[NSC] Random advert middle of NSC

[Kosh]

I've never been shy of stating the trade-off:

- Register and login to NSC for minimal ads
- View as a guest and you'll get more ads

There is no intention of making the site unusable when not signed in. Right now I'm in the midst of some experimentation with the make-up of the ads, and whilst what I state above re: logged in users/guests is likely to remain, it serves no purpose to have a site that people don't want to visit. Why would anyone of sane mind intentionally do that?

Finally, no, I don't want to charge you a penny for anything. But a lot of people have been in touch asking how they can contribute and there's never been a mechanism for that. Maybe there never will, but if there is, it feels right to me to try to give something back to those who chip in a few quid. No one will have to, and no one will be bombarded with ads if they don't.

That's a very fair way of putting it.

But... via my iPhone I have to argue the site, is currently, utterly horrendous to view as guest. As a company phone I am reticent about logging in for prolonged periods on company time, and as such prefer to dip in and out throughout the day. The site always displays a full page advert prior to loading the directory page, and diverts me automatically to another site on a regular basis. I can only imagine that this will reduce traffic over time, and surely (as you state) this is categorically something you want to avoid.

I remain old fashioned in my viewpoint re NSC as I was here near the beginning, yet I do see the evolution of the web as a wholly positive thing for I am no Thomas Malthus. Commercialisation of the 'brand' however, will never sit comfortably with my rebel tendencies.

I would never bow to the $ man, never. I'd sooner see NSC raise money via other less intrusive means. What they are I'll leave to better men and women than I. Ahem.

 

[SouthCoastOwl]

I got one for a show in Paris. I am/was logged in.

Me too, plus helpful handy hints about travelling to Paris to see a show!

 

[Bozza]

That's a very fair way of putting it.

But via my iPhone I have to argue the site, is currently, utterly horrendous to view as guest. As a company phone I am reticent about logging in for prolonged periods on company time and prefer to dip in and out throughout the day. The site always displays a full page advert prior to loading the directory page and diverts me automatically to another site on a regular basis. I can only imagine that this will reduce traffic over time, and surely (as you state) this is categorically something you want to avoid.

I remain old fashioned in my viewpoint re NSC as I was here near the beginning, I see the evolution of the web as a wholly positive thing for I am no Thomas Malthus. Commercialisation of the 'brand' however will never sit comfortably with my rebel tendencies.

I would never bow to the $ man, never. I'd sooner see NSC raise money via other means. What they are I'll leave to better men and women than I. Ahem.

I'm not sure why you'd not want to be logged in on a company phone - you're on the same site regardless of logged in or not.

I never have to login to NSC on any of my devices.

NSC has never had a proper mobile style and I personally think the desktop look on a phone is horrible. Closer to the top of my "to do" list is the implementation of a proper responsive theme which makes the site a lot nicer to use on a smartphone.

 

[Kosh]

I'm not sure why you'd not want to be logged in on a company phone - you're on the same site regardless of logged in or not.

I never have to login to NSC on any of my devices.

NSC has never had a proper mobile style and I personally think the desktop look on a phone is horrible. Closer to the top of my "to do" list is the implementation of a proper responsive theme which makes the site a lot nicer to use on a smartphone.

It's just a time thing, having to login takes time and I can't be bothered if I plan to simply check for something interesting to read. That and I'd be severly tempted to spend too long on the site if I did login!

I appreciate the plan to implement a phone 'skin' as the desktop view is indeed not so hot.

I have to say the team who run the site, obviously, do a great job but the last two years in particular has seen the ad level impact on the NSC in such a way as to dominate when not logged in. I appreciate that's my problem, but overall I would hope a finer balance could be struck here?!?

I find the internet has become ruined by ads and websites should be better regulated herein. Again, obviously, NSC is no worse than other sites, but it imho could achieve a better balance.

 

[seagulls4ever]

I'm not sure why you'd not want to be logged in on a company phone - you're on the same site regardless of logged in or not.

