Hi,

I'm having some trouble with our site, now I'm not the designer I'm the programmer but the site is loading pretty slowly and I'm trying to figure out a way to speed it up. I've checked the image sizes and there's nothing bigger than 5k but there are alot of images, most of them considerably smaller than that(buttons and the like) but a couple are up there.

Is the number of images the likely cause? If it is is there someway to improve this without changing the design(buying more bandwidth or something)? Any ideas would be appreciated since it really looks choppy right now - especially since there is a large background image that's sliced and it looks particularly bad when it loads one bit at a time.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.

Cat

If the site has a lot of navigation images/buttons, a good idea would be to create an image map for them.

Don't include any CSS or JavaScript in any of the pages, but create separate pages for them and have the files be called from each page.

Try condensing directory and file names (if possible), to reduce the number of characters in your coding. This, in some cases can help to severely reduce the page's file size, depending on how many links and requests there actually are to your server.

There are also many other ways to clean up your coding and remove unnecessary characters to reduce loading time. There's a great article at SitePoint (http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1106?) that covers more on this.

And lastly the only other thing I can suggest is to check on your site's server speed, by going to http://centralops.net/co (I think that site has the right tools to do this). It could come down to the fact that your site is simply on a terribly slow server and/or network.

There are many techniques you can use to cut down on the amount of code you use and make use of graphics more efficient, even if most of them are very small. Can you post a link to your site to everyone can experience the problem and give specific recommendations?

Also, is it possible the problem has to do with your host? Have you tried running a bandwidth simulator to test its speed outside of your server?

Ok, please take into account that the site is nowhere near done but the design outline is there. There's no content at this time and the page with the design in question will be opening into a smaller window - that's why the design is smaller than the current window. Just click the link on the index page - this will of course be different as well but for the moment other projects have taken precedence over this one and it hasn't been designed.

cl2webs.com (it won't allow me to post a url until after I've made 5 posts)

If you click on the links, especially the tab links you'll see what I mean about the staggering when it loads. I don't have a tool to check the bandwidth, I checked the suggested site but didn't see anything for checking server speeds, if someone knows somewhere I can check that that would be great.

Another option I'm thinking is if there is a way to hold the graphics back so that they don't display until they've all loaded, put a brown background on the page and then use a timer to have them all display at the same time. If anyone knows a technique for doing this.. or if it's even possible that would great. Thanks again.

Cat

Originally posted by Caatt
Ok, please take into account that the site is nowhere near done but the design outline is there. There's no content at this time and the page with the design in question will be opening into a smaller window - that's why the design is smaller than the current window. Just click the link on the index page - this will of course be different as well but for the moment other projects have taken precedence over this one and it hasn't been designed.

cl2webs.com (it won't allow me to post a url until after I've made 5 posts)

If you click on the links, especially the tab links you'll see what I mean about the staggering when it loads. I don't have a tool to check the bandwidth, I checked the suggested site but didn't see anything for checking server speeds, if someone knows somewhere I can check that that would be great.

Another option I'm thinking is if there is a way to hold the graphics back so that they don't display until they've all loaded, put a brown background on the page and then use a timer to have them all display at the same time. If anyone knows a technique for doing this.. or if it's even possible that would great. Thanks again.

Cat

I have no problem with loading time when I took a look. Could it possibly be your internet connection?

Also, if you're wondering about preloading the images, there is a way to do it. I wouldn't recommend it considering I have no problem what so ever with your pages loading time. I am on the other hand using cable.

I'm on cable too... could be that I'm being overly picky all the images load quickly I guess but it's more the way it's so staggered... I guess that's just the result of there being so many of them. Thanks for the opinion, if you think it's ok I'll cease with my nitpicking :D

Cat

Loads fine for me also :cool:

Loaded instantly for me. And the images do appear to be fairly simple in terms of colors and make-up, so I can't see them being slow-loading through dialup (though I didn't check actual file sizes.

I didn't even get a load bar. It just instantly appeared. This is one of the fastest loading sites I've seen. Hope that sets your mind at ease!

Paul H

hmmm...interesting. i see what you mean Caatt...

when i clicked on the links, the menu jagged and 'reloads', in a way. i checked your code, and nothing seem to be odd at all.

my website is more or less the same as yours, i've use includes for my navigation, and images as my links. but one difference is, i've preloaded my navigation images... ;)

but i am not sure if preloading will help you, you might want to try that? if not, i really have no clue on what's making it so. ;-/

<edit>
i've just went back, i didn't close the page, and when i browse around, there aren't any more 'distortion'...so my best guess is you should preload your navigation images... ;)

try to use a blend of jpg, gif and png for your images to find the best and smallest size possible for your website ;)
</edit>

Yep, loads fine for me...i really dont see a problem with the load time at all.

i forgot to add, i'm behind an edu connection. ;)

Thanks everyone - I appreciate the input. It looks as though my connection or computer must be slow - strange since it's broadband maybe my computer is due for an upgrade. As long as it loads fine for the rest of you I'll be happy. I'll take your advice and preload the nav images too. Thanks again.

Cat

I didnt find it all that slow...

loads fine, i didnt find it slower