Pop up and filter

June 24, 2004 7:35 AM

re: popups/popunders ... those wiley webmasters have apparently come up with a new version of code that thwarts my popup filters. Anyone know of a more recent popup filter that works on this new form?
posted by crunchland to computers & internet (18 comments total)

Do you have an example? And what popup filter are you using?

If you're using a mozilla browser, have you tried adblock? As far as I can tell, it blocks (or can be taught to block) everything. It's makes every other popup/advertisement blocker I've ever used seem completely primitive in comparison.
posted by mragreeable at 8:13 AM on June 24, 2004

I haven't seen an unwanted popup since I started using Opera do you have a SFW example site? (Once again, porn leads the technology charge, I assume?)
posted by Capn at 8:16 AM on June 24, 2004

try suprnova.org.
posted by crunchland at 8:18 AM on June 24, 2004

Here's a MetaTalk thread fraught with potential solutions.
posted by Danelope at 8:20 AM on June 24, 2004

I get no popups on suprnova using Mozilla FireFox 0.9
posted by falconred at 8:40 AM on June 24, 2004

I didn't get any popups from that suprnova.org link. I'm using Netscape 7.1 with the popup blocker on. (no additional popup blocking software.)
posted by dnash at 8:42 AM on June 24, 2004

Firefox still blocks suprnova's popup (using xp and suse 8.1). But I did hit a site the other day that opened one.
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:43 AM on June 24, 2004

I use the Google toolbar, and since about 3 weeks ago the popups on DrudgeReport and Snopes have worked, where it always killed them before.
posted by internal at 8:52 AM on June 24, 2004

IIRC, crunchland is on IE. What are you using for a killer? I know the Google toolbar often needs updating due to innovative pop-up dickheads.

Two other things to consider: both Firefox and most other good popup killers work by stopping unrequested links (typically called with an onload handler), but there's talk some people have added an onmouseover handler to page's BODY element that is seen as requested by the user.

The other thing is to check you're actually seeing a new window. Any number of sites pop a DIV element over the content and force you to click to make it disappear. That seems a much harder thing to stop. Damned advertising wars ruining DHTML on the web.
posted by yerfatma at 8:53 AM on June 24, 2004

Google Toolbar 2.0.111 (the latest) blocked the suprnova.org pop-up on IE6. It should automatically update itself to the latest version.

Firefox 0.9 blocked it without any add-ins.
posted by Monk at 9:21 AM on June 24, 2004

I've been using MyIE2 and have seen no pop-ups, no pop-unders, and can block flash ads, too (those were the real killer...). I've had maybe 2 pages which failed to act in MyIE2 the way they should in IE. Tabbed browsing bonus, some other usability things.
posted by whatzit at 9:31 AM on June 24, 2004

What is that MyIE2? Is it a bunch of extensions to Microsoft's browser?

I have yet to see a popup slip through firefox .8. Adblock handles flash ads for me. Switch already.
posted by Grod at 9:41 AM on June 24, 2004

DHTML's day is coming soon. In 6 months we'll all be checking a little box that says "Block unwanted floating DIVs on this site" in our browsers.
posted by Voivod at 10:38 AM on June 24, 2004

Yeah, but how to detect them without killing the functionality of legitimate web apps? At least with a popup window I can spawn it and then check for its existence. I suppose you could continue to check the display or visibility property after trying to change it and notify/ annoy the user.
posted by yerfatma at 10:52 AM on June 24, 2004

I'm using CrazyBrowser, which is a variant on IE, that, until very recently, blocked everything. I guess I need to make the leap to firefox after all. There's got to be a way to make it work the way I want it to.
posted by crunchland at 10:58 AM on June 24, 2004

Another option is to run a local filtering proxy - that way you can use whatever browser you like and still reap the benefits. I use Privoxy from http://www.privoxy.org/ and would recommend it without hesitation. It is completely and easily cofigurable down to the level of individual urls, and is one of the things I install on every computer I build or maintain.
posted by Gamecat at 5:23 PM on June 24, 2004

no supernova popups with Safari.
posted by Kwantsar at 9:22 PM on June 24, 2004

I re-recommend Admuncher. It rocks.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:52 PM on June 24, 2004