Forum access?

[bobofthenorth]

Maybe he's not posting because he hasn't changed anything.  As I posted exactly 1 week ago its been business as usual here.  There's a million reasons why computers act up.  It doesn't have to be because Gary did something malicious.

The only reason I knew anything on this forum had changed was because you guys told me it had.  I had to go looking to confirm what you were claiming but I still access the forum exactly the same way I have forever.

[robertglines1]

found my problem a few weeks ago=old bookmark. Entered using ID and password and all is good now.   I definitely visit to often.  I need to get active working on projects..  Bob  of soon to be frozen southern Indiana:: start rain am  ice after lunch turning to snow low of 15F Mon nite..

[chessie4905]

The "click here for a fast start" on the phone has disappeared. My tablets work fine with their bookmarks. All mine are Android though.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

We have not changed anything except to add Google Ads on the right hand side to help support the Forum.  It does not bring in much money, but does help some. I still have plenty of room on my screen to read the Forum even with the Google Ads on the right hand side and bottom.

If you are still seeing a large Google Ad at the top, then you should clear your cache and try again as this should not be happening. 

If you are still seeing things you do not like, then please email me a screen grab and I will look into it, but I myself are not having any issues reading it on my laptop.  Send your ideas and suggestions to Gary@BusConversionMagazine.com and I will do everything I can to help. 

We do not want to upset the bus conversion community but we do need to have a way to pay for the Forum as the magazine itself no longer makes enough money to support the forum.  We just do not have as many subscribers as we used to because younger people want something for nothing and do their research online for free.   I am doing everything I can to make the magazine profitable but it is a tough road to follow at this point.

Please do not reply to this thread to suggest what else we can do to make the Forum or the Magazine better as this will take this off topic.  Please send me an email and I will respond to all emails.

[plyons]

We have run ads along the right hand side before, for a number of years, and it does help pay the bills.  However, it was just a single, narrow strip.  I've noticed a number of times that it jumps to a size that is too large, and I agree, it is bbbiiiiiiiigggg.   Will check it out.  I think I can see the cause.   

Thanks for the feedback!, Phil

[buswarrior]

Thank you Gary and Phil.

Interesting that the address I use on the phone works, but it won't work on the laptop anymore?

Keep up the good work!

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[richard5933]

We have run ads along the right hand side before, for a number of years, and it does help pay the bills.  However, it was just a single, narrow strip.  I've noticed a number of times that it jumps to a size that is too large, and I agree, it is bbbiiiiiiiigggg.   Will check it out.  I think I can see the cause.   

Thanks for the feedback!, Phil

Thanks Phil.

Just noticed today that on my smartphone (Note 9) the 'new' layout appears with a huge ad across the top of the screen, taking up about 1/3 of the screen. Then there are the two normal ads. There was nothing left showing till I scrolled down quite a bit.

Looks like something went wrong with the mobile version as well.

[chessie4905]

On the phone now, just totally filled with lots of big ads . Thanks Gary!

[richard5933]

Agreed. Access on smartphone is painful right now. Here is what the screen looks like right now. And the screen below when you scroll down. Something is wrong with the layout.

It's now necessary to scroll about 3 screens down before you actually start to see content, and even then it's not at all optimized for use on a smartphone.

I'm starting to miss the days of access through Tapatalk again. Access was pretty smooth through a smartphone until recently.

[DoubleEagle]

It looks like two changes have been made: More ads, and busconversions.com is no longer used for access. 

[richard5933]

It looks like two changes have been made: More ads, and busconversions.com is no longer used for access. 

I have no problem with additional ads on the site, and using a different URL shouldn't be a problem.

The problem is that the ads, especially when accessed on a mobile device, make the site very difficult to access and nearly impossible to read conveniently. I find myself going to the site much less frequently when away from my home computer than I used to. If ad revenue is important, which it appears to be, then driving away site visits is going to be counterproductive.

[mmanning]

Perhaps the ads can be incorporated into the website a little differently?  Scrolling is a headache when you've scrolled to the bottom of a lengthy thread, but have also somehow scrolled the ads on the side as well.  In the end you have to scroll two different active areas of the website to get to the top again.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

We removed the Google Ads from the top of the Forum. We have been trying to do that for over a month now and I think we finally succeeded. 

Let us know if this is easier for you now or if there is still a problem.

Gary

[6805eagleguy]

I figured it out.  busconversionmagazine.com/forum goes to the "original" format without the side ads.  The link on busconversionmagazine.com goes to busconversionmagazine.com/bcm-forum that is the new format with the ads on the side.

This works fine for me...