What are Popups?
Popup windows, or popups, are windows that appear automatically without your permission. They vary in size but usually don't cover the whole screen. Some popups open on top of the current browser window, while others appear underneath (popunders).

A number of web browsers as well as some browser add-on software that's available, help you to control these intrusions, usually from advertisers, by blocking their appearance on your computer while surfing. Depending on your point of view, that may be a good thing.

In any case whenever a popup is "blocked" you are usually alerted by your browser so that you can take whatever action may be appropriate. This usually means, you do nothing and you won't have to deal with the offending "intruder".

Good Popups
There are times when you may wish to adjust the settings for your blocking software. Some sites make legitimate use of popups. These include some banking sites for example that use popups for certain important features. Also some popup blockers are more agressive than others.

For example the current version of Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows XP will also block popups that are part of the normal operation of a website such as enlarging pictures or giving you access to added information. That is the case for the site you are now on.

In these cases you may wish to adjust your blocking feature to allow only these sites to permit popups. This can usually be done right from the warning screen that alerted you to the blocking action. Simply select the option of allowing that particular website to view popups.

You can also manually add the site to a list of "allowed sites" which in the case of Internet Explorer can be found under the "Tools" list on your menu bar. Click on "Pop-up Blocker" for options. Other software should have similar settings.

You can safely allow Popups on this website since you will not be surprised by any unsolicited pop-up windows on this site for any reason.