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Is someone being paid to display the S image? That defines (to me) whether it's an advert or not.
Cougar, love you to bits, but Im afraid you are going to find yourself on the wrong side of history here.
*sorry, CFH 😉
>User experience aside it’s sucking the **** life out of me reading all this.
Then don't read it!
here’s one i use
And that's a commercial website is it? What do they sell? How many staff do they employ?
Did Specialized pay for STW to remove the plain simple background and put this pic up there promoting their brand?
I have absolutely no idea, your guess is as good as mine. Even if it did, does it really matter? It's a tiny logo on a background image that I can't even see unless I start resizing the browser to specifically look for it.
Hypothetically, if the title page changed to read "Singletrack, sponsored by Specialized," would everyone complain about adverts then?
I doubt there’s any commercial website in existence which offers body text and nothing else, even to paid subscribers.
You're wrong. Straight off the bat is Cricket Australia's live scores website, which at the click of a button transforms from a flashy ad-ridden website to rival this one to a simple imitation Google Sheets page. Something tells me CA are a bit of a bigger commercial player that ST.
Alt-tab away while it’s loading? That’s what I do.
Or maybe listen to user feedback, and don't do stuff that pisses people off. Oh, and maybe actually fix stuff that's broken first. Perhaps if this was done, all the life-sucking you're whinging about might not be that prevalent. In situations where users are happy, complaints departments are usually quite quiet places.
Then don’t read it!
It's getting to that point TBH.
As I said, I understand the complaints, I do. The bugs are frustrating, and I totally get why people are complaining about things like their forum history page / favourites / search engine etc. Personally I hate the TinyMCE editor to the core of my being. But when I read three pages of toys in low Earth orbit over the presence of a bike logo, on a background image, on a ****ing bike forum, I really do question why I bother trying.
I have absolutely no idea, your guess is as good as mine. Even if it did, does it reallymatter? It’s a tiny logo on a background image that I can’t even see unless I start resizing the browser to specifically look for it.
I pay for no ads, it's kind of in the deal I signed up for. If your missing the point I think that may be causing your reactions. Bit like paying for a bike and having the grips nicked off it after a few months
Hypothetically, if the title page changed to read “Singletrack, sponsored by Specialized,” would everyone complain about adverts then?
What discount do I get per ad from STW?
The complete silence isn’t helping…Mark should take the 10 minutes to put updates up and a lot of the critics will be silenced, this should be a standard piece. He’ll get flamed the first couple of times then it will steady and people will return to happier behaviour…
It isn’t difficult.
I think this is the biggest issue of all.
im all for STW developing and such. Im all for change. But you need good communication.
As I said weeks ago, STW don’t care about the users. Suck all the revenue they can out of you lot paying for P until the forum turns into a ghost town and gets shut down.
If they did care either a) something would be done about all the issues already or b) someone would communicate about what is happening/what they are struggling with. Neither is happening.
[i]Cougar wrote:[/i]
I have absolutely no idea, your guess is as good as mine. Even if it did, does it really matter? It’s a tiny logo on a background image that I can’t even see unless I start resizing the browser to specifically look for it.
Just for balance, I didn't know there was a logo until it was mentioned and I went searching, and then it only appears briefly when I scroll almost to the bottom just before the bottom bar scrolls in (Chrome on W10). So I don't really care much about that (and it doesn't make the slightest difference to whether I'd buy from a company which employs far too many lawyers for my liking, but then I'm not the target market). However I do care if devs are spending their time on this and other unwanted stuff. I appreciate that the site/forum has to be monetised, but then I also wonder whether the commercial impact of pissing off your customers/product (delete as appropriate) has been properly assessed when deciding to add "money making" stuff.
But when I read three pages of toys in low Earth orbit over the presence of a bike logo, on a background image, on a ****ing bike forum, I really do question why I bother trying.
