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    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ideas Box & Board Issues
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    • Mike LuceyM Offline
      Mike Lucey
      last edited by

      @wind-borne said:

      I am becoming very tired of this buy/sell problem since the ads have been forced upon us, to the point of only looking at attachments selectively on a 'need to know' basis.

      Hi Wind Borne,

      I am sorry for the inconvenience our Anti-AdBlock measures are causing to some SCF members and I hope we will be able to solve the problems over time. I note Csaba is working towards this end.

      As regards your comment 'the ads have been forced upon us', I could not agree totally with this as adverts have become part of SketchUcation for quite some time, its just that you were not seeing them because you were using AdBlock.

      Advertising is how we finance the hosting and running of the site apart from the new Shop sale items and our Premium Member subscribers which have the option of switching AdBlock on or off.

      From what I gather most Premium Members leave the adverts on as they find them relevant and useful, however I am working on an advert link listing page that they will be able to view in one swoop thus allowing them to leave AB in place permanently if they so desire. I also hope to deliver some product discounts as I achieve / negotiate them on the Premium Members advert link listing page which I trust will encourage them to visit regularly.

      The bottom line for us is that we are receiving advertising revenue from our advertisers and feel that we must make all efforts to deliver value for their advertising buck. If we did not do this, I feel we would be taking money under false pretence.

      On the other hand we are receiving very few complaints when one considers the total membership we have in SketchUcation. I imagine most members just did a simple AB switch off for SketchUcation and I also imagine that many were pleasantly surprised at how little the adverts actually impact on their view experience here. Still, we will continue to try and help those that are having problems.

      Mike

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      • Mike LuceyM Offline
        Mike Lucey
        last edited by

        @unknownuser said:

        nah.. it's almost like why bother.. jean said somewhere that he hopes it doesn't turn into a cat and mouse game and i can see that scenario happening..

        my own take on the ads is sort of 'whatever'... i don't watch tv very often.. those ads do bother me.. but the ads online aren't so bad.

        they're like if you're watching a movie on tv except the commercial comes up at the edge of the screen every now and then... but the movie keeps playing.

        we agree to live in a capitalist society.. ads are a huge part of that setup.. so we agree to having ads.. (or go buy, say, a book for ad free content.. but then again, that's not free either.. etc..)

        I agree with a lot of what you say Jeff. I do watch a fair old amount of TV (while working on my laptop) and also find the full-break adverts slots annoying. There are some that I find interesting also but most are of no interest to me. I also notice the the sound level increases for some reason. I normally have the sound level set at a comfortable level for the program I am watching and then when the ads come up they are set at a much higher level. My solution is to just hit the mute sound button on my hand controller for the duration of the ads ..... problem solved. However if I see an interesting ads I will listen to it πŸ‘

        I have not come across the movies that show the ads at the side of the screen. Like you, I don't think this would bother me too much.

        Yes, we do live in a capitalist society and ads area huge part of the set up. Members also agree to having ads here on SketchUcation. Check out the SketchUcation TOS - Basic Terms here,

        TOS (Basic Terms).jpg

        Very few have ever read the TOS let alone adhere to them in the case of using Ad Block 😒

        As you say, books are mostly advert free but one has to pay for books unless the public library is used but again someone has to subsidise the public library aslo πŸ˜‰

        I honestly don't think that the adverts we have here are obtrusive or too large. As a matter of interest we insist that they must be sub 150Kb in size. also not too 'flashy'. I would go as far to say that all are well designed and to my mind add a 'splash of colour' to the site.

        When complaints have been voiced by various members about adverts, I have always asked them for an alternative site financing measure. To date a viable alternative has not been suggested but I live in hope. When one is, we shall seriously consider immediate cessation of advert placement but I can't see that really happening with the current system we have to operate under ........ capitalism!

        Mike

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        • wind-borneW Offline
          wind-borne
          last edited by

          @gaieus said:

          All right, I have tried to apply some magic I have learnt recently about asynchronous loading of javascript files. Since I have never really experienced what you do with BSA, I cannot tell if it works.

          Please, try to load the pages and let me know if they still load very slowly due to BSA not loading properly (i.e. in time).


          The other day I could not connect to the site at all. It was not BSA but Google. More exactly Google servers probably worked correctly but for some reason, the connection between Google servers and my ISP seemed to be down.

          Nothing loaded here as a web page does not load until all the js files are properly loaded. Now I have set the Google Analytics code to load asynchronously too. I wonder what the effect would have been if I had known this when this happened to me.

          Thanks for your effort.

          First test this morning the page loaded in 1.9 minutes, the worst of any test ever.
          Later, worked properly for a few pages, loaded in less than 3 seconds when tested.
          If while loading I scroll to section and see the dashes beside stats.buysel... it's the long wait.

