Attn :- Superuser group - Annoying Pop-up amounting to harassment.

[#1]

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@ejs wrote:

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@shutter wrote:

The only solution that will work, ( more than probably )...  is the correctly written programming approach... of remembering that NO means NO...

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The problem is with the implementation of the remembering. I think it's cheaper and easier to remember it by storing a small piece of information (cookie) on your computer rather than in some database on a server somewhere else.

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So what does @ejs have to say about this -

https://community.plus.net/t5/Plusnet-Feedback/Survey-Every-Two-Minutes/m-p/1462269#M77878

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@jaread83 wrote:

I have been speaking to Lithium about this and they agreed that it seems a bit strange that the survey would rely on a cookie rather than simply a database entry against an account to indicate that the survey has been done/ignored.

Cookies can be easily deleted and is specific to that single device - its not uncommon for people to have multiple devices connected to the internet (laptop, desktop, smartphone, tablet, internet fridge freezer, etc etc) so linking your choice to complete the survey or ignore it should be applied to your forum account.

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[#2]

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@shutter wrote:
. c`mon ejs... proper programming would eliminate the problem.... but  you won`t admit that...

There's not much point responding to tautological rhetoric.

If only more people knew that all sorts of problems would never have existed if only stuff had been done differently (or "properly") in the first place! The Titantic wouldn't have sunk if it had been designed and built "properly". This logic can solve pretty much every problem! Amazing!

.What is the point of asking me ..... and me giving a NO response..might just as well not bother putting up the question in the first place... and just put up the survey... written in such a way, as it will not disappear from the screen until the survey has been completed... and then will re-appear the next time you log on... ad infinitum....

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What actual point is this supposed to be making? I do of course realise it's pretty pointless for a pop-up to keep reappearing endlessly no matter whether you click yes or no or the X or immediately quit your web browser or throw your computer out the window. Yes you are correct that an endlessly re-appearing pop-up could be replaced by an endlessly re-appearing survey to cause an equivalent amount of inconvenience, what's your point?

[#3]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@ejs wrote:

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@shutter wrote:

The only solution that will work, ( more than probably )...  is the correctly written programming approach... of remembering that NO means NO...

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The problem is with the implementation of the remembering. I think it's cheaper and easier to remember it by storing a small piece of information (cookie) on your computer rather than in some database on a server somewhere else.

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So what does @ejs have to say about this -

https://community.plus.net/t5/Plusnet-Feedback/Survey-Every-Two-Minutes/m-p/1462269#M77878

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@jaread83 wrote:

I have been speaking to Lithium about this and they agreed that it seems a bit strange that the survey would rely on a cookie rather than simply a database entry against an account to indicate that the survey has been done/ignored.

Cookies can be easily deleted and is specific to that single device - its not uncommon for people to have multiple devices connected to the internet (laptop, desktop, smartphone, tablet, internet fridge freezer, etc etc) so linking your choice to complete the survey or ignore it should be applied to your forum account.

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What do you want me to say about it? There are of course those limitations of cookies. Is that supposed to prove that every web developer who uses a cookie is useless and incompetent?

It doesn't really contradict with what I said. Perhaps they tacked on a general purpose survey pop-up thing that could be applied to any website, including websites that may not have an existing database to store the pop-up result for a particular user in, and didn't bother to customise it to be more integrated with the forum, perhaps because not doing that customisation was easier and/or cheaper.

[#4]

The point is..... that you have consistently suggested that there is nothing wrong with the pop up or survey... ( until now ).. and that  when I posted those two points to you... you conveniently went off on another tangent, and failed to respond.

quote

I do of course realise it's pretty pointless for a pop-up to keep reappearing endlessly no matter whether you click yes or no

unquote

Thank you for, finally, admitting that it is an annoying situation, that has been caused by incompetent program writing. which is what this thread was all about in the first place..

When I say "No Thankyou"... that ,.... should end all popups asking me to do the survey.... forever.. .  not just 24 hours   ( or even less, as has been noted on here today )...

[#5]

Either way it ain't likely to get fixed anytime soon.

So I suggest you move on to you're next topic to have a whinge about.

