Sara: Next time you start the sequence to get to the forum you want; once you get to that forum, click the "Save URL" icon in the browser to add it to your "Favorites".
Then, next time, instead of starting where you presently do, use that saved URL to come directly to the forum... the page will have a button to Log-In. This will save some steps and you might skip that obnoxious advertisement.
I, too, refuse to do business with any company whose advertising I find objectionable.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Sara TWhat I am not so enthusiastic about is: when I have opened the site and I want to choose 'trains.com' and then the forums. All of a sudden this big fat red advertising!!! pops up and covers everything. I first have to delete this and then can I choose a forum, or almost, because before I can click on it - woosh - it dashes away and I have to bring it back.
There is really nothing 'bad' about this, because Kalmbach initially set up 'trains.com' as a forum, but also one for Trains Magazine separately (it was trainsmag.com, as I remember) and the latter became more popularly accepted and then became the dominant 'place' for posting. For a while I still went over from time to time to see if something interesting had been (mis)posted on trains.com and would invite the poster to crosspost on trainsmag.com to get better answers or more 'eyeballs' on the discussion.
At some point Kalmbach themselves put up a note in the description of the trains.com forum, saying (paraphrased) "this is not the Trains Magazine forums -- railroad discussions ought to happen over there" and apparently reserving the trains.com forum for discussing things about the magazine itself, or the general setup of the Kalmbach 'internet presence'. All they are really doing is finally getting around to using their valuable domain name "trains.com" for more valuable purposes -- and I see nothing particularly wrong in their using that particular domain to actively promoting their $6.99 does-it-all offer for the associated 'portal service' they want to promote.
Naturally, they want to announce this transition as memorably as possible, and they have chosen to do it with that big red popup for people who select the "www.trains.com" URL.
One relatively easy way to get around having to put up with that (or with what I suspect will be directed advertising to anyone who comes to have cookies set to that particular URL in their browser after visiting!) is to go to the forums here directly via a Google search. I do this by default because I dislike clicking through their menus to find things, and I use a range of devices and browsers some of which do not work well with Kalmbach pages. I find that using "trains forum" as a Google search term produces the forums for Trains Magazine, Model Railroader, and Classic Trains within the first four entries (the other being a direct link to 'General Discussion' on the Trains Magazine forum) -- this may be the result of a 'trained' algorithm, but I recommend that you try it, and repeat the search and selection of the 'right answer' URLs presented in the Google results, until you have 'optimized your copy of the search engine' to give you the forum links you want at the top of the first page that opens on any device you're "signed into".
I don't know if you have set up a 'Google signin' to coordinate your search history, etc. across multiple devices, which may simplify how this would work, but I do find that it works even when accessing the forums from random devices (such as login from phone or computer store 'demos' with wireless access, or public computers like those in libraries here).
In Kalmbach's defense: they now have considerable experience in different 'community' platforms, and have been through at least three complete back-end provider changes (it may be many more than that; I only know by peripheral message generation and a little market searching for the products that produced them). In addition, they have gone through what appears to be management shakeup, not at all for the best, and are having to 'find their way' just as Yahoo did ... hopefully much better, or at least commercially more successfully, than Yahoo did.
You might find it informative, as I did, to Google Kalmbach Media around January 2018, when they conducted a sort of 'media blitz' in the trade press about their 'then' plans for leveraging the enthusiast communities. You can find later hints here and there about their strategy; for example they won an award last fall for a promotional effort associated with another Kalmbach community (astronomy) and in trade-press accounts listed the various groups, including tech support, that had carried on that effort.
For the record, I think $6.99 for what they're offering is not out of line; the problem is entirely with 'customer relationship management' and the particular perceptions of those who are only at Kalmbach sites for participation in free forums. And it is (at least, it is to me) a severe, and growing, and alarming problem.
What I am not so enthusiastic about is: when I have opened the site and I want to choose 'trains.com' and then the forums. All of a sudden this big fat red advertising!!! pops up and covers everything. I first have to delete this and then can I choose a forum, or almost, because before I can click on it - woosh - it dashes away and I have to bring it back.
That sucks! Oh, just before anybody tells me "This is a commercial site and they need to do some advertising" I tell you that this way I will never answer to that big red plate in any other way but to click it off. So where is the advertising effect?
Sara
Santa Fe Fan Leo Ames I had same problem with signing in. Customer service responded with suggestion to clearing the broweser history/cookies for "all time" and using alternate browser. i cleared history and used same browser, and have not had any troble since.
Leo Ames
I had same problem with signing in. Customer service responded with suggestion to clearing the broweser history/cookies for "all time" and using alternate browser. i cleared history and used same browser, and have not had any troble since.
I followed the instructions that you mentioned, cleared my history, opened a different browser, created yet another new pw, and logged into NewsWire with no problem. Santa Fe Fan, I thank you and the CS rep you talked to.
Lithonia Operator Leo_Ames Not even being able to log-in sure makes one want to rush out and subscribe to their expensive premium digital service... Why would you say that?
Leo_Ames Not even being able to log-in sure makes one want to rush out and subscribe to their expensive premium digital service...
Why would you say that?
Yep - nothing quite like defective 'cheap service' to entice one to convert to 'more expensive service' form the same organization that can not make cheap work. [/sarcasm]
What a marketing plan!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Leo_AmesNot even being able to log-in sure makes one want to rush out and subscribe to their expensive premium digital service...
Still no luck here and customer service hasn't yet bothered to respond to my support ticket.
Not even being able to log-in sure makes one want to rush out and subscribe to their expensive premium digital service...
MidlandMike I get it again on Google Chrome on both my Windows laptop and Android smartphone. I skipped a day rather than try to change my password.
