Page load times are slow

JavaScript is a programming language built into browsers which allows little "scripts" in Web pages to execute bits of program written in JavaScript.

The HTML markup on a web page indicates boldface, font type, image tags andhyperlinks to other places on the internet, and Styling Sheets provide the "colour scheme and styling" to make the page look pretty; in the latest "standards" of both those there are some quite slick "visual effects", which were never there in the old days, but if you want more fancy effects the developers have to do some programming.

So, for a trivial example (which can probably nowadays be done just by using latest standards versions of HTML and Style Sheets alone, but in olden days needed JavaScript):

You move the mouse over [or perhaps "click on"] an image or a button and the image changes / colour changes / a bigger image appears. That "happens" by the developer setting what is called an "On Mouse Over" or "On Mouse Click" EVENT on that Object/Thing.

So the developer basically says:

Display IMAGE123 here.
Create an OnMouseClick event on that IMAGE and when that event occurs "Execute this little JavaScript program"

And the "little JavaScript" program says something like "Replace the original IMAGE123 with the much bigger IMAGE456 picture".

(There would then be another "On Mouse Out" EVENT to put the original image back again).

So as you move your mouse over IMAGE123 the "On Mouse Over" event occurs, the browser executes the little script associated with it, and you, the user, sees the image change to IMAGE456 instead.

That's what the JavaScript programming language is used for in web pages.

The slick things, on this new forum software, that let you upload multiple images so easily, and show little thermometers as they upload, whilst letting you get on with typing your message, and the WHOLE of the fancy "WYSIWYG" visual-editor for replies is written in JavaScript [and some other stuff, but principally JavaScript].

Considering that HTML was never designed with all that fancy stuff in mind, its pretty cool that people have hijacked it to make it do all that stuff, and that is why "that stuff" is NOTHING LIKE as slick as using, say, Word to do your word processing, because using HTML + JavaScript to do really fancy stuff is DEFINITELY the equivalent of getting a Quart out of a Pint Pot

 

I have Javascript and perhaps it needs updating.

Could the amount of broadband use by the rest of the populace make a difference? The reason being I find that the 'slowness' can be worse at certain times of the day. For instance around 5/6pm. At these times I'm lucky if I can get pages to load at all.

 

I get the occasional time out error, i've learned to copy the post & then check to see if its been posted before trying again though as in the early days of the new board I found that trying again resulted in duplicate posts.

I'm using I.E. and don't have any slowness apart from the 5-7pm like Sheal says.

 

Ziggy, I have a theory on this! It happens at weekends too. If it is broadband slowdown, then I think it could be due to students settling down to homework using the internet.

 

Perzactly!

You can only update JavaScript with your browser, so if you have latest version of your browser then that's as good as it gets (but Java - SO confusing - is different, has nothing to do with JavaScript, and is updated separately from the Browser, as is Flash - although both, usually, check for updates regularly - unless at some point you have turned that off - accidentally, or because they were annoying the bejeezus out of you!

That would slow everything down, but you might notice it more on GC - if, for example, GC goes "backwards and forwards getting stuff" rather than just doing a single "Give me the page" type process as each "round trip" would take longer (i.e. "have more latency") and collectively they could lengthen the time to display the page from "acceptable" to an unacceptable length of time - and at some point that elapsed time would be too long and the page would "time out".

 

Richard/Kristen,

Javascript is something I never learnt so I dont have a first clue with it, what would I be looking for within firebug so I could report it back here and maybe help to get these speed issues eliminated.

Is anything else being done to try and fix this or is it just being left to one side for now?

It's still as slow as a slow thing going backwards at present, every mouse click here on GC means another minute of doing nothing at all.

Steve...

 

Just took about 7 seconds to load this thread, and a fraction of a second to load the tomato growing thread. I don't see any pattern whatsoever to the occasional very slow page load times for this forum.

 

As a quick reply Robert, it does seem a lot better. I'll go play and get back to you here a little later.

Steve...

 

Speed is back to normal now and at no stage am I taken back to the forum index page...unless I click to go there.

Many thanks Richard.

Steve...

 

Still no difference in the speed for me. But I'm now beginning to think I've got computer problems.

It's taken me 2 1/2 frustrating hours to get onto the internet tonight. Now, my husband is sitting opposite me with the same make of computer, both with Windows 7 and both on Google. So how come he hasn't had a problem?

While I've been writing this post, everything froze, then disappeared, my desk top appeared for a couple of seconds then straight back to this post.

I know I should have posted this in the computer section, but I'm now so confused as to what the problem is, I'm not sure what to do from here. Has anybody got any ideas please?

Now frozen three times writing this post. I've backed up to be on the safe side in case it's my computer.