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What about the page jumping all over the place? It's become so frustrating on my phone. I hate sites like this.
Random slow performance?
Yep. Sometimes a page/thread opens almost instantly, sometimes it's many seconds
Search is still buggered
Post history is next to useless
Yep
Don't know about the others as they seem to be Android based
The page jumping about is ad insertion causing a page redraw. There will be a holder page element with zero size then the ad service sticks the advert in there and resizes it. I've learnt to wait about ten seconds before trying to click on any link to a thread
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Don’t know what you are all whinging about.
In summary…
Random text in quotes
Slow performance at different times
Pop ups and redirects
Difficulty pasting text – can you do it really easily in android or lots of different taps?
Search is still buggered
Post history is next to useless
Image Link in android is wider than the screen and the cancel button is off the screen
Predictive typing is also bolloxed
Though if it’s all working fine for somebody then it’s a start
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Yeah apart from those nine things, though, you'd have to say it's working fine.
Don't like to join the chorus of disgruntlement but it's in a bit of a state - didn't think it was possible to make the quote function worse but hats off they managed it. Completely mangled threads from the past is potentially the worst thing - don't know if this can be rectified.
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Any sign of an update?
How's the server migration going?
Any idea when we can expect some info?
Both theme and text editor are, I think, Wordpress related so it shouldn't be a big job to sort either, basically pick another one. Not sure why the text editing wasn't thoroughly checked beforehand though.
As an aside: It's a bit odd that it's up to someone like me to explain some of what's going on. A definite lack of progress info (assuming there's any progress of course)
I've already explained. No progress until the Easter Holidays.
You should also seriously consider banning the black and white checkerboard advert too.. its going to melt my mind
As an aside: It’s a bit odd that it’s up to someone like me to explain some of what’s going on. A definite lack of progress info (assuming there’s any progress of course)
This is always how it goes.
1. Silence
2. Throw mods under the bus
3. Make a post about how we're all thick and just don't understand, but updates will be coming.
4. Throw mods back under bus in case they managed to crawl out from under it.
5. Unsticky relevant threads.
6. Silence.
Is anyone else experiencing the site not updating for longish periods of time? A page refresh returns a 200 but just returns the same response for ~30 minutes. Happens even if I try load in incognito. Seems to happen randomly and infrequently. Don't think it's my network as my phone on the same wifi loads updated content when this happens on my PC.
Jamie, the mods (PBUT) appear to be happily lobbing themselves under the bus.
Annnnnd, another ******* redirect while trying to post that.
Jamie, the mods (PBUT) appear to be happily lobbing themselves under the bus.
Annnnnd, another ******* redirect while trying to post that.
Third time lucky? Here goes....
Nope. Bound to work the fourth time, right?
Jamie, the mods (PBUT) appear to be happily lobbing themselves under the bus.
Annnnnd, another ******* redirect while trying to post that.
Third time lucky? Here goes....
Nope. Bound to work the fourth time, right?
Guess what? It's now the fifth time I've tried to reply to this thread.
Repeat posting while I fight the redirects?
Great.
Rusty Spanner
How’s the server migration going?
Any idea when we can expect some info?
As a "life member" I feel somewhat duped
(and quoting your text Pete took a bit of buggering about)
In summary…
Random text in quotes
I never get this because I always enter the html code manually.
Slow performance at different times
This I have definitely experienced, but not so much that it gets all that bothersome.
Pop ups and redirects
I have never experienced this. Ever.
Difficulty pasting text – can you do it really easily in android or lots of different taps?
What does this mean? I can paste text just as easily here as anywhere?
Search is still buggered
Maybe, but it always has been, so I never use it.
Post history is next to useless
This is definitely the case. I liked being able to look at my own posts to then follow them back to a thread I had an interest in. I have been living with the hope that it will return to the way it was, or even get better.
Image Link in android is wider than the screen and the cancel button is off the screen
Don't have the pleasure of Android right now, so wouldn't know. It hasn't happened with any of the OSes I use.
Predictive typing is also bolloxed
I never noticed. Where would one experience this?
Beyond any of the issues mentioned above, I have no access to emojis (although that may be a good thing!), and I now struggle with adding images, but that is entirely because of Google no longer allowing one to click a preview and open an isolated image in a separate tab in order to get a discreet jpeg URL.