          What I need is a better balance of decent load times versus unacceptable πŸ˜’


          Screen Shot 2013-01-21 at 6.02.18 AM.png


          Screen Shot 2013-01-21 at 6.15.56 AM.png

          "To read between the lines was easier than to follow the text."OSX 10.11.6

          %(#BF80BF)[SU 8 pro

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          • N Offline
            notareal
            last edited by

            @gaieus said:

            All right, I have tried to apply some magic I have learnt recently about asynchronous loading of javascript files. Since I have never really experienced what you do with BSA, I cannot tell if it works
            ...

            Not sure how you load third party scripts, but seems "load third party scripts async, after onload" is a working strategy, not just "load third party scripts async"
            http://www.aaronpeters.nl/blog/why-loading-third-party-scripts-async-is-not-good-enough
            http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3323888/delay-the-loading-of-3rd-party-javascript

            Welcome to try [Thea Render](http://www.thearender.com/), Thea support | [kerkythea.net](http://www.kerkythea.net/) -team member

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            • J Offline
              julyyen
              last edited by

              I don't have any AdBlock and DoNotTrackMe addons for Firefox, I also read what other regular users comment here, so finally what is the solution to view and download those
              useful attachments - plugins and others?

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              • N Offline
                notareal
                last edited by

                @julyyen said:

                I don't have any AdBlock and DoNotTrackMe addons for Firefox, I also read what other regular users comment here, so finally what is the solution to view and download those
                useful attachments - plugins and others?

                I have find that NoScript (and possible other addons that) do block third party javascripts. So perhaps if you can list the addons you use, maybe someone can spot one that possible do block.

                Welcome to try [Thea Render](http://www.thearender.com/), Thea support | [kerkythea.net](http://www.kerkythea.net/) -team member

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                • TIGT Offline
                  TIG Moderator
                  last edited by

                  @julyyen said:

                  I don't have any AdBlock and DoNotTrackMe addons for Firefox, I also read what other regular users comment here, so finally what is the solution to view and download those
                  useful attachments - plugins and others?
                  Something on your system is blocking these so the SCF end won't display the links for you.
                  The most common 'ad-blockers' are AdBlock, NoScript and DoNotTrackMe, these need disabling/removing for SCF to open with all links available - but there are other add-ons too that can cause this...
                  Also your anti-virus/malware software or your firewall etc might also be set to be over zealous where SCF is concerned...
                  The tech-guys are working to ensure that nothing that is not a genuine ad-blocker is misinterpreted as one !
                  If you use IE or install a 'clean' version of 'Chrome' with no add-ons, what happens ?
                  If that works then you know it's then something in Firefox... πŸ˜•

                  I use Firefox [v19] with the latest AdBlock add-on and I have no issues whatsoever, ether with link display or loading times etc [but then it is fully 'disabled' for SCF.com and a few other sites I visit that are supported solely by advertising...] πŸ˜•

                  TIG

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                  • Mike LuceyM Offline
                    Mike Lucey
                    last edited by

                    Thanks notareal for rowing in and helping on this matter. Do you think it might be a good idea to compile a list of possible bottlenecks that folks may have installed?

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                    • TIGT Offline
                      TIG Moderator
                      last edited by

                      I've listed the three main ones that I know of...

                      AdBlock is easily disabled for the whole SCF site - one-click

                      NoScripts also readily allows you to 'whitelist' SCF, but buysellads.com needs specifically enabling as its default setting is 'barred' - of course under the ToS members agree not to use 'ad-blockers'...

                      DoNotTrackMe is far far less easy to customize, and blocks everything by default...

                      I have also AVG DoNotTrack installed and that allows SCF/buysellad anyway - only barring a relatively compact list of usual suspects...

                      TIG

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                      • wind-borneW Offline
                        wind-borne
                        last edited by

                        @tig said:

                        I've listed the three main ones that I know of...

                        AdBlock is easily disabled for the whole SCF site - one-click

                        NoScripts also readily allows you to 'whitelist' SCF, but buysellads.com needs specifically enabling as its default setting is 'barred' - of course under the ToS members agree not to use 'ad-blockers'...

                        DoNotTrackMe is far far less easy to customize, and blocks everything by default...

                        I have also AVG DoNotTrack installed and that allows SCF/buysellad anyway - only barring a relatively compact list of usual suspects...

                        I have AdBlock disabled here and everywhere to test and still have buy/sell problems here.
                        Intermittent problems are the most annoying.
                        Maybe 5 pages will load ok and suddenly all I get is 1.4 minute time outs...............over and over
                        Problematic more than not
                        Any ideas welcome

                        screenshots 12 minutes apart


                        Screen Shot 2013-01-22 at 8.07.04 AM.png


                        Screen Shot 2013-01-22 at 8.19.03 AM.png

                        "To read between the lines was easier than to follow the text."OSX 10.11.6

                        %(#BF80BF)[SU 8 pro

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                        • A Offline
                          Aerilius
                          last edited by

                          To me, Firefox developer tools said it would be waiting for the server to respond (for the main html document).
                          Then loading all the other resources (although ~50+ files) was not much more than a second.

