Ellen Smith is a Wonderful WikiTreer who thought of the best solution to adblockers

Question

We have a major problem with the advent of adblockers having been automatically implemented in browsers.  They don't just block ads - they block links to websites - notably ancestry.com - that take non-paying-members (of those sites) to a page advertising their subscription in order to see the linked page.  The adblockers don't just disable the links - they don't even display the text of the link, leaving gaps in sentences that include such links.  

We have a template that we can use to solve the problem, but that's fine for the future.  I would guess that we have - literally - millions of links that are already here and damage profiles by displaying nothing instead of at least the words that are supposed to be the links.

Ellen came up with the solution in this comment on a question:

Many websites greet site visitors (in some cases, even paid subscribers) using ad-blockers with messages along the general lines of "You seem to be using an ad-blocker. Advertising provides the revenue to make this content available to you. If you wish to continue viewing our content, please disable ad-blocking on this site, then refresh this page." And typically those messages include directions on how to whitelist a website. WikiTree could do something similar -- and ideally it would be a notification that the user could dismiss, rather than the obnoxious messages that essentially say "You may not pass this point until you disable ad-blocking on this site."

If the "something similar" that WikiTree does includes notifying people that not only ads, but also some links to sources, will be missing then if people don't disable the adblocker or whitelist WikiTree, at least they'll understand why some sources seem to be missing words.

I hope Ellen posts this as a suggestion for improvement.  Then, the only problem will be wondering how long it will take for implementing it to get to the top of the team's to-do list.

Bravo, Ellen, for this great idea!

Comments

Gaile,once again you hit the nail on the head.Your common sense and insight are amazing.Your sentiments are always inline with mine.I too lack tack and tend to speak my mind.I try to be respectful while speaking truth.("The truth can not be offensive when spoken without malice" ) Sometimes I fail.I am not the type to be needy of praise or be the center of attention.The red flags and down votes are bothersome only due to the ignorance,selfishness and insensitivity that caused them.When I see a question or answer with no votes I will give them a up vote regardless of the value of the information (unless it is worthy of a down vote.I am not afraid to give one of those either and own it) because I feel the effort that was given deserves to be acknowledged.I also try to thank each contribution to any of my ancestors( even if I am not the PM ) This gets to be a lot of work during sources challenges.For me one of the most important reasons to be a member of Wiki tree is the collaboration.Up votes and thank yous can only increase good will.There by increasing the collaboration.Even the non-needy like to know their efforts are appreciated.

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Gaile, I understand that our own people are the language translators.  WikiTree has an amazing group of people who are incredibly talented. Not only that - but they are willing to give their time freely. 99.9% of the family on WikiTree are thoughtful and think before they act. And I am like you in the respect that "the only number I consider at all meaningful has to be calculated - the percentage of my answers that were selected as "best"".

But, there is someone that is now removing best answers. For example, three of mine yesterday. And I would say over a period of time at least 25 have been removed. It is not just me. Several people that I talk to have had theirs removed. AND it is not because someone else's answer has been selected. This is malicious behavior and should be investigated. I love WikiTree, but that .1% sours it for everyone with their need to get even down-voting as James mentioned and removal of best answers. I am glad this is a comment and not an answer. Our good Lord knows how many down-votes I would receive on this.

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Just FYI: Only the Team can delete a post in G2G. As a Moderator and Leader, I can hide posts, but I can't delete them.

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Cheryl, the "best answer bandit" isn't a new phenomenon.  I first encountered it about 3 years ago, when someone kept de-selecting my choice of a best answer to a question I had asked.  I played the game then - kept re-selecting it - a few dozen times that day and I came back to it every day or two for a few months and always had to select it again.  I finally gave up, also apologized to the person who answered for all the notifications that his answer was selected that amounted to spam because there were so many.

I've seen it several times since then, mostly either for my answers that were selected by someone else or someone else's answers that I had selected.  Is it right? - no.  Is there anything that can (or will) be done to prevent it? - no.  In the big scheme of things, does it really matter? - no.  As a result, I don't see any point to wasting time wringing my hands over it.  I'd rather spend my WikiTree time productively, working on the Holocaust project, its profiles, my own family profiles, and … yes … continuing to provide information to folks who ask questions needing answers from a geek, regardless of any points or other credit that may or may not be awarded for doing so.  I get two rewards from that - someone appreciates my explanations and I feel like I'm paying back (and forward) for all the genealogy help I receive here.

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Gaile, you are so right. AND I would rather give than receive. I love spending my time greeting and helping the new members find their way around WikiTree. It is more rewarding. The new members really appreciate your kindness and your help. It always brings a smile to my face. Just like you do when we have these serious conversations (because we have so much in common) and the other times when we are joking and having a good time. Have a wonderful Sunday my friend. God bless you.

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Just FYI: Only the Team can delete a post in G2G. As a Moderator and Leader, I can hide posts, but I can't delete them.

But who can tell the difference?  Hidden posts are deleted, to everybody who can't unhide them.

