Site Status Update

Just a note to let everyone know that there will be a few more batches of minor system changes and tweaks coming out over the next few days. I don't have a specific time frame for the releases, but they should not affect the way any of us use the site, so hopefully we'll continue to garden right through them.

However, if you spot something obviously out of whack, like the quote box problem (which is now fixed, thank you Bhavisha and team!) please post here or use the "Contact Us" link to reach Melody and me at the help desk.

We have had a few reports of a particularly annoying advertisement that covers part of the screen text. That is being addressed with the ad sales team to figure out where it's coming from and stop it. (Note: this is not an open invitation to bash any/all ads, please. They have helped us keep the site running for a very long time now :-)

And watch for a site-wide link to the 2014 photo contest, which will open today. Best wishes to all who submit photos; I can't wait to see them all!

October is spelt Octubre under our posts names ^_^ it's usually in English.

Edited to say all the months are no longer in English ...has there been a change ?

Happy October Terry :-)

chrissy

This message was edited oct 3, 2014 11:02

The month names are no longer capitalized.

Hmmm. Okay - we can get that fixed ASAP. Good catch!

Hi Terry,
On the Main 'Iris' Page in Plantfiles where the Between the Boards for Recent Iris Submission Photos and Recent Iris Cultivar comments their is some kind of Coding or Something. [ADUNIT] is one of the ones i see, the other is [VSWAD] Seen it somewhere else in Plantfiles too but couldnt refind the second occurence. Is there someway to cosmetically hide or paint over this with the white background color? even if it cannot be removed if it is some kind of fix? could live with it if we absolutely had too, but lets be honest, its not very attractive or professionally sound looking to the user/user experience. it was never here before, if it has to be there now, can't it be hidden?
Also overjoyed that DG fixed the editing ability so I can once again edit mistakes on any PF entries I created, but submitted several error reports with links of my evidence for data correction/errors on entries I didnt create over 5 days ago as had been in the hospital visiting my son and had not been on here, and came home today to see all four are still sitting in my dmail unanswered, could you or another admin member take alook at those for me. Respectfully, Sandra. Themikesmom.

This message was edited Oct 3, 2014 4:43 PM

Yay, the dates are fixed!

Double yay on the Months ^_^ too !


chrissy

I thought the date thing was amusing....at first I thought it was my settings. Lol

So what is [ADUNIT] and [VSWAD] ? I see im such a valued member here.. you would think the first times I politely asked in a PM and got not response, someone would have the courtesey to tell me and other members what the heck this is, on this thread, even if it's not deemed an issue for resolution needing to be timely addressed by the tech team, would be nice to get a response as much as I have done for Irises here at DG. not trying to pat myself on the back or get credit for hard work I Choose to and wanted to do.. but enough is enough..I see Metrosideros frustration and echo it in these terms : why should I continue trying to improve the site and add data when all I keep getting is road blocks and ignored?

I'm sorry for not replying over the weekend, but I reported this to the techs and they are working on it. My guess is that what you are seeing are related to "placeholders" of sorts for ads - which you (and I) do not see. While they are an annoyance, they shouldn't interfere with your use of the site while we give the techs time to figure out why they are displaying.

Ok, Fair Enough..Also I had submitted some Error Reports on the 28th and for some reason they did not show up, they did however show up in my Dmail so I resubmitted them last night via my Dmail and as far as I know they are still not showing up so I sent DaylilySLP a list of the 4 Error Repots with the names and species of the 4 Hager Irises that need correction and the corrections needed. I have no doubt she will work on them for me when she gets time as she has always been Very Helpful and a good friend on here; but there must be some kind off issue that Admin cannot see going on with these error reports even after i resubmit them and apparently their still not showing up. Respectfully, Themikesmom.

I have those at the main help desk (another issue I'm working with the techs on.) I got stopped on one, because I wasn't sure it was an actual cultivar, and then got sidetracked by our errors last week. I should be able to finish my review and reply to you by tomorrow.

For the record, I do deeply appreciate the effort that you and so many others have put into building features like PlantFiles, BugFiles and BirdFiles, letting us know about errors, and making these resources an international success. There are times we get behind - our editors are volunteers, and our admin team consists of Melody and me, as has been the case for many many years.

When we have updates that disrupt certain areas of the site, it is a distraction, not only to the members, but to us as we help the techs figure out what is going on, and help them test out the corrections. Not an excuse, just an explanation for last week.

There are only so many hours in the day...and weekends are hit-or-miss for both Mel and me. We don't promise to work nights or weekends, but as you can see, we often do either or both. However, the fall weekends usually find me wherever the Vols are playing, or visiting our youngest at college in Chattanooga. This past weekend I was in Knoxville cheering on our beloved Vols to no avail (guess I should have stayed home and worked - it would have been more productive :-)

I was able to read posts on the Pets forum without logging in. I thought only paid subscribers could read posts on most forums. Is this an an issue needing to be addressed or a deliberate change?

