Popups on PCMech forums

[ffreeloader]

Well, it's a first. The only IT site which I have registered for and use on a somewhat frequent basis which has begun using popups to annoy people is the PCMech forums site. Every time I click on the Alternative Operating Systems link I am hit with a popup.

I just have to say that if the owners of this site think that bombarding me with popups is a way to get me to help support the site they are sadly mistaken. Blackmail used as an inducement towards enlisting my financial support has exactly the opposite effect. I will now never support PCMech financially.

I will also say goodbye, which to the ownership is no big deal, but I don't really care as anyone who does business in the way the ownership of this site does has a real learning curve ahead of them if they are ever going to be ethical businessmen.

Well, I've said my piece and it will no doubt be immediately deleted by the mods, but that's OK too. I said what I wanted to say and PCMech now knows my opinion of their business model.

So long PCMech. Your management has joined the ranks of spammers as far as I'm concerned, and I have no respect at all for them.

[Statica]

I can see that you're very upset right now, I dont know if you will check this thread but you might want to read up on Bailey's thread

You know you're welcome to quit anytime, while it is unfortunate that we have to lose a member; I have to comment on this cry for attention that you're doing. Instead of taking this up with the management here - David Risley or GLC on the forums, you've come here to grab some attention; in the process succeeded in producing a highly unprofessional rant, and decided that you'd take potshots at the moderator as you leave...

& in case you're wondering, this site is not resorting to blackmail, the ads on this and MOST sites are not run by the site by usually a 3rd party company that supplies code for ads; while PCM has no control over what ad runs and how it runs, Dris has FREQUENTLY made sure that the visitors here do not get bombarded with distasteful and inappopriate ads. Just thought I'd pass it along since you seem to be aware of the business side of running sites.

If you do decide to leave, good luck with you and thanks for your time here .. if you want to stay learn to respect people the people here and understand that sometimes we're on the same team.

[RevCLB]

I don't understand what this person is talking about. When I stay logged in I get a popup from IE & just click yes which takes me directly to forums. If I clear cookies & have to sign back in I get a box from tribalfusion which is a popunder. I just minimize screen & delete the tribalfusion thing & am ok. Nothing harrrasing me. Wish I could help. RevCLB

[David M]

I think his name says it all.

[kosova]

I think his name says it all.

thats kind of mean don't you think?

I don't understand what this person is talking about.

i just got a pop up when i clicked this thread

the ads on this and MOST sites are not run by the site by usually a 3rd party company that supplies code for ads;

what do you mean by that, and that pcmech has no control? Doesnt some member say GLC write up the code that makes this site run? Nd if some 3rd party company provides the code how hard would it be to go thru that code and find out where the pop ups are and delete that part? What scares me is that recently i have started to be getting those "WHITE MESSAGES" ya know "cant find blah blah, something server" a lot more. There could be some big bug going on around in PCMECH IMOP.

[catacon]

They use pop-ups to fund the site. Changing the code would void their contract with the company and therefore PCMech would lose a income source. It's not that PCMech wants us to have to deal with pop ups (pop-unders for me), but it's that they want us to have the site. The site cost money to maintain and since not everybody buys T-shirts and CD's and other merch, the pop ups help to break even.

By the way, using FF I only get one pop-under when I first open the site after FF has just opened.

[dmkirt]

Now lemme see here... oh, look! A little 'X' in the upper-right corner of the pop-up! Hmmm... what will that do?

[Statica]

Guys, just because I asked the original thread poster to keep it civil doesn't mean that you can come back in and take potshots. David, I believed you've been warned before about such posts, I really think that its time you heed the site's requirements of civillity and decorum. Your post had absolutely nothing to do with the issue.
Kosova - Firstly, GLC is the forum admin, he does not write code here; secondly the person who wrote code for this site has not coded it to flood you with popups/unders; to generate revenue PCM has a contract with other companies, say TribalFusion to put in ads or ad text. The only thing the site owner can do is specify the subject of ads that are not permissible, not how the ads are going to go out on screen. TribalFusion, for example, provides HTML code to PCM that must be run UNCHANGED.
Regarding the error you are seeing, that has been coming on and off since the forum upgrade; just press refresh and you can usually bypass it.

Look am sorry that there are popups here, in an ideal world, server space and bandwidth would be free for everyone, but it isn't. And I can't even say that popups are coming on everyone's browsers - because if I use IE without signing in (aka without logging in using the ads free version) I still dont get a single popup (no there is none being blocked). Of course there are sites from which I dont accept any content or cookies; it's not that hard to do on any browser and it works for most sites that I ever go to. And I dont run any 3rd party program for ad blocking on IE.

[rspassey]

Originally Posted by Statica And I can't even say that popups are coming on everyone's browsers - because if I use IE without signing in (aka without logging in using the ads free version) I still dont get a single popup (no there is none being blocked). Of course there are sites from which I dont accept any content or cookies; it's not that hard to do on any browser and it works for most sites that I ever go to. And I dont run any 3rd party program for ad blocking on IE.

Same, I don't get any pop up, pop unders, and even blocked the ads with Adblock in FF - all for FREE. I don't have to pay to block the pop up, and even when I used to have them, they weren't a bother considering the benefits of this site. Such as I take .2 seconds and alt f4 a popup, then I browse for two hours learn lots, have my pc problems sorted out, and get a chance to share the knowledge I have with others. You are free to go, you aren't tied to the site, but I just hope you realized that PcMech is a VERY good place and in the end you gain more here than you lose from some pop ups. If you want help with configuring your browser and firewall to block popups then we would be more than glad to help.

[blue60007]

What's a popup?

