Forums slowing down?

[Spartan198]

I've noticed in the past couple of days that the forum page load rate seems to be slowing down occasionally. Just this morning I logged on and I had to wait close to ten minutes while the progress meter just creeped up slowly. I know some skins cause them to load slower,but this was the slowest I'd seen them since I joined last August.
Has anyone else noticed this,or could it just be my machine?

PS - If there's already a topic here about this,I apologize but I'd rather not read the names of over 900 threads searching for it.
Edit: Just now found one with a similar topic on the front page. Sorry for duplicating.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I've actually noticed significant slowdown on occasion as well, even using Opera on a gaming rig, which means it is probably a site problem, not a user problem.

[Csargo]

I've noticed it as well.

[CountArach]

Things only get slower occassionally for me. Right now it seems to be incredibly fast though. Perhaps it is just related to how many people are online?

[TinCow]

Late last week and over the weekend the forums were very slow for me as well.

[Xehh II]

Slow for me too.

[seireikhaan]

Same as others.

[Drisos]

I've had the following for months,

Everytime I enter a thread, I can usually move around for a few seconds, then it hangs. It usually hangs 20-30 seconds, and then everything works fine. When I enter another thread, the same happens.

Though, it doesn't happen in all threads.
:dizzy2:

[Vladimir]

:laugh4: I love the irony of a high volume of traffic posting that the forum is slow.

[Caius]

I've had the following for months,

Everytime I enter a thread, I can usually move around for a few seconds, then it hangs. It usually hangs 20-30 seconds, and then everything works fine. When I enter another thread, the same happens.

Though, it doesn't happen in all threads.
:dizzy2:
Same to me.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

It was worst in the Backroom, which was annoying because I was trying to edit member's names into the Political Leaning's thread list.

Fortunately, it's much better now.

[Spartan198]

:laugh4: I love the irony of a high volume of traffic posting that the forum is slow.
That is ironic,isn't it? :laugh4:

[Viking]

It used to be slow, but the recent weeks it has worked just fine. For me, anyhow.

[Spartan198]

It used to be slow, but the recent weeks it has worked just fine. For me, anyhow.
Same for me since I started this thread,except that I occasionally have to close and reopen the browser do to it freezing up,but that's probably just my system.

[Vladimir]

Are we under attack?

Or is it just me?

[TB666]

Well it's slow that's for sure.

[Viking]

It is indeed slow again. :shifty:

[iraklaras1]

i want to join also

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
You have apparently joined. :inquisitive:

Welcome! :balloon3:
.

[Spartan198]

i want to join also
Join what?

[caravel]

So slow lately as to be almost unusable. I can only get here in the evenings, can no longer post from work, and it's in the evenings that it's at it's slowest. This thread took nearly a minute to load another thread I tried to load I just had to give up on.

[Adrian II]

Loading has been extremely slow since this afternoon. My comp is sqeaky clean, my connection rocks. Problem is almost certainly server-side. Question is: which server?

EDIT
April 8, 9.30 hrs. Problem looks solved.

EDIT
April 8, 15.00 hrs. Problem is back again.

EDIT
April 8, 20.00 hrs. Problem gone again.

Without contrary info from TosaInu I must assume that this is an ISP issue, a daily traffic jam or whatever.

[Csargo]

slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow

[Viking]

Takes ages just to load a single page, tsk. :book:

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
As of now (9:27 GMT) it's all right. Yesternight it was nigh inaccessible.
.

[Makanyane]

.
As of now (9:27 GMT) it's all right. Yesternight it was nigh inaccessible.
.

snap...

Are the hosted downloads on the same server btw?

I was wondering if it could be high demand for something (like EB dl's) that slows up peak times?

[TechnoMage of Shadows]

the majority of the hosted files are on other servers, it was my experience some time ago that some of the ads were the cause of slowdowns.

Ad servers can become overloaded at peak times and unless the site "calling" the ad is configured to continue loading while waiting for the ad then "client" sites can slow down when the ad server is overloaded.

Ideally a client site should call for the ad, but keep loading anyway; sadly many do not.

[Martok]

I've been experiencing some pretty significant slowdowns during middays the last couple weeks. Not sure what's been causing it, but it's been very consistent thus far.

[Mouzafphaerre]

snap...

Are the hosted downloads on the same server btw?

I was wondering if it could be high demand for something (like EB dl's) that slows up peak times?
.
AFAIK the EB monster ain't hosted on the ORG and as for high demand to it I'm not really sure, seeding it almost constantly since it was released. My up quota is hardly ever approached, let alone reached.
.