Ultimately, though, are any of these aggravations worth ditching the forum over, seeing as it's been such a bloody good place for so long?
🙂
If the forum is resurrected by Easter I may have to reconsider my atheism.
Well saxonrider, seems as you put it like that...
please dont don't forget to turn the lights off, thanks. 😉
The jumping screen while the page slowly slowly loads is however, starting to do my nut in!
Ultimately, though, are any of these aggravations worth ditching the forum over, seeing as it’s been such a bloody good place for so long?
Ditching or wandering away from? The post count is down, the rate of reply is down, the amount of stuff going on is down. You may not have experienced any of the things above but when your very stable mobile keyboard doesn't work with only this site and leaves posting from mobile more like using an old nokia, then quote being buggered as typing html is a pita etc. and those without P are getting spammed hard it makes you wonder. Then the overwhelming responce deom the owners to any of these issues yep silence means a lot of good will is being lost. The forum is only as good as it's content and as people are experiencing all of the problems above I can see why people are not coming back, I've given up replying on a few occasions as doing what used to be really simple now isn't. That is the absolute NO when it comes to a redesign, if you make things harder it will piss people off.
Even down to random things like massive text forheadlines but really tiny numbers for next page which on mobile getreallyhard to hit. I'm sure there is a list of issues somewhere and I'm sure I'm on it.
Erm.. ja ko’ wot..
Yeah, it’s bloody frustrating for a vast majority of posters, new and established.
We kinda don’t post moans about the issues unless it reeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllyyyyyyy get on our tits.
A lot we understand, accept and support.. but it’s time all the issues were corrected/fixed/re-Implimentated.
Any SDLC process would have sorted out the basics, the frills and guff of advertising could have come later.. As is, the same issues of redirects that appeared in the previous version still occur.. and the Porn ones are unforgivable TBH.
If you don’t get the same issues, then one can only assume you are a Demi God with all manner of attributes mere mortals have yet to form.
no issues with pop up and re direct either .
Nope, me neither, but it's still cripplingly slow, and whenever I've logged on there's a noticeable drop off in posting, which means I'm disinclined to keep returning. It's now a distant 4th on my choice of forums, having been first by a long way for many years. Partly changing interests - I just don't ride as much, but the forum experience is noticeably worse now, and the aggression from the mods and Mark on here is hardly encouragement.
But it's only server migration, be fixed a few days.
You can’t argue with the immediate response of the adverts.
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So where are people going instead for their MTB forum fixes? Would be good to know as no mater how much this place is annoying to use, I don't know anywhere else to go so I'm stuck (due to my own inability to find elsewhere)...
Apart from the forum, Subscribers get access to a load of 'premium' content, could it be that the forum is causing so many issues that STW are driving it into an early grave and will switch it off for good once the rest of whatever gets developed?
The silence is deafening...things are very clearly bad when even CFH is complaining loudly about everything.
Predictive typing is also bolloxed
I never noticed. Where would one experience this?
There's an issue with Swiftkey.
The post count is down, the rate of reply is down
It's quite the opposite, actually.
it’s still cripplingly slow
For me it's sporadic. Sometimes it's rapid, sometimes painful. There's a host move in the pipeline, though they're down to one developer this week which I'd expect has created a bit of a bottleneck.
and the aggression from the mods
There's been a few digs at us in the last couple of pages so I'm going to call this out here. We've made a few snarky comments over time because a) it's frustrating for us too and b) I'm genetically snarky. But aggressive? Really? I've barely posted in the last few days due to other commitments, and I've not noticed Drac being particularly spongy of late either.
In other news: I spoke to Mark earlier about the redirects. No-one at STW has been able to replicate the issue so far, across multiple devices. That's not to say there isn't an issue, just that they can't (yet) see where it is.
Unless things have changed a few years back mark said the adverts on the furm subsidised / paid for the rest of STW. The magazine will not be profitable and few folk will come to the site for anything other than the forum is my guess so the forum is essential to the whole profitability of stw - hence the huge number of ads
You say post count and replies are up? Its certainly not what it looks like. Is that actual posts or the number of times people are on a page as we now have to hit many pages to find posts and to post. Rose tinted glasses and all that but it certainly seems to me to have a lot less posts and topics stay on the first page much longer
the redirects / hijacks are unforgivable - I used dodgy pirate streaming sites and they are not as bad
I spoke to Mark earlier about the redirects. No-one at STW has been able to replicate the issue so far, across multiple devices. That’s not to say there isn’t an issue, just that they can’t (yet) see where it is.
