[webswim]

Is it possible to configure AdBlock so that it doesn't show that ads have been blocked at all? ie: instead of grey boxes where the ads would have been, just totally ignore the ads and don't render space for them at all, just reflowing text as if there never had been an ad there in the first place?

There doesn't appear to be a config option for this and there's no mention of it in the help files.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by webswim

Is it possible to configure AdBlock so that it doesn't show that ads have been blocked at all? ie: instead of grey boxes where the ads would have been, just totally ignore the ads and don't render space for them at all, just reflowing text as if there never had been an ad there in the first place?

There doesn't appear to be a config option for this and there's no mention of it in the help files.

I second that emotion. I am a new user of OmniWeb and Adblock seems very limited compared to similar options such as PithHelmet, Saft or AdBlock in Firefox.

[Bob Williams]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - -

I second that emotion. I am a new user of OmniWeb and Adblock seems very limited compared to similar options such as PithHelmet, Saft or AdBlock in Firefox.

I've never used an add-on ad blocker, so I'm not sure how they work. What does removing ads from the layout altogether do to the layout? Knowing how well computers read humans' minds, and how tricky it can be to achieve a layout in the first place, it seems like the result would sometimes be quite a mess (and other times, unnoticeable).

[Handycam]

Most of the time, it's fine to collapse the white space. In others, it can ruin a layout.

I have no problem with leaving the empty space (as OW does). For image-based ads, it's empty (white/clear). It's Flash ads and Iframe ads that leave the grey. If this bothers me, I just use CSS to set the element to display:none.

That being said, it would be nice if ALL blocked content in OW was treated like blocked images -- empty white space or the debossed "frame". I.E. no gray.

[Forrest]

This is kind of funny, I actually like how OW does it more than Adblock. When using FF, it irks me when an image gets blocked and it's my only way to continue on the site. I haven't found an easy way to add it to a whitelist. In OW there's the box there (which you guys don't like) and I can click on that and choose to load the image. How does one do that in FF?

I find the Adblock preferences confusing. First I look in prefrences. Nutton. Okay, I understand this is an Extension so I look under "Tools." (Even though that doesn't make sense.) I see Adblock and that provides more options. At the bottom of all those is Preferences. Once there, one sees one big button that says "Adblock Options Help Revert." That doesn't make any sense to me. Then I think "maybe that box isn't supposed to make it look like a button?" Sure enough, there are separate text links on that one button, erm, in that one box.

Confusing.

So I click on Adblock Options and now I'm a little confused by what the difference between Options and Preferences are. I though I was already there, but no, now I get a contextual menu. Did I right-click by accident? I try again, nope, that's how it works. That's strange, it's text link, not a pulldown?

Confusing.

So there's a "browser window" section with the first option being "Obj-tabs" What's that? "Object Tabs?" Now is that as in a noun "a material thing that can be seen and touched" or a verb "say something to express one's disapproval of or disagreement with something"??? I don't really object to using tabs, and I don't have a clue what an "Object Tab" would be.

Confusing.

I could go on about this, but you get the idea. I mention all this because I like the boxes. I like being able to click on them and make something happen, rather than having to dig through all the confusing steps Adblock has to offer.

[webswim]

Originally Posted by Forrest

This is kind of funny, I actually like how OW does it more than Adblock. When using FF, it irks me when an image gets blocked and it's my only way to continue on the site.

I'm coming back to OW having been using Safari w/ PithHelmet for years. It chops all ads out of the layout, and just reflows text and it's great. 99% of the time, removing all ad elements will not affect a site at all.

Yes, on a small percentage of sites you will find that you will need to click on a blocked element to proceed, but even when this element is hidden it is usually immediately obvious and you can just choose to reload the page without AdBlock interfering (Shift-Cmd-I, Show All Images).

Ads are annoying because they distract you from the page you are reading, both by being colourful and out of place, and also by being inserted right into the middle of what you're doing, ie: the interruption of your flow of reading is also a pain in the arse. The most used case is clearly "I want nothing to do with ads", so I believe they should not be given any space at all.

[Forrest]

Just because I want to load one image that has been blocked, doesn't mean I want them all to load. Quite the contrary. If a site has blocked stuff on it, I only want to load individual items if needed. And I don't want to have to dig through the code and find file names to pull that off.

IME, the majority of the time a site's design is still poor when the space holder is gone. If you find a site layout to be poor with ads, it's only a coincidence if it gets better without them.

[webswim]

Quite a few news sites stick a bloody big ad in the middle of their articles (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/ for examples), and in circumstances like that, hiding the grey box is far superior than leaving it there.

I accept that you like it the way it is. Look back at my original question. All I'm asking for is a checkbox that says "don't show blocked stuff as grey boxes" or something similar.

[Forrest]

Originally Posted by webswim

Look back at my original question. All I'm asking for is a checkbox that says "don't show blocked stuff as grey boxes" or something similar.

Yeah. The conversation had drifted from your original question to a debate on which way it should work so I was replying to that.

[webswim]

Originally Posted by Forrest

Yeah. The conversation had drifted from your original question to a debate on which way it should work so I was replying to that.

Ooops, sorry for the confusion.