I am not sure if it is just me but I am obviously new to this website. I hate to sound like a bitch but this website crashes on me all the time and is extremely slow to load sometimes. Also I flat out can not use it on my phone I just get server messages and for me the only way to upload pictures is through my phone. I love every other aspect of this website but it really seems out dates. If i knew it could get redone and updated for more efficient use I would be willing to chip in a some money. This is just my opinion but I am wondering if anyone else feels the same or gets the same annoying problems I do.

Upload or download? From your phone to a thread or viewing from a thread on your phone?

If you're uploading from your phone to a thread, try making the image smaller.

Something's not right with your situation and it doesn't have anything to do with the site as it's working today. I can upload and download within seconds. 10 seconds would be an eternity for me, and I'm using a middle speed DSL line.

I've had a few problems with the site loading but I don't think it was a problem with the site - other sites were slow too. The other night I couldn't get Yahoo to load, but I came over here and watched race videos for an hour no problem. On the computer, though.

That's what I like about my laptop, when this site is slow I open up another window and read something else while it loads. My biggest irk is when it tells me I must wait 1 second between searches. It's like driving through Mississippi and before every overpass there's a sign that says "CAUTON BRIDGE MAY FREEZE BEFORE ROADWAY IN WINTER"

But I must say, without a doubt, this is the very best Z car tool ever, better than that FSM & FI Bible. As if y'all couldn't tell this is my 1st online social endeavour.

Better even than the Haynes service manual?

(just kidding)

The main issue with me is my dad has a mac computer and I have an Android phone and the two aren't compatable with each other so it is a huge ordeal to upload a picture for a thread ( took me 15 minutes last time with numerous crashinges and 404 errors.)

We're a Mac family and all carry Android phones...there is compatibility. I suspect operator error. May I suggest the following sites for your reading pleasure:

Android & Mac Compatibility | eHow

How To Use Android With Your Mac | Mactuts+

Android Phone Compatibility - Mac-Forums Discussions for Apple Products & Services

Question about Android compatibility with Macs? - Android Forums

Dennis

There was a big thread about this over in Open General where some rash things were said. Lets keep this one civil and collect some data.

On June 10, 2013 I was unable to access the forums most of the day, symptoms were a hanging failure to load.

Thanks, can you guys provide me with more information? I was working on the site yesterday (Sunday the 9th), so I expect that yesterday would have been spotty at times. But if you guys are seeing performance issues, let me know what's happening and ill take a look.

Can you also link the open forum discussion here?

Mike

Here's the open general thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/open-general-discussions/49621-i-feel-website-out-dated-slow.html

Thanks! I'll respond here since it's in the website development forum.

Thanks to all of you for the feedback on this matter. From what I can tell, it looks like there is a mixed review on the performance of the site. As we all know, there are always going to be growing pains. There are always ways we can improve and make the experience better by making adjustments. Seems like we are now at a point where some changes will need to be made. There are usually a few areas to look at when a performance issue is showing a slowdown.

Hardware:

A few years ago I took the site into a dedicated Linux (CentOS) machine with Quad processors, RAID, and 8GB of memory. The database was separated to a different RAID partition and we saw significant performance gains.... The machine, I believe is sufficient to do the work because looking at the performance logs, we are never more than 20-40% utilization. In the night, however, resource utilization goes up due to the backup process.

Software:

I ran some updates yesterday (Sunday June 9) for all of the modules we are using. This caused some issues for users in the afternoon and late evening (US Pacific Time) but we were all set by 7pm. Any performance gains you see today should be a result of that work. Android and iPhone applications are currently under construction and new versions will be out very soon. The mobile theme (if you don't want to use an app) has also been updated as of yesterday. Both iPhone and Android apps will be free in the new release. Within a week or two, you should see that all of our software has been updated both mobile and server-wise.

Network:

Network wise, we are still at the same ISP. The ISP is Comcast running on a 10Mbps commercial business uplink. I've seen various performance hits and misses with Comcast cable over the past few months. While connections to their internal servers is typically OK, I have noticed speed tests to other Internet providers in the country are a bit slower. Take a look at my attached speedtest.net evaluations, you can see I get a perfect upload link to Comcast at 10Mbps, but, when I connect to another ISP (Carolinanet in this case) the speeds are quite a bit different (2.11Mbps). If you are curious about your connection speed to our site, please visit Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test and select the Comcast server out of Portland, OR. This should give you a good idea of how your service provider is connected to our host.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]63927[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]63928[/ATTACH]

Should we Improve?

Absolutely. I still think we need to make some improvements. While new hardware may not be necessary, I do think that we should look at moving the site to a dedicated server hosting facility. The advantages of moving the server to a dedicated facility are mostly for UN-throttled bandwidth, redundancy, climate control, and security. Performance will increase, for sure.

Expenses:

Guys, all of this comes at a cost. Server hardware, software maintenance, network connectivity, programming, and now we are looking at paying rent for the server. It's not a problem to make all of this happen at all. However, I have to look at the costs to make sure we are making a good decision for the long haul. Moving a website isn't easy, and any investment we make should be considered as a viable solution for the next 2-3 years. Sustaining income is key when you move a server, because the cost can easily go from 0 (where we are now) to 150-200 a month (if we send the server out to a host).

Income:

Right now we are using several avenues to help pay for the system. This includes Google Adsense (the banners you see on the site), donations, and direct sponsors. We have been extremely lucky that direct sponsors in the community have kept us going for quite a long time. FYI a direct sponsor is a business that donates directly to us monthly or quarterly, see them at our Vendors page. You can also see who's donating to the club by visiting our Show Groups page. Anyway, if we are looking at moving to an expensive external site it will be important to secure some additional long-term funding in the form of improved relationships with Google, direct sponsors, or donations.

Thanks again to all of you who left feedback on the thread. Please feel free to share any ideas you have now that I've merged the threads together. Thanks!

Mike

I just merged the threads and put everything in the website development forum.

FYI, when I use this site with Firefox it seems to run a LOT slower than when I am running Safari or Chrome. Problem was resolved when I restarted Firefox and disabled all of the add-on toolbars.

Point is, please make sure that your add ons aren't causing extra load when you are using the web. Extras like pop up blockers, scanners, toolbars, and extra goodies will definitely have an effect on your overall web browsing experience (and not just on our site).

Mike

Hi Mike:

Most of the "slowness" that I saw last week or the week before - had to do with pages hanging up during the loading process - where the page was about 90% loaded.. but then hung up when the CZCC server was connecting to other servers to report or upload collected data..

Below are a few of the items I observed - sorry I couldn't remember the entire or full name of the points being connected to ..but everything comes to a stop when they are taking place. Response times at this point are much improved... So this is just FYI at this point..

Transferring data from Facebook

static ak facebook

Tweetboard

Pageread2 googleanalytics

wtp101.com

ds serving system

googlesyndication??

google g double click

Transferring data from cheetahviz.com

scorecard research.com

- - waiting waiting waiting....

FWIW,

Carl B.