If we're not gonig to have any ads on the left, can we have the space back?

[notfred]

It's been quite some time since the ad bar on the left has actually functioned properly. It's been updated recently to have single, tiny ad that takes up about 1" of vertical space.

Is there any reason that those of us with relatively narrow monitors need to sacrifice valuable screen space for a blank white column? It doesn't seem that anyone is working on returning the entire column of ads to the page, so couldn't that small square ad be moved next to the mushkin ad at the top of the page or something?

It seems ridiculous to me that people should have to waste that entire column of space on so many threads that are quite long because of 1 5-line at at the very top.

 

[RossMAN]

I agree.

I am thankful that the annoying graphical ads are gone from the left but to occupy it with a tiny 1" text advertisement is a waste of valuable screen real estate.

There are quite a few AT'ers who use laptops to surf the net and that 1" is valuable when you're using a 12.1" or 14.1" LCD.

 

[GeoffS]

Yup! What they said! These old eyes can't handle 2048x1536 resolution...

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: notfred
so couldn't that small square ad be moved next to the mushkin ad at the top of the page or something?

I think that's the first time someone has suggested a movement of the ad to utilize screen space a little better and its a very good spot in my opinion. It would place the ad higher up, so it will be noticed first when the site loads, which increases the chance a user will click on it and possibly follow through, increasing AT's profits and the advertisers are happy because their advertisements are getting a better display area.

 

[Aves]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga

Originally posted by: notfred
so couldn't that small square ad be moved next to the mushkin ad at the top of the page or something?

I think that's the first time someone has suggested a movement of the ad to utilize screen space a little better

Nope!

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: aves2k

Originally posted by: AgaBooga

Originally posted by: notfred
so couldn't that small square ad be moved next to the mushkin ad at the top of the page or something?

I think that's the first time someone has suggested a movement of the ad to utilize screen space a little better

Nope!

Doh! Oh well...

But it still a very good idea nonetheless (word?) and could possibly work out great for all three ends (AT, Advertisers, Users)

 

[JC]

Word. I'll get used to the banners at the top again, but the bar on the left is most annoying :|


JC

 

[RalfHutter]

Well, since today I'm NO LONGER AN ANANDTECH SUBSCRIBER (thanks for nothing AT!!) and can see the ads for the first time in 3 years I'd have to agree about that wasted space issue. What a stupid place to put an ad. It wastes an inch of space for the entire length of the page and it's only 1" tall so after you scroll down a few lines it disappears. What idiot thought up that idea?

/ralf wanders off cursing under his breath.

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: RalfHutter
Well, since today I'm NO LONGER AN ANANDTECH SUBSCRIBER (thanks for nothing AT!!) and can see the ads for the first time in 3 years I'd have to agree about that wasted space issue. What a stupid place to put an ad. It wastes an inch of space for the entire length of the page and it's only 1" tall so after you scroll down a few lines it disappears. What idiot thought up that idea?

/ralf wanders off cursing under his breath.

get this, and then this. Now that AT can't get money from you subscribing, I don't feel bad posting it .

edit: after getting a bunch of PMs...

Where to put the file:

For XP/2k:
start->run %appdata%\Mozilla\Profiles\default\xxxxxxxx.xxx\chrome

For 9x: I'm not sure. Look for a profiles directory somewhere.

For *nix: You're l33t, figure it out yourself. I think it will be somehwere under ~/.mozilla

the x's will just be some random junk. Just put the file in the chrome directory.

 

[Robor]

Thanks CTho9305... I normally use IE to browse the web but I'll use Mozilla for AnandTech forums. Who knows, maybe I'll like it enough to switch over totally.

Edit: I downloaded/installed Mozilla and clicked on that 2nd link. Took me a few minutes to figure out I had to drop that .css file into the appropriate directory. But I did so and restarted and now it works like a charm.

Thanks again CTho9305!

 

[JC]

Ahhhh............

CTho9305 for Elite!

Thanks.
JC


edit: oh man, that's beautiful......

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: JC
Ahhhh............

CTho9305 for Elite!