Weblinks are once again not working properly.

http links are no longer clickable.

Tammy, there's been no recent change to the pets forum. It is visible to non-subscribers, but only subscribers can participate in it: e.g., start threads and/or post to existing threads.

Can you give me an example of where a link is not working? I just did a quick scan of a few threads with links, and they worked fine.

Terry, your quote of my comment is also broken.

Here's another weblink to test:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31538/

That link above is not clickable for me, although it was clickable when I on the Preview page.

I have not seen any errors (other than the quote coding above) and the link worked fine.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31538/

I find this really upsetting!

* Forums marked with an asterisk are only available to subscribing members.

I thought "available" would be that no one but a subscribing member could read them. So the entire DG forums can be seen and read by anyone on the web????

I guess I will ask the question as well - all of the forums are now available to be read by anyone - anywhere? I also thought that there were private forums on DG.

That's what I thought too. I'm on "Coffee............." thread and I thought nobody could read that except paid subscribers.

Terry, may I suggest that someone check into this issue. Why have subscriber only forums if anyone has access to them?

I joined in 2006 and at that time anyone could take a quick look at just a
few (perhaps 3?) posts on any "subscriber only" forum page but could not post
or respond nor could they browse through an entire page of posts. I think the
purpose was to let viewers see if they wanted to become subscribers. Worked
for me and I subscribed.

Terry perhaps will validate my understanding.

We have two issues here.

ssgardener, hyperlinks work. We are still working on the quote boxes. If the hyperlinks aren't irking for you, I would recommend switching temporarily to another browser or clearing your cache.

The other issue doesn't really have anything to do with site updates :-), but let me confirm that June_nmexico is correct: many of our forums have limited access to non-subscribers. It's been that way since we instituted subscriptions. Over time, some forums have become more private and some less private, depending on the nature of the conversations, and - in some cases - requests from the members who most actively participate in them.

With most of the "paid subscribers-only" forums, non-subscribers can either read the first post, or even read all the posts, but they cannot participate in the forum. It's meant to be a bit of a hook to invite and entreat non-subscribers to see what we're all about, and hopefully subscribe, if they are interested in joining the conversation.

There are a handful of forums that are completely invisible to non-subscribers: Back Porch, Parking Lot and Prayer Requests come to mind. (There may be a few others that I've forgotten their security settings.) To non-subscribers, those forums do not show up on the webpage with all the forums. If you have additional questions or concerns about the subscribers/non-subscribers forums, I would prefer that you send us a note at the help desk, so we can keep this thread focused on the site updates.

Terry, I found out the source of the problem.

It's the new VigLink in-text ads that are linked to hyperlinked texts. My ad blocker is blocking VigLink, and as a result preventing hyperlinked texts.

I imagine the initial problem started when the techs tried to add VigLink?

I have sent a message to IB about the VigLink - I was not aware that had been inserted, and I'm as disappointed as you to discover it. I'll let you know what I hear back after our weekly conference call tomorrow.

http://support.viglink.com/entries/20642158-Publisher-Spotlight-Internet-Brands

"In 2008 Internet Brands implemented VigLink, and by doing so found an additional revenue stream that didn’t require new ad space.

VigLink leverages the actual content on a site to earn revenue (specifically by monetizing the outbound links within site content) rather than delivering advertising in the white space around a site’s content. When a visitor leaves one of their sites via an outbound link, VigLink tracks the click and automatically secures a commission for Internet Brands if a purchase is made.

With a high volume of links to merchants being shared within each site, the service has proved to be a valuable addition to Internet Brand’s monetization efforts by delivering a truly incremental new revenue source.

In terms of revenue, Alvin Fong, VP of Business Operations, admits “we weren’t sure what to expect when we first deployed VigLink, but we have been happy with the revenue it has generated, as well as the fact that it is non-intrusive and doesn’t require additional ad unit inventory.”

Reads like a foreign language to me.............don't understand a word of it. LOL

Anna, VigLink is a bit of code inserted on a site that redirects a click by a user on and external link or Hyperlink to the VigLink site before being directed to the actual clicked on link site for the purpose of tracking that user to that clicked on link. If the user makes a purchase as a result of the click, InternetBrands gets a commission. It is one of the ways companies like Internet Brands make money from their sites without the addition of onsite ads. This is termed 'monetization' or ways to make money from a site.

so in laymans terms more spyware..glad im a paid subscriber and dont have to see these adds and have their spyware cookies slowing me down even more on top of the tracking thats going on on top of that already. It would be like free email and a popular face site is now..takes 40 minutes to open and respond to one email from all the private Industry as well as Government Spying and tracking recording every citizen like Communist Red China hard to fathom the private sector takes part in this to turn a profit. In my opinion it's pretty bad when not only big brother is intruding into ones personal viewing in their own home and keeping files on everyones life, but so is the private sector on top of it. So when the men in suits get exposed for violating the constitution the will just have private industry spy on us instead..wish their technology would atleast get to the point where their tracking doesnt slow anyone down. Just my personal opinion. If this kinda stuff keeps up, their will be no more gardens or flowers or nature to be enjoyed..just people sitting on a computer and smart phone all day with bar codes on us being told what to do and when to do it. very sadening

From my understanding even us paid subscribers have the "spyware cookies" slowing us down.

