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neilson_wheels
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17 Feb 2016, 6:54 am

It seems like a catch 22 situation.

I used to be selective about using adblock, I first used it here when the pop ups and autoplay ads started. Now I use it for everything.

Moving images distract me too much, even the posters with animated avatars are usually ignored when I'm reading threads.

However, if there is no revenue generated from the site, who is going to pay for the site rebuild and de-bugging that is so desperately needed? I can't see Alex paying it from his own pocket, although I have no idea how much it costs to develop and run a site, and most people now expect a quality product for free too.



kraftiekortie
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17 Feb 2016, 7:53 am

There are some ads that have so much "volume" (in terms of the amount of megabytes in them), that they, sometimes, cause the Site to be extremely slow in all aspects.



Joe90
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17 Feb 2016, 8:01 am

I am rather attached to WP and wouldn't want to change to a different autism forum now, but the CAPTCHA is getting me down.

Also I get annoyed at the "is ______ more common in Aspies?" threads, things such as colourblindness, ginger hair, left-handedness, height, curly hair, eye colour, skin pigments, lucid dreaming, nose size, feet size, etc.
Or stupid questions like "do Aspies have less/more than 10 fingers and toes?", "is it an Aspie thing to breathe from your lungs?", etc.

But I suppose you get all that on any forum, about all sorts of conditions, not just autism, so I just scroll past those threads.


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helloarchy
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17 Feb 2016, 8:15 am

neilson_wheels wrote:
However, if there is no revenue generated from the site, who is going to pay for the site rebuild and de-bugging that is so desperately needed? I can't see Alex paying it from his own pocket, although I have no idea how much it costs to develop and run a site, and most people now expect a quality product for free too.


Holding a fundraiser here. I'm sure that if Alex created a fundraiser thread, where we could donate to a paypal account, then people would.

The trouble with advertising is that it's involuntary. Nobody asked for marketing material to be shoved in their faces. However, if Wrong Planet needs money, all they need to do is create a place where people can go to donate. Maybe those who do can have a little "supporter" tag under their names. But that's all, don't want it ending up like some freemium website.

BTW, I'm a huge fan of Wrong Planet. I've nearly been here a year (most of that time was lurking). This is the only Autism site I use, and it's the only one I like. I'm very grateful to Alex and everyone else who helps run it.



EzraS
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17 Feb 2016, 8:55 am

InsomniaGrl wrote:
I like your avatar EzraS


Thanks. It cover art for Prince Ombra by Roderick McLeish.



TheAP
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17 Feb 2016, 10:33 am

I love it here.



AJisHere
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17 Feb 2016, 12:16 pm

Not anywhere close to the point where I'd click an ad, or donate money, or anything like that. If it was announced tomorrow that WP was closing down I'd probably go "Oh, that's too bad" and not think much of it after that. I don't fit in here very well and think there's a lot of problems with the place, but it's helpful now and then.

Going to use it a bit while it's around, though.


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Trogluddite
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17 Feb 2016, 2:49 pm

I would prefer to support the site more directly than have adverts too - as others have said, they can be incredibly distracting, consume extra resources, are a security risk, and can even be depressing for those of us with few financial resources who are forced to see things which we might feel we're missing out on. I would not begrudge the service being free for those without the resources to donate, but would gladly do so myself whenever I have the funds. Maybe I have missed it, but I haven't even seen an obvious way that I could make a quick PayPal donation. for example.

I don't use ad-block software because I find it annoying to set-up - many sites that I use will not function correctly if ad-block software is detected in the browser, so you have to mess around setting up exceptions etc.

I wonder if there is a more direct way that we could help the site to be better - there seem to be plenty of talented programmers and designers here; maybe there is some way that we could collaborate with Alex to make some improvements collectively for ourselves?


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mr_bigmouth_502
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17 Feb 2016, 3:57 pm

Trogluddite wrote:
I don't use ad-block software because I find it annoying to set-up - many sites that I use will not function correctly if ad-block software is detected in the browser, so you have to mess around setting up exceptions etc.


uBlock Origin + Anti-Adblock Killer. ;) I can browse Forbes and Wired without too many problems this way.


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Trogluddite
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18 Feb 2016, 8:26 am

^^ Thanks for the tip - I'll give those a try. :D


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Catlover5
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18 Feb 2016, 1:32 pm

Yes, I do like WP. Sadly, my iPad doesn't, or WP doesn't like my iPad, or both.



Jacoby
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18 Feb 2016, 8:54 pm

Adblock Plus + NoScript + Ghostery is my set up

sorry, internet needs to move beyond banner advertising altho I guess that is what the analytics and trackers are for but that makes me uncomfortable too.



100000fireflies
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18 Feb 2016, 10:17 pm

I assume all of the mods are volunteers. It's a basic php forum. Companies host forums for free (typically with ads enabled). Why would this need funding?


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Jacoby
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20 Feb 2016, 9:20 am

I believe Alex makes a living off this site



VegetableMan
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20 Feb 2016, 10:52 am

I have Ad Block, also, so I don't see the advertisements. If Alex is a Google Adsense publisher, then I would warn any members who may decide to start clicking on a bunch of them to think again. This would be seen as suspicious by Google, and could get Alex's account terminated.


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traven
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20 Feb 2016, 11:30 am

VegetableMan wrote:
I have Ad Block, also, so I don't see the advertisements. If Alex is a Google Adsense publisher, then I would warn any members who may decide to start clicking on a bunch of them to think again.

I wanted to see what that was but it gave a heap of plastic cheap stuff and 4 viruses.
VegetableMan wrote:
This would be seen as suspicious by Google, and could get Alex's account terminated.

Why?
But five eyes is good isn't it? They would make an exception?