Lightning Autofill v13.0.0 released

At long last, Lightning Autofill v13 has been released! The review process can take anywhere from 1-7 days (or longer for Firefox). Once approved, the update should start rolling out to all the browsers. This is one of the biggest updates ever, so there’s a lot to cover. Let’s go over the major changes right away…

Actions

Actions are like macros — they allow you to automate most of the things that you had to use JavaScript rules to do before, but without having to know any JavaScript. Here are the available actions:

  • AUTOFILL (demo) - execute a profile (this replaces the special Autofill() function from v11)
  • CLICK (demo) - click an element
  • DISPATCH (demo) - send one or more events to an element
  • OPEN (demo) - open a URL in the current tab or a new tab
  • RELOAD (demo) - reload the page until an element is found
  • SCRAPE (demo) - extract text from an element and store it in a temporary variable that can be used in subsequent rules
  • STYLE (demo) - apply custom CSS to an element
  • WAIT (demo) - wait for N number of seconds, or for an element to be loaded on the page

Please let us know on the Discord server if there are other actions you would like to see in the future.

Updated matching syntax

Version 13 has breaking changes to the matching syntax. However, all of your existing autofill rules should automatically migrate to the new syntax when you update or import, so you shouldn’t have to do anything. In the rare event that your rules are still using the old syntax and your autofills stop working, then you can manually update the rules to the new syntax (see FAQ #60). The new syntax is as follows:

  • Partial match on a supported attribute value: pattern
  • Exact match on a supported attribute value: "pattern"
  • Regular expressions (regex) match on a supported attribute value: /pattern/
  • CSS selector match: pattern (attribute value match takes precedence)
  • XPath match: //pattern
  • Comment syntax changed from /* ... */ to # ... (comments are ignored so they can be used for anything you want, such as labels and descriptions)

Supported attributes »

This new matching syntax pertains to these three areas in Lightning Autofill Options:

  1. Form Fields tab / Name column in rules table
  2. Form Fields tab / Site column in rules table
  3. Form Fields tab / profile Site field (below rules table)
  4. Exceptions tab (comments not allowed)

Four new variables

Lightning Autofill now supports the following variables:

  • ﹛a﹜ or ﹛a<number>﹜ - outputs a random lowercase letter (a-z)
  • ﹛A﹜ or ﹛A<number>﹜ - same as ﹛a﹜ except it outputs uppercase letters
  • ﹛%﹜ or ﹛%<number>﹜ - outputs a random hexadecimal string
  • ﹛#<number>-<number>﹜ - outputs a random number within a range (inclusive)

Bulk rename operation

When you have more than one profile selected in Manage Profiles, you can now click the Rename button to add text to the beginning (prefix) or end (suffix) of the selected profile names. This is a great way to organize profiles into categories when used with the “Context menu = Group profiles by category” option. You can also use this new feature to quickly add expiration dates for profiles you want to auto-delete when used with the “Profile expiration” option.

Redesigned help system

This release coincides with the debut of our overhauled modern documentation site. When you click on the Help button in Lightning Autofill Options, instead of opening a web page in a new tab, it will show the context-sensitive help in a side panel for easier referencing. The new help system also has a built-in search box to help you find things faster.

Other highlights

  • Added “Review changes” option. To prevent potential data losses when restoring data from Google Sheets, you can now enable this option to give you an opportunity to review the changes before clicking the Save button to commit the changes (similar to an import operation).
  • Added initial cloud sync dialog. Every time you connect your Google account, you will be shown this dialog so you can choose which direction to do the initial sync:

image

  • Added “Sync to Sheets” button. Usually you would never have to click this because data is automatically synced to your active spreadsheet in Google Sheets whenever you click Save in Lightning Autofill Options, but it’s here if you ever want to force sync something to Google Sheets. For consistency, the “Restore” button has been renamed to “Sync from Sheets”.
  • Disabled “Parse labels” by default and moved to Experimental. This option introduced a lot of issues, so it’s now disabled by default and given a warning when enabled so users are aware of the potential problems.
  • Improved debug mode logging style. The new debugging messages look a lot prettier:

image

  • Improved cloud sync security. Now when you disconnect your Google account, the list of spreadsheet IDs is cleared.
  • Fixed a boatload of cloud sync bugs (both newly discovered and regression issues; thank you Markus for helping to discover an important bug).
  • Added a Manage Profiles button to save you guys one mouse click:

image

JavaScript is too hard

For those who are wondering if there’s an easier way to program automations, then we have exciting news for you: we have designs on the roadmap for a new macro recording feature that will blow your socks off! It will basically watch what you do and generate all the required actions for you. Good things come to those who wait. 🎁

🎄🥂 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! 🎊🎆

Changelog

  • Added actions
  • Added ﹛a﹜ and ﹛A﹜ alphabetic variables
  • Added ﹛%﹜ hexadecimal variable
  • Added ﹛#n-n﹜ number range variable
  • Added support for variables in Checkbox/Radio rules
  • Added help docs in side panel
  • Added “Review changes” option
  • Added initial cloud sync dialog
  • Added “Sync to Sheets” button
  • Added bulk rename ability in Manage Profiles
  • Added Manage Profiles button
  • Added ability to directly sync to a new spreadsheet
  • Disabled “Parse labels” by default and moved to Experimental
  • Improved styles for disabled elements
  • Improved checkbox rules generation
  • Improved autofilling aria-autocomplete text inputs
  • Improved hints in Options / Settings tab
  • Improved developer mode popup
  • Improved debug mode logging style
  • Improved cloud sync security
  • Optimized saving and states via a queuing pipeline
  • Refactored code across the board for better efficiency
  • Renamed Restore button to “Sync from Sheets”
  • Updated default matching syntax to plain text
  • Updated comment syntax from /* ... */ to # ...
  • Updated Rules / Profile ID column to Profile in Sheets
  • Fixed stale extension resulting in JavaScript error
  • Fixed code editor losing focus regression issue
  • Fixed JavaScript rules not executed in some cases
  • Fixed JavaScript error in service worker
  • Fixed some forms not autofilled completely
  • Fixed rules generator regression issues
  • Fixed Google Forms dropdown autofill regression
  • Fixed “no tab with id” errors
  • Fixed error related to back/forward cache
  • Fixed regression allowing empty rules to be saved
  • Fixed regression bug in table row drag & drog
  • Fixed variables in text clips not working in some fields
  • Fixed text clip insertion issue
  • Fixed bi-directional sync issues
  • Fixed extension icon stuck on ”!” badge
  • Fixed Options not always refreshed on focus after sync
  • Fixed stuck on “Create new file on next save”
  • Fixed subscription deactivation issues
  • Fixed free quota not reset daily in some cases
  • Fixed some options not synced to infobar
  • Fixed page reload required after changing JavaScript rule
  • Fixed extra separator in extension menu (Firefox)
  • Fixed getScripts() error in some cases (Firefox)
  • Fixed regression issues with cloud sync
  • Fixed changes not synced to Google Sheets in some cases
  • Fixed incorrect button states in some cases
  • Fixed profile renaming issue
  • Fixed regex match regression issue
  • Fixed issue with changing profiles
  • Fixed broken Microsoft Office Forms detection
  • Fixed focusing issue with code editor