Six pages of the same old [-Censored-] is enough for anyone...

[#6]

@DaveyH The name of this board on the PlusNet forum is..........? ?

Community Site Feedback.

So , if something needs fixing on this forum, then it is the place to "Whinge" about it....   If nobody whinges, then "the powers that be" sit back drinking coffee and hot chocolate with marshmallows on top, thinking all is well in the world,..

I whinge about this because I believe it is wrong to be harassed and bullied every time I log on, or change boards, or whatever

AFTER I have said "No Thanks"...

On another board... I whinged about "Live Chat" being disabled, in preference for "normal hearing people`s"  service on the telephone... within  a few days it was being re-enabled... and by the end of a couple of weeks, was almost fully restored....

If I hadn`t "whinged" about that... then it would ( more than likely )  have been "disabled" permanently,  in the same way Dr. Beeching cut train services on some lines, and then professed they were not used enough because of low passenger counts so he had the authority to close them completely... 

Community Site Feedback..... means just that....

whinging... as you put it... is "feedback"...

six pages is enough for anyone...... ? ? ?    You did not have to read them all... !... but I hope that someone has taken note and that something will happen... 

because that is the whole point of "Feedback".... to make things happen..  and to improve the whole "experience" of all the Community Site users...   ...   ...   ...   ...   including you,

and all those others that just lie back and do nothing but mumble to themselves about it...

[#7]

to make things happen..  and to improve the whole "experience" of all the Community Site users..

except it won't as most - the vast majority including me - don't have your problem

[#8]

Hi all,

I had gone to Lithium a couple of months ago about this as I think its a bit bonkers that the survey option to participate or not is stored in a cookie. Noone has a single device these days so the survey would popup on all devices no matter what you did on your other devices. Also the fact that a lot of people tend to clear their cookie history periodically compounds the issue further. In my opinion, the survey choice should be stored on the users database entry so it will always remember your choice on all devices. This idea has been submitted to Lithium developers for consideration and it has received some traction on their community - some of the other communities also agree with this approach.

FYI - The survey cookie expires after 3 months and then it will automatically be deleted (due to expiring). The surveys went live around 3 months ago so this may be why a lot of you are seeing the survey popup again.

I am sorry that is has become a nuisance, this was not the intention. We want to find out what customers come to the forums for so we can concentrate on making improvements to the areas that the data has pointed us to.

Again, I apologise if this has caused any inconvenience.

[#9]

Yes @jaread83

It should really be stored in the server database against the user name - have some kind of survey table with a field against each user. Say 'WantsSurveys', 0 or 1. I am sure you know that 

Still a bit of a mystery why it is affecting the OP, and not others.

[#10]

Exactly @Alex, this is how I would have programmed it.

[#11]

@jaread83 Can the surveys be halted untill it is sorted ?

[#12]

There is no clear time when such a thing would be sorted I'm afraid. Taking a look at my product idea on the Lithium forums, it has received a lot of points and has been acknowledged by the development team as something that could be changed. So this could be changed in a future update to the software - I just don't have any timescales right now (their response states that they would let me know). As soon as I know what's happening, I will be sure to let you all know that this particular bug bear would no longer be an issue.

The decision to halt the survey is not one that I am able to make. @LouisaMartin, do you have any thoughts about this?

[#13]

@rongtw

It may be possible, if there is an admin setting.

Or modify the underlying source code if PlusNet have it - though that will cause problems. I'm sure Lithium wouldn't like them doing that, so if a bug was reported whether it be related to it or not they could blame any modifications that had been made.

So it's best to get any bug fixes done officially.

I assume it is only the OP which has this problem, which makes it more difficult to diagnose.

Unless others have done so - then it would suggest a problem with the server and code. Not a client machine.

[#14]

The fact still remains though that if @shutter abided with Plusnet's Ts&Cs for using the site he wouldn't have the problem

[#15]

Erm.....  The fact is..... if PlusNet abided by the law of harassment..... and also abided by their own forum rules, regarding bullying.. ... @ shutter  ( and others who remain silent )....  would not be getting this popup as previously described.