to acknowledge the extension update without multiple restarts. Not sure what the problem was.

6/11/2007 11:34:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i have two line in my family plan.
one of the phone has not been used this month. It has zero minute usage.

this extension shows family plan minutes also as zero.

6/14/2007 09:51:00 PM  
Blogger tedgotsoul said...

does the mouse over still work?

6/16/2007 10:52:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Im on a mac,10.4.9 running Firefox 2.004 and I get an installation error when I try to install version .99

6/20/2007 12:39:00 PM  
Blogger joe said...

Thank You. Very useful and well written extension. Just love it.

6/20/2007 11:41:00 PM  
Blogger mr good luck bear said...

GREAT TOOL, THANK YOU!!! Feature request: Can you please also show data usage in the mouseover? Also, if I could see my data usage and non-IN texts in the status bar along with my non-peak minutes, that would be awesome!

6/24/2007 01:56:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is great! The only thing keeping this from being the perfect Firefox plugin is the ability to track Text Messages used. I will be blogging this. Again thanks.

6/25/2007 12:42:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My Bad, My cycle had just started over so I had no sent or received TXTs. My TEXTS are showing now. This is the perfect Plugin. Thanks!

6/25/2007 01:30:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Winston -

I've been a user of your plugin but recently switch to AT&T with the iPhone.

Are you planning on working on a AT&T plugin? If not - what would it take for you to get interested? A little $$ ;o)

7/02/2007 09:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

has anyone else noticed odd logging in issues using firefox and this plugin? When i check the usage it never comes up and when i attempt to log in using firefox i get a "account is temporary unavailable" but if i switch over to the screen door (IE) it logs me in just fine.

7/05/2007 06:36:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All I can say is, "Wow", what an outstanding extension.

Thank you so much..!

7/08/2007 12:11:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Any chance to add in data plan usage? It would be handy.

Thanks.

7/10/2007 09:58:00 AM  
Blogger Kevin said...

Is anyone else having an issue where it will work when you first open firefox, but any subsequent checks fail?
The error I get is:
"Failed to parse the minutes used"
I have even tried upping the timeout to 60 with no luck.

Family Share, FF 2.0.0.4, XP

7/10/2007 09:59:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good work man...it working fine for me!!

7/17/2007 01:36:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm also getting "Failed to parse the minutes used" and have the same config as Kevin. -Roman

7/17/2007 12:48:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I too am getting the same error msg.
however my extension fails to parse at FireFox startup but will work if I do a manual refresh.

Ojo

7/18/2007 09:15:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Using with Verizon family plan and five phones. Last billing period, it seemed to work fine (although I think it counted every minute and not just family plan minutes). This billing period, it will not read family plan minutes unless I put a phone number in the optional number box. Then the task bar will show family plan minutes, but the hover details show the info for that particular number.

7/19/2007 10:53:00 PM  
Blogger DeAxes said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

7/22/2007 07:36:00 AM  
Blogger DeAxes said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

7/22/2007 07:38:00 AM  
Blogger DeAxes said...

Looks like they just changed their website yet again.

If it helps, they moved the website that shows what minutes used to "https://ebillpay.verizonwireless.com/vzw/
accountholder/overview/
unbilled-usage-minutes.do"
(it cuts it off)

I really love this plugin, it saves me from going over my minutes many times now!

7/22/2007 07:40:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Please release the source code

7/22/2007 03:53:00 PM  
Blogger Winston Huang said...

the source code is the extension itself. what else do you need? if you understand how a firefox extension works, you should not have asked this question.

7/22/2007 04:27:00 PM  
Blogger Cirtbrethren said...

I think Verizon may have changed it again, it just says, "Loading Verizon minutes used..."

7/22/2007 04:37:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

mine was working until last night
https://ebillpay.verizonwireless.com/vzw/accountholder/overview/unbilled-usage-minutes.do
new link
have to log in and there is a continue button to click once and then on you log in without it.
page is now completely different in how it displays everything.

mine was working until i closed and reopened today.

7/22/2007 05:38:00 PM  
Blogger Cirtbrethren said...

I'm flying some cash your way, Winston. Please keep up the good work!!

7/23/2007 12:12:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sent a donation. thanks for this great extension.

