# The external links thing - can it be turned off for paying members?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [May 11, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053 "2010-05-11T15:27:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/1 "2010-05-11T15:27:54Z")
The thing that stops all external links from working (unless I turn adblock off)… can it be disabled completely for paying members of the dope?
I will probably just turn adblock off (or more specifically add an exception for [boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com)) but I still wanted to ask the question.
---
### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/2 "2010-05-11T16:12:14Z")
> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> I will probably just turn adblock off (or more specifically add an exception for [boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com))
I did that and still have trouble with external links at home.
---
### Author:  [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/3 "2010-05-11T16:25:22Z")
We’ve been talking with Driving Revenue about how to solve this problem. They think there may be an issue with interaction between Firefox, vB, and the outboundlink code and are investigating. We’re reluctant to turn off this feature for members since they seem the most likely to purchase products at linked sites and thereby send us some revenue, and in fact several have said they’ll make a point of doing so. We realize inoperative links are a pain and apologize for the inconvenience. For what it’s worth, DR has responded promptly to our requests and appears to working diligently to come up with a solution - we ask your patience while we try to get this debugged.
---
### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/4 "2010-05-11T18:08:19Z")
I use Firefox 3.6.3 and AdblockPlus and I’m not having any problems with external links. ((They did take slightly longer to load when the code was first introduced but that seems to have ironed itself out now.)
---
### Author:  [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/5 "2010-05-11T23:50:30Z")
Ed “Gormless Wienie” Zotti:
I’m using Firefox 2.0.xxxx, and have been getting odd (but not disastrous) irreproducible unpleasantness, but it eventually goes to the external site. I’m not going to upgrade Firefox to 3.x, until I reinstall the OS (that needs to be done _ **soon** _, as in by mid-june). If you want input on this version of Firefox, just ask. I will be happy to test, up until I do the “wipe and reinstall” my machine needs. But don’t wait. I’m not going to delay the “wipe, reinstall, and upgrade” to test things for you.
CH
---
### Author:  [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2010, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/6 "2010-05-14T09:30:16Z")
I couldn’t stand this damn thing anymore so I wrote a tiny little greasemonkey script to disable it. Available [here](http://sdmbexample.nfshost.com/desuck.user.js). **Ed** , I’d love to let you guys make a little money, but not by slowly chipping away at my sanity.
I’ve also been noticing a lot of waiting on [fbcdn.net](http://fbcdn.net) and [addthis.com](http://addthis.com) while loading SDMB threads, which is directly related to the new sharing baloney. Adding dozens of resources that reside on sites that are out of your control is a great way to make your site seem really slow. Do you have a way to determine whether or not people are actually using that feature so you can turn it off in a couple of months when you find out nobody really wants to tweet about SDMB threads?
---
### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/7 "2010-05-14T11:34:36Z")
> [@ntucker](#):
>
> I couldn’t stand this damn thing anymore so I wrote a tiny little greasemonkey script to disable it. Available [here](http://sdmbexample.nfshost.com/desuck.user.js).
Neat. Very clean code, and interesting name. Although my vote would be to call it **ntucker’s unsucker** 😃
Feel free to temporarily disable this script when you plan on purchasing any big ticket items through SDMB linked online merchants.
> [@](#):
>
> I’ve also been noticing a lot of waiting on [fbcdn.net](http://fbcdn.net) and [addthis.com](http://addthis.com) while loading SDMB threads, which is directly related to the new sharing baloney.
Yeah, [ak.fbcdn.net](http://ak.fbcdn.net) was slowing things down. I’ve now removed the Facebook Share button, so that won’t be an issue anymore.
> [@](#):
>
> Do you have a way to determine whether or not people are actually using that feature so you can turn it off in a couple of months when you find out nobody really wants to tweet about SDMB threads?
Yes, the AddThis button has full-featured tracking. One way to speed it up would be to not invoke the menu script on page load, but the trade-off would be the convenience factor.
I will be monitoring both - speed vs. usage - and make changes accordingly.
- **xash**
Administrator
---
### Author:  [@Erasmus\_Darwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erasmus_Darwin)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/8 "2010-05-14T14:51:35Z")
> [@ntucker](#):
>
> I couldn’t stand this damn thing anymore so I wrote a tiny little greasemonkey script to disable it. Available [here](http://sdmbexample.nfshost.com/desuck.user.js). **Ed** , I’d love to let you guys make a little money, but not by slowly chipping away at my sanity.
Or, if you’ve got an ad blocker, you can block [http://http.cdnlayer.com/drivingrevenue/](http://http.cdnlayer.com/drivingrevenue/)\* and it won’t load the javascript that changes the links in the first place.
---
### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/9 "2010-05-14T15:02:52Z")
> [@Erasmus\_Darwin](#):
>
> Or, if you’ve got an ad blocker, you can block [http://http.cdnlayer.com/drivingrevenue/](http://http.cdnlayer.com/drivingrevenue/)\* and it won’t load the javascript that changes the links in the first place.
But would it have a cool name like “SDMB Link De-suckifier”?
---
### Author:  [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-external-links-thing-can-it-be-turned-off-for-paying-members/539053/10 "2010-05-14T19:26:08Z")
> [@xash](#):
>
> But would it have a cool name like “SDMB Link De-suckifier”?
No, it would not, and for that reason it’s obviously inferior. Besides, I don’t really like content blockers in general. I prefer a scalpel to a chainsaw.