At least part of is the quite understandable frustration as to why the devs are ****ing about with shit like this and that floaty banner when there are several major issues that continue to greatly impede normal use of the forum for many users. That, and Mark's utter failure to engage in any useful manner whilst leaving you and Drac to act as his filter. Rightly or wrongly, put together all this comes across as really contemptuous of the user base. People who feel they're being treated with contempt are usually quite narky.
Edit: *pulls out*
From the "Our Forum" sticky thread:
Update: Monday 13th February
The forum will be worked on and alongside with other developments. The things that we are currently doing on the forum are:
1. Put a search back that will be useful and won’t slow the site
2. Improve the member history so you can find your posts and replies to your posts
3. Deal with the formatting issues.
We will be giving a brief update, hopefully at the end of each working day.
Thanks for your patience.
Care to hazard a guess as to when the last post on that thread was? I hope everyone's enjoyed their day off sat next to a black hole 😉
Premier users have paid for a no-ads experience , the background-image of the body tag just appears as a way of subverting that. It simply isn't necessary whilst there are so many other problems with the forums. Maybe it's a Trump like deflection tactic 🙂
zokes +1
Just because STW dont think their priorities are the same as our priorities is going to be little comfort for them in the coming months.
Stop dicking about with shite that has ZERO positive impact on users, and get the core failures dealt with. Once STW have a steady ship again, maybe then is the time to try sneaky bastard advertising.
Maybe it is all up for sale?
Get the forum up to an industry standard, continue with the current ad profile, assess before and after impressions and hits from unique users.. what was it 1.5m??
Gain more clean adverts using data driven exposure..
Sell up.
Buy bikes.
Get a job in another sector.
Join in on here berating users and the new owners..
🤡👍💋💋💋💋
So this is the website without being logged in or any adblocker on - fairly obvious the background is an advert...
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
I was going to comment a while back, but got logged out again, again. FFS.
I agree with a lot of your gripes, but how is a logo in a corner in any way, shape or form an advert?
What's a swastika? A funny little cross with extra arms. If it's not an advert, what exactly is it for?
[i]andybrad wrote:[/i]
The complete silence isn’t helping…Mark should take the 10 minutes to put updates up and a lot of the critics will be silenced, this should be a standard piece. He’ll get flamed the first couple of times then it will steady and people will return to happier behaviour…
It isn’t difficult.
I think this is the biggest issue of all.
im all for STW developing and such. Im all for change. But you need good communication.
+ another 1.
I've already written it plenty of times on here, but this is the biggest issue - along with the perceived attitude that fixing the problems are a secondary concern to adding shiny new stuff. Just to head off the usual comments about us lot just flaming Mark when he raises his head (and I've also written this before), he could actually address our concerns and be honest with us which might help. A couple of specific points - plenty of web devs on here, so don't try and bluff us, and don't be David Brent giving bad news and no news
https://www.bikeparkwales.com/uplift-ticketing-trial-cancelled How to respond to criticism.
. Just to head off the usual comments about us lot just flaming Mark when he raises his head (and I’ve also written this before), he could actually address our concerns and be honest with us which might help.
The locked Our Forum thread is there for that.
1. Put a search back that will be useful and won’t slow the site
2. Improve the member history so you can find your posts and replies to your posts
3. Deal with the formatting issues.
We will be giving a brief update, hopefully at the end of each working day.
Even better than that! A pop up to tell people about a mag they already know exists!
An edit window you have to click on 17 times before you can paste anything!
And... A big pretty picture!
Looking at it at work, it appears about 95% of all advertising space has been taken over by the specialized advert - and it isn't even sharp, looks blurry.
**** me no pleaseing some people. i like the advert background!
😂😂😂 @ dezb
If it's [I]not[/I] an advert, why does a smaller version of exactly the same image appear between posts with the word "advertisement" above it (when logged out)?
Also the text that used to appear between posts saying "Go add free for £1.50/month" or whatever has gone (presumably because it's not true anymore!)
DezB has won the internet today. Great reference.
