Annoying image (2 Viewers)

[Dave Upton]

It'll be turned back on in a bit, but with a much wider forum view. I'm also looking into the PM bug.

 

[andySu]

Dave, cheers for checking that side out as well.

 

[Dave Upton]

The skin/image is back - but wider this time and the PM page has been fixed. It will be in place until tomorrow evening.

 

[andySu]

Its reducing the image of the text that is important.

Can't the ads be placed at the top of the home page? I already have to reduce the image down from 100% to 80% now I have to reduce it further down to 67% far too small to read text on 26" monitor 1 metre from. Switching back to 80%. Now I have to scroll the page across horizontally to read the rest of the site.

I find it annoying seeing that image FLASHED in my face when switching forum pages or refreshing Its like tv ad on tv that plays at 20db louder than the film with compressed audio.

 

[Dave Upton]

Andy - i'm really not sure what you are talking about. The text size of the forum is exactly the same.

 

[andySu]

Dave, this how I see it.

Now I have to reduce the image size down again from 80% to 67% so the image fits the screen reasonable but it really needs to be reduced down further. I prefer to read what someone is saying, not squint at the screen that is 1 metre in front me.

 

[Dave Upton]

What resolution are you using? It looks like you run at an extremely low resolution.

 

[andySu]

What your saying is it might the resolution I have it set at?
I need to check, plus it was pain the ass to get the VGA lead from laptop synced with Sony Bravia that took a while and I don't fancy messing the settings up. I'll check,

 

[andySu]

Okay, Dave, settings are as. What do you suggest?

I got rise my left eye, think I;m getting hay fever attack my eye keeps fogging up.

 

[Dave Upton]

Andy,

Your resolution of 1024x768 is very low for these days - but may be what your monitor supports best, I don't know what monitor you have.

The resolution that would be ideal is at least 1280x1024 so you have the width. The forum + sidebar is about 1150 pixels wide, and you only have 1024.

 

[andySu]

Tried 1280x1024 but the image is way too tiny. I have to now bring up image size to 1000% on tool bar,. no this doesn't work The Sony can't take the stress captain. I get image drop outs now and then.Plus losing the tool bat at the bottom.

I have to bear with it.

 

[bruceames]

Very annoying. So much so that I downloaded an ad block program just because of it. Unfortunately it blocks every single ad that I've found except for this one. This must be some sort of new "wallpaper" ad that ad block program haven't learned to sniff out yet? At least not the one I downloaded.

Maybe the next step it to scotch tape some paper over it whenever I'm here more than a minute or two.

 

[Ockeghem]

I dislike The Marx Brothers image as well. It takes up way too much space in my opinion, and it makes reading the rest of the screen quite difficult.

 

[Persianimmortal]

I'll add my feedback that while I appreciate the central body of the site being expanded, I still find the side images fairly intrusive. As others have noted, it tends to be quite distracting when trying to read the main content. I know how to easily block/remove it, but it's not something I'm going to talk about here as it's not appropriate. But it does highlight the fact that It defeats the purpose of advertising if it forces users to start looking for ways to block it, as they'll likely wind up blocking all ads in the process.

So may I humbly suggest some changes. The most obvious one is to do away with this form of advertising altogether for the reasons noted above. If that's not possible, then instead make the image slightly smaller, and allow it to scroll with page content like the top banner does. Additionally, perhaps make the side panels gray or some other darker shade, so they're less distracting compared to the main content. An example can be seen at a site I used to write for - GeForce.com. Note how the background images scroll with the content. It's enough to get the attention of a reader, but it also allows them to move past it once they've had enough and want to focus on content. Furthermore, the side images don't appear on actual articles (e.g. here), only on the front page. So if there's some way you can restrict this theme to appearing only on forum index pages, and not threads, that too could work.

I have no idea of the parameters within which you are working, both in terms of the forum software and the advertising package stipulations, but again, this is a touchy area and I'd hate to see you guys suffer an onslaught of adblockers as a silent backlash over this sort of thing.

 

[schan1269]

On an Android tablet(factory setup, not played with anything) I only see the ad for a brief instance. Then the page loads with no side ad, vertical or horizontal.Phone is similar, only slower.On the windows 8.1 laptop, ad is not intrusive. But I don't find the IMDB ad intrusive either.LG G3LG Pad 8.3HP 2000

 

[andySu]

Very annoying. So much so that I downloaded an ad block program just because of it. Unfortunately it blocks every single ad that I've found except for this one. This must be some sort of new "wallpaper" ad that ad block program haven't learned to sniff out yet? At least not the one I downloaded.

Maybe the next step it to scotch tape some paper over it whenever I'm here more than a minute or two.

that's a great idea masking tape stuck down the sides of the screen. Sorted.

 

[Konstantinos]

Yes, i continue to think it's annoying too, that's why I don't spend as much time here as previously..
Will get back with more posts, when it is gone..

 

[Dave Upton]

The skin is now disabled - it was only active for 2 days. Thanks for all the feedback - we'll do what we can to incorporate it into future campaigns.