Throughout our 50 years, Bert Rodgers Schools has been a pioneer in offering government required Pre-License, Post-License, and Continuing Education Courses in ways that were as convenient and accessible to our students as we could possibly make them.

Once we realized the impact that the Internet was going to have on our industry, we decided to launch our online Course Delivery System. As we developed our online course systems we realized that one of the limitations of online Learning Management Systems was caused by the fact that most online courses were presented in separate windows that were supposed to pop-up on top of the screen that launched them.

Due to the increasing security requirements that computers require while they are connected to the internet, pop-up blockers have become an element of most Internet browser programs. Of course, what is good for the computer is sometimes bad for the online systems that have to deliver information to them. To get around the pop-up blockers that can hinder the delivery of information to our students we have developed the following trouble-shooting check list.

While we focus on our online educational course delivery, these methods can also be applicable to other online web sites that have to deliver their information using pop-up methods. 

Some web sites, such as ours, offer live technical support assistance to help their users when they have problems accessing the needed information, but these are some steps that can be taken before having to contact them:

Pop-up blockers:

Try holding down the Control  (Ctrl) key on your keyboard as you click on the link or button that you are trying to launch. This should bypass most of the popular pop-up blockers.

If that doesn't work, try the following:

You should have a Pop-up blocker option in the "Tools" menu of your browser.  Toggle that blocker on or off by clicking on it. When you move your mouse arrow down to Pop-up Blocker what should kick out to the right is “Turn on Pop-Up Blocker”. If it says “Turn off Pop-Up Blocker” than click on it to turn it off.

Also look for the information Bar (below) for pop-up blocker options. The Information Bar also notifies you if a web site tries to install files or other controls that enable content for the site. You want to pay attention to this not only so that you can install the controls that allow you to view the information you are looking for, but also to prevent things from getting installed on your computer that you don't want or don't need. Again, if you aren't sure of what the site is trying to install, contact the site's technical support staff for information on what the Information Bar is trying to install. 

The next area to check for a pop-up blocker is in the browser toolbars.  Toolbars are the bars at the top of the screen that contain all the buttons and icons that control some of the functions of the browser.  Even though there maybe a pop-up blocker currently in your Tools menu, it may not be the only active pop-up blocker installed, so you need to make sure all of the other pop up blockers are disabled

In your browser go to View-Toolbars and check to see what toolbars you have listed in the menu it pulls up to the right. Typically all you should have in there are Standard Buttons, Address Bar, Links, Lock the Toolbars, and Customize. If you have anything else, make sure it is checked, and then look at your toolbars to see if there is anything about pop-ups, ads, or blocking. Most of the buttons that are part of those toolbars can be identified by hovering your mouse arrow over them until a box containing a description appears above them. You might have to click on the buttons to see what they do before you can disable them. 

Some of the most popular pop-up blockers that can be installed on your computer are as follows:

Google - Is displayed as a button in the middle of the toolbar that displays, for example, “24 Blocked” (or whatever number of pop-ups were blocked).  To disable, click on the button and the message changes to “Popups OK” or “Popups Allowed”.

Yahoo - Is displayed as a button in the middle of the bar after "Search Web..." It looks like a screen with a badge or shield in front of it. To disable, click on the icon and uncheck "Enable Pop-up Blocker." After disabling the button should look like 2 blue screens, one in front of the other.

MSN - Is displayed as a button in the middle of the bar, again usually with the number of popups blocked as in the Google popup blocker. To disable, click on the icon. 

AOL - Is displayed as a button in the middle of the bar...  To disable, click on the button.

Other pop up blockers:

MyWebSearch - Is displayed as a button in the middle of the bar…  To disable, click the button and select "Disable PopSwatter."

Starware - Is displayed as a button in the middle of the bar... To disable, click the button and turn off "AdZapper."

WebAssistant - Will show as a button in the toolbars; look for a blue and green globe. Click on the button and uncheck 'Block Pop-ups.' After you do this you will need to click along the top of the screen on Tools and then click Internet Options. From Internet Options click on the buttons that say "Delete Cookies" and "Delete Files” or “Delete Browsing History.”

The other place to check for pop-up blockers is in the lower right hand corner of your screen next to the clock. If you hold your mouse cursor over the icons listed there it will pop up a description stating what program the icon represents. Look for any icons that say anything about Pop-ups, Ads, or Blocking, or Internet Security. Right click on the icon and see if there is an option to disable whatever blocking program you may have running.

As internet threats evolve and become more dangerous, the response by internet security programs become more detailed and more difficult to work around for those who need access to the information they are looking for. The above steps should help with most of the programs that interfere with the delivery of your content.

Most online systems evolve along with the security threats that cause internet users problems. There are usually processes and procedures in place to help their users through the obstacles that security programs can present. For your most mission critical needs, make sure that you can get in contact with support staff if the standard trouble shooting steps don't work for you.

UPDATE: For further help with pop-up blockers, this guide from  the Virtual HR Center has a more detailed in-depth tutorial on how to work with them:

 http://www.virtualhrcenter.com/popup_blockers.htm.

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