Archives vs. big posts vs. galleries

[Numerous One]

DTravel, my friend, if I haven't been experiencing a tremendous performance loss as posters kept posting more and more pics in one turn, I wouldn't have started this in the first place.
"This has been discussed before" - but in fact without providing the better solution, that is now available, BTW - isn't much helpful.
After all, having standards established at one point, and putting a halt to any further attempts to improve things, wouldn't have made VEF, during the course of time, the great place it is now.

Originally Posted by DTravel

Most people don't have any problem with download a single 500k to 1meg image file. A single thumbnail (180x180 pixels) image is usually about 5 to 10k in size. A little basic math would indicate that it should only take about the same amount of time for your browser to load 100 thumbnails as it does for one to download a single typical full size image.
Personally I doubt that the number of thumbnails is the cause of some users' webpage loading time issues.

If that's true, how come I don't have any problems loading "lightweight" pages, without a tote bag of thumbs, while opening most of those graphically over-encumbered pages put my browser to a stall. And we are talking about the same browser, with the same extensions, and always the same software/hardware environment. Obviously, the math is not that simple.
Rendering one page, with a single pic of 1 MB, isn't necessarily, under all circumstances, equal to 10K x 100. And then, you have to take different image hosts chosen by different members on a single page into account.
It all takes a bit more time than loading a single page with an image of the equivalent weight (not to mention residues in the cache that help rendering a single (image host) page with one new element).

Please, take this into consideration, I can find a bunch of "pro" arguments for the suggested method, and none on the "contra" side.

Posters loose nothing, and the benefit for the downloaders, as well for the board's servers is obvious.

What downsides in the suggested method do you see?

For all the unfaithful Thomases, follow the above pointed links

Originally Posted by nylonfan

I've tried it for page 27 in my lace stockings thread

and

Originally Posted by AMON

I've tried the suggested method on my Anya thread
http://www.vintage-erotica-forum.com...43#post2059243

compare it to the previous heavy load posts, and tell me it isn't an obvious improvement, to the page layout as well as to the loading speed.


There it is, I did it again. I apologize for the verbosity.

Until this came out, I've actually been mainly resolved to add something else to this discussion.

As nylonfan said above:
@ AMON: thank you
and
@ the very same nylonfan: thank you


But above all else:
big thanks to buttsie for the "Pale Moon" revelation. I've never heard of it before. Installed it, and it works perfectly.
Right as the "Firefox" once used to be, the fastest and the most reliable browser. Before it became so inexplicably slow and unstable I couldn't open most of the pages as fast as it used to be the case with the older versions,
nor save, depending on a luck, approx. every second page, without an error report of some kind, thus making me an irreversible "Opera" convert.

Check out buttsie's post here.

It works faster and smoother than any newer version of the original "Firefox", or the "Opera", at least for me.

Yeehaw, I can use the "ImageHost Grabber" again!!!
("BID" starts to piss me off!)

[DTravel]

You're suggestion is a global restriction to address a local problem. Not everyone experiences the problems you do.

It makes it more difficult for posters. It already takes a lot of work to create and post the material you are getting for free.

Frankly, I've stopped posting on other forums that started putting in place these kinds of restrictions on posters. It just makes it more trouble than its worth and most of them withered and died not too long afterwards as posters stopped bothering jumping thru all the hoops.

Now, you'll have to forgive me if I sound snappish but I've been working my ass off for the last several weeks and only getting five or six hours of sleep a night for that time so I'm not really in the proper frame of mind to deal with this. Make this a rule and I'll just stop posting here too. It won't be worth the trouble anymore.

[nylonfan]

Originally Posted by DTravel

You're suggestion is a global restriction to address a local problem. Not everyone experiences the problems you do.

It makes it more difficult for posters. It already takes a lot of work to create and post the material you are getting for free.

First of all, from my side this in only a suggestion. Since me and someone else (not all) experience this effect, we'll try to find a relief. On a voluntary base, not on a new restriction. And maybe, this prevents the one or other restriction in future.

I have a really deep respect to posters with 1000+ excellent posts and I accept that they don't have the time to "streamline" the post for others. So let me say a big big "thank you" to you and all the members here giving us so much!

From my side, I am willing to spend a little (really only a little) more time to make life easier for other members getting content from here. But I respect that not all have the time to do that. Those which wanted to do, me and some others want to give them some hints and guidance. Nothing more.

[DTravel]

I'm a little less cranky at the moment. Hopefully I'll even sound less cranky. Probably not.

I personally have trouble listening to complaints about how slow loading times are. I'm on an American DSL connection (actually slightly less than that but close enough for this). Most of the rest of the world doesn't consider the speeds I get on that to even BE high-speed internet. Yet the only time I, rarely, see the kinds of slow page loads that some complain about and that prompted this thread are when there is an actual, call tech support and hear them say "Ya, that's not right", problem with the connection or I'm trying to download a dozen files at once while opening a similar number of web pages. I learned patience.

