Many internet users are inquiring about pop-ups, these clever programme windows that appear as if by magic on your computer screen whenever you are surfing the Internet.  

The level of their intrusion in our daily surfing is a matter of concern for each user and their degree of annoyance or acceptance depends on how we view and accept their existence.  In general, though, they are considered nuisances that slow down our browsing speed and intrude on our privacy

Their functions are varied and so are their effectiveness. Their appearance are usually triggered by the users clicking on something on the page they are browsing or by moving the mouse on an element on the page. 

They can also be activated by 'cookies' or 'spywares' installed on your machine, thus creating more confusion. More often the website that you are browsing will have pop-ups that are scheduled to launch periodically to promote their wares. In most cases, though, they are launched either as you enter the site or as you are leaving the site you have just browsed.

Pop-ups can be integrated in a website for many practical purposes and benefits for the web users, but unfortunately those that suddenly appear without warning are mainly advertising windows specifically programmed to catch the users' attention.

Another variation of this type of advertisement is a 'pop-under' which is launched behind the screen you are using and are not immediately visible.  There are instances when a user closes a pop-up window only to find that another one has been triggered.  The best way to avoid this in general is to stay away from web sites that propagate large amounts of pop-up advertisements. 

For the surfers who want to limit pop-up activities on their computers, they can follow this Kokonet guide. 

Users of Internet Explorer (IE) can prevent most pop-ups from opening by disabling Active Scripting in IE.  Just add the offending site to the Restricted Site Zone and disable Active Scripting and other contents for the restricted sites zone. This will stop most pop-ups from this site from working, but you will have to add other sites that you visit regularly to this list too. 

To add a site to Restricted Site Zone in IE, you first have to start an IE window, then click on Tools menu and select Internet Options. Click the Security tab, select Restricted Sites Icon

and click Sites button. Type the web address of the site you want to restrict its activities in the Add this Web site to the Zone box and then click the Add button to transfer it to the Web sites box. Click OK, then click Default Level to set the recommended level for the restricted sites zone which disables Active Scripting. Click OK to finish.

A word of caution, it is not advisable to disable active scripting for all sites in IE as it may prevent other scripts from running and cause some web sites to display incorrectly.

You may also visit the Kokonet website at www.seychelles.sc and download for free a‘popup stopper’, which is a small programme that runs in the background to stop pop-ups from launching. 

But be warned because although pop-up stoppers are great for blocking unwanted adverts, they can also block intentional pop-ups such as our web mail application. If this is affecting you, all you have to do is to temporarily disable your pop-up stopper for you to create or read email from our web mail interface. 

To disable Pop-Up Stopper simply double click on the white icon by your clock and a small window will pop up to confirm your action, (you may disable this window if required) and it will change to opaque.When you have finished with your Web Mail, to enable it just double click on the opaque icon and it will change back to white.

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