website loading problems

[Mothman]

Hey Gary and team, I know you guys are in the middle of an upgrade and having some server sync problems, so this may explain the issue and it will all be sorted out soon.

But, for the past 9 hours or so, the website has seemed to take a really long time to load pages, avatars etc. I am also finding sometimes that the bottom of pages just never load. Also, I've noticed consistantly that the word "reply" next to everyone's messagebaord posts is cut in half on my screen.

Just thought I'd bring these problems to your attention if you weren't already aware of them - and/or ask the question whether these would be to do with the server upgrade etc, or are they just something thats happeneing at my end??

Thanks.

[Zynete]

I've been having the same problem.

I was using Internet Explorer (I can't remember the exact version number, but I do know it didn't have tabs) at school and was able to get on but many of the pages were cut off before they finished loading.

At home I am using Internet Explorer (version 7.0.5730.11) and it seems to start loading the page and then it switches to the "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" page.

I then tried using Opera and now the website displays fine.

I hope this helps.

[Nicolas Logue]

Hey All!

Just to chime in too with info - I couldn't get on the site all day with Explorer (and it almost killed me!!!).

I downloaded Mozilla and now I can post away!!!

[farewell2kings]

Screw IE, Firefox all the way.

[Fatespinner]

I'm having the same problem as the OP. I thought it was something on my end as well, but it appears that this is not the case. I have to refresh pages 3 or more times in order to get them to display in their entirety and replying to posts is EXTREMELY difficult because the window where you type in text doesn't display most of the time. I had to reload this page at least a dozen times before the text box would even appear. I'm not sure what the issue is, but it's especially severe for me.

[Gary Teter]

...sigh...

Yes, the new updates have b0rken the site for Internet Explorer on Windows. My fault for testing with Safari, FireFox and Internet Explorer on the Mac and assuming Windows would be OK as well.

I will have a fix ASAP.

[Lilith]

Gary Teter wrote:

My fault for testing with Safari, FireFox and Internet Explorer on the Mac and assuming Windows would be OK as well.

Come on, PostMonster, tell us how you really feel. You know inside you're screaming "Gorram it, IE, why can't you use the freakin' standards!!" :D

[Fatespinner]

Lilith wrote:

Gorram

+1 Firefly reference.

The issues seem to be fixed now, at least for me. Whatever Gary did has apparently done the trick.

[Vic Wertz]

Lilith wrote:

Come on, PostMonster, tell us how you really feel. You know inside you're screaming "Gorram it, IE, why can't you use the freakin' standards!!" :D

It's actually equal parts screaming at Microsoft and Sun. Sun introduced (well, actually, REintroduced) a bug in Java that causes less-than-optimal performance in website compression. So Gary came up with a workaround, but then it turns out that workaround ran up against a bug in IE that caused the problems described above. So we're back to non-optimal, but at least we're functional for everyone.

The consolation is that less-than-optimal with the new software and hardware is still way faster than optimal with the old software and hardware. So once Sun fixes the problem in Java (and Apple gets around to releasing the Java update with the fix), it'll be faster still.

[Lilith]

So not just one company, being a PitA, but two! :D

[Gary Teter]

Well, it's been kind of a shaky week for paizo.com, but I believe we've got everything running smoothly now. We added two new servers and updated software on the rest of the servers.

The new servers are wicked fast. I haven't done any performance tuning yet and page generation is averaging 5 times faster than before. Previously processor usage ran around 60-90 percent on a good day. The database servers are now running at about 5 percent processor utilization, and the application servers around 10-15 percent, so we have some room for growth. (Though some of the features we have planned will certainly chew up more processor; I can't wait. :-)

Soon we'll double the site's bandwidth, and then there will be nothing to stop the paizo.com juggernaut!

Well, except for the next bug I introduce....

[Nicolas Logue]

Awesome Gary!

Thanks for the updates! It is sooooo much faster now! I love the Paizo Juggernaut!!!

:-)

[The Jade]

Thanks to Russ Brown's and Zherog's recommendation, I DLed Firefox and Paizo.com now BLISTERS my eyes as it speeds from page to page. Actually, Nick, you were the one who brought up browser alternatives... okay, you all helped.

Firefox spellchecks as I'm typing in Paizo posts. Atheist no more!

[Nicolas Logue]

Ha! Firefox is the bomb yes? I think I'm gonna stick with it from now on...I too adore the spellcheck function!!!

[Mothman]

Thanks for the fix Gary - figured you guys knew about it, didn't want to complain, but just on the *slight* chance it was a new problem, or something that was just happening to me .... (looks around nervously as paranoia begins to return...)