Changes to Advertising on the site

Exclamation Marc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120631365#Comment_120631365

Appreciate the update Mike.

As regards the adblocker, the site is so unusable right now that it's either block the ads or don't use the site for me...

Boards.ie: Mike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120632047#Comment_120632047

I haven't started bleating yet! I am not being put up to the post by anyone. In fact it is quite the opposite I am fully supported by Odhran in my role here. I have a job to do and I am trying to work with all of the parties involved to come up with solutions to the problems that people are facing.

As an update on the issue Snigel have got back to me this afternoon. They have implemented a change for now while all parties come up with a fix. So users should be seeing an improvement already. I'm looking forward to hearing all feedback here as people navigate the site this evening.

As any new relevant info comes in on this I will share it here.

Thanks to everyone for their input and patience.

Mo Ghile Mear

It’s definitely better for me today.

I don’t mind ads at all, I know the site can’t exist without them. But those really irritating ones filling half the phone screen would do your head in. Fingers crossed ..they seem to be gone now 🙂. Well done!

Boards.ie: Mike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120632399#Comment_120632399

Glad to hear it. It should be the same for all logged in users now. Thanks!

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120632493#Comment_120632493

Such a relief to have it sorted.

I don’t mind the little ads that remain on the bottom.

Eggonyerface

In over 25 years of scrolling the internet it was those ads which finally pushed me towards an ad blocker

Unearthly

Looks fixed for now. Thanks Mike

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773665#Comment_118773665

So what you are say is back to the ‘drawing boards’. I have Adblock on my Laptop so didn’t notice ads. But not on phone. I noticed that an advert can appear right in the middle of where post is typed. And if accidentally click it covers the whole screen. Really intrusive and annoying.

cunnifferous

I agree with previous comments. Is there any way to do a patreon or subscriber feature for boards? I use the site a lot and would happily pay a fiver/tenner a month to help keep the lights on.

Mo Ghile Mear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120632733#Comment_120632733

Same here. I don’t post much but I dip in and out of the site a lot. It’s a happy relief from the cesspit of Twitter 😫. I wouldn’t mind contributing either.

machiavellianme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120631365#Comment_120631365

Out of curiosity, if it was a cyber security breach, would you be dithering and procrastinating for so long about what to do?

If not, why are you so lackadaisical about the ad-ware and other unwanted behaviours introduced? Talks with Snigel should have started with "Thanks" and ended with "but no thanks" and your business be taken elsewhere within a much shorter time than it has done. This issue is into days now whereas the plug should have been pulled at hours (or less)!

ozmo

Great its fixed - Now if only we can get daily/weekly summary of thread responses like we use to have that would be great.

Tired of joining to high volume threads like this one - and for the next week getting email bombed for each and every reply... unless I opt out of notifications - then forget about the thread.... Want to read them... but not immediately *everytime* someone posts...

nothing

Definite improvement with only the small non-popping up ad at the bottom, much appreciated.

Mam of 4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633098#Comment_120633098

Same here, thankfully!

Can cope with the small ad, the big intrusive one is gone . Thanks !

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120632940#Comment_120632940

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120632733#Comment_120632733

You would pay the equivalent of a basic month subscription fee for Netflix and Spotify, to use Boards? Seriously? If there was a fee for use, the subscriber level would plummet to near zero for a site that is just about bumping along when it’s free of charge.

cunnifferous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633192#Comment_120633192

Yes, I know many users like to moan about the site generally, but in terms of content and quality of information/discussion, it's way above the general trash you find across social media and the most of the internet in general. Im not saying make everyone pay but if some are willing, why wouldn't they take that cash? Perhaps in exchange for an ad free site for subscribers.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633368#Comment_120633368

This thread is focusing on how ads are disrupting user experience, and you think the site, which has haemorrhaged posters even though it is free to use, would benefit from charging users to prevent ads disrupting their experience?

I do think boards was a very good site, now it barely has any posters. Times change, sites have to move with them.

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633073#Comment_120633073

Didn't it used to be that notifications stopped if you didn't look at the thread for a number of posts?

Sultan of Bling

Much better now.

