09 August 2012

btw, TYWKIWDBI does have a search box


I was puzzled earlier today when a reader left a comment expressing disappointment that this blog lacked a search box.   I've had a search-this-blog feature ever since I set it up, via Lijit, in the right sidebar between that old award and the "about me."

I gently chastised that anonymous reader for being so inattentive, but several hours later reader JPinnix discovered the problem:
Apparently that search box only works if you have Ad-Block disabled for this site. I just got a new computer and haven't finished disabling it on my preferred-reading sites (such as this one), and noticed that I couldn't find that search box you described. I opened it up in Google Chrome and it was there, so I figured it had to be related to an extension setting on Firefox and Ad-block was the culprit. 
I had never realized that Adblock also blocks Lijit search boxes.   I have Adblock Plus 2.1.2 installed as a Firefox extension, but of course I have it disabled for my own blog.

There's no reason that I know not to unblock for TYWKIWDBI, because I don't carry any ads (other than the little ones in the search engine) and never plan to.  If you want to unblock this site (or any other), use the pulldown menu from the red "ABP" logo:


This also explains to me why I'm not seeing search boxes on some of the blogs I visit.  Now I know what to do.  You learn something every day.  And a big hat tip to JPinnix.

14 comments:

  1. I was also frustrated given that I had not been able to post for the past month or so (thx for your help!). Removing the "Block Pop up Windows" in Safari 5.17 on a Mac has let me post again (for better or worse).

    ReplyDelete
  2. You can always just dump "[search term] site:tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com" into google, too...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh! Yeah you can!

      If you visit the site from australia you get redirected to http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com.au/ and searching on "[search term] site:tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com" yields no results, which has confused me in the past.

      Delete
    2. I just noticed that the URL is '.ca' for this Canadian.

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    3. I've tried google searches on tywkiwdbi and it works for articles but doesn't seem to work for comments.

      Lurker111

      Delete
  3. I used the search box to search for my purpose in life and was dissatisfied with the results.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for clearing that up! I KNEW I wasn't crazy!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. When I visit tywkiwdbi, I'm notified that the following has been blocked:

    AppNexus
    BlueKai
    Chango
    ClustrMaps
    Google +1
    Google Adsense
    Google Analytics
    Google FriendConnect
    Media 6Degrees
    MediaMath
    NextAction
    QuantCast
    Rocket Fuel
    Scorecard Research Beacon
    Simpli.fi
    Technorati
    Turn
    Xa.net

    But not Lijit

    I sure would hate to surf the net on dial up these days!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure what any of those are - except Technorati and ClustrMaps, which is the little map in the right sidebar that shows where the 2 million visits in the past year came from.

      Delete
  6. How nice of you to reply and solve my "problem" so fast !
    And yes, it works now ;-)

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  7. I have the blogsearch widget from google blogsearch on mine, and have never heard of any problems.

    Is there any special reason to use Lijit?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used it because it was available when I set up the blog. It's been satisfactory (though it doesn't search the Comments) and unobtrusive. One potential advantage is that the little ads can theoretically generate revenue (mine doesn't generate enough traffic to earn even a penny).

      Delete
  8. I'm also using the regular "Search Box" built-in gadget from blogger, but that was not available until a couple of years ago. Seems to work well, and does not pollute my blog with ads.

    Generally, I dislike depending on external sites for blog site services. I've seen such widgets break, or go sour, on too many blogs.

    ReplyDelete

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