New Tickets Link in Header

Hi.

Some of you will likely have just noticed a red "ADMIT ONE" ticket image in the header, just above the Quizzes link. This is an affiliate link that offers discounts on theater tickets and concessions and the like.

This is part of our ongoing effort to find a clean, non-invasive way to keep running this site (with it's awesome dedicated server) with the same kind of time and effort that you've all come to expect. The new design we launched last year has been well-received in part, I think, because we deliberately scaled down the space for ads. But this means getting creative with the space we have. And it also means finding ways to offset server costs without annoying or intrusive ads.

Clicking ads has always been welcome, and helpful, and does add up. But even more helpful, by far, would be buying your tickets through that link. It'd go a long way towards keeping us going, and because purchases are more significant than clicks, it would add up a lot faster.

As always, open to ideas about how to make this more enticing, less invasive, easier to remember, etc.

Will the icon be a permanent feature?

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Can you change the bright shade of red to #86030C which will match the deep red of the banner on the left side of the page. I find the bright red overly powerful compared to the rest of the sites nice subtle color schemes. I understand your need for advertising, maybe just a little darker red on the ticket, please.

Before we know it, this site will be covered in ads and pop-ups.

I thought that was a decoration for my MoFo Prom Night going on tomorrow at first.

A ticket to enter the prom. That kind of thing. I was like -- that's pretty nice, considering the prom's a failure at the moment.

So that Dealflicks thing pays for the server sort of?? I was gonna say why not link to like Movietickets.com or Fandango.com. 90% of the areas you type in don't even coincide with the thing yet.

I thought it was a piss take about the high ticket prices near me.

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Isn't it? lol

That largely depends on how well-received (and utilized) it is. If nobody uses it then I'd probably try to integrate it some other way to see if that helps. Amusingly, if lots of people use it, that might also be a reason to integrate it differently, too.

When I do that it's basically illegible, unfortunately, and as you say catching the eye is the whole idea. It's also tricky to edit (I didn't design it). But if it looks like it'll be sticking around, I'll likely find a subtler replacement.

That's what I thought it was for too, until I clicked it.

Depends on how often it's used. That's certainly the hope.

From what I can see both sites have very low affiliate rates, to the point where a very large number of people would have to use the link regularly to make much difference. But I might be wrong--if it looks like people would be much more likely to use it with those sites instead, I'd be open to trying it.

I use Fandango and Movietickets gradually back and forth so I'd be all for the change.

Should the ticket open in a new window or tab?

I just clicked on it, and it took me away from MoFo.

Generally speaking it's considered poor UX to force links to open in new tabs or windows, since the user can choose to do that on their own (and can't choose not to if you force it to).

Not wanting to "take people away" from a site can be a concern, but usually only for "bouncy" sites (as opposed to "sticky" ones) that people find for a single piece of information and then might not return to.

Oh, okay. I just thought it was strange that it didn't open in a new window or tab because most sites seem to prefer it the other way. (But I don't surf the net much, so you can't go by my experiences. )

You're quite right--lots of site do that. I've argued with people about this.

For me it doesn't. I click on my mouse (if I'm using my laptop) and I have to right click on 'open link in new tab' in order for that to happen.

Yeah, that's what she's saying. "Took me away from MoFo" means staying in the same window and leaving the site, as opposed to opening in a new one.

And here I thought it was just a pretty decoration.

Now, if only I went to the theater more often... LOL

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I already see ads on this site in each thread "pretending" to be a post.