# hate to sound negative but..



## thebarbequeen (Apr 4, 2011)

NOT a fan of these margin ads, and all evening the pages have been taking a really long time to load.  Have to keep prodding with "go to" or refresh. Don't know if it's because of all the stuff on the page, or a system thing. I'm the only one in the house online right now, too!   This does not make me want to buy the stuff taking up my forum space and bandwidth.


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## jirodriguez (Apr 4, 2011)

Hmmmm.... .mine is just flying along, no problem. Check your task manager and see if something is using up a lot of RAM or CPU processing.


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## DanMcG (Apr 4, 2011)

I have noticed mine is running a little slower then usual the last couple days while here only. But not as slow as yours where I've needed to refresh.


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## SmokinAl (Apr 4, 2011)

Barbe, did you know you could turn the ads off? Go to your profile page and click on edit acct. details. At the bottom of that page is a box to check to turn off the ads.


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## tank (Apr 4, 2011)

Do you have to be a premium member to turn the ads off?  I looked for it but can't find it.  I have to say that I do not like this setup either.


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## alblancher (Apr 4, 2011)

Always thought about becoming  premium member but the number of ads now and reduced size of the posts have compeled me to finally upgrade my membership.  Can somebody show me where to go to becomes a Premium Member

Al


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## roller (Apr 4, 2011)

Well you know a guy has to make a living and not all things in life go your way . After all he is paying the bills. JMO...


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## fpnmf (Apr 4, 2011)

alblancher said:


> Always thought about becoming  premium member but the number of ads now and reduced size of the posts have compeled me to finally upgrade my membership.  Can somebody show me where to go to becomes a Premium Member
> 
> Al


Here ya go!!!   http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/payment.php  

Have a great day

  Craig


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## tank (Apr 4, 2011)

So if you become a premier member you can get rid of these ads?


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## fpnmf (Apr 4, 2011)

Tank said:


> So if you become a premier member you can get rid of these ads?


Yes!!!!

  Have a great day!!

  Craig


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## alblancher (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks for the Link Craig!  I just did a two year subscription.  For the life of me I couldn't find the link even after doing a search. 

FPNMF  - search specialist


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## TulsaJeff (Apr 4, 2011)

Apparently, we sold a site skin ad to Tropicana orange juice. I love Tropicana orange juice.. especially with the pulp in it but I have to say that yellow is not my favorite color
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Huddler handles all of the advertising for us and I do appreciate that, it frees me up to do what I really want to be doing instead of fussing with advertisers.

The premier membership really is the way to go if you are bothered by the advertising.. The advertising does pay the bills but I can certainly understand not wanting the ads to be in the way.

When you become a premier member, you have the option to turn off all of the advertising and it is a really nice feature.

Just go to "MY PROFILE" and click on "Edit Account Details" Scroll to the bottom of the page and place a checkmark in the box that says "Turn Off Advertising".

Presto!!

Premier memberships can be purchased at http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/payment.php


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## thebarbequeen (Apr 4, 2011)

JIRodriguez said:


> Hmmmm.... .mine is just flying along, no problem. Check your task manager and see if something is using up a lot of RAM or CPU processing.


I didn't have any scans or downloads going on, and closed my other windows. maybe just some local glitch but it's still a little jerky this morning.




SmokinAl said:


> Barbe, did you know you could turn the ads off? Go to your profile page and click on edit acct. details. At the bottom of that page is a box to check to turn off the ads.


Thanks for that, Al!  That's a big help, and will speed things up at least a bit.


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## thebarbequeen (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks, Jeff, I know it's not all in your hands, and I really felt bad about feeling so negative!  I am a premier already, but up until now I haven't minded the ads and appreciate the sponsors that support the site.  Sometimes I find something I need!

I was sort of aware of Premier being ad-proofing, but that wasn't why I went that route.  At least my grumpy rant might get more premier members? again, sorry I felt I had to vent about this.  I'll go fix my own problem right now!  thanks, again.


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## TulsaJeff (Apr 4, 2011)

TheBarbeQueen said:


> Thanks, Jeff, I know it's not all in your hands, and I really felt bad about feeling so negative!  I am a premier already, but up until now I haven't minded the ads and appreciate the sponsors that support the site.  Sometimes I find something I need!
> 
> I was sort of aware of Premier being ad-proofing, but that wasn't why I went that route.  At least my grumpy rant might get more premier members? again, sorry I felt I had to vent about this.  I'll go fix my own problem right now!  thanks, again.


No problem.. I completely understand!


