Anyone having forum speed issues?

[Rob Beckers]

I've received a report of very slow forum response when composing/previewing/posting messages. If you are are having speed issues please post here or send me a PM, so I can find out if this is an isolated or structural problem.

Right now I'm scratching my head as to what could cause slow responses. The server computer is a very fast dual-processor box with almost no load on it. The Internet connection is automatically checked for speed every hour and this is logged (Through an application called TcpIQ for those that know it), and it's showing full bandwidth. What could cause slowdown is the automated nightly backup, it starts at 2pm EST every night and runs for about 30 minutes. Possibly some function in the forum software is hanging? The forum uses vBulletin, which has a very solid reputation. Response times for me (locally) are lightning fast, so if the software was causing delays I would have to notice them too...

If there is a speed issue I certainly want to find out about it, and fix it!

-Rob-

[Paul Bailey]

No speed issues at all and I'm on slow speed dial up,so all seems normal. One question , in the top left box upon signing in it shows a number of new posts since signing in Last.. Lets say it tells me there are 10 new posts. I open the new posts indicator in this box and here there may be only 3 new ones .. Are these supposed to align??? Have a good weekend..Paul:)

[Rob Beckers]

Hi Paul,

The "new posts" indicator should be accurate, in that when you open it you should see a list of that number of threads and they should be 'new'. The problem is that it will also count (and show) the news articles that get posted on the main page, down the middle. These news articles are stored in a forum, like regular threads, so they get counted too. They're automated, coming in from an RSS feed, and getting deleted automatically after XX days.

I'll see if I can hack the code to exclude the news articles forum. There's a SQL statement somewhere that does the article count, modifying it should do the trick.

-Rob-

[Paul Bailey]

That would explain it ..Thanks again.Paul

[Rob Beckers]

That would explain it ..Thanks again.Paul

This is turning out to be not quite as easy as one would want...
I've changed the "new posts" link at the top navigation bar (that appears on every page) so it excludes the news articles. Modifying the count in the personal info block on the left-upper part does not seem easily possible (without a much better understanding of how the code works than I have). So, I've switched that off entirely. It won't display the "new posts" link there any more.

In short, to get a list of new posts please click the "new posts" link in the nav bar (at the top-middle).

-Rob-

[Mark Parsons]

Hi Rob,

I did notice about April 3 - 5 some page requests hanging extraordinarily long. A couple of times it required me to re-log in when connection was re-established. I am on a DSL connection.

When things start hanging I now copy my post text to a word doc. Otherwise, the post gets lost in the recovery.

Maybe some packets getting lost or corrupt in the pipe along the way, or maybe just something slightly out of whack in the wonderfully un-complex world of Bill Gates...:rolleyes:

Good luck in your troubleshooting.

Mark

[Rob Beckers]

As some of you may have noticed we lost Internet connectivity for quite a while yesterday, and again last night through about 9am this morning. This was thanks to a snow storm yesterday, combining high wind with very heavy, wet snow. I've noticed that the connection is still coming and going, which probably means they're still working on the lines, and suspect this may continue for the rest of today and possibly beyond. So, please bear with us, if you can't reach the forum there's nothing wrong with Green Power Talk, they're just working on the lines.

Why they can't dig those lines into the ground is beyond me (Being from Europe, where that was done in most places over 30 years ago)...

-Rob-

[Mario De Castris]

Hello Rob,

My connection is true a satellite, it's been for a few years and is the old KU band, almost all day yesterday I did not have connection neither to the point that I was blaming my computer because the weather at my place was not all that bad. Even though it's working today is still very slow. It's true what you say about Europe, when I was back home two years ago I see them bearing high voltage main line all along the highway to Torino getting ready for the Olympics?. I guess in some poor countries they are still spending money on improving services.

Mario