ASF Site Performance

[Julia]

I'm glad to know it's not just me having the same problem.
All is fine this evening.
Hugely irritating to lose a detailed post (the 'saved content' isn't saved) after spending quite some time putting it together.

 

[nulla nulla]

.....Also, a brief reply to a post is usually OK, but if I'm replying in any detail to multiple posts, by the time I click on Submit, it all just freezes. I have had to do a copy and paste, close down, restart the computer and log on again.
Really, really irritating. It is not happening with any other sites that I am using.

Same here Joe, after persistant problems trying to load detailed posts with the link freezing me out and refusing to load the post, I have given up posting detailed updates on many of the threads I previously supported. Only happens on this site, particularly evident since you made the changes to the "new posts" thread format.

 

[coolcup]

Only happens on this site, particularly evident since you made the changes to the "new posts" thread format.

Two birds with one stone hey nulla nulla?

Why would you link the two? Particularly given it doesn't happen on any other site, most of which use the "new" new posts format you have mentioned above.

 

[nulla nulla]

Two birds with one stone hey nulla nulla?

Just telling it how it is coolcup, no hidden agenda, nothing personal.

Why would you link the two? Particularly given it doesn't happen on any other site, most of which use the "new" new posts format you have mentioned above.

The timing of the posting difficulties appears related to the the timing of the changes. I believe that links the two. As to what happens on other sites, I see no reason for the ASF site to change to confirm with other sites because a minority want everything to be the same, have the same look and feel etc etc. Change for the better is good, change for the sake of change is a waste of time and, as it would seem in this site, causes more problems than it is worth.

Whether the posting problem is linked to the changes or not I don't know. Sometimes I think the amount of computer memory the advertising embeded in the pages uses, could be causing problems with posting detailed posts. Not-withstanding, it has been more noticable in the period since the changes.

 

[Julia]

The timing of the posting difficulties appears related to the the timing of the changes. I believe that links the two. As to what happens on other sites, I see no reason for the ASF site to change to confirm with other sites because a minority want everything to be the same, have the same look and feel etc etc. Change for the better is good, change for the sake of change is a waste of time and, as it would seem in this site, causes more problems than it is worth.

Whether the posting problem is linked to the changes or not I don't know. Sometimes I think the amount of computer memory the advertising embeded in the pages uses, could be causing problems with posting detailed posts. Not-withstanding, it has been more noticable in the period since the changes.

This hadn't occurred to me, but now that I think about it, you're right. Quite a coincidence if that's all it is.
And I have no axe to grind re the change. Don't use New Posts link anyway, just Today's Posts from the Quick Links header.

How would it be, Joe, if we went back to the original to see if the problem still occurs?

 

[coolcup]

I see no reason for the ASF site to change to confirm with other sites because a minority want everything to be the same, have the same look and feel etc etc. Change for the better is good, change for the sake of change is a waste of time and, as it would seem in this site, causes more problems than it is worth.

I second this. I never insisted on change for change's sake. I just mentioned that 99% of other forums choose the "new" approach, for information and that comment was taken on board in a very constructive way. Generally speaking, if such a vast majority of sites use the "new" approach for posting then it would seem we would need a very cogent reason to depart from the accepted norm. I haven't heard any such cogent reasons to date other than "I liked it how it was".

Anyway, this doesn't subtract from that fact you are having issues posting complex threads, and I really love reading the more in depth analysis provided by yourself and other forum regulars. That is what this forum is about and the technology should be supportive of the ease of presenting those thoughts rather than conforming to what other sites do. It is just a bit odd that other sites can support both the "new" way of presenting threads as well as supporting more complex posts, so my gut feel is that the problem lies somewhere else. Of course, this is just idle speculation on my part as well.

No hard feelings.

 

[Joe Blow]

Same here Joe, after persistant problems trying to load detailed posts with the link freezing me out and refusing to load the post, I have given up posting detailed updates on many of the threads I previously supported. Only happens on this site, particularly evident since you made the changes to the "new posts" thread format.

Nulla, that is disappointing to hear. Your contributions to various threads have been appreciated by myself and many others. I didn't realize the extent of the problems that some have been dealing with, as I am not experiencing these issues myself. I am aware that the new system puts more of a strain on server resources but I didn't realize that many people were experiencing serious issues with page loading times.

How would it be, Joe, if we went back to the original to see if the problem still occurs?

I will change it back on a trial basis after I submit this post. If those who have been experiencing issues could let me know if things improve I would be very grateful. I would also be interested in any feedback from those who have strong feelings one way or the other about either or the "New Posts" systems.

The only reason I made the change initially was to try and improve things and make ASF more useful to its users.

 

[tech/a]

I post more charts than most.
Rarely a problem.

