for those whose pages load with JUST LINKS ...

[Chocolate Lover]

I keep hoping that it's not nanny software, but I have a feeling it might be.

What else would explain it's not working on 3 browsers and the Kindle? (on their free wireless)

This bites.

[taz157]

Jan 17, 2013 11:15:00 GMT -5 moon/Laura said:

Jan 17, 2013 8:19:01 GMT -5 taz157 said:

Sill have an issue at work. Operating system is Windows 7. Browser is IE7. Don't think we are using an ad blocking software, but using Trend Micro anti-virus software.

Should the 4d5.net be added any certain way? Example, http:www.4d5.net. Right now, it shows as *.4d5.net

FWIW, I'm on my phone now.

Taz, i think how you added the .4d5.net is fine. I will add yours to the support thread.

Thanks moon.

[Abby Normal]

no luck for me either. I've added both the shorten and extended addresses and still no luck. Running on xp.

And is it just me- Moon's name is constantly upside down...

[Chocolate Lover]

Oh, I just thought of something, not related but irritating. The sign in page looks just freaking fine and then you get this crap. FF asked me for a password to do anything today. Guess it's work it out on Chrome or nothing. L(

[Chocolate Lover]

Maybe it's XP that hates the new format, since Agile and I are both on that OS. <<shrug>>

[Abby Normal]

maybe it's a sign that we need to work more, screw around less.

And good point about the login- that looks fine.

[Chocolate Lover]

Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! That can't be it. ;D

[8 Bit WWBG]

OK I've had some time to think about this, and here is my opinion/conclusion.

I believe that the decision to host the stylesheets on 4d5.net is the root problem, and I believe PB needs to revert to whatever hosting style worked before. Whether that was proboards itself, or another host I do not know. However, at the end of the day, it worked fine before, and does not work fine now.

Speaking for myself: I do NOT have access to the trusted sites list in IE or Chrome. I DID try it in FF and Opera, but the problem was still not solved. Furthermore, I tried accessing the .css directly, and 4d5.net was blocked. Reason listed: falls into the category of "ads". So that means access to 4d5.net is blocked at the organizational level, which means there is no way it will be changed just for little old me.

I suspect that many posters (and by extension, entire organizations) are in a similar boat. If the admin decides to block 4d5.net, then NOBODY in that organization as a whole can use ANY proboards service. I would think that is a very big reason for proboards to seriously consider how it hosts its styles. I believe proboards will render itself unusable to a whole host of users if it does not make a change.

It is my hope that I can download the .css myself from home, and use a browser plugin to apply it. I will try that later.

[mmhmm]

Gowron, you might want to post that on ProBoards' Support. That's something Patrick, Martyn, and the others might want to know, if it turns out to be a real sticking point for you.

[8 Bit WWBG]

I will. I have loaded 2 addons for FF: "stylish" and "web developer". I can't get the .css right now since 4d5.net is blocked ENTIRELY.

It isn't just the styles that are being blocked; its some of the scripts too. That means all the buttons don't work.

[mmhmm]

Yep, Gowron. That definitely sounds like something ProBoards needs to know.

[Chocolate Lover]

I'm in the same boat as wwbg, I can't get I n from work for the same reasons and I think agilemom is too.

[Abby Normal]

We do have restricted sites on IE on the server. I did add it, and it still didn't work. But we don't have restrictions on Firefox, as I'm the only one with that browser. And it Still doesn't work.

[Abby Normal]

I tried Chrome and Firefox 18 (neither of which are on our server) and I get the same crappy format.

[Abby Normal]

ok- it is something on my computer. I just went to a different computer (also hooked to our same server) and it loaded just fine. Really nice website, just wish I could see it. It's also running IE8 and XP

So it's not a blocked site issue.

[moon/Laura]

well, that's both good and bad...

[Abby Normal]

well- at least it tells us what it's not. Maybe the IT geeks can come up with an idea with more information.

[moon/Laura]

I have good news.. Perhaps even GREAT news.

Was speaking with Patrick on the support thread. he had said

The CSS file being hosted on 4d5.net is new. In v4, the CSS was extremely simple and just in a <style> tag in the source code.

There is no reason for anyone to block 4d5.net - they will need to either unblock it from their ad blocker (no ads come from this domain), or if it's a problem where their work is filtering the traffic, they will have to ask the person managing their network to unblock it.

I pointed out that most companies aren't going to be willing to do that, and many wouldn't even ask since maybe they're not really supposed to be surfing in the first place (or doing so very minimally).

His answer was wonderful to hear.

I talked with Martyn, and we've purchased a new domain name. We'll transition all the files over to this new domain name which should solve this problem.

<insert happy dance>

[Abby Normal]

I hope that works, but I'm not sure it will. It can't be an ad blocker on the server, since some of our computers can access it, and mine can't. It seems like it has to be something local in the settings.

But I'll wait and see I guess.

[moon/Laura]

Well, it may not make a difference in your case.. but yes, we'll see. not sure when they'll do it, either.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Wowowowowie that is very very kind of them. It is VERY nice that they are taking a proactive stance and not just saying "too bad so sad".

Though I suppose they also see that (as moonbeam eloquently pointed out) large companies, and/or government agencies are not going to change IT policies just so employees can goof off.

