# Can't see links in posts



## northwoodsgal (Aug 16, 2006)

[_This post, and the ones following it, have been moved from the thread about the beta Classified Ad system. They relate to a problem the user is having seeing links in posts here on the bbs, rather than anything to do with the ad system. - mg_]

UPDATE - The URL for the new Classified Ad beta system has been changed.  It no longer contains the substring 'ads'.  This should solve the problem discussed here for those affected by it.   Note: the legacy Classified Ad system URLs have not been changed so those with this problem will still have it there.

TUG Improvements,

On your last post [i.e. this post in the other thread], I see my question in italics, a blank space, and then your signature.  Is there suppose to be something in the blank space?


----------



## Makai Guy (Aug 16, 2006)

northwoodsgal said:
			
		

> TUG Improvements,
> 
> On your last post, I see my question in italics, a blank space, and then your signature.  Is there suppose to be something in the blank space?



Yes, directly above his signature is the link you were requesting.  (See also the first post in this thread.)  Are you having trouble seeing other links in messages, as well?

Here's an example link to the TUG home page, inserted between square brackets:
[www.tug2.net]
If you can't see such links, please start a separate thread here in the TUG BBS forum so that this can be dealt with without derailing the discussion of the Ad system.


----------



## TUGBrian (Aug 16, 2006)

your screen background color isnt light blue by chance is it?


----------



## northwoodsgal (Aug 16, 2006)

I can see the tug@tug.net just fine, but not the other links.

Yes, my screensaver has a bright blue background with gold fish on it (probably one of the stock ones that comes with Microsoft).


----------



## TUGBrian (Aug 16, 2006)

northwoodsgal said:
			
		

> I can see the tug@tug.net just fine, but not the other links.
> 
> Yes, my screensaver has a bright blue background with gold fish on it (probably one of the stock ones that comes with Microsoft).




thats an email address (tug@tug2.net)

try this to see if its a color issue.

highlight my entire first post [in this thread] with your mouse...left click and hold down the mouse button in the top left hand corner of my first post...then drag the moust down all the way to the bottom of my post.

see if you see a "click here to go to the ads" gimmick where you originally saw blank spaces.


----------



## TUGBrian (Aug 16, 2006)

what browser are you using?

can you open a new browser and paste the link in it and get any results?

can you click this link to a specific ad?

[_Note: the URL below is now obsolete.  See red update text in first message in this thread. - mg_]
http://www.tugbbs.com/c_ads/showproduct.php?product=169&cat=2


----------



## northwoodsgal (Aug 17, 2006)

I highlighted your first post, and the later one where you posted again, but nothing new showed up.


----------



## Makai Guy (Aug 17, 2006)

Please recognize that only you can see your screen.  We'll never be able to figure out what your problem is without help from you.



			
				Makai Guy said:
			
		

> Here's an example link to the TUG home page, inserted between square brackets:
> [www.tug2.net]



So does the link show up for you in the last line of the quote above or do you just see the brackets?

And if you see the brackets, do they show as two consecutive characters, or are they separated by several spaces?

Also, please answer the question about what browser you are using.

Also, are you using any sort of pop up blocker software on your system?  Some badly written blocker products have prevented people from seeing some of the links on the old classified ad pages.  Perhaps the same thing is happening here.


----------



## northwoodsgal (Aug 17, 2006)

To answer post #6, I was using Internet Explorer as my web browser.  I opened up Mozilla, went to the TUG BBS and can't see the links in that browser either.  This is what two of the recent posts look like to me:


Quote:
Originally Posted by northwoodsgal
Is there still a link to the beta site? I'm logged in and still haven't seen how to access it. Thanks.

__________________
Ye Olde TUG Admin Staff
tug@tug2.net 



what browser are you using?

can you open a new browser and paste the link in it and get any results?

can you click this link to a specific ad?

__________________
Ye Olde TUG Admin Staff
tug@tug2.net 



To answer post #8, I can see both the brackets and the link.

