prompt for adblockers instead of simply failing to load WebApp Builder site with cryptic error

Anonymous User

I just noticed... if you have AdBlock Plus installed...  WebApp Builder will not load. It gives the error saying the Share widget config.json could not load.  And the Sad Face.  End users will not have an idea what this is or what the cause is. 

Solution:  following the approach of many News sites, which detect if an Ad blocker is on, and recommend appropriate action for the users to take, to proceed. (a memo about whitelisting the site or turning off the blocker, even sometimes including a movie (ani gif) showing how to move the cursor up and disable it; this could be custom-tailored to be browser specific, in order to show the right movie to the user, for their browser, based on their browser agent)

Jianxia Song‌ Kory Kramer‌

Anonymous User

Kory Kramer‌ & Esri WAB Team,

Zero Esri WebApp viewer sites will load for users if they have Share widget, until this is fixed. That's a lot of users out there.  The config message about not being able to read a JSON file will be understood by basically no end users. Only an Esri developer would make the connection. It simply needs a better error message, and problem solved. Mostly. At least as a bandaid. Ideally a better approach would be to load the site and the Share and simply have the Social sharing button icons greyed out.  

I noticed this because on my home computer I have ad blocking and social media containerized. (because why not) I suspect this is popular as a configuration among nearly all techies and even day to day users who know about AdBlock Pro and the like.