timeout issues with this server

[gregoryf]

Hi there

 

Sorry for my first post being in regard to a problem, and sorry if it is out of place (both in the forum sense and in the "keep your nose out" sense).

 

I have registered on here finally (long time visitor, first time registrant) and am having nothing but trouble trying to actually read any of the threads.

 

Is your server particularly overloaded today?

 

If so have you considered (or indeed do you already have) caching software in place?

 

Another thing I am having a major issue with is actually trying to read the pages when they do eventually show up - the site is ad supported (nothing wrong with that at all) but there appears to be no consistency with regard to basic design - a mishmash of colours, fonts and badly placed ads make reading this site a chore rather than the extremely knowledgeable site it actually is.

 

Even as I post this I see a purple texted ad (that would not look out of place on word 97) on a mustard background, above further ads on mint green with red, black and green underlined text. The ads may well be something I am interested in but I can't read them - they are just too distracting.

 

Scrolling up above this text entry box I see (in no particular order) red, blue, black, white, pink (at least 3 different shades), brown.

 

I know this forum does some incredibly good work but unfortunately just trying to browse the forum itself is practically impossible - everything is clamouring for attention at the same time and failing to do so precisely because of the competition each link is under.

 

My rant is over for now, but please consider my points.

[kiptower]

strange never realy had the problem, as for the ads, yep they pay for the site, colour not a problem either

 

as its not a shop/website trying to sell , it does not need the frills and flashing lights to be honest

[MARTIN3030]

Yep more concerning is some peeps who take liberties with usernames.

[gregoryf]

Hi Martin

 

Do you mean me?

 

I am doing nothing wrong with that - user profile has an area where I can type in my web address so finding my website is trivial. I just tend to use a few (3 or 4) usernames across all the forums I frequent, this is one of them.

 

To convert my username into a web address and then go and look at it requires someone to actually do it manually, which doubtless very few people would actually bother to do.

 

You may not appreciate it yet but I am completely on the side of this forum's aims - I have explored a number of threads and followed links, done my own google searches stemming from them and even as I type I am playing several of dcamaggots' audio streams on youtube so I can take more information in at the same time.

 

Should you find it necessary to change my username and have a valid reason for doing so (pseudonyms actually being the norm on this forum notwithstanding) then please feel free to do so and notify me of my new username by email.

 

My name's Greg, I am sure that you could if so desired come up with a suitable username based on that.

 

I am not on here to advertise, spam or otherwise disrupt this forum - I am sure that you have enough members from the various DCAs trying their best to disrupt this site anyway (I have been on at least one tonight that is doing their best to discredit this site but is not really getting anywhere).

 

My site, should you actually wish to visit, is focused on issues that have affected me and many of them have been against large companies thus showing that one dissenting voice will be treated differently and more favourably than someone in the same situation blindly accepting whatever is thrown at them.

 

I have a constant monitor on my server (a ssh window showing my apache log file) and I can see from that alone that I am not the only person with issues like my own simply from the referer string passed - I see constant google queries that bring people to my page from all over the world.

 

Mine is just a simple site that I update when something happens to me or I discover something that I think "I'll store that for later" and google happily sends people my way.

 

I don't have a forum, hundreds of members or anything like that, just one man blogging about his daily life and events that unfold around him. Some of this helps others or points them in the right direction, some of it even becomes international news (if anyone read about the Google Nexus One being out of stock before it went on sale on Vodafone UK recently that story broke because I blogged about it and I had national press talking to me as well as the story being a front page featured story on MSN tech and no end of technology sites).

 

As I am so keen on saying, "one man can make a difference" and on this forum you have many "one man" people that are slowly making a change to attitudes in this country which I can only commend you for and this is why I have joined.

 

My original post was never meant to be negative, quite the opposite in fact - I was trying to give you a perspective from someone that was struggling to take in the mountain of information thrown at you from each page.

[gregoryf]

The below is an edit or new post depending on your forum setup:

 

I see someone (ip 78.148. followed by 2 numbers 96 apart from each other) has searched google for my email address which is set to only be shown to administrators (told you I monitor ).

 

My domain has catchall email, whatever @ labby co uk will get to me so I tend to use the domain name that I register with, mainly so I know where to point my finger should spam start arriving in my inbox. For those of you with your own domain names I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

 

Unfortunately for those searching for me by a full email address they would realistically only find my domain as well as their own listing in google. Searching for just my domain name in quotes "" will bring up much more interesting information.

[MARTIN3030]

Thank you for your detailed post.

I dont think its appropriate to be discussing individual members account registrations on the open forum-its not the way we do things.

Perhaps you will keep your eyes open for a pm.

[gregoryf]

Back to the original post:

 

The timeout issues appear to have stopped suggesting simple congestion was the cause.

 

Per my comments regarding the site layout it appears that it was mentioned previously and bankfodder states:

Well, you are wrong to say that it is poorly designed.

 

Actually it is not designed at all and in a way we have outgrown our original structure and frankly I don't know what to do about it.

 

Partly the problem is that I'm not a web-designer and no one on the team is and secondly, we have ZERO resources so we aren't able to pay people to do the kind of study that is needed to understand the problems, the solutions and to implement them.

I will happily help out if you want, gratis.

 

I am fluent in PHP, mysql and to be honest pretty much every language out there, not too long ago I was a developer for an open source game but I had to stop due to family issues at the time. Now I am back on an even keel and have nothing but free time on my hands.

 

The comments made by bankfodder actually fitted with my opinion of the site - not that it was badly designed, purely that it had taken on a life of its own with each contribution making the site more and more unrecognisable from its simple vBulletin beginnings.

 

If the truth be told there is not much that needs doing - just a matter of stripping the colour out of the posts, moving the ads from the left to the right, redesigning them slightly and getting rid of or resizing the massive header on the top of every page, none of which is the biggest task in the world.

 

A simple SQL statement could be used to remove formatting and colour from all the posts.

 

Moving the ads from left to right would be nothing more difficult than cutting and pasting a section of code slightly down the page.

 

Shrinking the header could be achieved easiest by making it a collapsible div that is visible by default but could be toggled by a new setting in the user control panel.

 

All these changes are extremely trivial and could pretty much have been done in the time it took me to type this post.

[MARTIN3030]

When was Bankfodders post if you dont mind me asking ?

The site has seen many changes and restructure in the last few months.

Our Webmaster is more than capable and enthusiastic to carry the site forward to meet the challenges.

I think its a little premature for you to be thinking nothing is being done.

[gregoryf]

12th May 2010, 16:37

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/consumer-forums-website-questions/257159-website-poorly-designed-confrontational.html#post2924100

 

I only quoted a small part from the thread, the rest of the thread makes it clear that he is acutely aware of the problem, but nowhere does he say that it is being dealt with.

[MARTIN3030]

So now you have your new name-Rome wasnt built in a day.

[letsdothis]

The big banner type thingy that Greg is on about is easily resolved by adding a simple statement to the Navbar code. What would happen then is by your own choosing, the HTML shown to visitors / members could be restricted or less obtrusive to members, as well as have the added effect of more members joining, to lose some of the adverts.

 

Personnally, it don't make a difference to me, this site is valuable for it's content, not it's looks.

 

As for the timeout issues, these are definitely occuring. I have them quite frequently.

[MARTIN3030]

I will send a link to this thread to Webmaster:rolleyes:

[letsdothis]

I will send a link to this thread to Webmaster:rolleyes:

 

Clear some space in your PM box as well mate.

[MARTIN3030]

One thing at a time;)