Going to leave DU

[chillfactor]

and come back once the site is fixed. All of the malfunctions are making me crazy.....have seen more than enough of white ad boxes with blue circles going round and round and round. twitter and youtube links not working, long stretches of white spaces in this forum, fuzzy screen popping up at the bottom of my screen when i click on a link and blocking text. As a disabled person with little contact with the outside world. DU has been a staple in my daily life and now that is messed up.

[Hekate]

1. Did you respond to EarlG's request for info? He's one of the Admins and is trying to fix it.

Best of luck

[Glorfindel]

2. I haven't seen any malfunctions, and I'm on DU very frequently

Could it be your computer? I can't even imagine doing without DU.

[Hekate]

10. Many complaints lately, all from people without a star. It should not be this bad, tho, and EarlG...

...posted asking people for info about their internet connections etc etc. He’s trying to get a handle in it.

[Glorfindel]

57. Thanks, Hekate

I didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. As others have said, if a DU'er can't afford a star, I'd be glad to help.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Have you tried a different browser?

I haven't had any problems at all. Using Chrome.

[GoCubsGo]

8. Yeah, most of my problems seem to be Firefox-related.

And, sometimes it varies depending on which computer I use.

[ribrepin]

19. I use Firefox and no problems

[DeminPennswoods]

37. No problems with Firefox either

[TruckFump]

42. No problem with Firefox.

However, the DU is very sloooooow on my iPhone.

[brush]

27. I use Firefox with no problem either. Those complaining maybe...

don't know about buying a star for a minimal amount to get rid of the ads.

[Golden Raisin]

32. I use Chrome on my laptop and Safari

on my iPad and am recently having all the symptoms described in the original post. Never had any problems before.

[Rstrstx]

35. Same here

Safari on iPad is giving popups like crazy, all within the past day or two

[rzemanfl]

4. Get a donor star. n/t

[LakeArenal]

5. Have you tried star membership?

[rzemanfl]

6. GMTA. n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

11. That Sure Seems A Solution

I've seen zero problems, and in other similar threads, I don't recall any star members having issues.
Per Earl this has something to do with auto-ad software.
Since we don't see ads, these problems must not affect us.

[LakeArenal]

13. So little given for peace of mind.

[marybourg]

39. I have * membership and I did have an ad problem.

The admins fixed it, but said there was a continuing problem with some older devices.

[ProfessorGAC]

47. Aha!

I didn't think anybody had cheaper or older stuff than me!
Now, I know different.
I consider consumer electronics disposable, so I'm not a new model early adopter.
I also go for the low cost option.
And I'm pretty awful about updates.
So, I wrongly figured if my cheapass, lazy self didn't have an issue, nobody could!

[EarlG]

52. Hi, yes that happened when we first started testing

Even Star Members could see the ads for a brief period of time. That was fixed quickly though and has not been a problem since.

The current problem is for non-Star Members. The ad placement software we are testing is simply too aggressive and needs to be dialed back some. I've turned it off for the day, but we'll be testing it again this week. Hopefully we'll be able to strike a decent balance.

[Ms. Toad]

59. If you could keep it from inserting ads within a post (ther than the OP)

That would be good.
.
Sometimes it's hard to distinguish a post that looks either like the last part of a post, or a signature line

[EarlG]

61. Yeah, it's dropping them into some weird spots

I agree with you about them appearing within replies, it can make posts hard to read.

We'll be working on it this week and will hopefully find a balance that works for everyone.

[RKP5637]

17. K&R And cheap as hell for what you get with DU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[live love laugh]

7. No malfunctions here either. nt

[TexasTowelie]

9. You might want to purchase as star membership.

It can be purchased for only $1 and it will remove the ads, plus you will also have enhanced search capabilities on the site.

[greenjar_01]

12. Gotta agree...borderline unusable on a Mac with Chrome

and on Windows 10 with Chrome.

[LAS14]

14. With a star or not? Critical info. nt

[greenjar_01]

51. If the site requires Star Membership to be minimally usable, they should say so

I don't think that's the intention of the Admins, but what do I know. It does seem like the changes were designed to increase ad revenue, but again, outside looking in.

[LAS14]

62. It's only $1/year. That's less than a penny a day. nt

[greenjar_01]

64. If the site requires Star Membership to be minimally usable, they should say so

Thanks.

[AllaN01Bear]

15. i too noticed the funny codes . i use adblock , adblock + and adblock ++

i dont want sites adware spy ware and whatever ware . even people with star accounts were seeing the ads . on a webbrowser that dosent have all that , there is a bar accross the page and one has to constantly click it away.im a non star .

[sheshe2]

25. $1 would buy you a star.

The Admin have had some issues and correcting them. A star allows you here ad free.

[qwlauren35]

16. If there was some way

that I could pay your Star Membership for you, I would. Maybe the admins will make that possible. I can certainly spare $1/month.


HEY! If you have a bank account, I could cashapp you a dollar every month and you could pay for DU.

Let me know.

[LAS14]

28. Me too! I would be happy to have a way to help out people on SS, etc. We, for sure....

... need their input!!

[LakeArenal]

46. It's $1 for a year.

[qwlauren35]

48. And to think

I've been paying monthly. I guess I'm generous.

[LakeArenal]

58. Lots of us renew in Feb when they sell hearts and give you a year til next Feb

[tritsofme]

18. This isn't an airport.

And this is the second thread you have announcing your departure?

[RKP5637]

22. lol

[magicarpet]

20. Sign up to be a member

That is what the gold star is about.
The ads and stuff go byebye.

It is a sliding fee scale,
Kick in what your budget permits.

Helps to keep DU up and running for all of us.

*****
[At the very top of the page click,
"My Account".

Then click "Star Membership"

Then open a new Star Account.

