Hi, I keep trying to apply for an upgrade in my membership and the link keeps sending me to an advertisement for online colleges? Am I being dumb, or is there some way to get around this and ask for a review of my status and an upgrade so I can send private messages and comment on blogs, etc...? Thank you!
Can you point us to the specific link you're using that's sending you elsewhere so we can investigate? Thanks!
I was in the section called Regular Member to Full member upgrade request. The word "apply" is highlighted in red but instead sends me to something called College Corner?
1.) What browser are you using? 2.) Do you have any Add-Ons installed? 3.) What happens when you just hover over the highlighted word? Is the word also underlined?
I am using Chrome, I have no idea if there are add ons or not, I'm sorry, and yes, the word is underlined. Is it not a genuine link to the application process? This wouldn't be the first time I have been computer-ignorant....
It's alright. Certain add-ons, in order to pay for the cost of creating and maintaining themselves without requiring the user to pay for them, have to place ads on random text in your browser. Often if you hover over the underlined word it will pop up with a window telling you more about a completely unrelated site or item. They will appear on other sites on occasion and there's nothing you can do to stop them unless you disable the add-on that is causing the problem. Some examples of popular browser add-ons might be an "Ad-blocker" that removes advertising images, Site-security add-ons that can track the reputation of a site, or add-ons that change the graphical style of a website. So, no, it is not a part of the application process, but just a harmless advertisement most likely placed there by something installed in your browser. The next time you see an underlined word that seems odd to be a link to something, try hovering over it and if an ad pops up you'll know it'f just another one of these. I hope my (long-winded) explanation helped a bit. That's the only thing I can imagine could be happening based on what you described.
Ethan has painted this in a rather optimistic light, but these are usually the result of malware or spyware and you want to get rid of them. You shouldn't tolerate these ads - they are hijacking your browser and showing content that was not sent by the website. Virus scan your computer, and hopefully it'll detect and remove whatever is causing them to be displayed.
I've had those ads, but anti virus scans, as well as adware and malware scans haven't detected anything, but a virus scan is certainly advisable anyway ^.^