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## alblancher (Apr 4, 2011)

Well BarbeQueen,   You sold my membership. 

Huddler got it changed over right away to premier and the option to block advertising came up in minutes.  Just remember to pay with a credit card, if you do bank debit Paypal says it takes a couple of days to transfer funds.

Thanks for your response Jeff, it is nice having a full size page to read and respond to posts.

Look forward to meeting you at N Florida Gathering

Al


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## callahan4life (Apr 4, 2011)

Just purchased a 2 year Premier Membership.....thanks Tropicana! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  I too usually like the advertisements (and Tropicana OJ - with Pulp) and sometimes find something to buy, but this skin ad is killing my eyes with the yellow and smaller writing.


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## TulsaJeff (Apr 4, 2011)

Yeah.. yellow is NOT my color at all but I guess I can't complain too much since they are paying for it. :My wife loves yellow so you can imagine what I have to deal with at home


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## rw willy (Apr 4, 2011)

I am thirsty for something... yeah, some OJ.  Not sure why, I hardly drink the stuff.


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## flash (Apr 4, 2011)

There's ads on here???!


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## pineywoods (Apr 4, 2011)

I sometimes turn the ads on but that doesn't usually last for long and now with the yellow wrap around skin you can bet that they will be turned off even more 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






I used to say that supporting the site with a Premier Membership was a good thing and now I say that a Premier Membership is worth it just to be able to turn the ads off


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## meateater (Apr 4, 2011)

Cmon Huddler? If your gonna run OJ ad's at least run Smirnoff ad's along side them. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





P.S. No Pulp. :)


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## scarbelly (Apr 4, 2011)

This new format is total BS from my point of view - If this lasts you may have just run me off

So it is 2 hours later and the side panels are gone. WTF - What is going on


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## scarbelly (Apr 4, 2011)

OK so what is going on with this fomat? Sometimes the nasty side panels are on they they are off - What is the forum supposed to look like in this new format?


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## TulsaJeff (Apr 4, 2011)

C'mon.. it's orange juice. Don't get too worked up over it. As I've said, it's not my favorite color either but then I'm not here for the colors or the advertising. I'm here because of the content and what can be taught and learned. I can deal with all the rest. I hope some of you feel the same way.

If Tropicana wants to pay us to run a 1 day site skin then why not?

By the way.. I think it's a short term thing anyway and not worth fretting over. Maybe the next one will be a color that all of us like a little better.


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## scarbelly (Apr 5, 2011)

Jeff

Everytime I clicked anywhere to open a thread a new window was opening with a Tropicana ad. That was the frustrating part. The yellow sides were hard on these old eyes but the pop ups we killing me


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## bbally (Apr 5, 2011)

Thank god that crappie orange juice ad dissaphuckinpeared!

Now to catch up on what went on while Tropicana was screwing the site up.


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## bbally (Apr 5, 2011)

Pineywoods said:


> I sometimes turn the ads on but that doesn't usually last for long and now with the yellow wrap around skin you can bet that they will be turned off even more
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I just waited til someone realized they were crap and then come in to look.  While I like the website and enjoy the people I question what the hell is going on behind the curtain?  Here it answer questions and read....... if the ads stay intrusive it will run more people off.


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## flash (Apr 5, 2011)

Scarbelly said:


> Jeff
> 
> Everytime I clicked anywhere to open a thread a new window was opening with a Tropicana ad. That was the frustrating part. The yellow sides were hard on these old eyes but the pop ups we killing me




Then suck it up and install Firefox. You'll love it. Don't forget the ABP add on. I never see an ad on here.


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## nwdave (Apr 5, 2011)

Completely agree with the previous post.  Jeff, you must have a thick hide and obviously a different perspective on the situation, BUT, the truth is that in the brief time period I've been on the site, I've seen a lot of members drift away and many of them were the OTSB cadre.  A lot is because of the frustrations many have with the site now under Huddler control.  Your otherwise fine site is being hampered with these problems.  A specific example:  look at the problems Eric (forluvofsmoke) had in posting his latest epic smoke.  He couldn't preview and experienced a lockup and loss of ready to post material, photos etc.  As you well know, his posts are rather lengthy and a loss of that much data can be very frustrating.  It's coming to be a case of it works then it doesn't work.  Shoot yesterday, I was posting a reply to a newbie, made the post, then noticed an error, went in to edit and got locked up in the edit screen, not able to make the correction then kicked out of the edit function.  Tried a second time and it kicked me back to the main page.  Minor frustrations in the big picture?  Yes, but.....frequent problems, no matter what the user's operating system (blaming it on incompatitibilty with, oh, I don't know Firefox today, windows, IE8 and then IE9 gets kinda thin in the long run.) We know it's not your fault personally but this Huddler machine is not up to site standards.  Massaging here and there to make it work is a strong indicator of a product not truly ready for use in the internet environment.  If you can leave this site experiencing problems, transition to another internet site and not experience similar problems, it kinda points to the site program as a problem source, not the individual.


