Slow loading of topics

[Iminei]

We weren't migrated despite the email they sent the week before which clearly said 'Migration'
TSO insist there was just maintenance on the platform pn the 16th ... despite sending us back a year.

I have trouble talking to these people as Techspeak is alien to me ... which is why @Acorn  was so wonderful to have around.

@Mr Twingo  is brilliant too but has a full time job teaching so its just me left to bang out a complaint or call them which is like me trying to talk to a person in Russian.

Im sorry about the speed of site, I think its intermittent which is all the more frustrating because we all know when we finally get a bod out to look at the heating it suddenly works perfectly, until they drive away that is.

I think to do this properly we would A) need to employ someone professional* B) shut down while they rebuild and maybe C) Move hosting providers which would be awkward as Ive just renewed for the next year.**

So really I dont know what to do.

* and how do you find someone and how do you know theyre good ... all this virtual stuff is really difficult for me to grasp.

** If I hadnt there would be no TSP tomorrow.

[Mr Twingo]

Personally, loading speeds have been noticeably faster for me over the past week. But I've not been checking in as much as usual so I've probably missed the slow times.

When I had an online chat with TSO support, I was assured it WAS a migration. It's difficult to make sense of all the different responses we've had.

We have been looking for another host, but migrating TSP is proving to be somewhat tricky. In simple terms, TSP would end up with a new look and missing features if we moved. I've done a lot of testing, and head banging.

[Iminei]

Really @Mr Twingo  ... we were Migrated despite that live chat I sent you ? That was so adamant that it was just maintenance ??

Then WHY are we so slow at times and getting (just) a server not available message ???

[Helen M]

Just curious, but does the amount of total data of the forum make a difference to performance?

Also I wonder if general load times are slower at the moment (half term etc)

[Bill]

Simple Albert talking here but, in terms of getting a new host, wouldn't the stability of the forum be preferable to keeping its looks and features? Depending on what those features are of course.
Few of us had any say in how the current format looked when we joined so couldn't we get used to a new look and maybe diifferent/fewer features?Sort of giving the sewing room a makeover.
I can't speak for anyone else, but if all this cost a couple quid upfront to pay someone else I'd be happy to fork out.
As I see it, it's the members here that make our forum such a nice welcoming home. Not the decorations.

[Diane]

I can't speak for anyone else, but if all this cost a couple quid upfront to pay someone else I'd be happy to fork out.
As I see it, it's the members here that make our forum such a nice welcoming home. Not the decorations.

I agree with @Bill, i'd be happy to throw a few quid in to help get someone to sort it out 

[Sheilago]

Today, I’ve had a few problems with page loading, but usually I find it fine. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

[Celia]

I do think at the moment it might not just be us, I have had slow responses from some other places too, maybe just keep an eye on it for now.

I am also happy to  pay up if we need it but I do know how difficult these things can be to organise sometimes it’s a case of out of the frying pan into the fire.

[Iminei]

Just curious, but does the amount of total data of the forum make a difference to performance?
Also I wonder if general load times are slower at the moment (half term etc)

I dont think TSP has anything like the amount of data required to affect its performance because we are essentially a very small forum.

The only way I can explain how TSP is at the moment is that we are living in a large shared house. We have one room in this house  and all the other rooms are occupied by other T websites. A very ingenious way of organising them from TSO. A T website starts their address like us, The Sewing Place, The cycle Forum, The Cupcake House etc etc

When one of these websites that shares the house uses all the Hot water/bandwidth (?)  none of the others get a bath/ the service they should  which results in outages ... so yes @Helen M  Half term would certainly increase traffic to other sites sharing our house.

@Acorn  surmised last year that one of the sites sharing our house might be selling things as we had a lot of trouble around Black Friday, Christmas etc due to increased traffic in one of the other rooms.

We have had trouble with moving to a new provider right from the start as there is a bit of coding that makes TSP what it is that wont move for some reason. And as @Francesca  is no longer with us we dont know how to get around it. Its almost as if we decorated the room in the shared house and cant, obviously, take the decorations with us and they dont make that particular wallpaper anymore.

The next step up would be a self contained flat but this is Much more expensive than what we currently pay ... The step further from that is owning your own house which is what companies such as Tesco etc have ... I think ... and costs the website equivalent to house prices.

Hiring someone brings up more problems that I can see ... Where do you find these people, How do you know they are good and will listen to you (my friend had a bad experience with someone who looked after her shops website) and money ... How do we know what they should charge for a website build/rebuild/monthly management ??? I know the former certainly isnt a couple of hundred pounds.

Now this is only what I have picked up from being involved in TSP over the years and Im sure @Acorn  @Mr Twingo could correct me where Im wrong and give a better explanation ... Please ???

[Ohsewsimple]

Great explanation @Iminei

[Iminei]

Seems pretty snappy today ... for me at least.

[Bill]

Thanks for explaining @Iminei
That makes sense to me 

[realale]

A good explanation @Iminei.
We have a website for the brewery and I can't get in to it to update all the info!! That's down to my lack of tech knowledge rather than anything else. 

[Mr Twingo]

TSP runs on a bulletin board system called Simple Machines Forum. It's not too difficult to set up the base version, but various modifications are available that add useful features. For example, being able to post attachments within the main body of a message; having a pop-up list of members appear when you type @Mr Twingo ; or having the option to 'like' posts.

Problems arise because as the code that runs the forum is updated, some modifications cease to work. And that causes a lot of problems – if a mod we use no longer functions, posts that used the mod may be inaccessible.

There are a couple of other technical hurdles, and before we move to a new host (which we have been trying to do for quite some time) we have to be sure that everything works. It's fine to lose a few bells and whistles, but we can't lose [access to] our members' posts.

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As for the site speed, that's beyond our control. The more people in the supermarket, the slower it is to do your shopping.

[BrendaP]

Thank you @Iminei for the layman's explanaton and to @Mr Twingo for a slightly more technical overview.

Decent website design isn't easy, even one character typed wrongly will stop it from working, and a forum is much more complicated. 

Apart from my own website,
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk
cobbled together over many years, and which has very little interactive content the only one that I have any contact with is the Kent Family History Society's website.  That was designed from scratch by a professional (who happens to be a KFHS member) and who specialises in that type of website.  It is also linked to the membership database and online sales, but it does cost money.
www.kfhs.org.uk
The committee's concerns about it are that it takes so long to get anything new added.  We have someone who can update forthcoming talks and events but that's about all.  The webmaster is understandably reluctant to give laymen (or laywomen) access because, as I said even one character wrong in the coding will stop something from working.  But, so much more is promised though we never know how long it will take to materialise.  At times it gets very frustrating.

All in all I think that TSP is an excellent service, even though it has it's glitches.  I know that it's all way above my technical knowledge and I am grateful that we have Iminei, Mr Twingo and Acorn (and others) to look after it.