I never have to login to NSC on any of my devices.

NSC has never had a proper mobile style and I personally think the desktop look on a phone is horrible. Closer to the top of my "to do" list is the implementation of a proper responsive theme which makes the site a lot nicer to use on a smartphone.

I often prefer desktop views on my phone - which is why I've never used Tapatalk. Depending on how sites implement their 'mobile' theme, I often request to view in desktop mode. The BBC site, for example, is great for mobiles - but with other sites, you lose content/ease of use/access at the expense of making it look nice for mobiles.

The current NSC experience on mobiles, however, has become really poor, especially if not logged in, as I and others have mentioned. As you indicate, it makes no sense for users to have a bad experience which will drive traffic away, or for people to resort to ad blockers which will lose the site income.

I have mentioned a variety of problems in the past: ads causing pages to load in stages, obtrusive Tapatalk ad, full page ads, ads causing YouTube videos not to display correctly, the last post of each thread displaying text over many lines. The last post issue means if I am not logged in for whatever reason, I simply skip that post as it's unreadable. Quite a few people have mentioned that issue so I think it would make sense to try and embed the ads in a different way so that does not happen - it might be quite a simple fix by simply using div tags or something like.

Here's a screenshot I took not long ago in mobile, when not logged in:

 

[chaileyjem]

A responsive NSC on a mobile would be my #1 priority [MENTION=6886]Bozza[/MENTION] .

As for the ads. Well NSC isn't free to run, host and manage so if exploring new ways to pay for that through different types of ads is the answer then fair enough.
And these new text thread ads or post ads are not very intrusive.

 

[Driver8]

I often prefer desktop views on my phone - which is why I've never used Tapatalk. Depending on how sites implement their 'mobile' theme, I often request to view in desktop mode. The BBC site, for example, is great for mobiles - but with other sites, you lose content/ease of use/access at the expense of making it look nice for mobiles.

The current NSC experience on mobiles, however, has become really poor, especially if not logged in, as I and others have mentioned. As you indicate, it makes no sense for users to have a bad experience which will drive traffic away, or for people to resort to ad blockers which will lose the site income.

I have mentioned a variety of problems in the past: ads causing pages to load in stages, obtrusive Tapatalk ad, full page ads, ads causing YouTube videos not to display correctly, the last post of each thread displaying text over many lines. The last post issue means if I am not logged in for whatever reason, I simply skip that post as it's unreadable. Quite a few people have mentioned that issue so I think it would make sense to try and embed the ads in a different way so that does not happen - it might be quite a simple fix by simply using div tags or something like.

Here's a screenshot I took not long ago in mobile, when not logged in:

View attachment 90550

Tapatalk is so much easier and no adds. I just don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t use it from a phone.

 

[Bozza]

I often prefer desktop views on my phone - which is why I've never used Tapatalk. Depending on how sites implement their 'mobile' theme, I often request to view in desktop mode. The BBC site, for example, is great for mobiles - but with other sites, you lose content/ease of use/access at the expense of making it look nice for mobiles.

The current NSC experience on mobiles, however, has become really poor, especially if not logged in, as I and others have mentioned. As you indicate, it makes no sense for users to have a bad experience which will drive traffic away, or for people to resort to ad blockers which will lose the site income.

I have mentioned a variety of problems in the past: ads causing pages to load in stages, obtrusive Tapatalk ad, full page ads, ads causing YouTube videos not to display correctly, the last post of each thread displaying text over many lines. The last post issue means if I am not logged in for whatever reason, I simply skip that post as it's unreadable. Quite a few people have mentioned that issue so I think it would make sense to try and embed the ads in a different way so that does not happen - it might be quite a simple fix by simply using div tags or something like.

Here's a screenshot I took not long ago in mobile, when not logged in:

View attachment 90550

That skin thing shouldn't happen on mobiles (and only very, very infrequently on desktop).