                          Shouldn't the server logs reveal more valuable info about what happens between that the browser sends a request and that the server responds?

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                          • Mike LuceyM Offline
                            Mike Lucey
                            last edited by

                            Thanks Guys for sticking with this. I will after a while make a Global regarding the little gremlins that folks may have working away that they could well have forgotten about.

                            I imagine there are probably a few more that will come the the surface?

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                            • GaieusG Offline
                              Gaieus
                              last edited by

                              @aerilius said:

                              To me, Firefox developer tools said it would be waiting for the server to respond (for the main html document).
                              Then loading all the other resources (although ~50+ files) was not much more than a second.

                              Well, the site has been put together and styles changed here and there to conform more to our needs but it has never been "optimized" for best performance (yet). Certainly there are many places for improvement and we'll try to do these as our resources allow.

                              @unknownuser said:

                              Shouldn't the server logs reveal more valuable info about what happens between that the browser sends a request and that the server responds?

                              Not only the server logs but there are online tools, too, like Google's page speed insight.

                              With another site (that I have been building forever) I have managed to get that "improvement possibility list" to have only one item: enabling compression (which I cannot do on my shared hosting server) so I am beginning to understand what those "suggestions" mean but on a site like this, it is much more complex to achieve than on a speedy, small website (which I put together from bits and pieces in php manually so I can optimize wherever I wish).

                              I would not dare to tamper with the code here though...

                              Gai...

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                              • W Offline
                                Woodarc
                                last edited by

                                I'm still really struggling with this issue of not seeing ads etc. Ive checked all the settings and cleared-out browsing history and caches, updated stuff and so on but still can't see stuff. The image attached is what my browser (Chrome) tells me. I have three computers through my router 2 wired and one wireless. The wireless one (my wifes) I can view ok. Is is wire/wireless issue? Suggestions on remedies welcome please (apart from always using the wifes!).


                                2013-01-25 15_32_09-Post a reply β€’ SketchUcation Community Forums.jpg

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                                • TIGT Offline
                                  TIG Moderator
                                  last edited by

                                  What 'add-ons' [..Tools>Extensions] do you have loading for Chrome ?
                                  Do you have 'AdBlock'? that needs deactivating for SCF.com. click on the icon at the end of the address bar... Capture.PNG Are there any other 'DoNotTrackMe' types of thing ?
                                  I assume your illustration is from the machine that's not working...
                                  Javascript seems fully enabled ?
                                  What about the other settings... my are all similar so I expect that's not it.
                                  I use Firefox so it's not directly comparable... many members use Chrome without difficulty though... πŸ˜•
                                  If your Firewall set to allow SCF through unfettered ? That might be a difference ?

                                  TIG

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                                  • Joe WoodJ Offline
                                    Joe Wood
                                    last edited by

                                    For the forum's troubleshooters, I'm having these loading issues intermittently, this morning I was able to browse the forums no problem, came back after an hour and had the long wait again. An hour later, trying to reply to this thread also took over a minute to load, we'll see if it even posts.

                                    Joe Wood
                                    woodsshop.com/

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                                    • soloS Offline
                                      solo
                                      last edited by

                                      @tig said:

                                      many members use Chrome without difficulty though... πŸ˜•

                                      Disabling AdBlock and 'Do not track me' makes it possible, however at the price of very very long loading times.

                                      http://www.solos-art.com

                                      If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                                      • Rich O BrienR Offline
                                        Rich O Brien Moderator
                                        last edited by

                                        You can run ad block Pete?

                                        You should be able to

                                        Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp πŸ“–

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                                        • soloS Offline
                                          solo
                                          last edited by

                                          Aha!!! excellent, page loaded in less than a second.

                                          http://www.solos-art.com

                                          If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                                          • TIGT Offline
                                            TIG Moderator
                                            last edited by

                                            @solo said:

                                            @tig said:

                                            many members use Chrome without difficulty though... πŸ˜•

                                            Disabling AdBlock and 'Do not track me' makes it possible, however at the price of very very long loading times.
                                            I have 'Firefox' [as my usual browser] and also 'Chrome' [occasional use], both with 'AdBlock' loading, but both have it disabled for SCF. I notice no time difference in the site loading with or without 'AdBlock' enabled - the load-time is usually pretty fast for me - and it's no faster if 'AdBlock' is totally disabled globally.
                                            I use 'AVG DO No Track' which ignores SCF and buysellads anyway, rather than 'DoNotTrackMe', which I found both clunky and difficult to understand and customize ! Have you tried it with that 'off'.
                                            Using 'NoScript' is also likely to stop/slow SCF Γ  la une ad-blocker...
                                            That can be disabled using a site 'whiteboard', but I stopped having that add-on enabled altogether ages ago...
                                            Without any first hand experience of this 'load-delay' I am at a loss to suggest what might be up... Is it consistently slow ??

                                            TIG

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