Thanks.
JC


edit: oh man, that's beautiful......

The true credit is due to BingBongWongFooey for writing it in the first place .

 

[blacktalon]

CTho9305 - Thanks for the file!!! It's great!

When I'm using that css file it makes my font sizes much larger than normal. Is there a way to edit it to tell it what font sizes to use for this site? If so can someone supply a file for Arial 10pt fonts? I'd really appreciate it.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

What about for Opera?

 

[SagaLore]

If they could find a way to stick that ad horizontally between every 5 or 10 posts, not only would it be more space effective but more advertisement effective. Those reading the posts would be forced to read it. The only time I look at the ad now is when the thread first loads.

 

[KristopherKubicki]

Saga:

Dont give them anymore ideas

Nah, I dont think something like that would happen. It would require too much overhaul on the forum system and it's a little too* invasive. Dont you think?

Kristopher

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: blacktalon
CTho9305 - Thanks for the file!!! It's great!

When I'm using that css file it makes my font sizes much larger than normal. Is there a way to edit it to tell it what font sizes to use for this site? If so can someone supply a file for Arial 10pt fonts? I'd really appreciate it.

I'm having the same issue with Firebird.

The CSS file works great for getting rid of the ads (THANKS CTho9305!) but it forces my fonts to a much larger size.

Can anyone give me some tips on how to edit that CSS file to keep the fonts at their default size?

 

[Robor]

I must admit that I never even pay attention to ads or popups. The only time I ever click one is by accident. I used to click on some of the Anandtech ads before I was a subscriber but I never had any intention of actually purchasing anything. I only did it to help out the site.

Sigh... Sure wish the AT Team would bring back subscriber membership. I'm using BingBongWongFooey's .css file that CTho9305 linked above (thanks again) so I don't see the banners or ads but I've got 5x the 100 PM limit right now! :Q

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: RalfHutter
I'm having the same issue with Firebird.

The CSS file works great for getting rid of the ads (THANKS CTho9305!) but it forces my fonts to a much larger size.

Can anyone give me some tips on how to edit that CSS file to keep the fonts at their default size?

I don't have much experience with Mozilla/Firebird/Opera/etc but I'm using the .css file with the following...

"Mozilla 1.5
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.5) Gecko/20031007"

No font issues at all with it. In fact, it works great. The only thing I don't like is the way the bookmarks can't be "right-clicked" and modified and the way the folders are sorted and can't be moved around (or I'm doing something wrong).

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: KristopherKubicki
Saga:

Dont give them anymore ideas

Nah, I dont think something like that would happen. It would require too much overhaul on the forum system and it's a little too* invasive. Dont you think?

Kristopher

My opinion is that it would be less invasive than stealing so much left column real estate, if it were horizontal it would just be a single line ad.

I don't think it would require much overhaul at all. Find the routine that inserts the posts into the page template, and set some additional logic that looks at the post count and enables a cell with an include to an ad template.

Hmm... after looking at the source code, you could just throw in a whole table for the ad, looks like every post within a thread is a table within a main table.

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: CTho9305

Originally posted by: RalfHutter
Well, since today I'm NO LONGER AN ANANDTECH SUBSCRIBER (thanks for nothing AT!!) and can see the ads for the first time in 3 years I'd have to agree about that wasted space issue. What a stupid place to put an ad. It wastes an inch of space for the entire length of the page and it's only 1" tall so after you scroll down a few lines it disappears. What idiot thought up that idea?

/ralf wanders off cursing under his breath.

get this, and then this. Now that AT can't get money from you subscribing, I don't feel bad posting it .

edit: after getting a bunch of PMs...

Where to put the file:

For XP/2k:
start->run %appdata%\Mozilla\Profiles\default\xxxxxxxx.xxx\chrome

For 9x: I'm not sure. Look for a profiles directory somewhere.

For *nix: You're l33t, figure it out yourself. I think it will be somehwere under ~/.mozilla

the x's will just be some random junk. Just put the file in the chrome directory.

Does this not work under NT4?

EDIT: Nevermind, got it working. The directory was just in a bizarre place.