 

[Julia]

Nulla, that is disappointing to hear. Your contributions to various threads have been appreciated by myself and many others. I didn't realize the extent of the problems that some have been dealing with, as I am not experiencing these issues myself.

Joe, as far as I'm aware, you are not in the habit of posting multiple responses to posts in any thread, so there would seem to be no reason why you would experience the problem some of us have.
As I said earlier, a single response to one post doesn't cause any problem, but using the multiquote link for responding to multiple (up to six) posts inevitably causes the whole to fail.

The screen I see when that happens, along with everything freezing, states that the site is offline and further states that this could be due to an overload.

I am aware that the new system puts more of a strain on server resources but I didn't realize that many people were experiencing serious issues with page loading times.

Plus there will be others who haven't happened to have logged on in the last couple of days, and/or who don't post often enough to make an issue of the problem to you.

I will change it back on a trial basis after I submit this post. If those who have been experiencing issues could let me know if things improve I would be very grateful. I would also be interested in any feedback from those who have strong feelings one way or the other about either or the "New Posts" systems.

The only reason I made the change initially was to try and improve things and make ASF more useful to its users.

I'm sure we all understand that. It seems, however, that pleasing one infrequent poster may possibly be causing considerable difficulties for others.
Thank you for trying the change back to the original.

 

[pixel]

I post more charts than most.
Rarely a problem.

ditto - no problems.
Could it be ISP-related? Mine is Vividwireless.

 

[Julia]

ditto - no problems.
Could it be ISP-related? Mine is Vividwireless.

If it were ISP related, why wouldn't other sites be similarly affected?

Have you, prior to this evening, often tried to use the multiquote link and post responses to six or so posts?
I don't recall seeing too many posts from you in this form, usually just a single response to a single post.

 

[nulla nulla]

I post more charts than most.
Rarely a problem.

The problem highlighted by Julia & myself was not the posting of charts but the instances of responding to multiple posts within a thread and/or a detailed post of substance which subsequently would not load.

Joe thanks for considering our request. The proof of the pudding will come from our ability or lack of it, to load detailed posts and/or responses to multiple posts in the near future. Thanks also for the feedback.

 

[Country Lad]

.................. but I didn't realize that many people were experiencing serious issues with page loading times.

Like tech/a, I haven't experienced a problem. I can't see how the changes could cause the problems a couple of people are having, there should not be a correlation.

 

[Julia]

Like tech/a, I haven't experienced a problem. I can't see how the changes could cause the problems a couple of people are having, there should not be a correlation.

Have you ever actually tried putting up a multiquote response, say six different posts with your six different responses between each? I've never seen any such posts from you.
Obviously it takes some time and what we are getting is a screen saying the site is offline/you have been timed out.

Joe, logging on this morning, it was quicker than for some time. Later will try a test multipost.

 

[Julia]

Even though it might take a little getting used to, I think the new system has more advantages. With the old system, when you logged out or timed out, all threads were marked as read and you never really knew what you had missed. Now you can log in for 10 or 15 minutes, log out, come back much later and still know what you have read and what you haven't.

I remember I used to get the question, "What's the difference between 'New Posts' and 'Today's Posts'?" The only answer I had was that 'New Posts' displayed threads with new posts since the last time you logged in and 'Today's Posts' displayed threads with new posts from the last 24 hours. I think that now that 'New Posts' only contains threads with unread posts there is a real and useful point of difference between the two options.

This is a test response to see if using the multiquote facility is more usable than previously where much time can be spent putting replies to multiple posts together then cannot be posted because one is timed out.

This! The new system is so much better. Makes it easier to log in and out when you have a few minutes waiting for the train or in a boring meeting without worrying that you have to read through every post or you will never find the ones you missed again. I am really pleased with the new system and glad I asked for the change in the first place!

So glad you're glad, coolcup. As above this is a test response to see if using the multiquote facility is more usable than previously where much time can be spent putting replies to multiple posts together then cannot be posted because one is timed out.

Joe,

I clicked [Today's Posts] at 8:40 AM today which returned only 38 forum entries with the oldest dated "Yesterday 11:29 AM"
https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24367&p=785270&viewfull=1#post785270

Surely there must be postings after 8:40 AM yesterday up to Yesterday 11:29 AM that are not being listed!!!

When I click [New Posts], the site displays no postings for yesterday AM!!!
-- I only read selected items and many are not read by me!

Were there were no postings yesterday!!

John

Again, just repeating for the sake of producing a test multiquote post. Just repeating for the sake of a multiquote test etc etc etc

John,

Not sure what the problem might be.

At this point I can only assume that you somehow clicked or selected "Mark Forums Read" somewhere around 8:40am yesterday. I just clicked "New Posts" and am getting the usual 10 days of unread threads.