7/23/2007 01:38:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah.. it doesn't seem to be working anymore for me either. :(

7/23/2007 03:57:00 PM  
Blogger Kim said...

not working for me again....Boo Verizon....

7/23/2007 05:47:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Winston - are you working on a fix yet? - Thanks

7/23/2007 08:48:00 PM  
Blogger Winston Huang said...

i will look into this. i am currently on the road and may not get to it in a week. please be patient.

7/23/2007 10:02:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

i'd guess it's because verizon has just changed their account info site (it's much more needlessly complicated now, i think... though i've only just seen it for the first time). should only require a slight re-write, i hope.

7/24/2007 08:39:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Winston, What a game of cat and mouse this is between you and Verizon. Thank you for your good and valuable work, please keep it up.

Everybody, let's all show our appreciation by making a contribution - i just did. This free applet has saved me real money by letting me nip overages in the bud. If it's helped you why not consider making one too.

7/24/2007 02:42:00 PM  
Blogger Cirtbrethren said...

I agree with Smasho, I saved 20 bucks this month thanks to Winston, and I gave him 10.

7/24/2007 11:03:00 PM  
Blogger CampMaster Tom said...

Agreed!

Thank you so much for this extension!

Looking forward to the fix.

~CMT

7/25/2007 12:49:00 AM  
Blogger Bill said...

once again Verizon seems to be blocking this somehow. Thanks for all you've done, I hope a new workaround will be forth coming soon. I have FF2.0.0.5 just as an aside

7/25/2007 03:17:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it looks like 2.0.0.5 is the culprit, i have this extension working on another machine with FF 2.0.0.4. looking forward to 1.00, thanks!

7/25/2007 04:07:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hi! Great program!! Upgraded to FF 2.0.0.5 and now not logging in. Was working fine with 2.0.0.4. Just FYI.

Thank You

7/25/2007 05:53:00 PM  
Blogger Jon Kunze said...

I can also say that I upgraded to FF 2.0.0.5 and it broke as well.

7/26/2007 10:35:00 AM  
Blogger Moseskrieg said...

I tried rolling my ffx back to 2.0.0.4 but it still won't connect.

I did notice that the plug-in didn't cease functioning until after I had gotten my monthly statement. It probably doesn't mean anything.

Another note - My home computer is using a very old version of firefox (1.5 or something), and it worked up until about 20 July. So I definitely think it's something with Verizon's site, and not with firefox compatibility.

7/26/2007 12:08:00 PM  
Blogger Cirtbrethren said...

I have Firefox 2.0.0.4 running on another machine, and it doesn't work there, either.

7/26/2007 02:08:00 PM  
Blogger Falco98 said...

sorry guys, it has nothing to do with firefox version this time. Verizon's completely changed the account-info page, it'll simply take a bit of tweaking by Winston before it works again. FYI i've had FF 2.0.5 for several weeks with the extension working fine, only having broken in the past few days.

7/26/2007 05:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When are u going to update?
its been a week it doesnt work since verizon changed there website...
please hurry up! :D
thx~

7/28/2007 02:47:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We all love/use this extension. It's worth the price..free..so the previous comment is totally uncalled for. Her tone is like "it's been a week...so what's your problem..fix it". People like the above "chanana" should learn to program her own extensions...or keep her mouth shut...

7/29/2007 01:40:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This version stopped working for me last week sometime. Anyone else have that problem?

7/29/2007 12:20:00 PM  
Blogger Diana Cournoyer said...

Stupid Verizon! I don't know why they continually thwart Winston's cool extension. But, hey, that must be quite a compliment to Winston's skills and the popularity of his extension that a big ol' corporate giant like Verizon feels they have to constantly be on the defense against it. GO WINSTON!

And I agree with the other commenters about showing our appreciation for Winston with a little donation. I'll be sending in a few bucks myself. I love the extension and it has definitely saved me money in months past!

Thanks Winston!

7/29/2007 01:31:00 PM  
Blogger Angelo said...

Winston,

This is a great plug-in. I've noticed the past few days it is no longer working and it appears this is the case for everyone. So I logged into my Verizon account and I have bad news, they've changed a lot with navigation and there isn't even a page to see my current usage available yet. Everyone here who is eagerly awaiting an update may have to wait until there is information on Verizon's web site before Winston can do anything about it.

