Is it because of the forums?
New: Run-Command (Dec 2, 2024), Platform 29.5.3 (Jun 27, 2024)
1,100+ portable packages, 1.1 billion downloads
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New: Run-Command (Dec 2, 2024), Platform 29.5.3 (Jun 27, 2024)
1,100+ portable packages, 1.1 billion downloads
No Ads Nov/Dec!, Please donate today
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I don't understand. I'm not paying to access PortableApps.com. (Plus by using AdBlockPlus I suppress all the ads.)
I mean the webhosting fee is very expesive.
Drupal insists I write something here ... but the subject says it all.
This site requires a strong server that doesn't fail when under high pressure, because, although the forums do add some workload to the server, the people themselves browsing the site and downloading apps and stuff are a lot.
It is for some reason that the servers where this site is allocated to has already 8Gb of RAM or more.
This site pushes the server to the limit, such server will have high costs.
Blue is everything.
It's a good thing the forums aren't using Sourceforge because the layout and features are terrible. phpBB is better than Drupal forum software, I don't like the layout or features of Drupal forums either, but since this website is using Drupal you may as well put good use into to it!
With that said, I can't say much about performance, I suppose phpBB would be heavier because, for the most part is self-independent software, while Drupal is a 'Contant Management System' and most of the content is already being fetched from the database, while the forums is just a module hooking onto Drupal's core.
oh, you shouldn't supress the ads :(, they make money for John
Well, actually, the site.
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
If I remove those ads from the lists in AdBlockPlus then sure they'll appear here but also everywhere else too. That I'm not prepared to put up with. I realise that there will a small loss of revenue for John/the site but in my book that is better than my loss of sanity occasioned by seeing annoying ads.
Google ads? I don't even notice them anymore. It's the graphical ones that are annoying!
I don't notice Google ads any more either; haven't done for over a year since I installed AdBlockPlus. When I happened to use a machine recently where it wasn't possible to use my portableApps USB the Google ad I was presented with was spam. The spammers are getting around whatever checks Google does and putting out inappropriate material. And yes the graphical ones are annoying. I surpress them all.
I also use AdBlockPlus to remove parts of web sites where the ads would have appeared. flickr is s good one for that; they say "want to get rid of the ads? go pro". Instead I used ABP's element hiding rules feature to expunge that last vestige of the ads.
in adblock plus you can disable for this page only so you don't have to remove the filter.
your friendly neighbourhood moderator Zach Thibeau
Would mean I get to see ads. Defeats the objectg of using AdBlockPlus.
look you can specify which website you can enable the ads for. The ads are still blocked for other sites. I disable adblock plus for PortableApps.com only.
your friendly neighbourhood moderator Zach Thibeau
If I remove those ads from the lists in AdBlockPlus then sure they'll appear here but also everywhere else too. That I'm not prepared to put up with.
Incorrect assumption. You can add an exception by domain name and Google syndication will work on that domain only. Right click on the ABP icon in Firefox and allow it on portableapps.com or add the exception manually in the "My Exception Rules" section:
NoScript is another story however, but you can temporarily allow googlesyndication.com when browsing portableapps.com
Cancer Survivors -- Remember the fight, celebrate the victory!
Help control the rugrat population -- have yourself spayed or neutered!
Just go in Adblock Plus, and disable it for portableapps.com only.
The ads here are not invasive like other websites, plus it help John to cover the cost of web hosting.
Although the ads that John has on this site are some of the best ones I have ever seen, only a few ones on the sidebar, and properly tagged as ads, I do need Adblock Plus so I can block the actually obtrusive ads from other sites. I would not mind to see the ads here, like on any site using them moderately, but any site that abuses ads is not worthy of me to disable Adblock Plus, so I wont, so I can have a cleaner web.
And remember, one of the main reasons for the Google Team to be creating an extension platform for Google Chrome is because people want an easy way to block ads.
Blue is everything.
Easy to fix -
Right-click AdBlock Plus icon in status bar -> disable on portableapps.com
Done.
Oh, thanks
EDIT: btw, is it possible to customize even more the google ads? If so I would change some of the looks of them so they fitted more in the site
I still didn't figure how to inject styling to iframes with dinamic urls using stylish... nor css.
EDIT2: I managed to make the google ads look better by making some "simple" mods to the underlying html structure. And here they are:
Container:
Iframe file:
<html> <head> <style> <!-- body {margin: 5px 0 0 5px; color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;} h3 {font-size: 11px; color:#b31616; margin: 0 0 5px 0;} h3 a {color:#b31616; font-weight:bold;} p {margin: 0 0 5px 0;} p a {color:#404548;} p#origin a {color: #b31616;} --> </style> </head> <body> <div class="ad"> <h3><a href="whatver link and content is suposed to put here" rel="external" target="_top">Advert Title</a></h3> <p>Advert text.</p> <p><a href="another huge link that is probably the same that it is on the title" rel="external" target="_top">www.text.link.annoyingly.put.here/</a></p> <p id="origin"><a rel="external" target="_blank" href="google ads link here">Ads by Google</a></p> </div> </body> </html>The result looks like this image:
[Image @ ImageShack.us]
Now, I know that google ads doesn't let you change the html template of the iframe, but I think that it is possible to inject some styling to it, even if using a script. And I think it would be much nicer.
Blue is everything.
Of course, you're not allowed to do that on-site. It violates the Terms of Service and they'll cancel your account for doing it.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I just launched AdSense on my site to see how I can do, and it blends in quite well for me. While I don't typically notice the ads here, I think perhaps if you added the hard rounded corners, lightened up or had no background color, and (perhaps) made that shade of red it would look a little nicer. However, maybe the intention is to have them stand out more so interested users can see them.
I agree with Patrick, when testing my "themeing" of these ads, I noticed most colors where managed by the url of the frame, so I realized that it is possible to modify it.
My advice is a background of same gray used on the sidebar and use the gray on sidebar links to the smaller link under the ad. (Actually, some tests with firebug and the Google Ads url of the frame has proven me that it looks better).
This is, unless you purposely made the links like that so they could stick out. If that is the case forget me.
Blue is everything.
Google doesn't allow that, but you could do it client side with your own stylesheet (possibly) or create a GreaseMonkey script.
Cancer Survivors -- Remember the fight, celebrate the victory!
Help control the rugrat population -- have yourself spayed or neutered!
do you make money even if you don't click a link in any of the ads?
We use a high-end server. Dual dual-core AMD processors, 8GB of RAM, 5 SCSI hard drive RAID5 array, full network backup, etc. And we host it with RackSpace in Houston, one of the best full-service webhosts in the world. And we get a lot of traffic. We get more traffic than U3, Ceedo, Mojopac, etc. And we get more traffic than all the other portable software sites combined.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
thats because when you google "portable applications" what do you get...
John, would you consider another type of advertising on the site, say, something like Fusion Ads? I hear they pay quite well, plus they aren't distracting at all.
I personally like them better than Google's ads.
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
I'm sticking with text-only. And Google's ads do well for us and have been serving up relevant ads. Fusion Ads also require a prominent above the fold position, which I won't do. We don't want this to be the kind of site with ads all over it.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!