Merging tech problems + discussion

[Agnostic Bear]

Why? Now I have to wade through 50 people asking how to open notepad to get to any interesting content, it's not a good move in my opinion.

00chips :argh:

[lick]

most people ask about tech problems Der anyways lol

[The Professor]

most people ask about tech problems Der anyways lol

Bingo.

[xxMATTGxx]

most people ask about tech problems Der anyways lol


Bingo.

Yeah, most people with any problems posted in the 'Tech Discussion' forum anyway. Most likely because you get much faster replies then you would of in the problems forum.

[Agnostic Bear]

Bingo.


Yeah, most people with any problems posted in the 'Tech Discussion' forum anyway. Most likely because you get much faster replies then you would of in the problems forum.

No! Tech discussion will turn into a **** hole with 10043039482 people asking for help with their problems in there.

I guarantee it.

[Chippiewill]

Problems sub-forum

Anyway it's fine during the week although at the weekends it will get a little crowded on the forum...

[Agnostic Bear]

Problems sub-forum

Anyway it's fine during the week although at the weekends it will get a little crowded on the forum...

It's not fine at all, they should be in entirely different sections or slap it in a sub-forum, I don't give a damn about other people's problems, the things I care about are:

New hardware,
People building computers and asking for advice (not problem solving),
technology discussion.

I don't fancy seeing 20 or so threads on "plz help my msn doesn't wurk with windows 7 because I CAN'T INSTALL MSN CORRECTLY"

Half of the damn problems in the forum would be solved by googling anyway.

[Agnostic Bear]

It's not fine at all, they should be in entirely different sections or slap it in a sub-forum, I don't give a damn about other people's problems, the things I care about are:

New hardware,
People building computers and asking for advice (not problem solving),
technology discussion.

I don't fancy seeing 20 or so threads on "plz help my msn doesn't wurk with windows 7 because I CAN'T INSTALL MSN CORRECTLY"

Half of the damn problems in the forum would be solved by googling anyway.

I will reiterate: this is not fine at all, please move them apart, all with red = tech problems

http://imgbear.com/crap/tech-support.jpg

[nvrspk4]

Its the same thing as the TV&Film thing we have to merge forums to improve load time.

It takes over two seconds for me to load the forum home page right now, this is at a low time with all my forums. I've seen several warning messages that average load time is over five seconds which is ridiculously high ;)

[Agnostic Bear]

Its the same thing as the TV&Film thing we have to merge forums to improve load time.

It takes over two seconds for me to load the forum home page right now, this is at a low time with all my forums. I've seen several warning messages that average load time is over five seconds which is ridiculously high ;)

The problem isn't the amount of forum it's the software and hardware.

[Jordy]

Its the same thing as the TV&Film thing we have to merge forums to improve load time.

It takes over two seconds for me to load the forum home page right now, this is at a low time with all my forums. I've seen several warning messages that average load time is over five seconds which is ridiculously high ;)To be fair it's slow and I can live with that. If these changes were the difference between slow and fast then I wouldn't be mind but lets be honest, it's just changed the forum from very slow to slow and I couldn't really give a rats ass between the two, I know it's slow and I accept it for that and I really have my doubts all these changes have done anything significant.

[Robbie]

To be fair it's slow and I can live with that. If these changes were the difference between slow and fast then I wouldn't be mind but lets be honest, it's just changed the forum from very slow to slow and I couldn't really give a rats ass between the two, I know it's slow and I accept it for that and I really have my doubts all these changes have done anything significant.

Looking at the server loads in MODCP, at present they're averaging around 1.2 whereas a few weeks back they were going as high as 4-5.5.

[Agnostic Bear]

Looking at the server loads in MODCP, at present they're averaging around 1.2 whereas a few weeks back they were going as high as 4-5.5.

The server load would be a lot less if a bunch of useless features were turned off and the forum optimized by a good coder or 4.

[nvrspk4]

The problem isn't the amount of forum it's the software and hardware.

I'm open to being proved wrong, if you can put together a fairly comprehensive audit I'll definitely look it over (with Jin guiding me through of course).


To be fair it's slow and I can live with that. If these changes were the difference between slow and fast then I wouldn't be mind but lets be honest, it's just changed the forum from very slow to slow and I couldn't really give a rats ass between the two, I know it's slow and I accept it for that and I really have my doubts all these changes have done anything significant.

Its the difference between slow and serverbreaking honestly. Its a possibility that the long downtime was partially due to a server overload at which point an automated system in the server farm (or whatever its called) shut it down temporarily.

We get warnings when load times exceed x seconds for a reason, when traffic is heavy the server can only take so much.


The server load would be a lot less if a bunch of useless features were turned off and the forum optimized by a good coder or 4.

If you're volunteering, send me a PM. Otherwise, do you know anyone with the time to do that? :P

[Hazza]

Pre-fixes?
[Problem]
[Discuss]

?

[nvrspk4]

Pre-fixes?
[Problem]
[Discuss]

?

If we did prefixes probably only the one for problem.

