Significant problems with a PBEM game along these lines using 6.6.5 just discovered.
Another solution is to roll back to the old version 6.6.4 (as the OP suggested works), until the problems are identified and fixed in the new version.
These suggested 'field fixes' of extensions are fine as they go, but what's not being mentioned is that we had no problems with the previous versions of VASL all the way back to 3.1.17. All of a sudden, perhaps due to the new HTML-enabled approach for the chat box, problems with color, problems with results not printing out, and so on. Is it not more likely that the source of the problem is the new module itself -- rather than old extensions we've been playing with for years -- causing problems with the chat communication?
No. You are not correct.
This is what has happened:
I updated the chat window in VASL to use html rather than older, less flexible tools that limited what could be done in chat.
While not without issues, that update, which was released in beta a number of months ago, has worked. No longer are VASSAL messages, especially when connecting online, containing html hieroglyphics that make reading the message more difficult. That is just one example of an improvement. The update was aimed at building a platform for the future rather than implementing specific visual changes here and now.
Over time a number of third parties have developed extensions that interacted with the chat window using the previous VASL code. It would not surprise me if some of them actually created a new chat window. These extensions no longer work with the new chat window code. In some cases the result of 'not working' is that they show duplicate windows or place buttons floating in the middle of the window.
There is no code that I can sensibly add to 6.6.5 to fix this. As you point out sticking with 6.6.4 is a perfectly legitimate way to go and the extensions will continue to work as they have.
The extensions (not every one, just those that add to or change the chat window) have to be updated to work with the new html code. Since those extensions were developed by third parties, I don't have the right or the permission to just go and change them. Nor do I know which extensions exist. There are some posted on VASL.info but by no means all. People can create an extension whenever they wish and I have no control over that (nor do I want any). I am certainly prepared to work with any extension developer to make the necessary changes.
I could not have reached out to extension owners beforehand because (a) I don't know who they are and (b) I don't know what is inside their extensions so I can't tell if they will have a problem or not.
Removing extensions is the easiest way in the short term to fix certain problems that people have been reporting. Especially since many of those extensions are now obsolete. There would be no point in updating them.
There are of course other bugs with that chat window update that have nothing to do with extensions and that need a VASL fix. And I have been commiting to do that.
. . . Also the die color problem is pernicious. I can only get a black coloured die roll view in the chat box if I am using the dice over the map option. I've tried changing it but the dice color only seems to change in the dice over the map. It's definitely not an improvement to see only black-colored die in the chat box. Maybe I'm missing something there and it's fixable.
To change the colour of the coloured die in Dice Over the Map, you use the preference in the Dice Over Map tab in the Preferences Window. To change the colour of the coloured die in the Chat Window you use the preference in the Chat Window tab in the Preferences Window. Each preference works only for it's specific die display. To change both coloured die you must change both preferences.
The font color I've chosen for opponents messages is changed to my color when doing interstitial logs in PBeM; that didn't happen before with 6.6.4 on back. Combined with the 'not showing immediately after typing a message' problem, it's become much less fun doing PBeM when the opponents messages turn to the same color as my own.
Of course, it's not as if PBeM is the most desired mode of play but a lot of people only have time for that.
I will check on the font colour issue. There was an earlier reference to a background colour issue in Dice Over Map, which is clearly a bug.