New site performance

[Tim R.]

Phil, Maine Sail and Brian D. great job on the new site.

However, I have noticed some real performance issues with posts that have many imbedded photos. Check out the "I got lucky" thread. It might be a good idea to go back to thumbnails instead of the full, high res photos right in the thread.


What do you guys think?

I just tried it again and it is faster. I think it was slow before because I clicked on the icon to go directly to the last post and that post had a hi-res photo linked.

 

[Maine Sail]

Tim..

There are two ways to post/host photos. The thumbnails you see have been "uploaded". The larger photos have been "linked to". It seems one of the photos that is linked to in that post is too large and is blowing out the formatting.

I don't know if there is a way to put a max size on "linked" images and Phil would know best.

 

[Tim R.]

Thanks Maine Sail. I do understand the difference between the two types of photos. As you know I have a little experience in the field

I love the ability to post a hi-res photo and would hate to see a limit but creating a thumbnail for linked photos so we are not dependent on the perfomrance of that other site may be usefull.

 

[Maine Sail]

Tim..

Thanks Maine Sail. I do understand the difference between the two types of photos. As you know I have a little experience in the field

I know you understand this but others may not..


That other site was Pbase, the same one I use, and it can be slow at times especially when trying to link to an "original" size file.

I did edit that post and re-sized his image to the "large" setting from the "original" setting to salvage the formatting. Original sized images from most photo hosting sites should not be used here as they will load slower and blow out the threads formatting.

Most photo hosting sites use very heavy compression on all but "original" sizes and they will load faster and will usually fit this sites formatting.

With linked photos, whether it be from Jamestown distributors, Photobucket, Smugmug, Pbase or any other the photos loading speed is dictated, as you know, by that sites speed.

Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[Phil Herring]

Re: Tim..

The two photos combined are about 550Kb which is enough to slow things down. the thumbnails are about 4kb each. To my knowledge, we have no control over images that are linked in. I'll check around to see if someone has hacked a solution.

 

[Frank Ireton]

Nice site. Looks pretty now. Too bad it is dysfunctional. My photos are gone, can't find my name in member search unless I use your new assigned name, date I joined HOW is messed up, date of last visit is wrong, navigating forums is not easy, directed to site talk forum in e-mail but that is now changed, can't post new threads...

Also, is this now a popularity contest? What is with the Site-izen rating? I don't think that adds anything to the site except for those who are on an ego trip. After a number of years viewing the site, including using it to sell my boat, I am not sure I want to continue using the site..

 

[LooseDiamond]

I like it and it is very fast relative to the old. As for now, what is the best route for posting pics? Upload or link to photobucket?

 

[Maine Sail]

I think

I like it and it is very fast relative to the old. As for now, what is the best route for posting pics? Upload or link to photobucket?

I feel linking is easiest seeing as you've already spent the time to upload them to the web but if you have a new photo, not already on Photobucket, do try the upload feature..

 

[Maine Sail]

New Threads

can't post new threads...

You can't post a new topic from within a thread. If you clicked on a thread and are reading a thread you can only reply to it.

In order to post a new topic you'll need to be back in one of the forums like:

Ask All Sailors (LINK)

at the top of each forum you'll see this:

Click on it and you'll be posting a new thread in Ask All Sailors.

There is also a hierarchy of links right above the:

button which will take you directly to certain areas of the site such as the one at the top of this thread: SailboatOwners.com > Shared Forums > Ask All Sailors

After a number of years viewing the site, including using it to sell my boat, I am not sure I want to continue using the site..

Really sorry you feel that way. Most of the responses thus far have been very positive. Please do remember that this is a MAJOR undertaking and the old software was no longer supported and it was crashing multiple times per day. This was not an easy decision for Phil & Bly and it was not by choice. Prior to this lunch considerable time was spent and multiple platforms were beta tested and thrown out due to concerns of "I hate the new site". Please remember this is FREE service provided to use by Phil & Bly and they don't need to do it but they do. They offer the sailing community a great service for FREE!!

Most of the imports were and have been done manually as the software programs did not seamlessly integrate. Phil has been spending countless hours trying to move all the old photos and other items so please be patient. This site was supposed to launch a long time ago but the hours spend building it out took MUCH longer than expected.

Given time I think you'll see the benefits of the new vBulletin software format. Yes it is different and a change but it is better in many, many ways and offers TONS more features..

Go easy on Phil and remeber it's FREE!!