Needless to say, when I get a responsive theme in place then that won't happen.

In the interim, I'll raise the issue with the ad agency.

 

[dazzer6666]

I've never been shy of stating the trade-off:

- Register and login to NSC for minimal ads
- View as a guest and you'll get more ads

There is no intention of making the site unusable when not signed in. Right now I'm in the midst of some experimentation with the make-up of the ads, and whilst what I state above re: logged in users/guests is likely to remain, it serves no purpose to have a site that people don't want to visit. Why would anyone of sane mind intentionally do that?

Finally, no, I don't want to charge you a penny for anything. But a lot of people have been in touch asking how they can contribute and there's never been a mechanism for that. Maybe there never will, but if there is, it feels right to me to try to give something back to those who chip in a few quid. No one will have to, and no one will be bombarded with ads if they don't.

The ads are flicking the signed in desktop user to a new window/tab in Explorer - every minute or two. It’s borderline unusable already. Ads for x-box for me mostly, even though I have no interest in gaming.

Tapatalk is fine, although you don’t seem to be able to start a new thread because it says ‘prefix needed’ but there is no button to add one.

The ads through the threads are fine.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

Tapatalk works fine on my mobile, never have to login and never have ads

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[Hamilton]

Just something that I'm trying out.

May not stay or maybe it will. Maybe just on the forum page, maybe just within threads. I have no idea yet.

Feel free to post criticism and/or abuse here.

Easy to spot as an ad and I don't mind at all. Currently, I'm being tempted to go an see The Lion King.

 

[Dick Head]

I always KNEW that this would happen when we reached the promised land. What, with JD Sports on sleeves, lucrative overseas (Bangalore) broadcasting deals and Emirates careers on NSC? It's all down to avarice, AVARICE I tell you!

 

[Bozza]

The ads are flicking the signed in desktop user to a new window/tab in Explorer - every minute or two. It’s borderline unusable already. Ads for x-box for me mostly, even though I have no interest in gaming.

Tapatalk is fine, although you don’t seem to be able to start a new thread because it says ‘prefix needed’ but there is no button to add one.

The ads through the threads are fine.

I’ve never been flicked to a new tab on NSC ever.

When I click “Create” on Tapatalk for a new thread I’m given a list to choose from.

 

[dazzer6666]

I’ve never been flicked to a new tab on NSC ever.

When I click “Create” on Tapatalk for a new thread I’m given a list to choose from.

Happened half a dozen times this morning alone. I'm away now but will have another look at the weekend.

Didn't get the option on ipad app.....

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

 

[Buzzer]

The ads with videos at the top and bottom of the screen are making it unusable. It kicks flipping to the bottom of the page every few seconds.

 

[AZ Gull]

The ads with videos at the top and bottom of the screen are making it unusable. It kicks flipping to the bottom of the page every few seconds.

This happens every now and again for me and it drives me mad.

I'm also not impressed with video ads that suddenly start playing audio. My method of viewing NSC (including at work) is usually to go to the Big Board and click on a number of threads that I want to read by opening each in a new tab; that means I can easily have 10 or so threads open at one time. Then audio will suddenly start playing and I'll have to quickly find the offending tab and mute it (as it isn't welcome in a communal work environment).

 

[dazzer6666]

This happens every now and again for me and it drives me mad.

I'm also not impressed with video ads that suddenly start playing audio. My method of viewing NSC (including at work) is usually to go to the Big Board and click on a number of threads that I want to read by opening each in a new tab; that means I can easily have 10 or so threads open at one time. Then audio will suddenly start playing and I'll have to quickly find the offending tab and mute it (as it isn't welcome in a communal work environment).

Earphones [emoji106][emoji106]

 

[JamesAndTheGiantHead]

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[Hillian1]

Almost unusable now, shame really.

 

[Dirk Lehmann's Python]

Almost unusable now, shame really.

All about making the owner money these days now we're not campaigning for anything

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk