An open letter to Rocketry Forum sponsors who advertise at the top of the page

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neil_w

OpenRocketeer
TRF Supporter
Joined
Jul 14, 2015
Messages
16,642
Reaction score
11,413
Location
Northern NJ
Mods: If this is the wrong place for this, feel free to move it elsewhere as needed. This seemed like the best place I could find.

Dear Rocketry Forum sponsors who advertise,
I appreciate your participation in this great hobby, and I am grateful that you are sponsoring this forum. I want to support you. In fact, I have intentionally left your sponsor ads on my screen, despite the fact that I am a paid subscriber to this forum and have easy means to disable them in my account preferences. In exchange, I have a request, or maybe a "plea" is the correct word: PLEASE lay off the animations. It's maddening.

Different folks will have different thresholds of annoyance here. I'm probably a little more tolerant than most: I can handle a very *slowly* rotating set of images, if they aren't marked by high-contrast LOOK AT ME transitions. Unfortunately, that is exactly how I would describe one vendor's ad. I feel bad about it because it's a great vendor, one that I would happily do business with any time. But man oh man that ad is a huge mistake. There are also other ads which have some animation; most are far less obnoxious but still on the edge.

Each day the annoyance of seeing these ads flashing in my peripheral vision brings me closer to checking my "Disable Sponsor Ads" option. Once I do that, all the sponsors are gone from my vision forever, because once I check that box I'll almost certainly never take the trouble to go and uncheck it.

Ultimately the design of your ads is your choice. But whether to display them is *my* choice. Please be respectful of my eyeballs, and I will happily keep your ads there indefinitely.

Thanks,
Neil
 
Wow, neil_w, you are a hero! I literally never thought that me becoming a supporter would let me turn off the right side ads. I'm fine with the rocket ads, but the random google ads really made me mad and consider bailing on the site at times. The other day, I got some pretty inappropriate ads and I'm pretty sure it wasn't me or my wife triggering them. If so, I may need to get off the website and get involved in her hobby!!!

Anyway, I checked my settings and turned off the right side ads. I'm OK with the top ads as I might buy some rocket stuff and am fine with those that support the site, even if in a somewhat seizure-inducing manner.

Sandy.
 
I think if you click on the x in the upper right corner you’ll no longer see the advertisement.
I'm speaking of the sponsor ads, not the garbage Google ads that I have already disabled. There is no x in the upper right corner of the sponsor ads (at least not on my screen).
Wow, neil_w, you are a hero! I literally never thought that me becoming a supporter would let me turn off the right side ads. I'm fine with the rocket ads, but the random google ads really made me mad and consider bailing on the site at times.
Frankly, this site is a complete mess until you turn the Google ads off.
 
I'm speaking of the sponsor ads, not the garbage Google ads that I have already disabled. There is no x in the upper right corner of the sponsor ads (at least not on my screen).

Frankly, this site is a complete mess until you turn the Google ads off.
I’m talking about the sponsor ads also. I haven’t seen a google ad since I turned them off in settings. Here’s what my screen looks like. I had two sponsor ads: one to renew supporter status at a discount and one for a vendor. I clicked on the tiny gray x in the corner of the vendor ad and now I only see the one to renew.
9791EE64-A0F8-4AD4-BF5D-CDED74F75942.png
 
I’m talking about the sponsor ads also. I haven’t seen a google ad since I turned them off in settings. Here’s what my screen looks like. I had two sponsor ads: one to renew supporter status at a discount and one for a vendor. I clicked on the tiny gray x in the corner of the vendor ad and now I only see the one to renew.
I see no sponsor ads there at all... Normally there are four of them there, as shown in my screenshot. I'm confused how your screen could look like that unless you turned them off in your account preferences. Certainly, the four sponsor ads showing on my screen do not have a close "x" in them.
What Steve says, supporting member or not, you can turn off all advertising in your preferences.
I know that. What I'm saying is that I don't *want* to turn off sponsor ads, but if they're going to insist on being obnoxious blinkers then I will have no choice. I know there are others that have turned them off for that reason. If obnoxious ads drive more people to turn them off completely, that does no one any good.
 
I see no sponsor ads there at all... Normally there are four of them there, as shown in my screenshot. I'm confused how your screen could look like that unless you turned them off in your account preferences. Certainly, the four sponsor ads showing on my screen do not have a close "x" in them.

I know that. What I'm saying is that I don't *want* to turn off sponsor ads, but if they're going to insist on being obnoxious blinkers then I will have no choice. I know there are others that have turned them off for that reason. If obnoxious ads drive more people to turn them off completely, that does no one any good.
I’ve never had more than the two rotating ads and they both just started last week to coincide with announcements on the forum, one from One Bad Hawk and one from TRF selling supporter renewals. I clicked on the x on Teddy’s ad (sorry Teddy, but you know I’ll buy something from you!) which only left the TRF ad. I kept that one as a reminder. Now I clicked on it and it went away.

Is it possible that the four ads you see are because of the CSS customization you’ve done? I’ve done no customization other than turning off ads in the TRF settings.

17316C50-96FE-4B4B-A157-B833A85622D9.png
 
I’ve never had more than the two rotating ads and they both just started last week to coincide with announcements on the forum, one from One Bad Hawk and one from TRF selling supporter renewals. I clicked on the x on Teddy’s ad (sorry Teddy, but you know I’ll buy something from you!) which only left the TRF ad. I kept that one as a reminder. Now I clicked on it and it went away.

Is it possible that the four ads you see are because of the CSS customization you’ve done? I’ve done no customization other than turning off ads in the TRF settings.
Hmm, very curious. I tried turning off my custom CSS and it made no difference with regard to the sponsored ads.

For sure, the membership drive ads (for example) are different from the sponsor ads.

Just to be absolutely clear: your preferences are set like this?
1637072716591.png
 
The discrepancy, I think, is that you guys are talking about 3 different things. If you leave everything on, you will see "Notices" (like the Onebadhawk giveaway), "Google Ads" (on the right), and "Sponsor Ads" (the 4 boxes I believe Neil was originally referring to). They are all different:

Sponsor Ads.jpg
 
And, to get back to Neil's OP, Yes, some of the Sponsor Ads are somewhat seizure producing. It is difficult to read the page sometimes when you have that square flashing at you incessantly at 1 second intervals.

And, like Neil, I truly want to support the sponsors here and keep the sponsor ads on.
 
Well, one thing this thread has accomplished is that it revealed to me that my custom CSS was broken, due to changes in the TRF code. My sponsor ad shrinkifier is now fixed and working again, and reduces the severity of the obnoxious ad problem (but does not eliminate it).
1637075047741.png
 
The discrepancy, I think, is that you guys are talking about 3 different things. If you leave everything on, you will see "Notices" (like the Onebadhawk giveaway), "Google Ads" (on the right), and "Sponsor Ads" (the 4 boxes I believe Neil was originally referring to). They are all different:

View attachment 490331
Thank you. You’re right.
 
Hmm, very curious. I tried turning off my custom CSS and it made no difference with regard to the sponsored ads.

For sure, the membership drive ads (for example) are different from the sponsor ads.

Just to be absolutely clear: your preferences are set like this?
View attachment 490330
Sorry, no, I have sponsor ads turned off. I confused announcements with sponsor ads.
 
Are you afraid you might forget the sponsors ? Whether you buy from them or not I don't think you are affecting the sponsors if you just turn them off.
 
Interesting - I just recently started seeing the SPONSOR ads (the 4 on the top) after not having them since they first were set up. I looked at preferences and there is only an option to disable advertising (which is marked "yes") but no option to disable sponsors such as shown on post #11. I, like Neil, dislike the ones that flash. I see no grey "x" to close them.