[Chippiewill]

Bear, only one of those threads was originally in the tech problems forum....

Also there is so much load junk on the index...

Edit: Is there actually any need to know how many Threads or Posts there are in a forum?

Also is a Chat 'Link' forum really needed? There is a link at the top of every page

[xPrecedent]

Remove chat, remove arcade, remove blogs.

[Chippiewill]

Remove chat, remove arcade, remove blogs.

Yeah, blogs aren't used, arcade should stay and Chat shouldn't be on index.

Edit: 'Today's Events' isn't needed either...

[lick]

Ok i agreed with the merge but after looking just now

the first page is just people looking for help

[Immenseman]

Ok i agreed with the merge but after looking just now

the first page is just people looking for help

the fact remains; people can read what they want. if the thread title is asking for help, they don't have to read it. just someone causing a fuss for nothing.

[Agnostic Bear]

the fact remains; people can read what they want. if the thread title is asking for help, they don't have to read it. just someone causing a fuss for nothing.

You're just annoyed because I insulted you in the other thread.

Regardless of what you say, wading through 20+ threads to get to useful content is not "causing a fuss for nothing".

[Immenseman]

You're just annoyed because I insulted you in the other thread.

Regardless of what you say, wading through 20+ threads to get to useful content is not "causing a fuss for nothing".

I don't get annoyed through a Habbo related forum, unlike some. If the content was as useful as you make out you quite simply wouldn't mind reading the titles which takes about a second. 20 threads = 20 seconds. Thus I stick with my first statement you're causing a fuss for nothing.

I'd rather it was like it is and the forum ran quickly as would the majority of the forum.

[Invent]

I'd rather it was like it is and the forum ran quickly as would the majority of the forum.

Merging two subforums into one barely improves load times ._.

[Immenseman]

However, it's one of numerous changes that were implemented to improve load times. Revert one back then people will want others changed back also. It doesn't cause much extra hassle. If you don't have the capability of ignoring a thread title that is requesting help then you have bigger problems in your life than having two sub-forums merged.

[Agnostic Bear]

I don't get annoyed through a Habbo related forum, unlike some. If the content was as useful as you make out you quite simply wouldn't mind reading the titles which takes about a second. 20 threads = 20 seconds. Thus I stick with my first statement you're causing a fuss for nothing.

I'd rather it was like it is and the forum ran quickly as would the majority of the forum.

Put it in a damn sub forum then, the tech support threads push the useful threads onto the next page, ruining my fabulous forum experience.

Thanks for reading!

http://imgbear.com/crap/hugesmile.gif

[Immenseman]

Put it in a damn sub forum then, the tech support threads push the useful threads onto the next page, ruining my fabulous forum experience.

Thanks for reading!

http://imgbear.com/crap/hugesmile.gif

Hey user,

If these threads are as half as important as you make out, you wouldn't mind clicking page two. It takes a number of seconds seeing as the forum loads quicker now due to a variety of changes ;)

Thanks for your input :)

Immenseman
HabboxForum User

[Agnostic Bear]

Hey user,

If these threads are as half as important as you make out, you wouldn't mind clicking page two. It takes a number of seconds seeing as the forum loads quicker now due to a variety of changes ;)

Thanks for your input :)

Immenseman
HabboxForum User

You are obviously not aware that merging the sub forums would reduce page loading times by less than 0.01 of a second

[Immenseman]

If you actually read the other posts in this thread I've already explained that. Hope that's OK for you.

[Agnostic Bear]

If you actually read the other posts in this thread I've already explained that. Hope that's OK for you.

You haven't explained it at all, you've said that it will reduce page loading time (albeit just a tiny amount). It wont, the differences will be too small to cause any effect on the server.

I know more than you about this :)

[Chippiewill]

You are obviously not aware that merging the sub forums would reduce page loading times by less than 0.01 of a second

And how many seconds would that be in a day putting together everyone's times?

A few minutes in total, which is a load off the server.

All small things add up to a big thing. Also they do not push it on to page two ever so don't whine about that :rolleyes:

[Immenseman]

You haven't explained it at all, you've said that it will reduce page loading time (albeit just a tiny amount). It wont, the differences will be too small to cause any effect on the server.

I know more than you about this :)

Granted. I'm going with what Jin and nvrspk4 have said and seeing as they run this forum, successfully - I will believe what they tell me rather than some bitter user slightly wound up because his thread got nudged down two spots.

I know 00chips is a regular tech forum user and he doesn't seem to care. It's just you throwing your toys out of the pram.

[Agnostic Bear]

And how many seconds would that be in a day putting together everyone's times?

A few minutes in total, which is a load off the server.

All small things add up to a big thing. Also they do not push it on to page two ever so don't whine about that :rolleyes:

Ok fine I will reiterate correctly: it takes less than 0.01 of a second to pull the list out I'd imagine. That's the entire thing, removing 1 subforum in a list of 69 is going to do absolutely NOTHING.

0.01 / 69 = 0.0001

That is ridiculously minuscule and irrelevant.