Lessons learned hopefully

Pelvis Parsley

I will aim no complaints at @Boards.ie: Mike he is is not long in the door and engaging honestly.

Poor Niamh was chief apologist for years (Boards Deals anyone?) but she commanded great respect at the end of the day for her loyalty and tenacity, and deserves endless kudos for that.

Our "CEO" @Boards.ie: Odhran is fully supportive. So is a crutch but you're still limping. He oversaw this ABSOLUTELY inexplicable platform change despite numerous low revenue and less invasive alternatives. Other sites have managed a move from vB without incident and with minimal impact.

There's a ready revenue stream on hand if it were explored (mind you, he tried that on adverts, and termed it exciting-it certainly excited debate).

We have gone from a Corolla to a Trabant and are now grateful that we still have air in the tyres, now that they have been re-inflated with something other than empty ads and anime porn, but we're not sure how much gas is left in the tank.

If Mr. Ginnity has time to turn his head from more important matters, he might let us know.

Joke. A bad one.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633192#Comment_120633192

Stop being so disingenuous, it's not a 'fee for use'. - You know full well what the posters meant, something like Patreon or a subscriber option (boards.ie used to have one) to allow people who want to contribute to contribute. If you didn't want to contribute it would still be free to use.

I would happily contribute a bit each month for the amount I use the website. I used to in the past via the subscriber option. I'm sure many others would too.

Mike - thanks for getting that sorted. Delighted to report that the site is now usable again on my Android with just a small banner ad down the bottom of the screen.

TheRona

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633073#Comment_120633073

I'm not sure how you use the site, but I only get a notification for mentions and PM's. No emails for anything.

I just go to my bookmarked/followed list and I can see which threads have new posts. I'm not sure how you would forget about a thread you subscribe to, unless you're subbed to dozens of threads that are all constantly updating with a lot of posts?

Boards.ie: Mike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120634646#Comment_120634646

Great news! I'm delighted it is usable again. Happy posting.

Boards.ie: Mike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120634726#Comment_120634726

You can change your notification settings to receive email alerts also. On both mobile and desktop, select the notification bell and hit the three line menu tab in the top right hand side of that drop down. This re-directs you to the notification settings page.

TheRona

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120634860#Comment_120634860

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I don't get emails because I don't want them. I turned them off.

I was (badly) trying to explain that they can customise their notifications, so they won't be bombarded with emails and they also won't forget about which threads they need to reply to.

ozmo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120635091#Comment_120635091

On big threads like this its a pain when you have notifications on. Every post email generates an email and I have constantly delete them.

I have the alerts on because if it didnt I would just never visit that threads again for updates.

On the classic Boards site you could select to have one long email per day with links to all the posts or I think per week. This choice was selectable per thread.

Alert on mention is not enough - and as said if I was to just leave it idle in the "my threads" list - how would I know there were new posts not read?

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120635277#Comment_120635277

If you go to https://www.boards.ie/discussions/bookmarked (the star icon at the top) it shows you which of the threads you follow has new posts.

TheChrisD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120633192#Comment_120633192

I've said it to Odhrán before, but if there was a Patreon for boards I'd consider adding it to my portfolio and throwing in a quid a month. unless it was set up as the sort of greedy patreon that doesn't care for those who want to support many creators at a small level and makes the minimum tier €3

ozmo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120635289#Comment_120635289

That's not bad - but I have 40 pages of forums there - and it doesnt sort with the threads with new posts at the top...

so I would never notice any new posts past the past last 20 I responded to - unless I went manually clicking on each of those 40+ tabs...

@ boards - Not pulling people back into threads they responded to is only going to loose people to the forums in the long run. You know they were interested in posting once, they are likely interested in posting again - by not having a good email re-targeting feature you are loosing your audience. Interaction.

TheRona

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120635417#Comment_120635417

I think you're missing some of the fundamentals on how a forum works.

That link there lists all your bookmarked threads, with the most recently posted in at the top. Ones with unread messages will be bold, with the number of unread messages also shown.

There's no need for a weekly email summary, because it's easy to track your bookmarked threads anyway.