New tweaks to forum - Jan 27, 2011 (apc caching, server load info)

[mouser]

Couple of minor tweaks to the forum -- we've set up the APC caching library which should make the forum load faster.

We've added a line to the bottom of each forum page which will show how long the page took to render and the current server "load" (load of 1.0 means cpu is fully loaded; any value under 8 or so is good).  So if a page is slow to load for you, check this line at the bottom of the page -- if its showing fast render time and low server load, then it's probably a network connectivity problem.

I also tried to put back the selective quoting feature on the forum where you can select some text and then hit the quote button to quote only that text; still seems a bit flakey but hopefully that's just old js in the cache which will work itself out.

[Stoic Joker]

I also tried to put back the selective quoting feature on the forum where you can select some text and then hit the quote button to quote only that text; still seems a bit flakey but hopefully that's just old js in the cache which will work itself out.

Most cool! ...I've been missing that feature. Also, I can confirm the old js in cache theory. First 3 time I tried to do it here, it failed. So.. I leaned on Ctrl+F5 (for a 3 count), and then it started working just fine.

[Armando]

I've been missing that feature.

Just tried... it works. I've been missing it too !

[mouser]

New improvements (hopefully) and cleaning up of the register/signup page, hopefully make the process a little smoother AND to make the captcha harder for bots (not sure how many bots are getting through but pays to be pro-active since we are always on the alert for spammers).

[mahesh2k]

Why not add text-captcha (that question answer one) to forum sign up page ?

[mouser]

Why not add text-captcha (that question answer one) to forum sign up page ?

yes, i will be doing so.

[mahesh2k]

One more suggestion, restrict signature and profile URL field if posts are less than 10 for any user.

[mouser]

we already do that -- we let people edit these fields but they are not shown until they have made several normal posts.
actually letting the spammers SET those fields is helpful because they self-identify themselves as spammers early

[mahesh2k]

[cranioscopical]

I also tried to put back the selective quoting feature on the forum where you can select some text and then hit the quote button to quote only that text; still seems a bit flakey but hopefully that's just old js in the cache which will work itself out.

Praise be, it's working! 

[worstje]

Doesn't work for me. I guess it does not support Opera.

[mouser]

Remember to look at the bottom of forum pages if you find pages loading really slow for you.

We have been complaining lately to Softlayer (the hosting company) about a known problem on their network which is causing packet loss and real slowdown of page loading for lots of their customers at their Seattle data center.

And the one real way to tell if the slowdown is related to the DC server being slow or a wider network problem is to look at the "Page time" entry at the bottom of a forum page -- it shows how long it took the DC server to create and serve a page.  That will normally be < 1second.  If that is short and it took a long time for the page to load in your browser anyway, then you know the problem is not on our server but on the wider network.

[Ath]

it shows how long it took the DC server to create and serve a page.  That will normally be < 1second.  If that is short and it took a long time for the page to load in your browser anyway, then you know the problem is not on our server but on the wider network.

That probably doesn't include the load-time of any graphics on the page, like embedded images and user-avatars. I get page times often between 0.02s and 0.04s, but the entire page can take up to 10 seconds to load. Mostly depending on the amount of graphics, IMHO.

[mouser]

The page time displayed on the bottom of the page is how long it took the server to create it and send it to you.  The real time it takes you to get the page and all of the elements has to do with network speeds,etc.  That's basically what I'm trying to point out -- a way for you to tell if the problem is specifically with our server (if the Page time listed at the bottom of forum pages is high), or something else.