VigLink on Daves Garden does slow down my user experience and it is quite noticeable to me. Here is someone esles experience on another site that added VigLink.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1607094

"I noticed today when copying/pasting a link that the link all of a sudden became huge.

Going from: http://jumbofiles.com/uyaktf1oq6f5

to this: http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...txt=D700_Odin3

I have seen Viglink before and it is an affiliate link creator that changes all links to affiliate links so XDA (or whatever forum) can make money from clicks. After a quick search, I did not see anything on the site about selling my information nor was there a notice about the affiliate links being used. This is a requirement per the Viglink website that states:

Will my users notice? Should I disclose it?

Most users do not notice on their own although we highly recommend you disclose it. VigLink does not change the user experience one bit. No links are inserted or removed on the page, there are no double-underlines or pop-ups, and mousing over a link looks "clean."

The US Federal Trade Commission requires that you disclose use of affiliate links. More information and tools are available.

Even if you are not subject to FTC jurisdiction, we strongly recommend you disclose. Our customers have found that readers are completely understanding if they are informed and can be upset if they are surprised. Informing your users will give those who desire it the opportunity to permanently opt-out. Although VigLink is unobtrusive, it is easily detectable by savvy users.

To go along with this, I checked the Rules page to see if it was modified to allow this. Still in the rules is this line:

Commercial advertising, advertising referral links, pay per click links and other income generating methods are forbidden. Do not use xda-developers as a means to make money.

Was this just a test to see if it would pay off or were you hoping no one would notice?

If any users want to opt out, please add *.viglink.com to your ad blocker or you can use their opt out page here: http://www.viglink.com/static/support/optout"

That link for the opt out didn't work. It's here:

http://www.viglink.com/opt-out

I was hoping I might learned something about plants.

We are working on this problem - long story short, the link should not be there, and will (fingers crossed) disappear soon.

Terry, VigLink was first noticed by coleup a couple of weeks ago, back when the html notations first went haywire.

I know some here were saying that the html notation errors were somehow due to the "homegrown" aspect of the coding here. But it seems adding VigLink is what started this mess.

I'm glad we have this forum and that we were able to discuss this issue as a group. It would *not* have been helpful for each of us to just use the "Contact Us" link. I don't think I would have found the connection between VigLink and the new issue without having all of your input.

So I'm once again expressing disappointment that we're no longer able to start our own threads in this forum. What's the point of having a Site Status Update forum if the admins and the community are not kept informed? The least they could do is allow us a place to discuss these issues in the open.

If coleup noticed and reported the VigLink issue, I didn't see that post. And therein lies an example of why we're trying a more structured approach in this forum. Otherwise, we wind up with a lot of similar threads, going a lot of different directions, sometimes posting the same thing...and occasionally someone posts a problem that is limited to them. (To put it politely, a user error that is best handled one-on-one.)

When there is a system problem, Melody and I are simply the relay team. We aren't programmers, and all we can do is try to pick our way through the posts, summarize the problem and pass it through to the lead tech, who then oversees the group that works on our site, assigning it to someone and then eventually we get a notification that it's been fixed. Bhavisha is great as the lead tech, but she has more than DG to take care of, and she isn't able to interact with the members here in this forum.

We could debate the merits of this structure, but it is what we have to work with.

And that's why we feel we can better serve the DG community if everyone will take the time to report a problem to us as individuals. Scout's honor, if and when we realize it is not just one person experiencing the problem, we will open a thread here so the community can discuss it.

Coleup was discussing VigLink on our local MidAt forum, not here.

And the only reason we were discussing it there is because we couldn't start a new topic on *this* forum, where site updates are supposed to be discussed.

And we didn't report it then, because we didn't even consider the possibility that VigLink wasn't supposed to be there. We just figured it was a new cookie that was being installed. Why would we use "Contact Us" if we're not reporting a problem? We weren't about to tell the site owners which cookies to use for their ads.

But if we had been allowed to start a discussion here, then the admins may have caught this two weeks ago.

I'm not debating the merits of this structure. There's no one to debate, since the site owners have made their decision and are not open to actually debating. I'm simply explaining why this structure has not worked so far.

website Links have gone black like the rest of the text and are no longer clickable as of about 7:30 tonight.

edited for grammer..im old and going blind.

This message was edited Oct 8, 2014 8:11 PM