 

[rpwillia]

What Happened to the 310 Forum

I like being part of the larger Catalina community, but such an abrupt change with very little warning is a bit disconcerting. I realize there were problems with the old site, such as search that just didn't work, but a little warning would have helped.

 

[Brian D]

I like being part of the larger Catalina community, but such an abrupt change with very little warning is a bit disconcerting. I realize there were problems with the old site, such as search that just didn't work, but a little warning would have helped.

310 Forum is here: http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/forumdisplay.php?f=111

And, I do believe there was plenty of warning this was coming. Phil announced it several months ago. He even posted new site images on the home page and also within the Ask All Sailors forums.

Nice site. Looks pretty now. Too bad it is dysfunctional. My photos are gone, can't find my name in member search unless I use your new assigned name, date I joined HOW is messed up, date of last visit is wrong, navigating forums is not easy, directed to site talk forum in e-mail but that is now changed, can't post new threads...

Also, is this now a popularity contest? What is with the Site-izen rating? I don't think that adds anything to the site except for those who are on an ego trip. After a number of years viewing the site, including using it to sell my boat, I am not sure I want to continue using the site..

Frank, the site is very easy to navigate. Because it is different, it will take some getting used to. If you go to Site Talk you will find tips on how to do simple tasks that make navigating around easy. Your User Name, if you don't like it you can change it to what ever you want. Again, Site Talk has info on how to do that.

Give the site a chance. It is different, yes, but it is better, faster, more reliable.

 

[Tim R.]

No whining allowed here

Sorry guys, I was nitpicking. I love the new site and very much appreciate all the work that went into it. I am faced with users every day reluctant to change and for some, they will never embrace it.

For those that no longer like this site, here are some things to remember:

THIS SITE IS FREE. People have sacrificed their personal time to make this transition as smooth as possible. Show a little class and at least thank them even if you decide to leave. Have you ever benefitted from this site? Has it ever saved you money?

Have you ever contributed for someone elses benefit? If so, then please stick around and give it another try but do not complain about it.

 

[Scott B]

Re: Tim..

My picture is one of the two that are linked. I used Photobucket to host the pics. I just checked and noticed that my pic is 337000 bytes ( ?? kb). Should I be uploading them here and then thumbnailing, reducing in size or ?????


BTW I love the new site and after hearing so much about it ahead of time and after checking out the previews, was anxious to check it out. I'm sure it will only improve once the gremlins are worked out and the whining dies down.

 

[Maine Sail]

Scott..

My guess is that you are using an original sized file.

The photos I posted just below yours in post #19 are 65.31 KB vs. yours at 329 KB? I'm fairly sure Photobucket offers smaller versions or compressed versions for web use or hyperlinking?

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

Takes some getting used to, though

The new site looks good but takes a bit of getting used to. What I liked about the old site but can't seem to do on the new one(unless I'm missing something in the looking) is the ability to look at an initial post for a thread and perhaps a bit of the thread by scrolling down if I want, then click on the previous or last icon and move on to the next thread instead of hitting the back browser button.

 

[Tim R.]

You can also use mspaint in windows to resize a hi-res photo. I will usually go in and resize my photos by 50% and then save as JPGs. This will take a 2MB file down to about 50k and still look great on the website.

Another observation when playing with uploads. After uploading an image and you save your message it creates a thumbnail, you can go to your attachments via "your control panel" and get the url of that attachment and imbed it in your message and remove the thumbnail. Here is a photo I uploaded to SBO a few months ago:

 

[Phil Herring]

Re: Takes some getting used to, though

Oldiesrocker... so, did you use the Next Post and Previous Post links?

I'm pleased to hear that... it was hard to build and processor intensive and I didn't think anyone used it.

I don't think there's an equivalent here but there is a nice nav feature called Breadcrumbs at the top and the bottom of each screen that will take you back to the main menu.

I'm not sure if we can reproduce 'next post' here but I'll look into it.

 

[Brian D]

There is a "Previous Thread | Next Thread" function at the bottom of the window directly below the reply box and looks like this:

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

And... one can change the way the forums look by using this link:

Display Modes

This is found at the top of the page jsut above hte original post.



Hope that helps.
​

 

[Stillraining]

Great improvement to the site..I noticed my posting times are off when viewed in the actual thread but correct for my time zone on the main menu..can that be changed to match?

PS: Nice polish job Tim...I know who you have been learning from..

 

[Stillraining]

OK Mods

OK Mods...Heres one for ya..

I can get a U-tube link to post but would like to be able to post the actual screen shot...I cant seem to do it...Does it have to do with the fact that HTML is off??