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## fife (Apr 5, 2011)

Jeff: I have a few websites myself and know about the cost that comes with it. That being said I am sure most of the members would be more than happy to help with some support so they dont have to see the ads. I became a paid member and I just went in and turned off the adds so I dont see them. Just my 2 cent worth. I also love your site and have no problum with the support I can give.


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## nwdave (Apr 5, 2011)

Why should I have to install Firefox to be on this site?  A close friend who runs Firefox all the time has to use IE to view and post on this site.  The problem isn't our operating systems and the interface, but the master server with it's inadequate program to support all interface programs.
 


Flash said:


> Then suck it up and install Firefox. You'll love it. Don't forget the ABP add on. I never see an ad on here.


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## flash (Apr 5, 2011)

NWDave said:


> Why should I have to install Firefox to be on this site?  A close friend who runs Firefox all the time has to use IE to view and post on this site.  The problem isn't our operating systems and the interface, but the master server with it's inadequate program to support all interface programs.


 Not sure what his problem is. I run FF and have no real issue on this site . The problems I had (very slow loading of icons, pics, etc) were due to living out in the country and having Dial-up. Since about two weeks ago, I went to a Satellite service and have seen no real issues at all and NO ads.


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## alblancher (Apr 5, 2011)

Why can't everybody just take a chill pill with slamming the site?   It appears to me Jeff and the moderators have responded to every problem or criticism with class and respect.  This forum is obviously a work in progress but all I have seen is constant improvement.  I have yet to find a site that is as well moderated, as non-political or as dedicated to the subject as this one.

May I suggest that if there is an ongoing issue please contact the site administrators directly.  Maybe a "site contact" mailbox that is closely monitored by staff would be helpful.   Once the issue is addressed administration could post the problem with the fix or work around. 

I got tired of the ads so I ponied up 25 bucks to use the site for the next two years and not have to look at them.  My wife and I ate Chinese last night it cost us 30 bucks.  I guarantee you that I enjoy the site a lot more then I did that damn Chinese food.

People come and go all the time, there are other options out there.  We all have personality conflicts with other members, we all develop little cliques that we  like to hang around with.  I would be very surprised that site issues are the only reason long time members have decided not to continue their participation.

I'm not trying to make enemies with this post, just get everyone to take a deep breath and not be so critical.


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## alelover (Apr 5, 2011)

I have FF and never had one iota of trouble posting or viewing on this site. Just about every site out there that's halfway decent is going to have ads. It costs money to run a quality site and SMF is no exception. If my wife didn't buy a new car and my kid didn't need braces I would have sent my 25 bucks already. But since I have no trouble using this site I'll use that 25 bucks for a brisket instead. Eventually I'll go premium but right now it's not a priority since the site works well for me. I can't bitch about that.


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## TulsaJeff (Apr 5, 2011)

I do have thick skin.. I think it's required for being a forum owner of this size
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I can certainly appreciate that problems are frustrating but then all sites have problems now and then.. the true measure is if the site is working to fix the problems or if the problems are being ignored. I can assure all of you with the greatest of assurances that we are on top of any and all problems.

Thank all of you for the kind words and support!


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## Bearcarver (Apr 5, 2011)

TulsaJeff said:


> Yeah.. yellow is NOT my color at all but I guess I can't complain too much since they are paying for it. :My wife loves yellow so you can imagine what I have to deal with at home


Ads don't bother me---The color doesn't bother me.

The only thing that bothers me about ads is the one that jumps out of my Reply box, and causes the whole SMF forum to go dark, except the Tropicana ad.

Then I have to leave SMF & come back to get rid of their computer possessing antics.

Seems to me they are overstepping a bit with that kind of taking over the whole world to sell their product!

I'm not complaining about the site moderators, or Jeff, because Piney notified Huddler & I assume they are working on it. My complaint is with Tropicana for using high pressure practices to sell their orange juice, in the first place. I don't think they need to take over anyone's computer.

Bear


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## roller (Apr 5, 2011)

None of it bothers me .....some people just get their Pa----s in a wad over nothing...If it weren`t for the add there would not be any site.....Chill out....


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