I do have AdBlock Plus and Adaware installed.

I guess to turn the sponsor ads off I would need to buy the TRF Supporter, however since Wayco is a TRF lifetime supporter I didn't think that both of us needed to contribute to the cause. I guess if I get annoyed enough I would pay. Just kinda irks me when I buy from most of the sponsors anyway.
 
I guess to turn the sponsor ads off I would need to buy the TRF Supporter, however since Wayco is a TRF lifetime supporter I didn't think that both of us needed to contribute to the cause. I guess if I get annoyed enough I would pay. Just kinda irks me when I buy from most of the sponsors anyway.
If you're willing to install the Stylus extension on your browser it's very easy to hide them. PM me if you want instructions.

(this is only for Mac/PC use, not mobile... might be possible but I haven't tried it.)
 
I agree about the flashing ads being a nuisance. Tone down the animations please. There is one in particular where I have taken to just scrolling the page up so all the ads are off the screen when it is on a page. I don't think they re doing themselves any favours and may be annoying prospective customers.
 
Of course, hitting 'F5' will reload the page, and will generate a new random string of ads. if you are lucky, the annoying one(s) will not appear..

Scrolling down helps too..


But yeah, try 'looking' at TRF without login in, or from someone else's computer.. and scroll thru a few threads..
 
I do have AdBlock Plus and Adaware installed.
I have adblock+ installed and I just block the annoying ones. Right click on the ad you want to block and select 'block element'. It will be replaced by a blank spot.
 
Ummmm, I don't mind the top sponsor ads. I paid my money a very long time ago and that's where the ads reside. I scroll down and I don't see anything but posts. I wonder what the problem is?
I do uses a linux platform so that might have something to do with it along with a linux Firefox browser. Top ads don't bug me and most of the companies I bought from in the past and are top notch. Don't want to see interspersed ads? Pay yer money to support the board period. Kurt
 
Ummmm, I don't mind the top sponsor ads. I paid my money a very long time ago and that's where the ads reside. I scroll down and I don't see anything but posts. I wonder what the problem is?
I do uses a linux platform so that might have something to do with it along with a linux Firefox browser. Top ads don't bug me and most of the companies I bought from in the past and are top notch. Don't want to see interspersed ads? Pay yer money to support the board period. Kurt

If you read through the OP and my comments, it is not sponsor Ads we object to it is the FLASHING FLASHING FLASHING sponsor ads. It's like being screamed at, IMHO

I kept the ones that didn't flash and terminated with prejudice the ones that did. With much joy.
 
If you read through the OP and my comments, it is not sponsor Ads we object to it is the FLASHING FLASHING FLASHING sponsor ads. It's like being screamed at, IMHO

I kept the ones that didn't flash and terminated with prejudice the ones that did. With much joy.

Thanks for clarifying. Flashing or no. With the top posted ads, once I scroll down one message, I don't see them anymore. If what is being seen is by folks who don't subscribe to the group and get side posted ads, tough s#!t. I paid for a lifetime subscription to this page many years ago and still enjoy keeping up with rocketry though I haven't flown in awhile. If one wants to get rid of a bulk of the ads, pay for a subscription. Now some of this might be the Linux platform I use and the fact I have a paid lifetime subscription to TRF but top posted ads, flashing or no are not that much of a nuisance. I scroll down one or two messages and they're gone. If one doesn't subscribe $$$$$ to the group, they have no E'ffing right to complain about the ads wherever and whenever they are placed on their screen. Suck it up wussies.

Wanna get my batteries replaced, recharged, altimeters tested out, get some commercial and research motors loaded up and go fly in the spring. (At the proper venues mind you!)
Best regards,
Kurt
 
Logged in, have NOT paid any money for sponsorship. I use AdBlock+. I also have ads turned off in my preferences. NO side ads and can block top row ads individually. I keep the static ones and block the rest.
 
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