These are a few of the questions we find ourselves answering frequently in Meta. Although the info is available elsewhere, I'm putting it here, too. Folks, if you'd be so kind - if you see someone asking one of these questions, please direct them here initially. If that still doesn't help them, then I or someone else can step in, but this should help cut down on repeated questions.
(Note - I won't use this thread to answer questions; I'll edit this first post with FAQs, but I'll answer the questions in the threads they're originally asked if the person in question has checked here first and it didn't help).
Why can't I post, or why can't I download a subscriber article? I get a "no permission" error even though I'm registered or am a subscriber.
99.999999% of the time it's because you're still in the "users awaiting email confirmation" usergroup. That's usually what I find when I check someone's account after seeing a question like this.
When you registered, the system sent you an email with a link in it. Find that email (in your spam folder if you can't see it) and click on that link. You should then be all set to do the thing you think you should be able to do.
There's a problem with an ad on the site
We use Google ads. This means that the ads aren't controlled or selected by us; Google personalizes and serves them to you based on your browsing history and such. This means that different people see different ads; the ad that you saw may not have been seen by anyone else.
We can ask Google to block certain ads. To do this, we MUST have the URL that the ad clicks through to. A description of the ad is no help - it's likely we've never seen it and never will. So if you need to report an ad, please ensure that you post the exact URL that the ad clicks through to. We can then submit a blocking request.
If you're curious about why Google is showing that particular ad to you - check your browsing history. Bear in mind that, therefore, when you tell us all about an ad that you're seeing, you're actually telling us something about yourself and your browsing habits - so sometimes you might not want to say it publicly.
(Note - I won't use this thread to answer questions; I'll edit this first post with FAQs, but I'll answer the questions in the threads they're originally asked if the person in question has checked here first and it didn't help).
Why can't I post, or why can't I download a subscriber article? I get a "no permission" error even though I'm registered or am a subscriber.
99.999999% of the time it's because you're still in the "users awaiting email confirmation" usergroup. That's usually what I find when I check someone's account after seeing a question like this.
When you registered, the system sent you an email with a link in it. Find that email (in your spam folder if you can't see it) and click on that link. You should then be all set to do the thing you think you should be able to do.
There's a problem with an ad on the site
We use Google ads. This means that the ads aren't controlled or selected by us; Google personalizes and serves them to you based on your browsing history and such. This means that different people see different ads; the ad that you saw may not have been seen by anyone else.
We can ask Google to block certain ads. To do this, we MUST have the URL that the ad clicks through to. A description of the ad is no help - it's likely we've never seen it and never will. So if you need to report an ad, please ensure that you post the exact URL that the ad clicks through to. We can then submit a blocking request.
If you're curious about why Google is showing that particular ad to you - check your browsing history. Bear in mind that, therefore, when you tell us all about an ad that you're seeing, you're actually telling us something about yourself and your browsing habits - so sometimes you might not want to say it publicly.

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