If this is down to the amount of time and number of visits spent by the user, have any of them spent enough time and done enough visits to reach that magic moment of trying to access the forum/topic and suddenly being congratulated that they have won something/getting to see some unwanted porn? Going from the silence from STW Towers, it does suggest they haven't spent enough time using the forum to get to that point (if that is the reason for the redirects).
The ads certainly subsidise the site. To what degree, I don't know.
FWIW, there are now fewer adverts than there were on the old site. Overall there's about a third less, and there's a 20% reduction over what casual viewers see if you're actually logged in (as a regular free member, not a [P] subscriber).
Are redirects just a mobile thing? I've never had one on the desktop, in fact I've had very few problems at all there, but tried it on my mobile and got a redirect within seconds. Disconcerting. But the old version was sooo difficult to view on mobile I've got into the habit of only using the desktop version. At least the mobile version now starts as if its going to be mobile friendly.
If this is down to the amount of time and number of visits spent by the user, have any of them spent enough time and done enough visits to reach that magic moment of trying to access the forum/topic and suddenly being congratulated that they have won something/getting to see some unwanted porn?
Theoretically, yes, in so far as the staff are relatively heavy users of the site by dint of them working here. Whether it's sufficient traffic compared to the heavier non-employee users, I couldn't say.
This is by no means an official comment as I'm speculating, but it'd be interesting to see whether for those affected it made any difference clearing cookies / web cache / changing IP address (reboot the device?) / using an incognito browser window.
Are redirects just a mobile thing?
Anecdotally from the comments here, it would appear so to me.
tried it on my mobile and got a redirect within seconds.
That's concerning. What device / browser? Can we tie this down to an Android issue perhaps, any iUsers affected? (Doubly concerning if so, as the advertising networks are now 100% Google-approved.)
There’s an issue with Swiftkey.
As pointed out earlier it was doing the same with stock android its got better but still not where any other website is.
Post count? Numbers then and excluding the it's broken, ads are porn, pop up threads etc. Observation is its slower, less threads and threads die faster.
When you spoke to Mark did he mention why he didn't want to engage with his customers?
I get the redirects only when using my Android tablet. I can be on a page - scroll down and then I'm jettisoned off to another page.
No problem on a PC.
Both browsers are Chrome. Could it be something related to how I'm scrolling on the mobile device? i.e. using my finger - and somehow inadvertently "pressing" something as I slide my finger?
That’s concerning. What device / browser?
Samsung Galaxy 7 Edge with Chrome. So yes Android.
As pointed out earlier it was doing the same with stock android
Ah, I'd forgotten that. Ta.
When you spoke to Mark did he mention why he didn’t want to engage with his customers?
Obviously, I didn't ask. I figure he's a busy chap and in any case I don't think that's an appropriate question for me to be asking (it's a bit "when did you stop beating your wife?"). I merely try to help out around here and try to look out for you guys (hence why I asked for an update in the first place), but I'm neither his keeper nor a union rep. Feel free to ask him yourself, mark@...
Again, the only feedback or comments are from the mods.
Cougar, thank you for your continued efforts to placate, but stop. Please. It's not your place, or job, to be addressing these issues. You're a forum mod, not an employee/developer of the site.
The redirect issue is on mobile and tablet. Second hand comments that "Well, we aren't seeing them" isn't helping. Many others are. Links and screenshots have been shared. The issue of someone getting a porn redirect in a public place remains unanswered.
I think I speak for everyone here, at least I hope I do - We like it here. We like the advice, the humour, the opinions, the hilarious footwear jokes and more. We don't like the turd that the forum has become. Fine, maybe it's all part of some grand plan, but the silence is deafening, and the aforementioned liking it here can soon be eroded if it stops being an easy place to enjoy all that advice,all that humour, all that good will and all those hilarious footwear jokes.