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Getting back to the original issue, I think you jumped the gun here and add blockers don't appear to be the problem. So I think that blaming add blockers and fixing it when that is not the problem, is grossly unfair. Test it yourself and open the pre 1700 quiz in different browsers with and without add blockers.

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RJ: There's a big difference. Hidden posts can be unhidden. I've unhidden some innocent posts that had been hidden because they received two flags. But once a post is deleted, it's gone forever and can never be restored.

Louis: Please believe that this is due to adblocking apps, not browsers.

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Louis, both Opera and Epic (the browsers you said you had issues with) include built-in adblockers.

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Only the Team and Leaders and Moderators can delete messages.

The author of a message can also "delete" their own message insofar as they can hide it.  But they can also edit their post by deleting all of text, leaving 5 characters, and then hiding the post.  Either way, if a member hides their own post, it will stay hidden and to all others, it will appear deleted.

It is a far stretch to suggest that leaders or team members are deleting legitimate posts that are in another language and that they can't read or understand.  Google translate sorts out 99.9% of those issues.  In this thread there is a mention of a Russian post - not too long ago, a Russian language post was hidden, then deleted, and the IP address blocked because the post had solicitations to a Russian language Bitcoin website.

Another thing to keep in mind: spammers may post 4 or 5 "legitimate" posts in order to give their account the appearance of legitimacy.  If they then post a spam thread, answer, or comment elsewhere and their IP is blocked, all posts they made will be deleted.

Answer 1

Thanks to Ellen and all who work so hard to keep WikiTree lively and accurate.

Answer 2

I love your work Ellen and I am always amazed at how you answer questions.  You certainly are a most dedicated and Wonderful Wikitreer.  Thank you for all you do.

Answer 3

I can herald Ellen's ability to solve problems and imaginative solutions at WikiTree. She is a whiz and we are so lucky to have her as a leader here. She also leads the New Netherlands project which, to me, is a very hard project with all those spelling variations!

Comments

Thanks for the good word about those New Netherland names, Maggie. Some of the names that have been vexing me lately (due to the proliferation of duplicate profiles and the challenges in searching for records for these people) are those of the Consalus Duk family, the de Duytser family (note that the linked profile is a de Duytser who married a Consalus Duk), and the Uyten Bogaert family.

Answer 4

Thanks to Gaile for the good words, and thanks to Jamie for logging the request related to Ad-blockers so I didn't have to create a separate post.

Answer 5

I use Fire fox browser.My privacy levels are set to max..I am not missing any text on the page https://www.wikitree.com/quiz/pre_1700  I use   https://adblockultimate.net/  Set to max privacy,NO site white listed I do not see missing text on that page.Fire fox browser privacy set to max,no white list,I see no missing links on this page https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jenks-1104#R-848657971 with https://adblockultimate.net/  Set to max privacy,NO site white listed links to Ancestry are missing.I never noticed before.Links to Ancestry are no good to me.With out a paid subscription it is a waste of my time to click on them.Must be why I had not noticed.Ya think?

Comments

Firefox doesn't have a built-in ad blocker, but many users install one. If you used an adblocker in Firefox, unless you whitelisted Wikitree you would not even be able to see links to Ancestry, whether or not you wanted to follow them.

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Not so simple.Read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_blocking Then (in fire fox browser) go to options > Privacy and security.Look close.Try to understand that ad blocking and privacy settings is about more than just blocking ads.It is about your protection,against tracking cookies,pop ups,redirects,malicious software and a host of other nasties.Ask your self why is it that Ancestry links are blocked but Family search links are not?

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FamilySearch links aren't blocked because there are no affiliate tags auto-inserted in the URLs.

The reality of the Internet is that our uses will be severely restricted if we refuse all tracking cookies, affiliate tags, etc.

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The reality of life is everything comes with a price.I prefer the the small inconvenience that you speak of to the alternative.I will continue to have my privacy levels set to max,my ad blocker on,set to max and will not be white listing any sites.I also do not leave my wallet on the table and my door unlocked when I leave the house.

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By the way,I have been using the same browser and settings along with the same ad blocker and settings for years.Funny how the only impact it had,I had not even noticed. I see none of the " The reality of the Internet is that our uses will be severely restricted if we refuse all tracking cookies, affiliate tags, etc." that you speak of. You may want to find out what " tracking cookies, affiliate tags, etc" are,what they do and why they do them.Here is a small bit of truth.Affiliate links are exclusive URLs used to track the traffic sent from your website to the advertiser’s website. Each affiliate marketer has their own individualized URLs, which contain specific identifiers such as a randomized series of numbers and letters, your username, or other means of identification.When a website visitor clicks your affiliate links, a record is sent to the affiliate program to track your metrics such as clicks.In addition to your individualized ID in the URL, affiliate programs also use cookies to track activity. When a reader clicks on your affiliate links, a small file known as a cookie is placed onto their computer. This cookie then records the user’s actions.# Knowledge is power! # Always ask why.