Bill Posted March 16, 2020 Report Posted March 16, 2020 Confused, Eh up who’s criticising Gary? The only thing I said was that he’s probably forgotten to renew the subscription, a thing that’s easy to do and as I said, I’ve done the same myself. As for it being a free forum, again that’s not a criticism, it's what they're classed as and the vast majority are supplied this way. They might be called free forums but they do require some small payments to keep them advert free, which up until now has been via WWW or Gary’s own pocket. The thorny issue of who pays for the forum has been brought up several times in the past with no outcome. Personally, I wouldn’t have any objections to chipping in, but others here say just use a blocker, so it’d end up just me paying. Bill Quote
Confused52 Posted March 16, 2020 Report Posted March 16, 2020 Bill, sorry I misread what you said. I too have no problem chipping in either but I now use a sort of blocker because some sites are becoming saturated with ads. I turn it on for all sites by default and if necessary I can allow some things on sites that need it but so far there haven't been any. This is the only local site where we can nominate topics and as such is really valuable and much needed. It is much undervalued by the people of Warrington who seem to be happy to be led by the nose by the WG. It is disappointing. Quote
Bill Posted March 16, 2020 Report Posted March 16, 2020 Confused. That’s no problem. I seem to remember in the dim and distant having a gets together with other forumites where this was one of the items on the agenda but as usual it turned out to be more of a drinking session, so not exactly a waste of time. I used to also use the Guardian forum which initially was very active but as they continually added more and more invasive advertising it became such hard work that everyone abandoned it, Their web pages are so bad now I don’t even bother trying to look at them and rely on WWW 100% for my local news. It’s a shame that this forum isn’t as well used as it should be these days and with an ageing population with time on their hands and a bit more in tune with technology it could still be turned around. I know in the past Gary was always concerned about kids and idiots creating havoc here and didn’t want the hassle of trying to police it, hence it never really got promoted. These days though, the forum’s not a target for kids or the unwanted as they now have multiple social media sites giving them a perfect outlet for their angst. Bill Quote
asperity Posted March 16, 2020 Report Posted March 16, 2020 Bill, as I still am not affected by these ads that some people are I don't think its a problem caused by Gary not paying for something, but rather a problem with the way some people are accessing the forum. Don't ask me what it is, I'm not an expert in this. Quote
Bill Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 Blimey Asp, how many more times? Your PC has an ad-blocker. (100% certain) It’s nothing to do with how the site is accessed. (100% certain) We’re all going to die. ☹ (100% certain) What you think and know are two different things 😊 (100% certain) Bill 😊 Quote
Evil Sid Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 i do not mind the ads they are few and far between and do not slow down the site or the forum. I have actually found them useful at times as well as amusing given the way that they are targeted at certain posts. Although i do wonder at times why i keep getting dating sites advertised usually the "women who date older men" one with the picture of some twenty something in a skimpy top and a trout pout...oh bugger cold shower time....🤣 1 Quote
Dizzy Posted March 19, 2020 Report Posted March 19, 2020 Sorry for the slow reply to all the comments.... only just catching up. I really have no idea what is going on and and wondering if Gary has decided to fib about his age and gone into TOTAL self isolation as he's not posted on here lol. I'm getting bloody annoying ads on my android tablet and mobile too so it can't be just cos I'm still using my Windows 7 Pro on my desktop computer ( as I am again now). And to make things worse I've just read the first news story on the front page news here about the new cases of Corona in Warrington and that has adverts stuck in the middle of it all too. I screen printed it all and only then as I was cutting and pasting to join them all together to upload to here did I notice I'd not actually read the whole story in the first place as I though it was just short and sweet and the end once I saw the first advert. HOW CAN I READ A NEWS STORY that simply doesn't flow because of the damn things...<insert own swear word here as I can't type the ones I said as they aren't very ladylike lol> They all seem to be google types adds though (to me) so how do I block them all on Win 7 Pro or my androids. I don;t mind the od adverts top of bottom of the screen BUT NOT BLOODY EVERYWHERE ON NEWS PAGES AND FORUM AND IN BETWEEN EVERYTHING. Gawd almighty....please can I self isolate with no online access to the outside world at all please lol I've put big pink crosses through all the crap appearing through the one news story I was TRYING to read Quote
Evil Sid Posted March 19, 2020 Report Posted March 19, 2020 I use adblock plus with firefox . You can set the level of ads on it using various preloaded lists or set it to block specific ads by adding them to a blocking list. i do not have it enabled on here and do not get the same number of ads on the news pages as you seem to do diz. At most i get one in the middle of a news item. Don't know if it a windrows 7 pro problem as i am on windows 7 home premium, but i would not have thought that what operating system you use would make a difference to adverts in a web browser. What web browser you use may well do. Quote
asperity Posted March 19, 2020 Report Posted March 19, 2020 The only ads I get on the news pages are the ones on the right hand side under the banner "Advertisements", no obstructive ones. Quote