[Adrian II]

So the problem is mainly European and occurs mainly in late afternoon and early evening GMT as well as during weekends, which happen to be the hours of maximum traffic on teh Interwebs. Am I right?

Does the Org. server suffer from overload at those hours?

If not, then the hosted ads seem the most likely explanation. :inquisitive:

[TosaInu]

.
AFAIK the EB monster ain't hosted on the ORG
.

Hello Mouzafphaerre,

The Link and Download manager contains the link, but the file is not stored on the same server as the forum, but on two of the other boxes.

[TosaInu]

So the problem is mainly European and occurs mainly in late afternoon and early evening GMT as well as during weekends, which happen to be the hours of maximum traffic on teh Interwebs. Am I right?

Does the Org. server suffer from overload at those hours?

If not, then the hosted ads seem the most likely explanation. :inquisitive:

Hello Adrian II,

I wouldn't accuse the board of speeding, but I have not really noticed slowdowns of more than a few seconds lately.

It could be the adds indeed, the content change as well as the demand to see them, so it's different from moment to moment. But I'm at mainland Europe too.

There are busy at less busy hours indeed. I'm not sure when the rush hours at Org start, but it also matters how the traffic around us is.

[Adrian II]

Hello Adrian II,

I wouldn't accuse the board of speeding, but I have not really noticed slowdowns of more than a few seconds lately.

It could be the adds indeed, the content change as well as the demand to see them, so it's different from moment to moment. But I'm at mainland Europe too.

There are busy at less busy hours indeed. I'm not sure when the rush hours at Org start, but it also matters how the traffic around us is.Hello TosaInu,

thank you for clearing some things up.

I believe the ads are all the more suspect because I often have the same 'freezing' problem as Drisos, i.e. after loading Org. content my screen freezes for anywhere between two and twenty seconds. The Org. loads fine, something else doesn't.

I guess these are the routine ups and downs of traffic. Only if it turns out that more and more people simply can't access the Org. at certain times due to delays, it might be worth looking into.

[TosaInu]

Hello Adrian II,

You could try a skin like Dial Up and see if it changes anything.

If it does, it may help to have the host change the ad serving (no idea if and what he could do there though). Maybe some caching?

If it doesn't, maybe there are other bottlenecks?

[Mouzafphaerre]

Hello Mouzafphaerre,

The Link and Download manager contains the link, but the file is not stored on the same server as the forum, but on two of the other boxes.
.
Thanks for the clarification. :bow:

As for the ads, AdBlock is nearly as efficient as Beirut's axe :viking: but it doesn't stop the slow-down from happening.
.

[TosaInu]

.
As for the ads, AdBlock is nearly as efficient as Beirut's axe :viking: but it doesn't stop the slow-down from happening.
.

That makes me wonder: is it the ads or something else?

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
I get no ads. They aren't loaded at all, at any time, due to AdBlock.
.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
It was dead slow a few minutes ago. Got recently better.

Time stamp: 16:00 GMT
.

[Martok]

I've been experiencing slowdowns/delays (anywhere between 5 and 30 seconds) as of half an hour ago when I first logged on. Currently 12:05 p.m. American Central Time, 5:05 p.m. GMT.

[Caius]

When I enter, I do not have any problems. Never. One thing that happens to me is that the thread is opened, but IE locks itself for a minute, then it shows the thread.

[TinCow]

As with the others, it has been very slow recently. The slowdowns occur mainly when opening threads and posting. Browsing the forum indexes themselves is much faster.

[drone]

I run AdBlock, and I've been noticing slowdowns for a while now, so I doubt it's the ads.

[Martok]

As with the others, it has been very slow recently. The slowdowns occur mainly when opening threads and posting. Browsing the forum indexes themselves is much faster.
Ditto that. :yes:

Incidentally, I'm experiencing a mild slowdown again, although it's not as bad as it was earlier (delays of only a few seconds right now).

[Vladimir]

Well it's a distinctly .org problem. I still think we're under attack. :hide:

[TechnoMage of Shadows]

it is 14:00 GMT 11 april - all speedy from here.
(if we were under attack surely the host would notice)
my votes go
#1 ads
#2 general congestion of web
#3 congestion of org (database overload)
#4 mars attacks...

(i see slowdown of local sites in peak periods - for me is not unique to org)

[Adrian II]

I run AdBlock, and I've been noticing slowdowns for a while now, so I doubt it's the ads.OK, time for dumb questions.

