topic Re: SIte load process / performance in Community Site Feedback

SIte load process / performance

Townman — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 08:30:47 GMT

Of recent times (3 months?) I've noticed that site page loading is not as swift as it used to be. Most notably I see multiple changes of fonts, often starting with the normal Plusnet fonts, changing through one or more other fonts before finally rendering correctly. Sometimes these changes do not complete leaving the rendering incorrect.

The observed behaviour somewhat suggests...

Something is changing the CSS - is that code in the skin? If yes, why are there multiple sets of conflicting styles?
CSS files are being reloaded on every page load - why are they not set to be cached?
Why does the page sometimes end rendered incorrectly?

Re: SIte load process / performance

jaread83 — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 14:26:03 GMT

This seems to have been happening ever since the GDPR cookie banner was introduced (3 months ago). The banner itself lives in a central location and has its own JS, CSS and HTML markup. The banner has to import custom CSS into the page wherever it is called and with it comes the plusnet font being served from our servers. It may be conflicting with the community CSS as the font is hosted on our servers but the font I implemented here is hosted on the community servers. I will have to raise an internal bug to take a look at this so it can be investigated properly. Sometimes it works but sometimes it does not and I am unsure why this would happen.

Re: SIte load process / performance

Mayfly — Sun, 26 Aug 2018 06:52:29 GMT

I too have this problem tho' the incorrect font first happened much longer ago than 3months. I did ask about it and jarad83 replied to me, tho' I can't remember what his reply said or when I first asked the question.

Re: SIte load process / performance

penfold — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 18:01:11 GMT

I've noticed this recently too. The community site at times seems painfully slow with page loading. Fonts still disappear and reappear. Thought it was an issue with my setup, even though all other Web activity normal. Even pressing the back key, it seems to be reloading the page from scratch

Re: SIte load process / performance

Townman — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 19:08:26 GMT

Hi @jaread83,

Is there any news arising from the bug report please?

Re: SIte load process / performance

jaread83 — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 09:14:48 GMT

I beleive that some bugs have been fixed RE the GDPR banner (IE11 bug specifically) and is waiting for release but reproducing the forum loading slowly without the fonts due to the banner is proving hard to replicate.

Re: SIte load process / performance

Strat — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 11:43:02 GMT

The Community has been slow over the past weeks but today is almost unworkable for me.

I clicked 'Like' on a post and it was around 15 seconds before it refreshed.

I did a speed check and my broadband is running at 75Mbs down and 16Mbs up so no problems there.

Re: SIte load process / performance

jab1 — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 12:45:04 GMT

I agree - Community is still very slow to load, mine hangs at the beginning - when I click on say 'Broadband' in the main menu, it can take up to 10 seconds stuck on 'waiting for community.plus.net' but thereafter everything is rapid. This not a fault with my connection/system - other sites load almost instantly, including a number hosted in the U.S.

Re: SIte load process / performance

Strat — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 13:27:11 GMT

Since making the above post I have done as suggested here and cleared the browser's cache and things are a little faster.

I'm a big fan of coincidences but hoping this is not one of them....we shall see.

Re: SIte load process / performance

jab1 — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 13:46:32 GMT

@Strat See me post - this is community that is the problem - I don't get the delay with other sites, including the other bits of PN (Members Centre &c)

Re: SIte load process / performance

jaread83 — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 15:38:09 GMT

The forums are hosted completely seperate from any of our other sites. They are hosted by Lithium on servers in the Netherlands and have nothing to do with our other sites and services. So any issues coming from the member centre, main website etc would have no effect on the forums.

I have checked the performance graphs and the most heavy component being loaded is the 'online users' part on the homepage and forum page. The average page load time in the last 200 page loads has been 302ms for the homepage and that's the slowest page. What I will do is keep an eye on the graph periodically and see if it spikes at any time at all.

Here is the graph:

Re: SIte load process / performance

jab1 — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 17:37:11 GMT

@jaread83 In my case, it is not the actual loading time that is the problem, rather the length of time before the Lithium server responds - this can vary from almost instantly (rare) to anything up to 12-15 seconds.

Re: SIte load process / performance

MauriceC — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 10:28:20 GMT

Performance is pretty dire this morning? Even a simple 'click' on Like / Thanks is taking 3 / 4 seconds; new pages load (slowly) and then after 3 / 4 secs have a page refresh as the fonts change.

Re: SIte load process / performance

jaread83 — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 10:47:40 GMT

This isn't something I have any control over unfortunately. I have sent a support request directly to Lithium as last time I reported it, they pointed me to the performance graphs and said there weren't any issues. The only significantly slow parts of the site is the 'online users' component on the homepage and forum page but if the slow down is in the thread view - then my custom component shouldn't be causing a slow down. The fonts are even uploaded and hosted to Lithium servers so there shouldn't be an issue there either.

I will see what Lithium support says and let you all know as and when I hear back. So far I have received an email confirming receipt of my support request and that it is being reviewed.

Serious lag on the site and notification emails.

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 13:02:15 GMT

I can't be the only one to notice this, but the entire site is running really slow and I got an email from a subscribed thread delivered to me over two hours after when it said it was sent!

Re: Serious lag on the site and notification emails.

Strat — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 13:11:26 GMT

Moderator's note:

Topics merged for clarity.

Re: Serious lag on the site and notification emails.

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 13:28:09 GMT

Oops! Thanks @Strat

Re: SIte load process / performance

jaread83 — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 13:36:25 GMT

I have had a reply from Lithium support. They have noticed that the uptime for the community is very high right now. They have asked my permission to perform a complete restart and cache clear in the early hours tonight. I have replied to them letting them know that I am happy for them to go ahead and do this. Sorry for any inconvenience caused by this everyone.

Re: SIte load process / performance

jab1 — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 06:49:07 GMT

@jaread83 I know it's early in the morning, so not so many are using the forum, but the response time when accessing an individual board seems a little faster.

Still nowhere as fast as it ought to be though - I'm still seeing 'waiting for plusnet' at various points.

Re: SIte load process / performance

Townman — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 07:15:41 GMT

It does seem a little faster, but you can still see the paint drying. it is evident that a lot of the static content is being reloaded rather than being brought from cache.