Also it does push things on to page 2, go look for yourself.

BRB SHOWER


Granted. I'm going with what Jin and nvrspk4 have said and seeing as they run this forum, successfully - I will believe what they tell me rather than some bitter user slightly wound up because his thread got nudged down two spots.

I know 00chips is a regular tech forum user and he doesn't seem to care. It's just you throwing your toys out of the pram.

Neither Jin nor nvrspk4 are "expert" PHP programmers (that's not a bad thing), and they wont have the intimate knowledge we (expert PHP programmers) would.
What Jin is planning on doing will speed the forum up an absolute ass-load however he has yet to do it. When it does I will be happy with page loading times.

[Chippiewill]

I don't care as long as all the 'Yesterday' and 'Today' threads are on one page it is fine, and if the forum is so fast for you then you can't be that bothered by the extra page load.

[nvrspk4]

For the record, Jin is extremely proficient with PHP, I am not aware of how he would classify his skills but he is more than competent, I am aware there are some fantastic coders here but to say that he doesn't know what he's talking about is assumptive.

I will make no secret of the fact that I am not even close to a PHP expert, I won't pretend to be what I'm not.

On the topic of whether or not this slows things down. I'm not sure if people are just calling it this but I'd like to first note that Tech Problems was a forum not a sub-forum.

Also, for claims that merging forums will not do much, we recieved a warning from vBulletin that the number of forums was too much and would hamper our forum speed. That's why we had to take away VIP Sub Forums. Even after that they said, too much, it will make it slow. So we have had it suggested by the maker of the product that we downsize the number of forums.

I'm not going to lie, I can't disprove you that it takes .01 but I don't see any proof that it does take .01 to "pull out the list". And here's conjecture on my part but for every forum it also has to note, are there new posts, are there not, and then display the appropriate image, as well as load several animated images, one for nearly every forum as unlike some other forums, almost every forum is used frequently.

I think that the time per forum is significant, and yes one alone may not do that much but its the total effect of the changes.

[Chippiewill]

Just a quick note, that pulling the images out isn't going to really increase page load as it has to get it once....

Also move the staff questions into a sub-forum into this forum, it just isn't used enough to be wasting 0.01s of every time I load the index.

Edit: There is some pointless JS on the index that allows us to see a forum as read if we double click the forum icon. Perhaps you should check if it is used. If not then remove it, I can imagine it saving even up to a second (Maybe)

[N!ck]

Can it at least be made into a subforum of Thch Discussion rather than just merged. Most of the "problems" in there are from kids that could easly be sorted within 30 seconds from a Google search. Ok, some are genuine things that are posted by the more competant members which is fine. If I have a problem I phrase it in such a way that it is a discussion and post it in the discussion section.

I don't want people who can't change their MSN name or whatever ruining a decent forum :(.

[Mentor]

I'm not a 100% on the VB database structure but if memoery servers its pretty inefficent, to load a front view, a single query doesnt cut it. Once the rows for the tables are out, another set of querys is needed to then retrive the last poster in the forum, and from that post details the user name of the poster.
Which means the forum view alone could be accessing 3 tables, many of which are huge. Times that by the amount of users loading these pages, and by the amount of page loads recived each day, theres a significant load involved even in what seems like a pretty simple action.
Dont forget VB lacks alot of the speed optimsations common in other forum softwares, so does have a few issues when scaleing as far as habbox's had.

[Chippiewill]

I'm not a 100% on the VB database structure but if memoery servers its pretty inefficent, to load a front view, a single query doesnt cut it. Once the rows for the tables are out, another set of querys is needed to then retrive the last poster in the forum, and from that post details the user name of the poster.
Which means the forum view alone could be accessing 3 tables, many of which are huge. Times that by the amount of users loading these pages, and by the amount of page loads recived each day, theres a significant load involved even in what seems like a pretty simple action.
Dont forget VB lacks alot of the speed optimsations common in other forum softwares, so does have a few issues when scaleing as far as habbox's had.

Now if they were using phpbb3 this would be entirely different.... For one phpbb3 has a very good cache, it also now supports alternate cache software....

[Agnostic Bear]

Now if they were using phpbb3 this would be entirely different.... For one phpbb3 has a very good cache, it also now supports alternate cache software....

phpbb3 is also an open source pile of ass.

The only good open source software comes from a team of small developers OR a team of huge developers led by someone awesome. phpbb3 has neither.

[Chippiewill]

phpbb3 is also an open source pile of ass.

The only good open source software comes from a team of small developers OR a team of huge developers led by someone awesome. phpbb3 has neither.

http://imgbear.com/crap/LOLSIG2.png
PHPBB3 is the Greatest Invention known to man, except for Magic CE...

[Arch]

Yeah, blogs aren't used, arcade should stay and Chat shouldn't be on index.

Edit: 'Today's Events' isn't needed either...

Although i don't know much on any of this i'm sure getting rid of Blogs and that chat would be helpful? Although i believe the arcade should stay.