How exactly does AdBlock work? Does it block the ads after loading, or does it block their loading itself?

https://img413.imageshack.us/img413/9396/a2sgifjb2.gif (https://imageshack.us)

[Martok]

Experiencing major slowdowns again (30-60 seconds delay when opening threads or posting). It generally seems to be worst around midday (over here in the US).

[Andres]

I don't experience much problems :shrug:

[Mouzafphaerre]

OK, time for dumb questions.

How exactly does AdBlock work? Does it block the ads after loading, or does it block their loading itself?

https://img413.imageshack.us/img413/9396/a2sgifjb2.gif (https://imageshack.us)
.
AFAIK it prevents anything that's been blocked from loading at all.
.

[Togakure]

I'm in East USA and have experienced very slow load times for threads--even those not containing a lot of big pics--for the last week. Just thought it was worth a mention here. I tend to be accessing the Guild between 9 AM and 6 PM M-F, EST.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The forum has once again been giving me massive slowdown, especially for the Tavern.

[Iñnsomñni]

I usually get slow thread downloads in the evening, but if i reload the thread it seems to work faster, also, larger threads (such as babe thread :embarassed:) seem to download slower than others, it seems to be downloading quickly this afternoon though :beam:

[Fenixx]

O.K.

This may be old news and already taken care of, but has anyone checked for spy ders.~:eek:

[pevergreen]

Currently Active Users: 304 (78 members and 226 guests)

Perhaps further limit what unregistered users can see?

I dont support an all out "You must register to see any part of this site" as another community I am part of does. They are even slower than this though. They do have upwards of 1000 members on normally though.

[TinCow]

It generally seems to be worst around midday (over here in the US).

This is my experience as well. Midday during the week EST, with no slowdowns on the weekends.

[Jochi Khan]

Forum is so slow this evening (UK) that it is almost impossible to browse from topic to topic.

[Makanyane]

for me too - about to give up now....

and some threads eg. in entrance hall I can't get into even if I leave them loading for 5mins plus :sad3:

[Mithrandir]

Aye, same here. Never had this problem before and other internetsites are fast as usual.

[FactionHeir]

Seems ridiculously slow ever since the beginning of April. Sometimes it goes quite fast, other times you can load a page for ages and it won't show up.

While in China, it was also slow during daytime (which is midnight-very early morning GMT and US)

[Brave]

I think Tosa said to me that the org is getting rather big, can it be so big as of yet to cause major problems?

[Adrian II]

For ten days now I've been experiencing major slowdowns, daily from late afternoon to late at night GMT. My computer, connection and ISP (I checked) were all hunky dory.

[Zim]

I experience a lot of slowdown around late morning, early after noon PST, which just happens to correspond to late afternoon to late evening GMT.

[Ludens]

I didn't notice any slowdowns until yesterday evening (around 21:00 GMT). I couldn't open threads in the hard- and software forum, but Mead Hall threads opened just fine. I usually log in a bit earlier (afternoon or early evening GMT), and haven't experienced this problem before.

[pevergreen]

There are just that many users.

I guess archiving faster, or upgrading the servers are the options? Im not that tech-savy though.

[Togakure]

Just wanted to report that, in the last two weeks, the time it takes for a page to load here has increased dramatically. At this point, it's almost not worth trying to read or write here because it takes so long to manuever from one thread to another. It reminds me of being back on dial-up--it's that bad.

This is my work PC; I am currently down at home and will check there when I bring it back up (this weekend, likely) to see if I have the same issues there. FYI.

[Dol Guldur]

I would also like to report significant slowdown this last week or so. It varies but sometimes it just loads so slow that I switch to another site and come back later.

[Spartan198]

I've had some minor slowdowns earlier today,but that might not be the forums since I had about six other windows open at the time.
(Political discussion. I'm sure you all know how that goes.)

[TosaInu]

The database was optimised last Friday, this should increase speed a bit.

[Adrian II]

The database was optimised last Friday, this should increase speed a bit.I had horrible slowdown last Sunday afternoon again.

Note to self and others
Let's eliminate other factors before we complain here.
And when posting, let's be short and provide details that TosaInu can work with: times, locations, any patterns you see.

[FactionHeir]

Could it be related to the high number of threads and psots?

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Octosquids! :inquisitive:
.

[Togakure]

Update: Response time is MUCH better tonight, from the same PC. Still not got the homestead up and running so I haven't been able to compare the two locations/services.