So, Cougar, please just go back to being a mod. Stop making someone else's apologies for them.
We like it here. We don't want it to wither away.
Honestly what's the actual point?
Well that didn't last long as a new thread so I'll post the same on here:
This forum is f***ed. Popups, redirects, loss of functionality. Ban me if you like, it'll be less annoying than trying to persevere with using the forum which is a shame really as I've enjoyed it over the years.
It’s quite the opposite, actually.
It is android that's the problem with redirects, that has been obvious since the weekend. But I'm pretty sure Mark doesn't care about Android users and previously said so as they don't spend as much money as isheep.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Also considering the software to put disaster then one developer in this week to sort this mess is a joke. If they don't sort things soon they won't need any. Especially as frustration levels have increased a lot over the last few days. </span>
Wtf, happened to my formatting on my last post. I give up, this forus seems to have been built and developed by either a fraud or an idiot.
CFH I take your point but so we're clear I'm not trying to make apologies. I'm trying to effect communication. Really, that's all I ever tried to do since I agreed to be a moderator. I'm mandated not to slag off the site, I'm not mandated to defend it.
Second hand comments that “Well, we aren’t seeing them” isn’t helping. Many others are.
This isn't directed at you personally CFH, but it's a fair example. When you (the forum) are given information, there's always someone ready to use it against us. You've just selectively commented on what I said despite me saying in that very same post, "That’s not to say there isn’t an issue, just that they can’t (yet) see where it is." The primary reason I've been quiet on this thread lately is because I've been busy, but knowing that every time I do post I'm probably gonna get challenged over it by someone isn't overly encouraging me to care sufficiently to bother to respond. (And again for clarity, I'm not talking about you here, I'm generalising).
What would be helpful instead? Genuine question. STW knows there's a problem for some users and haven't as yet been able to isolate a cause. Would you rather Mark had come along and said the same thing instead? Would you rather no-one had said anything and we had another twelve pages of "the silence is deafening" posts? Something else? I'm at a loss here.
one developer in this week to sort this mess is a joke.
It's a well documented fact that when you work in the IT industry you aren't allowed weekends or holidays. Maybe if there were more subscribers and fewer ad blockers, they might be able to afford another developer.
(I'm not being entirely serious and my hilarious wit and biting sarcasm aside, I know how many subscribers it would take to do away with advertising completely, and it's an astonishingly low figure.)
I used to subscribe and I will again if the forum gets sorted out. I would also be willing to pay more for additional functionality. Mark, hear our prayers 👏
Said it before
CFH I take your point but so we’re clear I’m not trying to make apologies. I’m trying to effect communication.
What are you communicating? Is it what is going on or opinions?
Would you rather Mark had come along and said the same thing instead?
Well as the man running it all yes, it would actually show he wanted to be involved. Some people here know a thing or 2 about customer relations and it. They are making some good points
Personally I would like to see a " sorry we effed it all up, we are doing a b and c to try to sort things out" and regular updates on progress
As for the ridirects if its any help I normally use my desktop. When on my tea breaks at work I'll look at the forum on my phone. Sony xperia running chrome. all standard. I get the redirects every few pages I look at some days then its clear for a while.. Monday I was on a train so again used the phone - redirected 5 times IIRC in 3 hours intermittent browsing. I do not use the phone for browing the web much at all and I have never had an issue from anywhere else. so with me I am as sure as I can be given my limited IT skills that its not to do with the amount of time spent on here nor anything to do with other sites. the only other sites I ever go to are the BBC and the guardian and occasionally an ad free rugby forum
FWIW, there are now fewer adverts than there were on the old site. Overall there’s about a third less, and there’s a 20% reduction over what casual viewers see if you’re actually logged in (as a regular free member, not a [P] subscriber).
I'll oppugn that. There may (or may not) be fewer ads overall, but they're more intrusive - included in people's posts, every few posts. My browser tells me how many advertising elements it's handling. This page has 25 on it until I log in, then it has 61. The typical/average seems to be 20-30 additional elements when I'm logged in.
Genuine question then, if you weren't a mod, would you be posting similar responses to what you are now, or would you be complaining like many of us are?
The silence from anyone from 'the business' is making this worse as it is essentially lack of communication and the userbase is frustrated by the apparent lack of trying to fix things.