[Arthur_Frain]

21. I noticed a whopping change in the last auto download from the google/microsoft complex.

Notably, the next time I powered up my computer, it tried to get me to select "Edge" as my default browser. Completely unprompted after the download/update. I was using chrome, sometimes firefox.

Then I notice that many of my permissions were reset/inaccurately set, the autoplay video feature was once again, re-enabled, etc.
Basically, they do this every now and again, in an attempt to force more folks onto one browser or the other (although to be fair, it's almost always microsoft that does this). Oddly enough, if I use Edge as my browser, most of those (most) go away. That might be the first thing you want to try. If you don't care about your privacy while browsing this may solve 90% of your problem.

No matter how long you wait, only some of it will be "fixed" when you come back. It's nothing more than the eternal battle for eyes on ads vs ads off my screen. I've noticed it too lately.

Only thing you can do is to get comfortable with the mechanics of going into your browser every time they do this (for familiarities sake it would be best just to do this every 3 months or so as part of your virus maintenance) and going down the list of things to reset so you can take control of your browsing time once again.

There are any number of youtube videos out there showing you how to do this, and its not all that tough. Be smart though, and make sure that what you're being asked to do to the protocols of your browser are going to do what you want, and not make you more vulnerable to hackers. I can't tell you any more than to choose smart on that one, usually, you can tell who's on the up and up after you've watched one or two of their videos.

[Clearly fogged in]

53. Yup, they're real bastards

It used to be that one could get by simply by turning off auto-updates. Then that changed on some apps, limiting the number of times one could refuse the update. Recently some go directly to a captcha.
Gone are the days when illusion of choice existed.

[hlthe2b]

23. I've had no problems with Win 10 & Firefox or Safari on an iphone...

If the issue is ads, even a modest $5 contribution can free you of those...

[captain queeg]

24. It does sound like it would be worth getting a star membership

If I remember right it’s not a fixed rate, you can choose how much to donate. That being said I have a star and usually use my iPhone and I have gotten a weird thing happening where the title thread Text turns red briefly. It goes away, and it’s the only thing I’ve ever noticed so it’s not a big deal. Hasn’t happened today.

[chillfactor]

26. Yes everyone...I have contacted adm and left message for EarlG when he

asked for help with the bug. Like others on DU I live on social security....I do not have any extra money to donate or to buy a star membership. I am lucky to have a roof over my head and some food on the table.

[mahina]

34. I'll get you a star if it's possible

Going to go check now

Update: doesn’t look like it but if you want to stay, please pm me and I’ll PayPal you enough for a star membership.

Peace to you either way. Aloha

[csziggy]

38. I wish instead of hearts we could give memberships as a fundraiser

Many DUers cannot afford to pay and those of us who can would be happy to give star memberships to them!

Right now would be a good times, since most people's incomes are badly affected at the moment.

[qwlauren35]

49. WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!

I hope the admins see this.

[mahina]

56. Great idea.

[riversedge]

29. I hope it gets fixed for you soon. check in once and awhile. take care.

[LAS14]

30. Reposting directly to OP. Will post to Admin. Set up a way that some of us...

... with more means, can pay for others to be star members. We need their input!!!

Check the Admin forum and jump on board!!!l

Edit: The Admin "forum" only lets you submit questions. You can't see/respond to what others have posted. I urge others to go there and ask of we can't set up a way for some of us to pay for other individuals to be start members.

[Ms. Toad]

60. Email (or DUmail) the admins directly.

Contact info here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=contact

[LAS14]

63. I did get a very nice e-mail response, but it boils down to they tried this once...

... before and decided $1/year is not too much for almost anyone.

[hunter]

65. The trouble, as I recall, was anonymous disruptors who were convincing others to buy them stars.

Some of DU's worst disruptors had stars that had been paid for by others and they would brag about it on other sites.

It wasn't fair to those they had scammed, and it lowered the quality of discourse on DU.

This is why we can't have nice things.

[TheBlackAdder]

31. FireFox w/NoScript, uBlock, DuckDuckGo's Privacy Essentials & EFF's Badger cuts all ads/tracking out

.

Give the specifics about your system and the browser you are using.

.

[SiliconValley_Dem]

33. well, bye

[Sympthsical]

36. Ad Block Plus

Yeah, what on earth was that white fuzzy line? The ads in the middle of threads were becoming too much.

Blocked it all. All gone. Much better.

[Fiendish Thingy]

40. The update is truly a PITA. Nt

[Dem2theMax]

41. Brave is the browser on my phone.

Firefox on the computer. I use the phone for DU about 99% of the time. No problems at all.

[Fiendish Thingy]

43. Just installed AdGuard for Safari on iPad - works great! Only $6.49/yr or $17.99/lifetime nt

[FakeNoose]

44. Nothing like that on my computer, friend

Perhaps you need an upgrade? Are you on a phone or a computer?

Make sure you're up-to-date with your anti-virus and also with your operating system.
(Windows, Firefox, Google Chrome or whatever)

None of us are seeing the things you describe, so it must be on your device.

[EarlG]

45. I shut down the new ad testing for the day

It should now be back to the same layout that was being displayed before we started testing.

We will be doing more testing in the coming week but it seems pretty clear that it needs to be dialed back some.

[Renew Deal]

50. I haven't had any of those issues.

Can you post a screenshot? Do you have a few $$$ for a membership? $5 would do.

[ChazII]

54. I have Safari

on my laptop. No problems with blue circles and youtube links work. I do have the ads but I don't pay dues.

[Quixote1818]

55. Don't have any issues here.

[Poiuyt]

66. I have many of those same issues despite having a star membership

I use a Mac and find the same problems on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.