Problems On The Site

[gngrhill]

I am also grateful for this site, and put up with the slowness. I just make a remark to my hubby that I'm waiting for my hair to turn gray, and we laugh. It's the only place to really connect with other orchid lovers and get some good advice when I have a problem.

[cjm3fl]

I too will continue to visit here and use the new tricks and tips those here have given me. Some are already working!

I just am glad to know I'm not the only one experiencing these minor issues.


Get ready folks...I just got 21 new orchids, and many of the 19 I already had are coming into bloom!

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by Ray

I certainly can be wrong about this, but I don't see this simply as a server speed issue at the host site.

Marty has a lot of ads posted as part of the forum structure, in the header, the side bar, and in the body of messages, and no-doubt they are coming from other servers. That means that when you open anything, calls are made to all of the servers to "dish out" the content, so you're waiting for feeds from several, not just one server, and there's no telling how many servers each of them is connected to, slowing them down, so it's no wonder that it's so slow!

I agree it has to load up the adds, but I tend to see the rest of the page load without the adds when they are being slow

There are actually only two sources of adds. One is a google add service (these are most of the ones you see, unless you are a supporter for whom those get hidden) and the other is local and Marty hosts the adverts locally and is paid for those directly.

The google one serves up it's own choice of adds based on it's own criteria (which may include your browsing history even though Orchid Board has no knowledge of that history).

I don't know the in-and-outs of where googles adds are served up from so can't comment on the speed of loading those. Although I see no difference in browsing speeds when I'm logged in (and not seeing the google ones) and when I'm not logged in and seeing them. At some times of day the site is slow, in the mornings UK Time (when most of the USA is asleep) it's a lot faster

[estación seca]

It is possible to completely block delivery of almost all ads to Web pages. This saves a lot of bandwidth, and makes pages load much faster, if the ads are the cause of slow loading. I tried blocking all the ads here, and the intermittent slow loading issues did not change.

When buying server space and bandwidth, one of the variables affecting pricing is how many connections to the server may be open at one time. This may be the issue here.

[cjm3fl]

Originally Posted by RosieC

Again same thing, it times out after 15 min. This one can be solved by clicking the 'remember me' when you log in.

Thanks for this tip, RosieC!
I've 'checked' that and I have been able to stay logged-in much much longer.
I've never 'click' on that in any other site, and I've not had issues. But the set-up here is what it is...and that's fine.

Again, thanks for that tip!

[fishmom]

Whoa! It seems like some folks took my comments as being hostile to this site! I also am grateful for an active board to visit frequently, I have donated in the past, and I will do so again. However, I visit several businesses frequently, and I don't donate to them. I'd just like to know more clearly which this is, a business or a community/service site.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by estación seca

It is possible to completely block delivery of almost all ads to Web pages. This saves a lot of bandwidth, and makes pages load much faster, if the ads are the cause of slow loading. I tried blocking all the ads here, and the intermittent slow loading issues did not change.

When buying server space and bandwidth, one of the variables affecting pricing is how many connections to the server may be open at one time. This may be the issue here.

I think if the slow connection is at your end, then blocking the adds will speed up your access. I think if the bottle-neck is with the server it will probably make less, or no difference (but I'm not sure on that).

I think you are right about bandwidth and number of connections at once. When I've looked at renting server space in the past that's been a factor that affects price and our ISP is most likely limiting that to whatever level we have paid for.

[wintergirl]

I don't block ads and everything generally loads fast for me.

[RosieC]

I think it depends on time of day. I am in the UK and most of the time it's OK, but if I'm at the sort of time when it's likely to be busy in the USA time zone then I notice it.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by RosieC

I think if the slow connection is at your end, then blocking the adds will speed up your access. I think if the bottle-neck is with the server it will probably make less, or no difference (but I'm not sure on that).

I think you are right about bandwidth and number of connections at once. When I've looked at renting server space in the past that's been a factor that affects price and our ISP is most likely limiting that to whatever level we have paid for.

Correct, that was my point. The advertising is not what is causing the slow load of pages.

A faster-running Orchid Board would require
1 Somebody to figure out how much it would cost, and how to arrange it
2 More money somehow
3 Somebody to set it up
4 Somebody to deal with the hosting service in the future
5 Enough income going forward to maintain the service.

Moving older sites with older software packages and large amounts of data is not a trivial exercise. In some cases the server software required to support the site's software is old, only newer server software versions are available, and newer versions of server software will not run older sites. I seem to recall reading the Orchid Board site features custom-written software.