If fixes are happening why is there no updates being posted? Any progress is far better than the none that appears just now.
What are you communicating? Is it what is going on or opinions?
A little from both columns. I do try to be clear, apologies if that's not the case.
My browser tells me how many advertising elements it’s handling. This page has 25 on it until I log in, then it has 61.
Ok, that's weird. I'll feed that back, thanks. What platform?
I've not trawled through this thread for a while but is there going to be a stop with the endless bumps on the classifieds? It was much better when that couldn't happen.
What platform?
Desktop.
A little from both columns. I do try to be clear, apologies if that’s not the case.
Simples....
Anything starting with "Mark Said' we will take a communication
Anything else we take as just stuff Cougar is saying that has nothing to do with stw.
Sorry but it's not clear at all when you start defending or explaining with opinions not facts.
What Mike and CFH said
"I’ll feed that back"
Steady on, there's only one dev in, this week. 😘
Genuine question then, if you weren’t a mod, would you be posting similar responses to what you are now, or would you be complaining like many of us are?
Good question. I dunno. I wouldn't be in a position to feed back the responses I get, beyond that I'd be a regular user and be commenting on the issues I see. Personally as a user I think the BBpress implementation of TinyMCE (the editor) is bobbins, and the site speed is all over the place as discussed at length, but beyond that I'm seeing none of the other issues people are reporting. Not to say they aren't affecting people, but they're either quirks I don't see or features I don't use. I rarely use the mobile site, for example, and have never touched the history feature in my life (I was shocked how many people rely on it). I've used a Chome "search this site" plugin to search the site for years since the one on the old forum was toilet, so that hasn't changed for me.
Some of the complaints I've read (again, speaking as a user) seem monumentally petty, like people haven't used any other websites in the last five years. Every other website I use daily has irritations, from pop up "join our mailing list" boxes, to auto-play videos that follow the scrolling of the page in the corner of the screen even after you've stopped them, to "this site uses cookies" banners, to sponsored content trying to drag you somewhere else before you've even read what you've come here to see. The current forum is far from perfect, but there are many more sites which are a) a far worse browsing experience and b) probably far more popular than STW. Here's a random example, from The Independent:
I've screen grabbed this at a point scrolling down to where the main headline video disappears and turns into a banner you can't get rid of. If you scroll past another five paragraphs - about the most content you can fit on screen at any one time - then you get a "new in pictures" block which is big enough that it literally means there is ZERO content of the actual article on screen. That's insane.
This is a commercial website with, I'd guess, a vastly larger readership than STW and a vastly greater development resource and budget being thrown at it. And I'm struggling to find the "wow, your site is shit and I'm cancelling my subscription" on thread there if I'm honest.
So, in answer to your question, what would I be complaining about? I hate the editor. Beyond that, same crap different day as far as I'm concerned as a plain ol' user. I come here for the discussions, debate and wealth of knowledge, not the choice of favicon.ico colour.
Stock Android, Chrome, MotoG3.
Pop ups are intermittent. Very bad over the last few weeks, absent tonight, I've just logged in and out to check. No porn, just phone scams.
A week ago it w anti virus pop ups.
Only happens when not logged in.
I'm using the forum and phone in exactly the way I've always done.
It doesn't happen anywhere else.
What would be helpful instead? Genuine question.
I'm not in IT. 90% of this thread is utterly irrelevant to me.
I'd like someone to post some regular updates in the locked 'Our Forum' thread so I don't have to trawl through this.
That thread is fine, I don't care who updates it.
As before, all I'd like is an idea of where we're going and how we're going to get there.
I honestly don't think it's too much to expect.
Flashy, I understand your point of view but disagree.
It's an unnecessary mess of a thread but the abuse of Drac and Cougar comes across as a bit pathetic.
All they're trying to do is help. For free and in their own time.
The current forum is far from perfect, but there are many more sites which are a) a far worse browsing experience
I agree, but from the experience of a forum user it's worse now than it has ever been.
Communication is the issue.