I am one of those people that can't see the links in the classifieds (the Wanted to Rent, Wanted to Buy section).  I use Windows XP, Norton Anti-Virus Suite, and one other Microsoft or IE monitoring program.  I have to leave now but will try to figure out what the last program is when I come back.  I'll also go in to Norton and turn off the parts that usually let me see the classifieds again.  Since I can't go without the Norton protection, I only see those classified links when I make the manual changes.


----------



## northwoodsgal (Aug 17, 2006)

The last program mentioned before is Microsoft Anti-spyware.

I went in to Norton, turned off the ad/pop up blocker, and can now see the links.

I've had the problem of not seeing the links in the Classifieds for several years.  Last fall, I had my computer completely wiped clean and programs reinstalled.  If the problem is Norton, wouldn't others be having the same problem?  I would think XP, IE and Norton would be a fairly common combination.  FYI, I have "tugbbs.com" listed in Norton as a trusted site.


----------



## TUGBrian (Aug 17, 2006)

ah...adblocker....interesting.

Id gander that was your issue and not the poppup blocker.


----------



## northwoodsgal (Aug 17, 2006)

I'm not sure which it was.  When I am in the tab Personal Firewall and click on "ad blocking", it changes both the ad blocking and popup blocking settings.


----------



## Makai Guy (Aug 17, 2006)

I'm glad you've got it figured out.

Allow me to share some very personal opinions with you.  In my not-so-humble opinion, in the old days when Norton Software was actually produced by Peter Norton, his utilties were outstanding, tightly written, and were excellent products.  Since Symantec bought him out Norton software products have evolved into overblown, unreliable, intrusive programs that add too much overhead to your system and have too many unintended results.  Pop-up blockers that block more than popups and ad blockers that block more than ads are clearly not worth having on your system.  I also give support on the Mozilla support board, and the number of problems that come up there which are solved by doing away with various Norton utilities is staggering.  

MS Internet Explorer now has its own popup blocking, so even if you use that rather than my preferred Firefox, you don't need pop-up blocking from Norton.  The combination of Firefox and the Ablock Plus extension for it is truly awesome.


----------



## northwoodsgal (Aug 17, 2006)

I won't argue with you about Norton.  My subscription runs out on 9/8/06 and I won't be renewing it.  I have AOL for email (we have DSL, so it's a free account), and the AOL rep mentioned AOL has it's own software too.  

Have you seen the latest Consumer Reports?  It ranks antivirus, spyware and spam software.

Going back to the link problem, FWIW, when I couldn't see the links in the old classifieds, it didn't include all of them.  The Potential Exchange, Business Advertisements and Resort Advertisement links work.  This is what the section looks like for me:

*Other TUG Ads *
(free)                                     (free for members only) 
(free)                                     *Business Advertisements  *
(free for members only)              *Resort Advertisements  *
*Potential Exchange *(free for members only)


----------



## Makai Guy (Aug 17, 2006)

northwoodsgal said:
			
		

> Going back to the link problem, FWIW, when I couldn't see the links in the old classifieds, it didn't include all of them.  The Potential Exchange, Business Advertisements and Resort Advertisement links work.  This is what the section looks like for me:
> 
> *Other TUG Ads *
> (free)                                     (free for members only)
> ...



Whereas, here is what is really there (click on thumbnail for full sized image):




The links being blocked from you all have the string "ads" in their URLs (i.e. the web addresses the links connect to).  The links you CAN see send you to different servers and do NOT have the string "ads" in their URLs.  

[At the time this was written,] The beta classified ad system is [was] located in the "c_ads" directory, so the links to it also have "ads" in their URLs.  

So it looks to me that it is adblocking software that is messing with you, probably blocking anything that has "ads" as part of its URL.

You may be able to configure this utility to allow specific web addresses through.  In this case, the URLs you'd need to allow through would be [noparse]
www.tugbbs.com/c_ads/
www.tug2.net/ads/[/noparse]​(I've told the bbs NOT to turn those two addresses into links.  I hope they  get through for you to see.  )


----------