[Adrian II]

It has been much better here, too, since 2 days.

[Spartan198]

.
Octosquids! :inquisitive:
.
Say what? :inquisitive:

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Say what? :inquisitive:The Octosquids are a species of Molluscs. When found, scientists presumed them to be an entirely new species (although this theory was later disproved).

This discovery was mentioned in the Backroom where some members joked that it was an alien group here to take over the world. Since then its become a bit of a custom to blame abnormal events on Octosquids.

~:)

[Martok]

It has been much better here, too, since 2 days.
Ditto. There's still some delay, but it's not as bad as before.

[Ludens]

I had horrible slowdown last Sunday afternoon again.

It has been much better here, too, since 2 days.
Dito.

[TinCow]

I agree that there has been an improvement.

[Spartan198]

The Octosquids are a species of Molluscs. When found, scientists presumed them to be an entirely new species (although this theory was later disproved).

This discovery was mentioned in the Backroom where some members joked that it was an alien group here to take over the world. Since then its become a bit of a custom to blame abnormal events on Octosquids.

~:)
Oh.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

The forums been a bit slow for the past three-quarters of an hour (from at least 17:15 GMT).

~:)

[drone]

Very slow at the moment, been like this since about 11:30 EST.

[Ludens]

The forum is currently so slow I got a "cannot connect" message when trying to reply to this thread.

[Dol Guldur]

Same here - two minutes to get into this thread and almost a minute before this reply window came up.

[Tamur]

Oh, you all, stop complaining... if you think that's bad, I've been waiting so long to get this post through that meantime Ronaldinho has had time to reform his ways and relapse *twice*.

[Vladimir]

:laugh4: I couldn't' even get into the Forums slowing down thread!

[Mooks]

The org has been moving very slowly as well for me. I often have to bring up another window of another forum so I dont sit their bored waiting for the screen to load.

[TosaInu]

Hello,

It was very slow yesterday indeed. Response seemed to improve right after some optimisation.

[Martok]

Well it's somewhat better now, but I was having some real issues with the forums up until about half an hour ago. I suppose that could be chalked up (at least partially) to increased traffic, but still.... :sweatdrop:

[Caius]

Is there any logical reasons for this problem?

[Good Ship Chuckle]

I've had the following for months,

Everytime I enter a thread, I can usually move around for a few seconds, then it hangs. It usually hangs 20-30 seconds, and then everything works fine. When I enter another thread, the same happens.

Though, it doesn't happen in all threads.
:dizzy2:

I've actually had the same problem as well, but only when I use Internet Explorer. With firefox, I can immediately begin viewing the page even if it hasn't loaded all the way.
:study:

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

That's due to the different ways Firefox and IE load tables (which is what several aspects of the forum layout rely on). The Firefox engine (Gecko) draws tables progressively as it receives the data. Internet Explorer's engine (Trident), on the other hand, loads the table only after it has every last detail. There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods.

~:)

[Privateerkev]

Been having problems off and on for the past month seeing threads. I have a good connection at home, work, and school so I don't think it is on my end.

Right now, I am having a hard time getting into threads. Some take minutes to load.

Ironically, this thread was the quickest one to get into today. :clown:

[Ludens]

Right now, I am having a hard time getting into threads. Some take minutes to load.

Ironically, this thread was the quickest one to get into today. :clown:
Ditto and ditto.

[TinCow]

Yes, the slowdown is back as of today.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

It was slightly slow yesterday evening at around about 8:30 PM (GMT+1/BST), but everything seems quite a bit better this morning.

~:)

[Vladimir]

Yea right now it's flying but around 1600 EDT I couldn't get certain threads to open at all. Others took a while to load. The .org must have a huge spike in traffic around then.

[Good Ship Chuckle]

That's due to the different ways Firefox and IE load tables (which is what several aspects of the forum layout rely on). The Firefox engine (Gecko) draws tables progressively as it receives the data. Internet Explorer's engine (Trident), on the other hand, loads the table only after it has every last detail. There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods.

~:)
My goodness Omanes, you are very well informed. I cannot help but wonder what your occupation is.
:lam:

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

My goodness Omanes, you are very well informed. I cannot help but wonder what your occupation is.
:lam:I do a lot of reading when I've got nothing much better to do.

Thanks for the complement BTW :bow:

[Good Ship Chuckle]

Ah. Fascinating. All that information from reading alone. Astounding.

(Now being relevent to the thread)
It seems that the Org has gotten faster recently.