from best site to WORST site ????

[SlowGT]

I really enjoyed being able to open links in a new window. This site was already slow enough. Now I have to come back to the list after every topic? No way. Hopefully many people will complain about this new disability. I get a message that says we don't allow our pages to be viewed without frames and all the BS advertisements that go with it. I don't come to this page to go shopping. When I need something I go get it. I don't open up webpages and hope to see that somebody is advertising what I'm looking for. Please put things back the way they were. The content of this site is still the best. It would be a shame to lose loyal users because of this pathetic navigation limit. It makes me feel like I'm an AOL customer. Thanks for hearing my gripe.

[StangFlyer]

I knew this was coming, so I'm going to nip it in the bud right here and now...

All you have to do is come into the site through the main URL, as you are supposed to (this loads the entire site), and you won't have a problem with the pages kicking you to the entry page at all. The frames with the navigation and the advertising at the top only has to load once. After that, it's just the content pages as you go from page to page. And, when you come in that way each time your browser will cache everything after a couple times and on subsequent visits it will be much faster.

Why I am forcing your browser to load the entire site layout is really quite simple. The first couple paragraphs from a message I wrote to the staff about this earlier will explain:

As I'm sure all you moderators realize, the MSG Board is probably the most popular section of the site. And, I'm fully aware that quite a few people have figured out that they can open the content frame of the site layout containing the MSG Board in a separate window of their browser. I also know that a good number of people bookmark it once they have done this, and on repeat visits use that bookmark to circumvent loading the site's layout / framing. This is a serious concern because by doing so they are eliminating the advertising banners also.

Since the site redesign, site traffic is higher than ever, but banner displays have actually fallen. I can only attribute this to people doing what I described above. Of course, this is not good since the whole point of attracting more traffic is to increase the number of banners shown, and attract more advertising interest and viability for businesses to place banners here. This is what helps me pay to keep this site in operation.

Because this is showing a definite impact on the sites banners, I have now taken steps to thwart content page book marking. I have now added program code to the copyright template. The copyright template is appended automatically through sever side includes to every content page (except a couple menus). The code checks to see if the content page is loaded in our frame set. If it is not, it forces the browser to load the main URL of the site. Thus, making the user load the entire site layout and the ad banner frame.

To be very honest, it takes quite a bit of money to keep this site in operation. It's a very large site now, requires a very expensive server to run it, and uses 40+ Gigs of bandwidth each month. None of this is cheap! It is money that I spend out of my own pocket for the most part. I don't really sell banner advertising intending to make a huge profit, but to cover the cost of operating the site. This site is also provided for everyone's use, free of charge, and I don't think it's to much to ask that your traffic count towards the advertising that this site needs to cover those costs.

Simply put, having banners stuck in your face in the hopes that you'll see something that interests you in order to make our advertisers happy is the price you pay on the Web to get what it has to offer for FREE. Just like you have to watch TV commercials when you watch your favorite TV show to get that free also; and many other things. Or, you can send me $500+ a month I spend out of my own pocket (not to mention hundreds of hours of my time) and I'll eliminate advertising on the site all together...? No? Yeah, that's what I thought.


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Dan McClain, Editor
The Mustang Works Online
1991 Mustang GT - 10.90 @ 122 Mph
Built, Blown, and Fast as Hell!