There are a number of other potential (I'm tempted to say probable) causes for people having slow page loads. The one I think is most likely is a cheap ISP that throttles users bandwidth. (Yes, I understand that some have limited or even no choice about ISPs. You have my sympathies.) Other possibilities are too many other processes running (and yes, that WILL slow how fast your browser displays) or too many background programs installed that want constant or frequent contact with the company's servers for "anti-piracy" reasons. (And yes, they do still contact the company's servers even when they're not running. Guess why I don't buy computer games anymore.) Too many browser plug-ins and add-ons. Too much reliance on ad-blockers which have to see the data coming from the spam site before they can block it. (Just block a bunch of those sites in your computer's hosts file so that your browser CAN NEVER EVEN CONNECT TO THEM and watch your speed go up.)

There are other things people can try. Turn signatures and avatars off in your UCP. I've seen that alone make a big difference on other forums.

I've tried the "post a small sample set and a RAR link" strategy before. And watched the number of views, replies, thanks (or equivalents) and downloads DROP by 50 to 80%. Most people like being able to SEE thumbnails of all the pics before deciding to download and if they don't, they just pass the post by. Now, I don't think of myself as any kind of "heavyweight" or having a big rep or whatever but I have been doing this for some years and seen a number of forums come and go. I've even had enough inside contacts and electronic friends to have some idea what went wrong with some of them. I've seen this kind of suggestion become a rule shortly before two good sized forums went downhill and eventually shut down and there wasn't any other change to account for it. (As well as other forums where it was one in a package of changes that led to the forum's demise.) So my personal experience says, no matter how good an idea it sounds like in theory, in practice it doesn't work.

I'm still sounding too cranky, so I'm going to have to step out of this discussion. Hopefully someone can translate my CrankyOldMan language into something understandable.

[Numerous One]

To DTravel,
No, mate, you don't sound too cranky... now
Please, don't get me wrong.
All that you said above gave me an insight to the "contra" side, I haven't been able to see. No translation needed.

Strange as it may sound, I too happen to feel the deepest respect for the poster with 4000+ posts.

No! I'd never want to trade such fine board member for a bit of speed improvement (if at all), nor I would want to see him waving good bye to the board as he rides into the sunset (while gazing at his backpack stuffed with fine files gives me an instant urge to curse my long tongue), even if he might be a CrankyOldMan language native speaker now and then. Just joking. These are your words, I didn't say it, and I don't mean it.
I love VEF cause it is cosy and entertaining place, and mainly looking for some fun.

And even if I deeply disagree with some statement, I'd always hit the "thanks" button prior to saying anything further, because it is a contribution. Looking at a problem from different perspectives helps solving it.

With no further ado, off to upload something - to be frank, download a bit more - and fast browse with my brand new "Pale Moon".

I bow to thee with the sincerest gratitude.

[DTravel]

Since I mentioned modifying one's Hosts file, I felt I should follow up with some more specific information. If you go to this URL: http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ you will find information on how to do this and a scarily long list of suggested sites to block.

[Numerous One]

I have decided to solve the issues, and first call was re-installing the OS. Actually, my smart ass OS decided it instead of me. Due to the fact I'm a proud "Windows" user, a regular bimonthly major crash was inevitable, especially after a necessary and long craved for RAM upgrade two days ago.

Originally Posted by DTravel

Since I mentioned modifying one's Hosts file, I felt I should follow up with some more specific information. If you go to this URL: http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ you will find information on how to do this and a scarily long list of suggested sites to block.

DTravel, thanks for this exquisite, yet, one might think, so simple trick. In conjunction with now freshly installed OS and lightning speed agile "Pale Moon" it works perfectly. It works so good I got amazed: some of the ads/banners were so persistent I got so used to them that I've built up a habit of not noticing them anymore, and thought of them as regular page elements of often visited sites. This small, yet effective, "hosts" file completely demolished them. And pages are now so clean.

If anyone has the similar problem, try this out. It just works.
"Help section" deserves it's name and a good reputation.

[edgarcasey]

vbulletin hint of the week : you can also disable the display of signatures in your userCP (->edit options). i really hate the idea that VEF staff is now feeding the needs of attention whores (banner-sized images in signatures), so this hint is your safe house.

Wow, you mean I can make it so it's not the Tony Soprano forum anymore?

[hos]

no. but you can use it to avoid challenging the meaning of signatures inside completely different topics.

[MrInBetween]

Originally Posted by Numerous One

With PimpAndHost it's even easier, it kinda satisfies "both worlds": there is an option of downloading all the images at once as a zip archive PimpAndHost makes for the downloader.

Can you point out where this option is? I don't see it at all.

EDIT: I've discovered it on some posts, such as this:

Originally Posted by Not Really Me

Blonde Teacher and Redhead Cheerleader. http://www.pimpandhost.com/album/192...eerleader.html

but not on others, so I take it that an album is only created if you're a member of PimpAndHost, not if you're using it through the VEF image uploader. (Unless it would happen if you'd logged in first?)