How Dare Our Elesa Get Rudely Censored Like This! D:
The Stop Censorship banner that just appeared is quite annoying. Not only does it cover up the nice PokéCommunity banner, it doesn't seem to like staying in one place (FYI, I'm using Opera, which may have something to do with it). Whenever I go to a new page, it likes to move to different places at the top of the page.
If I could suggest, maybe spread awareness through the "Notices" box or something. That way, it's not nearly as intrusive or ugly.
Wow. You know, I didn't start this thread because I wanted to take the banner down. I started this thread because the representation could've been better and there could've been an explanation as to what it's for. Sure, the way I worded the OP could have definitely been better, but it was the banner moving around that made me suspect it and I just made the suggestion of using a Notice box to spread awareness. No where, in the OP, did I remotely suggest that it be taken down (although I can see how it could've been implied. I once again recognize my poor wording).
And yes, I have since switched themes. I have taken the advice given to me in that regard.
As it stands, when I first saw it, I thought it was an advertisement. Those were my initial reactions based on the way it's shown, and the way it acted in my browser. There's no way to change that, and it would be nice if people could try to see it the way I see it. If you saw a banner that covered the website's banner, had a basic message on it, and moved around whenever you went to different places, what would you think?
And I'm in support for the blackout movement. If I had a website, I would participate myself. I just think this could've been handled and presented better than it is.
Regarding the presentation of the "blackout bar", I feel it could have maybe used a little more explanatory text other than just "Stop Censorship", to briefly clarify to disoriented users the cause for the alteration. It does kind of look a little advertisement-ish, the type that would probably startle some users, resulting in them making an effort to avoid the website/the area of the "advertisement" - although if you've been on PC a while, you probably know where the usual ads are typically located... After hearing a piece of news on the radio about what Wikipedia did for today, I came here simply to see if a thread was discussing it; little did I realize that PokeCommunity itself was protesting as well by utilizing said blackout bar. I guess the blackout bar manages to achieve its purpose, though. However, I, too, am for the movement
against the ratification of SOPA/PIPA (especially because its mere existence has caused loads of inconvenience on the Internet today -.-), so I support PokeCommunity's action for today. For what its worth, the Route 167 style I'm currently using is unaffected.
It sucks that Elesa has to unexpectedly get censored like that, though. XD (with Elesa being part of the PokeCommunity's current default theme, "Nimbasa's Shining Beauty").
People would easily dismiss a notice without even reading it. The banner is so people can understand how SOPA, PIPA and any other form of internet censorship can affect even small sites/forums. I think you should just deal with it for however many hours it's going to be there for.
This (although I'm guessing that I'm probably one of the few who bothers to actually read the notices, dismissable or not -.-).
I'm pretty sure the whole point of it is to be irritating and intrusive. That's what SOPA would be like, so that's what our response will be like.
Edit: @ the above, the bill is being considered in the US but effects almost everyone who uses the Internet. So yeah, the 'form' (not sure what you mean by that) effects everyone.
This...
The problem with notices is that people don't read them. They're everyday and normal so people won't pay attention to it and give it the heed that it deserves.
This...
Even though the "Stop censorship" may not be covering the "PokéCommunity" banner, at least the Stop censorship banner is doing it's job. That Stop censorship banner is there for a very good reason... and that is to encourage people to protest against the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) bills. For those who do not know what it is, it's explained in
this thread and Wikipedia (which shall be blacked out to also encourage those to protest against the bills). Those bills will end up destroying websites, such as social networks and end up giving any copyright content holder the right to sue people without the person who was sued for it even being able to defend for themselves.
This...
People, this is a ONE DAY protest. It will be there for 24 hours. It is protesting against a very good cause. Would you rather have this banner for a day or the forum shut down? That might be a little bit of an extreme example, but that is what this banner and protest means.
Seriously, get over it. Change theme or ignore it for one, measly day.
This, QFT. I'd much rather deal with this big, black bar staring me in the face for just one day than to have the PokeCommunity forums possibly
shut down (
forever?)
, which, among many other things, would mean
many hours sucked down the drain for me and likely for many other users here.
Also, I'm grateful that we can even
use the forum at all today. Wikipedia (kind of:
?banner=none works wonders, thanks to a mention I saw in another PokeCommunity thread discussing the SOPA/PIPA ordeal today), Bulbagarden Forums, Smashboards, Rangerboard, and Reddit are all rendered unusable today due to the SOPA/PIPA protests, which is really ticking me off because this is the one day in a while that I'll probably have adequate spare time to surf the Internet. T_T
Also, the "this is only for one day" thing reminds me of the 2011 April Fool's Day scenario, where nearly the exact same thing occurred with a more "intrusive" theme/style change...although IIRC, you couldn't change the theme? XD
Apart from what Fabio here said, that banner is also a way to make people realize what censorship does. Even though this is just a very very small measure, it can be an eye-opener to some and the whole point of it is actually to be noticed and unwanted, so it is doing its job right haha.
This as well. If SOPA/PIPA passes, eventually we're just going to have even
more black bars on the site for
more than 24 hours, it seems like. XD
[Like]
I don't mind seeing the banner. It's the cold, hard truth. Many themes don't have it in place, but even if it was, I'd just ignore it. Heck, many sites, let alone PC have it. The internet will be back to (almost) normal tomorrow, so I'd just Spheal with it.
...Although we did once have a notice that we couldn't dismiss. Perhaps it can appear on all styles by using an undismissable notice.
That undismissable notice seems like a good idea as well, although it would have to be quite prominent to distinguish itself from all of the other dismissable, rarely-read notices...
For the people who really need it, you can still access Wikipedia. Only standard English is blocked, so you can check on
Simple English if you want...
And there is a little trick, I can only confirm it works with Opera (Because of it's mht save format), but you can try it in other browsers... If you save a blocked Wikipedia page (With [Ctrl] +
), and open it from your computer, it will not be the blocked version.
I am sure everyone here knows what SOPA is now, so I am sure giving this workaround is appropriate. If it isn't, READ UP ON IT. It is VERY important.
tl;dr Researching things on Wikipedia is still possible today.
To add to this, adding "?banner=none" after a Wikipedia URL address allows normal access to Wikipedia's article, as I saw Awesome. mention in the SOPA/PIPA discussion thread. Unfortunately, you'll have to do this for each page you visit, though. I never really realized how much I consulted Wikipedia for quick info on stuff until today. XD Way better than rushing to hit the "Stop" button with each page load. >.<
*goes off to hurl a Geodude at er..write a strongly-worded letter to the jerk who proposed SOPA/PIPA and broke (most of) the Internet today*
Also, this has probably been said before, but we could really use a "Like" button on here. XD