Could others reading this thread please click "New Posts" and let me know if you are getting 10 days worth of unread threads or just 24 hours worth?

Further just adding to this to form multiquote post. It's surprisingly difficult to find alternative ways to say the same thing to achieve even minimal volume in a post.

Joe, it has taken me ten minutes to get this thread up!. Amongst it, I've had to log off and re-enter, after repeatedly getting the screen advice that the site is offline. This has been happening more and more frequently in the last few weeks.

Also, a brief reply to a post is usually OK, but if I'm replying in any detail to multiple posts, by the time I click on Submit, it all just freezes. I have had to do a copy and paste, close down, restart the computer and log on again.
Really, really irritating. It is not happening with any other sites that I am using.

Should also have mentioned that initial logging on can also be much slower than any other site which all come up instantly. As did ASF today.

Btw, Joe with the multiquote facility, there seems to be a maximum number which it will accept, dropping off a couple if one has exceeded, I think, five. That's OK.

This post has taken me only a couple of minutes, much less than if I were actually thinking through real responses, so time might not be an issue.

- - - Updated - - -

Straight through, no delay, no problem.

 

[Country Lad]

Have you ever actually tried putting up a multiquote response, say six different posts with your six different responses between each? I've never seen any such posts from you.

Do that regularly on other forums. That problem can occur anywhere and is quite common on most forums regardless of whether it is the "old" or "new" way as we are debating here. That is why I do the same as most people and paste the quotes in Word, type the complete post and then paste it into the forum reply. Can't lose it that way.

Cheers
Country Lad

 

[Julia]

So you individually copy and paste into Word all five or six posts to which you want to reply, intersperse your remarks between them, and then copy and paste into a single reply? Sounds like a lot of trouble.

I'd have thought the multiquote facility was there in order to avoid having to do something as time consuming as that.

Joe?

 

[Julia]

And it's not just the multiquote problem either, viz

Joe, it has taken me ten minutes to get this thread up!. Amongst it, I've had to log off and re-enter, after repeatedly getting the screen advice that the site is offline. This has been happening more and more frequently in the last few weeks.

Also, a brief reply to a post is usually OK, but if I'm replying in any detail to multiple posts, by the time I click on Submit, it all just freezes. I have had to do a copy and paste, close down, restart the computer and log on again.
Really, really irritating. It is not happening with any other sites that I am using.

+1 The site seems to be timing out when trying to log on.

 

[Country Lad]

So you individually copy and paste into Word all five or six posts to which you want to reply, intersperse your remarks between them, and then copy and paste into a single reply? Sounds like a lot of trouble.

I'd have thought the multiquote facility was there in order to avoid having to do something as time consuming as that.

No Julia, think about it. The issue you have is losing a long post - somehow it doesn't post and it it lost.

This is a common issue with all forums. It could be the fact that as you submit the reply, someone else is submitting at the same time in the same thread (the most common cause).

Or there is a hiccup with your ISP or with the forum server or the sun is setting, or NSW has won the SOO, or any of those odd reasons that posts are lost. Then you need to start all over again.

Safest way is to use the multiple quotes in the reply as normal so your reply now has them all. Copy and paste it to Word, then type your responses in between the quotes the same way as you would in the reply. When finished, copy from Word. Then in the reply window, highlight all those quotes (everthing) and paste.

This over-writes all those quotes, there is your complete response and all the multi quotes are unclicked. If the post doesn't go through (as can happen (often) you still have it in Word. Then just open the "Reply to Thread" window (that is not with the quotes) and paste again from Word.

The only additional thing you do is two copy and pastes, a few clicks of the mouse.

I always do the Word bit for lengthy posts, after losing many posts on all sorts of forums over the years. Even short posts, I automatically take the precaution just before clicking the "Reply" button, I highlight the whole post and copy it. That way, it is in memory and I can past it again if there is a hiccup and the reply doesn't work



Cheers
Country Lad

 

[Joe Blow]

So you individually copy and paste into Word all five or six posts to which you want to reply, intersperse your remarks between them, and then copy and paste into a single reply? Sounds like a lot of trouble.

I'd have thought the multiquote facility was there in order to avoid having to do something as time consuming as that.

Joe?

I will sometimes copy and paste a long post into a text file just in case something goes wrong when I submit it. That way I can just copy it back and try again, although I am finding that I am doing this less now that the auto save feature automatically saves your posts as you compose them.

The multiquote feature makes responding to multiple posts relatively simple but some still find it easier to format longer posts containing several quotes in a word processor or a text editor such as Wordpad before copying it back into the post editor when it is ready to submit.

On the issue of website performance, has anyone who has been experiencing issues with slow page loading times noticed an improvement since "New Posts" was changed back to the old system yesterday?