I get it again on Google Chrome on both my Windows laptop and Android smartphone. I skipped a day rather than try to change my password.
Tried another tweaked pw on Chrome on my laptop. Still not getting in.
motor It is a good thing I cannot hire some one to shoot IT. Still cannot log in even when site sent me a email to reset GRR____________RRRRRRRRRRR IE 10.1 MidlandMike I can get to NewsWire now. Lucky you. Three password resets in the last 2 minutes and I still can't get to NewsWire.
It is a good thing I cannot hire some one to shoot IT. Still cannot log in even when site sent me a email to reset GRR____________RRRRRRRRRRR
IE 10.1
MidlandMike I can get to NewsWire now.
I can get to NewsWire now.
Lucky you.
Three password resets in the last 2 minutes and I still can't get to NewsWire.
motor It is a good thing I cannot hire some one to shoot IT. Still cannot log in even when site sent me a email to reset GRR____________RRRRRRRRRRR MidlandMike I can get to NewsWire now. Lucky you. Three password resets in the last 2 minutes and I still can't get to NewsWire.
Yes. I was incorrect. Newswire is still free. (I don't know if that's because I am a print subsciber, or not.)
Last night on this forum, each time I posted anything (a new post or just a comment in a thread), I'd have to log in again. That was on my phone. Each time I checked "remember me," but that didn't help. Maybe that's been resolved now. I'm not on my phone right now.
Would they dare charge print subscribers for access to the Newswire? And start doing so arbitrarily, without notice, in the middle of an agreed subscription term?
There are words for that sort of "business" practice, none of which are particularly positive, quite a few of which are, fortunately for their originators at Kalmbach Media, not family-friendly enough to give here. Let's hope this is just a temporary Bangalore glitch like the access confusion.
So a print subscription doesn't get me full fledged access to the Newswire now?
I hate to say it, but maybe it's time. The issues are so flimsy these days and lacking in much of the content that I traditionally subscribed for. A substantial part of why I was keeping up the tradition in the last few years was because it also provided access to the Newswire.
I hope Classic Trains stays healthy. I haven't detected any degradation over there and will happily continue to subscribe as long as that continues.
Not even sure I want to try out Trains Unlimited. Access to the Model Railroader, Classic Toy Trains, and their Garden Railways online archives would be interesting (I own their DVD collections for Trains and Classic Trains). But what good does it do me when 24 hours later I still can't even log-in here outside of the forum.
BaltACD My print subscription is all the funds they are going to get out of me. Antagonizing me about the number of 'looks' at something does not make me a happy camper.
My print subscription is all the funds they are going to get out of me. Antagonizing me about the number of 'looks' at something does not make me a happy camper.
As a long time (since Jan 1970) Trains subscriber, I thought it was a nice perk to have access to the Newswire and would have been upset if that access was curtailed. Having sprung for the unlimited membershp, I get the unfettered access to the Newswire, but still would expect to get it with the print subscription.
I have a new computer which I first fired up last night and had run into problems with the logins on one part of the site not working on other parts of the site - had to do two or three different logins to get things working right.
Lithonia OperatorAt seems like at first, after the change, News articles didn't count against your monthly allotment, only feature stories. But now News stories seem to count also. Mainly what they are accomplishing in regards to me is chasing me away from their digital content. So I'll miss ads for stuff they wish to sell me. Most of what the Unlimited membership offers is stuff I don't care about. To me it's not worth the bucks to get the remainder.
Mainly what they are accomplishing in regards to me is chasing me away from their digital content. So I'll miss ads for stuff they wish to sell me.
Most of what the Unlimited membership offers is stuff I don't care about. To me it's not worth the bucks to get the remainder.
At seems like at first, after the change, News articles didn't count against your monthly allotment, only feature stories. But now News stories seem to count also.
What's annoying me at the moment is the "Events" section isn't on-line yet and it's been over a month since the flip!
Come on Kalmbach, I've got something to put in there! How long does it take?
BaltACD I clicked one of today's articles (progress report on Brighline's extention and got "You have reached your limit of 8 articles this month". And I subscribe to Trains and CT. Leo_Ames Having a strange issue today. I'm logged in here at the forum, but getting an error about my credentials outside of the forum when attempting to log-in such as when trying to view the Newswire. While I am logged into the forum. I am getting 'You have X free articles left' when accessing things like News - and I haven't even opened any of the articles 'IN' the News.
I clicked one of today's articles (progress report on Brighline's extention and got "You have reached your limit of 8 articles this month". And I subscribe to Trains and CT.
Leo_Ames Having a strange issue today. I'm logged in here at the forum, but getting an error about my credentials outside of the forum when attempting to log-in such as when trying to view the Newswire.
While I am logged into the forum.
I am getting 'You have X free articles left' when accessing things like News - and I haven't even opened any of the articles 'IN' the News.
Me as well.
MidlandMike make that 3 persons Leo_Ames Having a strange issue today. I'm logged in here at the forum, but getting an error about my credentials outside of the forum when attempting to log-in such as when trying to view the Newswire. Having same problem.
make that 3 persons
Having a strange issue today. I'm logged in here at the forum, but getting an error about my credentials outside of the forum when attempting to log-in such as when trying to view the Newswire.
Having same problem.
make that this person as well
[/quote]
Yep... it is all buggered up today. I can no longer log-in with my Trains subscription credentials as well.
Leo_AmesHaving a strange issue today. I'm logged in here at the forum, but getting an error about my credentials outside of the forum when attempting to log-in such as when trying to view the Newswire.
charlie hebdoReversion is not going to happen. Lump it or leave it.
Lump it or leave it.
Will just leave sticky brown lumps.
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