Site Speed too Slow

[ukalum]

I love the Sand trap site and forums, but I find it difficult to navigate due to the slow page loading speeds.  Usually, I find myself scrolling through pages before they are fully loaded which is a cumbersome experience. Then clicking back and forth between pages each page needs to fully load again, which slows down using the site even more.

Honestly, this makes me use the site for short intervals, rather than sticking around much longer.

Is there anything you can do for the site speed?

Thanks!

[LuciusWooding]

It's on your end, dude. Either download a faster and more current browser, or buy a better internet service provider. I use FIOS and I never take more than 2-3 seconds to load a page. Forums, even with image posts, don't take very much data since it's almost all text. Maybe some of the ads are flash based, which takes a lot of time to load, but it's not the site that makes them take a long time.

[ukalum]

I'll agree that it is much faster in IE9 than Firefox 3.6.   Site speed tests show it is fairly quick, but may have a few bugs in the coding which slows FF down.

That being said, web site speed tests show it takes nearly 1 second for the site to load the first byte of data, and 19 seconds to completely load the golf forum page.  Overall grade gets F's for First Byte time and not Caching images.  Otherwise A's.  Seems that there's a few area the code could be optimized.

[dhanson]

i use chrome almost exclusively for web browsing - firefox if i'm going to be watching a movie or something on megavideo/videobb/ect. text here loads nearly instantaneously. it takes 5 seconds or less for the page to load completely, even if the page is full of pictures. honestly i'm not familiar at all with IE anymore - stopped using it ~10 years ago.

if you're using firefox, using something like AdBlock can help load times.

[jamo]

I use Safari and I haven't had a problem with page load speeds at all since the switch to Huddler.

[iacas]

Page load speeds could be better, no doubt. It's something Huddler has been working on and will continue to work on.

[Ernest Jones]

Become a supporter and disable ads!

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Become a supporter and disable ads!

True. That's a good option. :)

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by iacas

True. That's a good option. :)

I actually don't do that (disable ads) because I'm always looking for pointless crap to waste my money on! Gee whiz, that barber pole putter looks pretty cool. Wonder if it will get me down to scratch...LOL.

[dmnoland]

While I realize that using a 10 year old computer can sometimes present a challenge on the web, however, TST is the worst offender I've come across, ever.  I'm running firefox with adblock, flashblock and noscript yet I have to close my browser and restart every 30-45 minutes I'm here because something with the site causes firefox to just crawl. The only script I allow is "yahooapis", since without it the site simply will not work with firefox. At its worst it can take 20-30 seconds to load a forum page. It's very frustrating and specific to this site for some reason.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by dmnoland

While I realize that using a 10 year old computer can sometimes present a challenge on the web, however, TST is the worst offender I've come across, ever.  I'm running firefox with adblock, flashblock and noscript yet I have to close my browser and restart every 30-45 minutes I'm here because something with the site causes firefox to just crawl. The only script I allow is "yahooapis", since without it the site simply will not work with firefox. At its worst it can take 20-30 seconds to load a forum page. It's very frustrating and specific to this site for some reason.

This site is highly sensitive to old browsers and OSes, particularly one that's a decade old !?!? We also exist and provide this forum to you free of charge because we show a few ads, so with all due respect, I'd suggest on behalf of myself and other sites you use that you disable AdBlock.

Sorry, but our ability to provide a feature-rich forum has some cut-off and supporting a computer that pre-dates YouTube by three years is a bit before that cut-off. Additionally, the site was much slower a year ago and has gotten better and will continue to improve as Huddler continues to devote time and effort to tuning performance.

[dmnoland]

Eric, don't take my complaint so personal. I'm just saying that there is something with this site that causes difficulty for my computer.

In another thread I posted a link to a video at the Golf Channel that I could view without any hickups or delay at all. Don't you think that print alone should load faster and operate smoother than a site with video and flash running?

It sounds like I'm in the minority and will try a new browser, just not Chrome.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by dmnoland

Eric, don't take my complaint so personal. I'm just saying that there is something with this site that causes difficulty for my computer.

In another thread I posted a link to a video at the Golf Channel that I could view without any hickups or delay at all. Don't you think that print alone should load faster and operate smoother than a site with video and flash running?

I did not take your post personally.

And while your example would seem to make sense, it's completely possible to imagine scenarios where video playback on a web page is smooth while "print alone" is not (if you can find a site that's "print alone" please let me know - javascript isn't print, graphics aren't print, CSS could be considered not print).

Again, the simple answer is this: Huddler is constantly working to improve performance, and has made good strides since TST converted to Huddler's forum software in December, 2010, but the software is optimized for later generation OSes and browsers, both of which require a fair amount of RAM and CPU speed.

You're welcome to buy a Supporter membership to turn off ads, or do other things in your profile to turn off features so that your experience can be faster.

[WUTiger]

Quote:

This site is highly sensitive to old browsers and OSes, particularly one that's a decade old!?!? ...

Although my online provider is plenty fast, I am in general having trouble using the Internet and accessing more complex web sites. Online remedies suggest paying $$ to upgrade to Windows 7.0, at a time when Windows 9.0 is already in play. And, my CPU has a 32-bit processor from circa 2002.

Solution from my end will be to replace my computer and upgrade both systems and apps software. I've found a couple of Dell packages, and will check with IT at work to make sure they will support coming job-related systems changes.

[ukalum]

I really think my issue has to do with Firefox 3.6.  The site works geat in IE9, but something in FF is causing it to hang and be slow and buggy.  All browsers have their issues that need to be optimized for.  Something must just not be right on the site for FF.

[WUTiger]

Originally Posted by iacas

This site is highly sensitive to old browsers and OSes, particularly one that's a decade old!?!?

I got my computer rebuilt, going from Windows XP to 7 Professional, and from 32-bit to 64-bit processor. Suddenly, the Sand Trap site works fine!

[iacas]

Originally Posted by WUTiger

I got my computer rebuilt, going from Windows XP to 7 Professional, and from 32-bit to 64-bit processor. Suddenly, the Sand Trap site works fine!

Thanks! Glad to hear it. :)

It's highly sensitive to older browsers, unfortunately. :(