The redirects are getting really intense, can't manage 2 minutes on the forum
I think the shareholders have worked out there is/was more money on Facebook and are unsubtlely driving traffic that way
It will be like bikemagic in a few months
I rarely use the mobile site, for example, and have never touched the history feature in my life
And
Beyond that, same crap different day as far as I’m concerned as a plain ol’ user
If your not using one of the main interfaces that is struggling then of course your not seeing stuff. At least the devs are all over this and testing in all the major formats to make sure it works
Desktop.
Presumably Windows? What browser?
Sorry but it’s not clear at all when you start defending or explaining with opinions not facts.
Then that's a failing on my part and I apologise. I do try but I'll endeavour to be clearer. For future, if you're in doubt (and care), please ask.
This seems like the perfect time to fire off a well timed footwear jo......oh, I can’t be arsed.
Jimjam, any chance you can snag the URL please?
If your not using one of the main interfaces that is struggling
I am using one of the main interfaces. Just not all of them.
then of course your not seeing stuff.
Well, yes, that was the point I was making. "Would you complain as a user?" - "Well, no, I don't use it." - "Well, that's why!" Um...?
Y'know what, I'm going to take CFH's advice and step away from this thread for tonight. Maybe longer. This is a self-fulfilling bloody prophecy.
Wise move Cougs.
FWIW I think that you and Drac are doing a bang up job, above and beyond the call of duty.
Seriously trying to be helpful here as most people seem to see you as a voice of stw. Start with Mark Said and we can take that as comms from on high, we will put anything else down as opinions not from stw .
Your also not using the mobile interface, it's one of the bigger problems. If you did you would probably see what others are seeing. Though as said any sane Web dev would be testing on all platforms before implementing stuff. You know because.
Pop ups are bad for me tonight. 10 minutes of fighting them to be able to read the rants, helpful feedback and excuses on this thread. I'm not a big contributor but have been a subscriber in the past and probably been on the forum daily for over 10 years. It is currently feeling like a pain full break up from a long term relationship, but in this situation it is you and not me, you just do communicate anymore. I don't understand you and your lack of interest in my needs is redirecting my affections elsewhere.
Maybe we need to go to counseling but you have to want to listen to make it work. Call me when you are ready to talk..
Don't leave it long can't promise I'll still be waiting
This seems like the perfect time to fire off a well timed footwear jo……oh, I can’t be arsed.
That's a shame.
Would have been a shoe in.
Presumably Windows? What browser?
macOS. Firefox and Safari show same increase in advertising elements.
Thanks Perchy and Rusty.
Posted from my mobile device with which I have no issues.
I've never made any real contribution to a it/techie thread's as I know naff all about that stuff. I have added stuff to the redirect/ popups thread's as I thought it might be useful as I tend to always view the site on an android phone and my use of the site has gone down. I can live with the pop ups as there are nights like tonight where I have had none. What's put me off more is how quiet it's gone around here. I know none of the technical stuff but it feels like the life is being sucked from the place, there are times it's like tumble weed. I love the site, over the last 10 year's I would bet it's the site I have spent the most time on. I don't mind the owner's being div's or the mod 'it must be you' line's, as I tend to come for the contributor's. And that's the bit that's feels like it's going, seems a bit like a good time to make a push to be a big hitter 😉 and I'll keep trying till it either really grinds down or sorts itself out, and hope it's the latter.
[i]tjagain wrote:[/i]
Personally I would like to see a ” sorry we effed it all up, we are doing a b and c to try to sort things out” and regular updates on progress
😆 - apparently this is all as planned and expected based upon the extensive testing they did on multiple test servers before rolling it out, and if you want to understand you'll need to come and visit STW towers, because it's impossible for all us web/db devs to understand otherwise.
I suspect you've got enough data points now, but I very rarely browse on mobile but went on the site on my phone for the first time since the update a few days ago and got over 20 redirects within a few seconds - Android Loillipop
I've been pretty quiet on this thread except for some issues that I (constructively, I believe) pointed out earlier. I normally use the forum on a Win 10 PC with Firefox logged in as a subscriber. As an experiment, went on my Android 7.0 phone with Chrome. Instant fake virus popup from us.dializd261or.top/u23s/0_index0.php?mode.
One try, one popup! ITS DAMN FRUSTRATING FROM A USER'S PERSPECTIVE!!!
I'm also frustrated by the lack of updates from STWHQ...
Thanks for the response Cougar.