I'll just repeat what I wrote here 3 weeks ago:
Again, not disagreeing with you – which is why I suggest a sticky thread, with no other posts, just a daily/twice weekly/weekly update. Even if that update is “no update, same as yesterday, this quoting bug is proving tough”. There’s a lot of traffic on this thread, and I’m sure I’m guilty of moaning about things which have already been addressed. But it’s in between genuinely helpful reports, people taking the piss and generally frustrated “Is it fixed yet?” stuff.
It’s very chicken and egg, but I don’t think radio silence buys you any friends or credit. By “you” I mean “you, STW”, not “you, Cougar” 😉
I get that we’re a demanding group, but there’s a massive irony that a platform used for communication is delivering very poor communication. It doesn’t need much, and I’m sure most of us would rather Mark and the devs fixed stuff than came on here and posted about fixing stuff, but again – update thread. First thing in the morning. Once a day. Done. I presume they’re having some sort of huddle or something, and must know what the priorities are (even if they’re not front end fixes), so why not share them? Christ, I’ll happily write it if I know what’s happening. That’s a genuine offer.
When was the lesser spotted Alker seen in the wild?
Is it just me, or has the Last Post link for this thread run out of puff at 3,691 through 3,735 (of 3,744 total) on page 83 and can't make it into page 84?
A 'feature' that increases page impressions and ads served...so a 'busier' site making more money from ad streams...
Just logged on today for the first time and WTF is that blurry background to the forum. (Using a Lenovo Tablet)
Its a bit annoying as i can't see anything other than what appears to be the background to Minecraft.
Feedback to the chiefs....it's terrible and really distracting. Plus I can't see the point. Sorry.
[i]njee20 wrote:[/i]
When was the lesser spotted Alker seen in the wild?
Which one? 👿
Alt-tab away while it’s loading? That’s what I do.
Or right-click open in new tab, for several threads of interest, and wait for them to load in parallel because they take so long. Devtools on my browser were timing it consistently between 11 and 13 seconds per page. Open 4 pages, and see which one is ready first. One might be ready by the time you select the 5th page to open in parallel.
zokes + 2
Some of us do this stuff for a living and do actually know what we're talking about.
Cougar, when I load a page up in the Forum, the background advert tries to re-focus itself once the page is loaded. This results in the machine (Lenovo Tablet) having a hissy fit and booting me off the site altogether.
I know you sound like you are as fed up as us with the complaints but even as a P user the site is becoming unusable. And it's slow as normal.
Again, sorry to have to bring this up bud.
You just have the wrong equipment.
Wait...this isn't page 83?
Wait…this isn’t page 83?
Get with the indexing, Grandad.
You just have the wrong equipment
Story of my life dude.....
I don't spend that much time on here anymore but it looks like it's going to be even less. That "ADVERT" is pissing me off, not the ad so much but the principle of it being there when I've paid for it not to be. I like the plain white thank you and would like it to stay that way.
I've been a subscriber for years to both print and digital but I think this'll be the last year of subscription, I barely read the mag unless it's a review of something I'm looking to buy, or looking at the non advertising pictures of nice places to ride bikes.
What’s a swastika? A funny little cross with extra arms.
The Godwin’s to end all Godwin’s.
You can see why they had the lifer subs now..... 🙂
>You can see why they had the lifer subs now…..
Forgot about that! So glad I never bought one!
Drac, I know it's your MO, but do you think being so flippant and generally so bloomin' awkward will really help stop people getting so cross with the people who make a living off this site?
swavis
I barely read the mag unless it’s a review of something I’m looking to buy,
Well let me tell you right now, when it comes to bicycle related products it's hard to go wrong with Specialized. Specialized really do make some of the best bicycles, bicycle related paraphernalia and bicycle attire available for sale today.
Specialized ...they are number 1 in my eyes.
Drac, I know it’s your MO, but do you think being so flippant and generally so bloomin’ awkward will really help stop people getting so cross with the people who make a living off this site?
Really? I can’t make a joke.