Dizzy Posted March 20, 2020 Report Posted March 20, 2020 It's now driving me mad....I get the damn adverts on here in the middle of topics and same on the news pages. It's not cos I;m using Google Chrome as I just tried with Firefox and that's just as bad. It's not cos I;m using my desktop PC running Windows 7 Professional as I also get them when I use my android mobile phone and tablet. I've already got the in-built Adblocker in Chrome set to block any annoying pop up adverts and that has been enabled for a year or but instructions online say I should also be able to block all Add's from a Specific Site so having now had enough I was going to Add Warrington Worldwide to the BLOCK ALL list but when I can't find out how to add it I'm getting cross with it all now now aargh lol Quote
Dizzy Posted March 20, 2020 Report Posted March 20, 2020 GARY SKELTENBERY....DO YOU EVER READ YOUR FORUM ????? Quote
Evil Sid Posted March 21, 2020 Report Posted March 21, 2020 dizz calm down dear. If you have add block plus installed in firefox then an icon should be present on the tool bar somewhere. clicking on this will give you a drop down list that you can see. it also has a slider/button that lets you toggle between block all adverts on this site or allow adverts on this site. There will also be a little gear wheel which will take you to settings with various options and lists you can play about with. Add block plus works with google chrome as well. Not sure about the opera browser as i never really use it. Quote
Bill Posted April 9, 2020 Report Posted April 9, 2020 I've just about reached the limit of what I'm prepared to put up with. The adverts have now moved and are covering the reply button. I can't reply to anyone without first clicking on an advert that I'm not interested in which in turn will cause even more of the same to be sent. I've been a member of this forum since it was set up but this will be my last post. Bill Quote
asperity Posted April 9, 2020 Report Posted April 9, 2020 I still haven't seen these ads that are appearing for some posters. If this wasn't a free to use forum I'd be complaining about not getting fair treatment 😉. Quote
asperity Posted April 9, 2020 Report Posted April 9, 2020 6 hours ago, Bill said: I've just about reached the limit of what I'm prepared to put up with. The adverts have now moved and are covering the reply button. I can't reply to anyone without first clicking on an advert that I'm not interested in which in turn will cause even more of the same to be sent. I've been a member of this forum since it was set up but this will be my last post. Bill I thought you were clever with this sort of thing Bill. How come you're being plagued with it and I'm not? Quote
Evil Sid Posted April 10, 2020 Report Posted April 10, 2020 odd thing is that some topics have this problem and others don't. of the six topics i have read this morning four had this problem including this one. However when i closed the topics and opened this one up again the problem was gone. will have to have a look at the other topics and see if it has gone from them as well. EDITED BIT:- the problem seems to occur when you access the topics from the unread content button and even then not every time. Accessing the same topic from the browse forum only shows an advert at the top of the page and no adverts either between posts or at the bottom of the page. Try that and see if adverts still covers the reply button. Quote Quote
Dizzy Posted April 10, 2020 Report Posted April 10, 2020 Hi everyone, hope you are all ok, Regarding the adverts we are all now seeing which I too have had a rant about on here, I have snow spoken to Gary airing my gripes too but now I understand why he is doing it and I hope you will too after reading his. The upshot of it all is that Gary’s personal purse strings have been taking a battering for some time to keep the forum and the website alive for us all and now with the awful situation we have all found ourselves thrown into things have become even worse for Gary as it has for many businesses. With hardly and revenue coming in Gary has had to take the decision to increase the number of adverts on the site for now in the hope that they at least will draw in a bit of revenue. Without this there is a very good chance that he will have to pull the plug on the lot and cut his losses so to speak which, I’m sure you will all agree, would be a terrible shame after all the years he’s spent providing such an invaluable source of daily news and also a forum for us to all rant and rave on (sorry I meant for us to discuss things on lol). After our chat Gary has tried to see if he can cut the number of adverts down slightly and also alter their placements a little but we aren’t sure if it’s worked to be honest. Not only has Gary got funding worries but also of late he has been targeted by some very nasty people and comments regarding his work, his news coverage and general stuff too on facebook and other social media etc. Nothing quite like keyboard warriors to crawl out from under their rocks when they are bored and hit you when you’re already down eh….shameful creatures grrr !! Anyway I’m rambling again….. back to the forum and news pages adverts… So yes the adverts are rather annoying (sorry Gary lol) but now we all know WHY they are suddenly appearing more frequently I’m sure you will all understand and put up with them for now as I think we all owe it to Gary TO ALL DO OUR VERY BEST TO SUPPORT HIM though these very hard and uncertain times just like Gary is still trying to support other small local companies and people who are also struggling in the same way THREE CHEERS FOR GARY AND FOR EVERYONE ELSE BATTLING THROUGH THESE VERY SCARY, UNCERTAIN AND WORRYING TIMES. Keep smiling and stay safe and well everyone and lets all try to stay positive and supportive of each other. Dizzy xxxx 3 Quote
Evil Sid Posted April 11, 2020 Report Posted April 11, 2020 I do not think it is the volume of adverts that is the problem but where they actually appear at the bottom of posts. They tend to cover the reply panel and have no easily identifiable edges. This has the effect of clicking an advert when you really wanted to click reply to post and sometimes makes you lose the thread of what your reply was going to be whilst trying to get back to forum page. i have an adblocker installed but do not use it on this site as i do not find the ads detract or slow down the loading of the pages unlike certain other online publications. As for them being annoying i personally find it quite amusing which ads appear with topics. (mind you i am easily amused these days) Quote
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