Page refreshes constantly with ABP enabled

[Neil Prague]

If I use the site search facility at the top right of pages in https://www.livejournal.com/ with ABP enabled, the new Google site search page refreshes itself so fast that it's impossible to read. Disabling ABP removes the problem. No such issue with ABP for Safari.

It's a while since I used Live Journal so I don't know when this started. Is this a bug with the site (there have been a few recently) or a sneaky anti-ABP measure? If the latter it's a new one on me!

[sbell]

Hi Neil Prague!

Thanks for making us aware of this issue! I wasn't able to reproduce on the latest version of FF and ABP, with only Easy List enabled. Can you let us know which filter lists you are using? We will run a few test on our end and get back to you with a resolution.

Thanks
Shannon
ABP Support Team

[Neil Prague]

Hello Shannon

Thanks for getting back to me. The problem now occurs if you just open the Live Journal link in my previous post.

I'm using ABP filters and Easy List. I have ABP set to block all ads, including non-intrusive ones. I have found that disabling Easy List removes the problem. It makes no difference whether ABP filters or Allow Acceptable Ads are active or not.

I have also tried reinstalling ABP but it doesn't help.

The problem is specific to Firefox; I don't get it with Safari or Internet Explorer. It's also specific to Live Journal. I've had problems with Live Journal before but as far as I know they weren't ABP related.

I hope this gives you something to go on, but it doesn't seem like much

[sbell]

Hi Neil!

Thanks for the additional details! Can you also confirm which version of Firefox you are using? I'm Using Firefox 67, with Easy list enabled and not getting the page refresh. Knowing your devices operating system may also help to be able to reproduce this and get things sorted. Thanks for working with me on this!

Thanks
Shannon
ABP Support Team

[Neil Prague]

Hello Shannon

I'm using Firefox Quantum 67.0 which informs me it's up to date. OS is Windows 8.1.

I really appreciate your help but please don't spend too much time on this if you can't reproduce the problem easily. I'm sure you have other priorities! In any case it's only one site and there have been other problems with it over the past year or so. It could be possible that the ABP connection is coincidental, perhaps?

Best wishes

Neil

[Neil Prague]

Just for info, I have taken this up with Live Journal:

All Live Journal pages, and that includes the Google site search pages, now auto-refresh every second after opening them in Firefox. This started in the last week or so. It is therefore impossible to read the pages or follow any links.

I have traced this to the Adblock Plus add-on for Firefox. If I disable the ad-blocker the problem goes away.

Adblock Plus is reliable anti-ad software and I have not experienced this problem with any other sites. There are, of course, sites which detect ad-blockers and attempt to get the user to turn them off. If this takes the form of a polite request with access to the site still granted, I often do disable the ad-blocker if the site is worth visiting. If, on the other hand, access is denied unless I disable the ad-blocker, I make a point of never visiting the site again.

I don't know whether the problems I'm experiencing with LJ are a sneaky way of getting the user to turn off ad-blockers or not. If so, it's an underhand way of going about it: you should be honest about your policy regarding ad-blocking. But if, as I suspect, this is another of the bugs that has affected LJ recently, please could you fix it?

I'm not holding my breath for a useful reply from them, though, based on past experience!

[sbell]

Hi Neil!

Thanks for those details! I think it's awesome that you have already reached out to the folks over at Live Journal. Still not able to reproduce it on my end but I will get another set of eyes on it. Thanks for working with us on this!

Thanks
Shannon
ABP Support Team

[Neil Prague]

Hello Shannon

I think I've eliminated the problem. I did a Firefox reset and with ABP reinstalled and running, the LJ pages appear normally. I don't understand why only one site was affected by whatever was wrong before, nor why disabling ABP "resolved" it. LJ is a buggy site but even so I'd have thought that if Firefox had become corrupted, there would have been issues elsewhere too.

I suspect that the problem may return at some point but at least I'll know that ABP is not to blame. I feel bad that I've had you working on something that wasn't the fault of your software. My apologies and thanks for your trouble. I'll leave you in peace to combat the spam posts that have appeared on your forum pages

Best wishes and keep up the good work

Neil

[sbell]

Hi Neil!

Glad to hear the problem is resolved for now! Hopefully permanently . No trouble at all for us to investigate, its been a pleasure to help! Back to spam fighting for me, but I hope you have a GREAT rest of your week!

Thanks
Shannon
ABP Support Team