I think we've characterised the pop-up plague as being primarily Android targeted though one or two people have noted them on iOS as well.
A day or two ago I noted that on my iPad if I navigated to the main front page of the site then the browser (Safari) crashed. It still does so. However if I open the main page of grit.cx then there's no crash.
Since both are part of Gofar and ISTR that Mark said they were aiming to have both sites use the same backend systems I have to assume that something unsavoury is being served to the STW homepage.
Ok so, an answer to all problems could be for user run rival forum and step away from this. I've seen it done with some music forums that I frequent when they closed for whatever reason and the user base transferred over.
I'm certain that 'we' could do it better, how hard would it be for someone with some server space some bandwidth to share and collective knowledge.
Anyone up for starting an independent MTB/log-burner forum?
What I find a bit sad is that before the update, when an ad was causing problems, it would be reported, and, usually, something was done about it.
This doesn't seem to happen now. Maybe they can't, maybe they just can't be bothered. Either way, it shows a massive amount of disrespect to the people who made this forum what it is, or, sadly, what it was.
In other news: I spoke to Mark earlier about the redirects. No-one at STW has been able to replicate the issue so far, across multiple devices. That’s not to say there isn’t an issue, just that they can’t (yet) see where it is.
Sorry to say this.. but we’ve heard this argument before..and a massive thread ensued, it’s simple enough to search for that thread and it wasn’t all that long ago either..was it.
The owners obviously subscribe to a number of Ad Revenue streams, one of/more of are clearly affected by the pop-ups and redirects so a simple case of turning off all then reinstating one by one will isolate the offenders. And yes.. Mark did do that last time and yes, we know he reduced the Ad-Revenue stream from one (maybe two) of them, and it got better for a period of time.. now it’s all back with a vengeance.
If my organisation had issues with this particular issue, there would be immediate and forced action..
CFH and many others (me included) have moaned plenty of times about the same issues on the pop-ups/redirects that it’s blatently obvious that it’s isolated to Ad-Revenue streams.
Sorry you have to come on here without reasoned answers or any support from STW other than what you’ve posted above, I do think it is perhaps time to step away from the problem and maybe provoke an action from above..
Have avoided posting on these threads as wanted to see how it all panned out and give benefit of doubt really.
Sadly the form has become less busy, slower to use, and more annoying, and that's ignoring the actual 'it all went wrong' stage of the initial upgrade. I'm just not enjoying it like I used to and I chose to turn off my auto-renew digital sub yesterday. This isn't a flounce, if things get better again then I'll re-sub and probably spend more time on here again, but right now I'm disappointed and find the whole experience frustrating, so I'm spending more time on other forums.
I do work in IT, I do understand the problems involved in big updates to incumbent systems* that have a colourful history of maintenance and past hackery, but someone cocked up big time here. Whether it was the testing (or lack of), deployment and implementation, or simply that this level of disruption was expected and they're just not communicating properly I neither know nor care at this point, I'm just disappointed.
Nothing more to say really other than add me to your stats of disappointed ex-subscriber until/if things get better again.
Hey ho, that's how it goes...
* bigger, older and more complex than this forum for sure, with far more drastic consequences if it goes wrong, but that's not really relevant, there's probably loads of us on here with this kind of experience .
Sadly the form has become less busy
Numbers are up!
there’s probably loads of us on here with this kind of experience .
...and you're all wrong!
Less forum activity but Poll replies are steady.
This suggests, in the short term at least, front page hits are up despite lack forum use.
This doesn’t seem to happen now. Maybe they can’t, maybe they just can’t be bothered.
There's a short answer to this, and a long one. I'll spare you the long one as a) it'll just provoke all the experts who know better and b) I really can't be bothered. The short answer is that it's being worked on but it's far more complicated than you imagine.
The owners obviously subscribe to a number of Ad Revenue streams, one of/more of are clearly affected by the pop-ups and redirects so a simple case of turning off all then reinstating one by one will isolate the offenders.
That's essentially what's happening, only as I said it's slightly more complicated than that. I'll give you an example:
"it's possible to actually cause more problems with rogue ads and other delivery issues by making big sweeping changes like suddenly taking a network that was happily delivering high quality ads to 10% of our ad calls and suddenly making them an exclusive provider of 100%. "