Page loading speed

[clickman]

First of all, I love this forum. I'm usually checking it at least once a day.

But I find the page loading speeds very slow. Other web pages out there load as fast as lightning, but on the best day the speeds from 986forum are slow. On the worst days they're painfully slow.

Is there something I'm doing wrong or is that just a fact of life for this forum?

If it is the forum, is there something that can be done to improve page loading speeds?

Thanks.

[RandallNeighbour]

I've noticed this as well. I'm betting that if you sent a PM to Rkwei or Brucelee you'd get some sort of explanation or plan of action.

[rkwei]

I'll look into it.

RKwei

[Stroked & Blown]

Just loaded a few threads with the Firebug Net console enabled - takes 2-3 seconds to load all the ads.

[chaudanova]

yeah I've always had really slow page loading and just slow in general with this forum in particular. Other forums and web surfing is fast, so I think it's just an issue with the server speed here...

[clickman]

Rkwei, any luck?

[Gary H]

For me, it's the grey background - loads a quarter chunk at a time slowly...then it's fine

I hope that makes sense?

[HDManny]

In order to compare the speed that the pages load on this forum to another forum and possble any other web page, all the variables would have to be the same as far as content and the way the pages are setup. Pages with alot of flash and/or pictures can take longer when compared to just plain text. If you are using a third party firewall, anti-virus and/or have pop-up blocker programss running it will also delay the pages from loading very fast. I wont even get in to how the amount of RAM available due to the number of programs opens will effect the speed. I am not much of a programmer but have over 12 years in the technical support field and I have run into many issues regarding computer speeds. IMO

[RandallNeighbour]

Manny, everyone I have visited with in person or via PM's on this forum has stated that the pages load slowly. So it's not something on the side of one or two users with old machines, not enough ram, firewalls, or virus software. It's a global problem for all the users I've visited with, meaning it's a site issue, not an end-user issue.

[Stroked & Blown]

Attached is a YSlow report against this thread in txt format. Change the extension to .htm to view it properly (can't upload .htm attachments).
Looks like the biggest impact is that the webserver expires all images immediately, causing them to be re-downloaded every time a page is loaded.
These images never change and should have an expiration date far in the future.

[HDManny]

I did not get into how hardware could cause slowness. I explained that you have to compare apples to apples. There may be an issue with this site but unless you know exactly how was created and know that another site was created exactly like this one if would not be a fair comparison. I opened the main page with IE8 and it takes a few seconds longer than with Google Chrome, I noticed that the YSlow Report was run using Mozilla. It’s like comparing the top speed of a Mustang GT, Boxster S and a Ferrari and being surprised that they are not the same.

[Stroked & Blown]

HDManny - It's not a client issue.

I found a decent workaround for the speed issue. Apparently all the slow-to-load ads are a part of the 986forum skin. Changing to a different skin improves load times significantly.

Go to Quick Links>Edit Options (or http://986forum.com/forums/profile.php?do=editoptions )

Under 'Miscellaneous Options' set the 'Forum Skin' to 'C7forum substyle'.

Note that the other VBulletin skins change the formatting of posts.

The drawback with this is the left hand navigation is based on the C7 forum. Not a problem for me b/c I never use it, but a consideration for those that do.
The main forum listing remains the same.

[Motobob]

Originally Posted by Stroked & Blown

HDManny - It's not a client issue.

I found a decent workaround for the speed issue. Apparently all the slow-to-load ads are a part of the 986forum skin. Changing to a different skin improves load times significantly.

(snip).

Well that fixed something that has bugged me for two years.... :-) thx! Bob

[RandallNeighbour]

Dang! I just changed it to the C7forum.com skin and WOW, it's fast now!

S&B, thanks so much!

[tonycarreon]

it loads faster mostly because the ads are not shown, so the browser doesn't have to spend as many cpu cycles building the DOM. the downside however is that the ads are not displayed, so the forum owners are not making any $ from them.

while i am sad the site is slower to load on the default skin, i don't mind it if it keeps the forum free for members ( or at least offsets some of the costs to the owners a little bit ).

[RandallNeighbour]

Tony, if the site programmer would not force browsers to download all the ads every single time a page loads I would switch right back.

[RandallNeighbour]

btw, that reply took a fraction of the time to submit and show compared to before.

[clickman]

Thanks S&B, works for me! Too bad the regular skin is so slow!