Seriously though, PCMech racks up quite a bit of bandwidth, and bandwidth = $$. To be able to cover costs, there has to be advertising. That's a way of life these days.

[drisley]

We've been through this SO many times, guys. But, as the owner and the guy who makes the business decisions, I guess its my job to chime in again today.

The pop-ups you receive come primarily from Tribal Fusion. I do not have access to edit the source code of their system. I do have the perogative to block ads, however in most cases I do not need to do so. I am also under the understanding that Tribal Fusion is placing a 24-hour cap on pop-up banners, so nobody here who accept cookies should be having a problem with a large amount of pop-ups. Additionally, blackmail is the absolute furthest thing from my mind. Not exactly sure how that would even work around here.

Pop-ups are a fact of life, and since this is a content site, we do need to run them. I incur expenses to run this site. I also need to earn money to support myself for what I do (this is a full time job) as well as pay authors for the content posted to the site. I'm not going to sit here and say we're breaking even. We're not. This site does turn a profit. If it did not, I would not run it. This isn't charity; its a business. This site takes a LOT of work and upkeep from myself and the many authors. And we've all got to put food on the table.

Anybody is free to leave at any point. I take no joy in seeing someone leave, but the flip side is that for every one person who complains, I can point to a few thousand who love the site and realize ads are the primary reason it is still here. And I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

[kosova]

Guys, just because I asked the original thread poster to keep it civil doesn't mean that you can come back in and take potshots. Kosova - Firstly, GLC is the forum admin, he does not write code here; secondly the person who wrote code for this site has not coded it to flood you with popups/unders;

i was just asking a simple question, i wasnt trying to make any comebac shots or anything, i was just kind of curious.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by drisley We've been through this SO many times, guys. But, as the owner and the guy who makes the business decisions, I guess its my job to chime in again today. The pop-ups you receive come primarily from Tribal Fusion. I do not have access to edit the source code of their system. I do have the perogative to block ads, however in most cases I do not need to do so. I am also under the understanding that Tribal Fusion is placing a 24-hour cap on pop-up banners, so nobody here who accept cookies should be having a problem with a large amount of pop-ups. Additionally, blackmail is the absolute furthest thing from my mind. Not exactly sure how that would even work around here. Pop-ups are a fact of life, and since this is a content site, we do need to run them. I incur expenses to run this site. I also need to earn money to support myself for what I do (this is a full time job) as well as pay authors for the content posted to the site. I'm not going to sit here and say we're breaking even. We're not. This site does turn a profit. If it did not, I would not run it. This isn't charity; its a business. This site takes a LOT of work and upkeep from myself and the many authors. And we've all got to put food on the table. Anybody is free to leave at any point. I take no joy in seeing someone leave, but the flip side is that for every one person who complains, I can point to a few thousand who love the site and realize ads are the primary reason it is still here. And I don't see that changing anytime soon. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

keep up the good work drizzy
LOL

[TwoRails]

Ditto!

[David M]

Originally Posted by Statica Guys, just because I asked the original thread poster to keep it civil doesn't mean that you can come back in and take potshots. David, I believed you've been warned before about such posts, I really think that its time you heed the site's requirements of civillity and decorum. Your post had absolutely nothing to do with the issue. Kosova - Firstly, GLC is the forum admin, he does not write code here; secondly the person who wrote code for this site has not coded it to flood you with popups/unders; to generate revenue PCM has a contract with other companies, say TribalFusion to put in ads or ad text. The only thing the site owner can do is specify the subject of ads that are not permissible, not how the ads are going to go out on screen. TribalFusion, for example, provides HTML code to PCM that must be run UNCHANGED. Regarding the error you are seeing, that has been coming on and off since the forum upgrade; just press refresh and you can usually bypass it. Look am sorry that there are popups here, in an ideal world, server space and bandwidth would be free for everyone, but it isn't. And I can't even say that popups are coming on everyone's browsers - because if I use IE without signing in (aka without logging in using the ads free version) I still dont get a single popup (no there is none being blocked). Of course there are sites from which I dont accept any content or cookies; it's not that hard to do on any browser and it works for most sites that I ever go to. And I dont run any 3rd party program for ad blocking on IE.

I have not been "warned" for ages. Therefore you are probably mistaking me for someone else. I did not name the guy. I just saw a little humor in the post and thought it would be okay to point it out. Next time I will be careful not to point out something like that. My apologies if I offended anyone. It was not intended to be a slam.

[glc]

You also have the option of becoming a PC Mech Supporter to get an ad-free version of the forums. This is a pay subscription service. Sounds pretty fair to me. Seems to me television works the same way - to get commercial-free service, you have to pay a subscription fee for each and every commercial-free channel. Even the public broadcasting services have had to resort to commercials to pay the bills.

[Jaggannath]

I failed to see any blackmail... and if he had such an issue, why not mention it first. But anyways, he's prolly long gone, his loss

[bailey]

Originally Posted by glc You also have the option of becoming a PC Mech Supporter to get an ad-free version of the forums. This is a pay subscription service. Sounds pretty fair to me. Seems to me television works the same way - to get commercial-free service, you have to pay a subscription fee for each and every commercial-free channel. Even the public broadcasting services have had to resort to commercials to pay the bills.

then again, there is always outsourcing to china or India.
LOL

[David M]

I have no problem with the ads on PC Mech...except for the ones which are flashing like crazy with obnoxious colors or the shoot-the-monkey type of ads...but those are pretty rare. Something has to pay the bills and make some money for David D.

[HAL9000]

Going to close off this thread... the person had their little rant and obviously has no intention of finding out what is really wrong as they haven't been back since the original post. No sense beating a horse that is dead, decayed to dust and blown away.