Verizon should create an API similar to Facebook so these web updates don't effect 3rd party tools like this one. Unfortunately the big wigs at Verizon most likely don't see the value of an API let alone this plugin. I see the value, making it easier to monitor my minutes makes me stay a Verizon customer.

7/30/2007 03:54:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great idea Winston! I'd like to know if there is a way to acomplish this same thing in IE. (our IT dept only allows us to install IE).
Is it even technically feasible to do this in IE?

7/30/2007 10:10:00 AM  
Blogger Cirtbrethren said...

Actually, Angelo, the consensus here has been that Verizon does not want its customers to have a tool like this to monitor our usage. Every time Winston fixes the extension, Verizon changes the website within a few weeks or so. Also, the Firefox Add-Ons website at one time hosted the extension, but has removed it without giving a reason. A case of money or influence trumps freedom?

7/30/2007 01:48:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is now the URL which displays minutes used, if that's any help.

https://wbillpay.verizonwireless.com/vzw/accountholder/overview/unbilled-usage-minutes.do

7/30/2007 03:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

someone below said verizon doesn't want us to have a tool like this.

that is probably correct -- but they aren't changing the website just to spite us. When microsoft makes a new version of windows, it isn't to spitefully screw over existing applications on the former architecture -- it's to improve something in some way -- even if it has the unfortunate consequence of incompatibility with third party software. they probably aren't even conscious of winston's extension -- at least the web development team themselves don't consider this when they're designing things. They don't output an XML scheme for us to consume.... winston kind of hacks at the page in its current state and hope structure isn't changed too much.... which is the best we can hope for at this point. you know how many hundreds -- thousands of dollars they have lost just from me alone as a result of this extension.... a good business practice, if their revenue is driven by overages, is to not support tools like this..... but they'd be evil to be spiteful towards people who want to save money. verizon is the most expensive cell service in the U.S.... but there's a reason. they're the best.

7/30/2007 05:21:00 PM  
Blogger Winston Huang said...

i am glad to see so many of you like the extension. i don't think verizon changed their site to only disable this extension. i am glad that i am not even a verizon's customer.

rest assured i will try to fix the extension as soon as possible. i haven't got much time to look at it yet.

7/30/2007 10:44:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hey, Winston. First of all, I wanted to thank you for your awesome extension. Second, we know the new address where usage is shown. Can you tell us what file in your extension needs to be edited to reflect the change? Would it be that simple?

7/31/2007 12:28:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brian-

It's not that simple. For your own enjoyment, change the extension of the plugin to .zip and open it. Then change the extension of the .jar file to .zip and open that. Changing the url is the easy part, parsing the page is what's going to take the most work.

7/31/2007 08:31:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It doesn't work anymore. Boooo! I think the new Verizon Wireless Layout broke it!

7/31/2007 09:07:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

0.99 stopped working for me last week and on 2 machines. Any thoughts?

-Andy

7/31/2007 10:58:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It appears that the minutesTicker.js file is what needs to be edited. I am not that hot at Java Script but I am willing to bet that someone out here can help with figuring out how to parse the new pages.

7/31/2007 02:20:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

8/02/2007 11:06:00 AM  
Blogger Stretchr said...

Winston,
I'm one of the many disappointed users who are sad to see that the extension is no longer working. This comment, however, is for you. Thank you for coming up with the idea for this extension and for all the work you have invested in it. This is absolutely the most used of any of the Firefox extensions that I have installed.

Cheers,
Stretchr

8/05/2007 06:20:00 AM  
Blogger Diana Cournoyer said...

That link given by Anonymous on 7/30 does not work. Here's the link to check current usage on the Verizon site:

https://wbillpay.verizonwireless.com/vzw/accountholder/overview/unbilled-usage-minutes.do

8/05/2007 12:15:00 PM  
Blogger Diana Cournoyer said...

Damn! Let me try this again (you will need to remove the spaces/hard returns, obviously!)

https://wbillpay.verizonwireless.com/vzw/
accountholder/overview/
unbilled-usage-minutes.do

8/05/2007 12:16:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Firefox keeps telling me version 1.0 is available, but when I update it stays at .99

8/05/2007 03:27:00 PM  
Blogger Winston Huang said...

try again. i fixed a problem with auto-update.

8/05/2007 03:42:00 PM  

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