...:::"In v4, the CSS was extremely simple and just in a <style> tag in the source code.":::...

Which explains why the login page (in which the css is still contained in a style tag) loads fine, but the rest doesn't. So before there was no "other site". I don't understand why they can't host the stylesheets on a .proboards.com domain though. Why do they need another one?

...:::"There is no reason for anyone to block 4d5.net - they will need to either unblock it from their ad blocker (no ads come from this domain), or if it's a problem where their work is filtering the traffic, they will have to ask the person managing their network to unblock it.":::...

I hope and pray that the change in nsame solves the problem. However, I have a feeling that it may not. I say this because in my case (and others) I sincerely doubt some human was scanning the web deciding to block things that looked weird. I'm betting that our various employers have very sensitive threat scanners, that are set how they are set. Putting the same exact content on a different site is just likely to trigger the same response.

Look, I work for a federal agency. "Security" is everything -- even if its over the top and unnecessary. The calendar in our system trays is locked by the admin. The ability to save passwords has been deactivated because its not secure. They are going to block ANYTHING that looks suspicious.

Again, I applaud the admins for being so willing to try something on their end. I really really hope it works out.

If it doesn't though, they are going to have to seriously consider hosting the stylesheets on a proboards.com domain, or adding the style back to the page code. If this is happening to a significant number of people and only YM has been converted, there may be a lot of angry users when all the other forums are converted.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"So it's not a blocked site issue.":::...

Another way to try, agilemom, is to try and access the style sheet directly and see what error message you get.

In my case, plugging in the URL for the stylesheet gave me a notification that 4d5.net was identified as a security risk.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Oh and just to not be a total negative nellie: I'm at home and having a pretty good surfing experience. The site is moving a lot quicker than it used to in the old version. I'm still getting used to the functionality.

[taz157]

Jan 17, 2013 20:59:26 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

...:::"So it's not a blocked site issue.":::...

Another way to try, agilemom, is to try and access the style sheet directly and see what error message you get.

In my case, plugging in the URL for the stylesheet gave me a notification that 4d5.net was identified as a security risk.

What is "stylesheets" and how would I do that?  

[8 Bit WWBG]

I've performed another test. I hope this data is helping someone.

I booted up my work computer and connected to my own home internet. I was able to load proboards.com and NMSNM, styles and all. I even saw the activity in the browser bar "receiving content from 4d5.net".

I then (still using my home internet connection) activated a connection to the agency VPN. Once connected, I tried to load proboards.com and the css content was blocked again. Back to white bgs and blue links. (I didn't bother at that point loading NMSNM specifically).

So for ME, the style host is being blocked via a security policy set at the network, not the local level. If I am correct that the decision to block is made by some kind of sensitive autofilter, then just changing the domain name of the style host will not solve the problem.

[8 Bit WWBG]

And one final test for tonight...

As I said, I loaded a FireFox addon called "web developer". I downloaded this site and snagged the various .css files and copied them to the work laptop. The addon seems to only let me load one style, and the one that seemed to embody most of the intended experience was the one named l8xKufJBjCuNsUbGQQ5q.css.

However, I'm not sure the addon allows me to apply it globally (more tinkering required) so as it was, I had to manually load the style for each and every page. That does not make for an enjoyable browsing experience.

Furthermore, this solution addresses only the stylesheets. It ignores the .js files, which also seem to be hosted on 4d5.net. I'm not sure what functionality I'm missing.

So in summary: it seems that if the new style host domain ALSO falls prey to my agency security filter, I will only be able to use the boards if I surf them style-less-ly, or possibly if I d/c from the agency network and tether to my phone. I'll still use the boards because I really care about this community; but it will be a challenge to say the least.

PS: It was reporting a css error about some color bar, which was ignored.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Jan 17, 2013 21:17:54 GMT -5 taz157 said:

...:::"What is "stylesheets" and how would I do that?   ":::...

Taken from the code, the link for one of the style sheets is as follows:

storage.proboards.com/0/0/c/l8xKufJBjCuNsUbGQQ5q.css

If you ARE blocked, you'll get some kind of "this site was blocked" notification, or see nothing, or whatever your specific network does when you try to access a blocked site.


If you are not blocked (as I am not at home) you'll see a bunch of code-y looking text like this:


/* Required for proper functioning of the Easy Theme Creator */
/* End required for proper functioning of the Easy Theme Creator */
/**************************************************************************
* Global Styles *
**************************************************************************/
/* Common Elements and Classes */
* {
word-wrap: break-word;
}
body {
background-color: #c5cadb;

[Abby Normal]

WWBG- Thanks for the info. I'm out of the office now until tuesday, but I'll try it when I get back. I just find it strange that it doesn't load on mine, but it will load on someone else's running the same OS and browser. But I have a bunch of industry software running on mine , that she doesn't have. I figured it was likely a setting on mine, that is defaulted on hers.

But I'm far from an IT person.

[taz157]

When I click on the link, I get a white screen. I will try another computer in our office and see what's up

[taz157]

I get the on my work computer and another coworker's computer; however, these are our maiin computers and updated frequently. Another computer hardly updated is able to view the website normally.