Is Google Translate slowing down the CMAA forum?
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Friends,

    I have very little knowledge of computers, databases, etc.

    HOWEVER, I believe that this forum has been running "slow" ever since Google Translate was added.

    Am I wrong?

    If so, perhaps it might be worth considering getting rid of ??
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,694
    I notice that the forum is moving VERY slowly.

    I figured it was because of huge amounts of traffic due to having celebrities like David Haas and Jeffrey Tucker on the forum...
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    it has been slowing down. It's likely due to increased traffic.
    It might be time to take up a collection so the admins can invest in fatter pipes.

    In the mean time:
    It would help things if everyone used "open in new tab" (right click, first option in most browsers) when opening discussions. Then, just close that tab when you're done with the thread and open the next thread WITHOUT reloading the main index page.

    This will save countless page reloads on the main index. It will save everyone who does it a few seconds, and corporately, it will save quite a number of HTTP calls, which will speed up everything else.
    Thanked by 1eft94530
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Removed. How is it now?
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Unless I'm crazy, it is A LOT FASTER.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,933
    It's kind of slow on this end. Maybe it's on the old calendar? LOL. However, it is truly slow.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,694
    I think it's moving just as slow.

    I think Ostrowski just hates Google Translate, perhaps because he had the idea before Google (he couldn't work on it because he was too busy studying the Editio Vaticana).
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Yeah, still slow. hmmmm.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Perhaps there are just too many conversations?

    Can older ones be archived?

    (hope I'm not showing my ignorance...)
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    This sort of slowdown can happen when a web page has graphics or other elements coming from another web server.

    The Facebook image in the left column, for example, comes from FB's web servers, and is generated on the fly.

    If the Google Translate option used JavaScript or some graphics from Google's servers, then every user's browser had to go and fetch stuff from those servers too, as well as from CMAA's server. And Facebook's. And Sitemeter's. And there are also graphics from chabanelpsalms.org, and ceciliaschola.org. Also, the site uses a JavaScript file from woopra.com.

    And if any of those servers goes on the fritz, the page will appear to hang up and not load fully.

    It's good to keep an eye on these possible usages as multiple points of failure that can affect your web site's performance (from the user's point of view).
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Slow on my end. Not a complaint, though.
    I'm so large with child that putting on shoes takes 5 minutes these days. :)
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    If you can run your browser with ad-blocking software, that may help: my ad-blocker suppresses the sitemeter graphic - the little colored square in the bottom of the left column - and that saves a few seconds every time I view a page. I may not show up in Jeffrey's web statistics because of it, but at least the site works faster for me.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Is it any better today?
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,217
    Jeffrey, yesterday (1/5) it took almost a full minute of loading before I simply gave up looking at the forum altogether and went to the next 'favorite'. WAY slower than, say, 12/31.

    Today it's improved--prolly around 15 seconds to load a page. (DSL hard-wired machine on this end.)
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,217
    Correction, Jeffrey: yesterday was 1/4!!
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    Would it speed up things to remove all the picture links and replace them with simple text links?
  • Jeffrey CogginsJeffrey Coggins
    Posts: 360
    Is it any better today?


    Seems even slower for some reason.
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    I think it may, in fact, be the Facebook links. That is the point in the load of the forum (and the Chant Cafe blog too) where my browser seems to stop and wait.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    JT
    You might know to do this already- but Google Chrome (and probably FireFox) has an audit feature that gives you suggestions for speeding up a page load.
    For example, on the forum homepage:
    -6 separate stylesheets and 8 separate javascript files could be compbined to save HTTP calls
    -GZIP compression would speed up transfer by reducing size
    -over 400 CSS attributes (representing, probably, 1200 or more lines of code) are completely unused
    -up to 25 resources may not be cached by browsers, causing repeat downloads of the same files

    Solving these issues, and also the suggestion I made to members earlier in the thread, address symptoms, not the root cause (which might be too much traffic or some specific widget like the FB banner), but if implemented that will have a noticeable cumulative effect on performance.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    I ran a test that leaves out the graphics and got inconsistent results: sometimes the web server delivered the HTML in 2-3 seconds, sometimes 5-12 seconds! So I think there may be a performance problem at the hosting company.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    there may be a performance problem at the hosting company.

    This would be my semi-professional opinion as well.
  • IanWIanW
    Posts: 756
    Perhaps it's got some connection with stuff disappearing, too ... ?
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    What has disappeared?
  • IanWIanW
    Posts: 756
    A whole thread kicked off by FNJ
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    I authorized two members of the forum to remove any comments by me that they found unacceptable throughout the site and referred them to a moderator who I gave permission to as well. These members felt that my comments have lowered the tone of the forum.

    I got interrupted before I could hit ENTER, I am afraid, by a phone call from a lady who wanted to book the church for a wedding. I was able to determine that she was trying to find a church in Philadelphia! I recommended that she contact an esteemed member CMAA person there and get suggestions about which church (hers if possible) might have an excellent organist to do this.

    But I may have hit ENTER because the discussion disappeared.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    The blog admins occasionally do nix a thread or an entry, presumably for a serious reason: for example, if it contained some error that could hurt someone's reputation. I don't know about the particular case.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    They have, thankfully, done that to my postings more than once. I have always thanked them and meant it.
  • IanWIanW
    Posts: 756
    I guess something so offensive that it justified removal of the entire thread might have been posted after I last saw it it and before the axe fell ...

    All I can say is that up to the former pont it was just an honest discussion, and all the better for that.
  • eft94530eft94530
    Posts: 1,577
    For me it is stalling while doing stuff with
    sitemeter.com
    woopra-ns.com
    facebook.com

    Do we really need all this for a Forum Discussion?
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    I don't want to beat a dead horse...but the forum still appears to be very, very slow.

    :-(

    Would it be possible to simply 'archive' several hundred conversations?
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    I've noticed that in the last few days as well.

    It's almost impossible, as a user, to know whether the problem is your machine, your ISP, or the blog.
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    I didn't get to finish my thought....

    When everything else you access on the internet loads and runs in very short order except for this forum, then there could be a problem here.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    @Jeff: the cause of the slowness may be (and IMHO probably is) unrelated to the quantity of past conversations.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Strangely, I've not been able to update any of the gazillion plugins that this Vanilla software takes to run. I don't know why that is. Might have to do a general update via FTP
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    At 00:25 ET on Wednesday, the forum's just fine.
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 781
    It was super slow for me yesterday, but today seems to be just fine.
  • BachLover2BachLover2
    Posts: 330
    seems to be faster today...
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