01-19-2013 09:40 PM
The huge ads at the top? The lack of functionality? The cluttered/hard to read design? maybe I'll stop back in a year, but no point in sugarcoating it- the new forum is absolutely attrocious. It feels like a Line 6 Support Tech forum. Peace ya'll.
01-20-2013 12:15 AM
01-20-2013 06:51 AM
Musicscotty wrote:
I never see any ads - huge or otherwise.
Try Adblock Plus.
I don't like the ads either. But if everyone blocked ads, the ad revenue (which I'd guess is most of the revenue) of this site would disappear.
I'm surprised that I haven't yet heard of an ad-blocker-blocker .... some plugin for site admins that cancels your membership (or places some other limit on what you can do) if there's evidence you're viewing page content but not ads.
That's not a suggestion for anyone BTW, neither Musicscotty, nor HC ... just my thoughts wandering.
01-20-2013 07:31 AM
MegaMustaine wrote:The huge ads at the top? The lack of functionality? The cluttered/hard to read design? maybe I'll stop back in a year, but no point in sugarcoating it- the new forum is absolutely attrocious. It feels like a Line 6 Support Tech forum. Peace ya'll.
It's far from bad. You are probably not used to. I have played around with it a lot in the past few day and really like it. You need to get used to it and you can post just as easily as you did before.
As far as being difficult to read. I posted over on the HCOJ section on how to make the print bigger.
I use the large font, you might even want to use the X Large font.
It's your call on the retirement.
01-20-2013 08:05 AM
I love how when a user posts negative reactions to the new format, someone has to say, "You just aren't used to it yet", basically dismissing their concerns.
Ever think for a second that maybe no amount of time will be sufficient to get used to it if the funtionality and look is nowhere near what the user needs?
01-20-2013 08:22 AM
Axe_34 wrote:I love how when a user posts negative reactions to the new format, someone has to say, "You just aren't used to it yet", basically dismissing their concerns.
Ever think for a second that maybe no amount of time will be sufficient to get used to it if the funtionality and look is nowhere near what the user needs?
I didn't dismiss his conserns and I'm not sure what look would meet peeps needs.
“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”
01-20-2013 08:46 AM
baob wrote:
I'm surprised that I haven't yet heard of an ad-blocker-blocker .... some plugin for site admins that cancels your membership (or places some other limit on what you can do) if there's evidence you're viewing page content but not ads.
Hulu.com has an ad-blocker-blocker
01-20-2013 08:55 AM
baob wrote:I don't like the ads either. But if everyone blocked ads, the ad revenue (which I'd guess is most of the revenue) of this site would disappear.
I'm surprised that I haven't yet heard of an ad-blocker-blocker .... some plugin for site admins that cancels your membership (or places some other limit on what you can do) if there's evidence you're viewing page content but not ads.
That's not a suggestion for anyone BTW, neither Musicscotty, nor HC ... just my thoughts wandering.
There are ways that allow a website to refuse to deliver content when ad blocking software, including Adblock, are detected. However, the websites, Ars Technica as one example, that attempted it found that the users would much rather go to a similarly contented website rather than allow the ads. The resulting lost readership and bad word of mouth cost more than allowing users to use ad blocking software.
Also, the plugins that a person uses in a browser is useful a data tracking and mining method. Data mining is another form of monetization of websites.
01-20-2013 09:12 AM
Suppose nobody blocks ads with a browser add-on like AdBlock plus. But suppose that nobody ever clicks on an ad either. What's the difference.
You're mentally blocking that banner area of the screen anyway.
People who advertize might pay based on clicks, but they are ultimately looking for conversions, not clicks: how many clicks actually turn into paying customers. Suppose that nobody uses ad blocking, and some people do click on ads, but nobody buys anything. Know what I mean?
It's the people who make the content of a site. Anyone with a cheap server can host a site, with off-the-shelf free software. Since it's the people making the content (like discussion forum posts) who make the site, they should be the ones getting a big slice of the ad revenue.
If you're contributing posts which add value to the site, you should not feel bad about blocking ads, sinceyou're the reason why anyone would even go there and click on an ad.
Anyway, free is the going rate.
I don't sympathize with revenue sites, because I run a completely free one without any ads.
I already have a web and mail server for my own personal use, and I pay for that out of my own pocket: around fifty a year for domain registration, plus internet and electricity. It costs me next to nothing extra to host a mailing list for my favorite gear topic.
These days, everyone and his f__g dog wants you to visit their website, create an account, watch their ads, etc. It's not just these days; it's been that way for at least ten now, and it's tiresome. Since I don't like creating accounts, I don't ask people to. Just send an e-mail to an address and your post goes out to the list subscribers (subject to rigorous anti-spam measures).
What's good for me ought to be good for everyone else. If your site isn't making revenue to stay up, get a f___king day job, like me, and pay its bills.
You support your own hobby out of your pocket, and I will support my hobby out of my pocket.
01-20-2013 09:22 AM
baob wrote:I'm surprised that I haven't yet heard of an ad-blocker-blocker .... some plugin for site admins that cancels your membership (or places some other limit on what you can do) if there's evidence you're viewing page content but not ads.
This exists! Perhaps not in the heavy-handed, draconian form which you envision, but there are sites that will not reveal all their content when they detect that your browser session is not fetching the ads. A message will pop up to please disable your ad blocking to support the site.
On a related topic, the Slashdot site has a nice feature for old, valuable users: you can disable ads as a user preference within the site.
01-20-2013 10:04 AM
If a site had an ad blocker blocker, I'd just go somewhere else. It's a big internet. It's not the ads that sell things here anyway, it's the GAS generated by word of mouth. If a store is having a good sale on something, somebody almost always posts about it anyway.
01-20-2013 11:23 AM - edited 01-20-2013 11:23 AM
GCDEF wrote:If a site had an ad blocker blocker, I'd just go somewhere else. It's a big internet. It's not the ads that sell things here anyway, it's the GAS generated by word of mouth. If a store is having a good sale on something, somebody almost always posts about it anyway.
+1
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