Slow scripts/Browser crashes

[diehardtwinsfan]

Brock,

 

I know IE isn't your favorite browser, but I've seen a lot of crashes/script hangs of late browsing the site.  Not sure if it's a new add or a new patch, but just wanted to let you know I'm seeing a lot of issues browsing here of late.  Edge hasn't been a lot better for what it's worth. 

[DaveW]

It's the ads, it was screwing up firefox a TON recently as well.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'd note that of late the site has been borderline unusual.  Lots of browser crashes/scripts hanging.  Any chance this is correctable?

[formerly33]

It's correctable. That's all I'll say on the subject.

 

 

[laloesch]

 

I'd note that of late the site has been borderline unusual.  Lots of browser crashes/scripts hanging.  Any chance this is correctable?

 

I've noticed this as well.  Much much worse lately.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I'd note that of late the site has been borderline unusual.  Lots of browser crashes/scripts hanging.  Any chance this is correctable?

This is part of a larger problem with the software itself, which is why it hasn't been fixed to this point.

 

I'm starting preliminary work on a complete software upgrade that should happen some time before the start of the 2016 season. It will include a full redesign of all MinnCentric sites and an upgrade to a more modern scripting language across the sites (JQuery).

 

Unfortunately, the software backbone is currently built on an outdated (and pretty terrible) Javascript library. For all intents and purposes, it's impossible for me to remove that library until I completely re-write the entire site and upgrade pretty much everything.

 

The downside is that it's going to take a long time to complete because I'm only one person. The upside is that we *should* see vast improvements in site performance, script libraries, and rich-test posting in forums and articles.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Diehard, I just removed one ad network from the rotation. Let me know if you see any kind of improvement in performance. The changes will take about an hour to implement.

 

I don't know if that network was the problem or not but it's the most recent addition to the rotation so there's a chance that's the problem.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'll pay attention.  It has been a bit better of late (more than an hour or so though)... I'll watch the IE crashes in particular.  That happened quite a bit.

[diehardtwinsfan]

for what it's worth, I don't think pulling that ad improved things.  Looking forward to your redesign.  I'll be happy to help beta-test it for you.

[Vanimal46]

Not sure if it's just me or if others are having this problem, but I'm experiencing a lot of freezing/stalling on the site today. For instance, it's taken me a good 4-5 minutes to type this message because of that issue. I'm using Google Chrome, and there's a new auto-play video advertisement in the spot where the quizzes used to be.

[ashbury]

Not sure if it's just me or if others are having this problem, but I'm experiencing a lot of freezing/stalling on the site today. For instance, it's taken me a good 4-5 minutes to type this message because of that issue. I'm using Google Chrome, and there's a new auto-play video advertisement in the spot where the quizzes used to be.

I often bring up the Task Manager on my Windows device, and check to see whether there is an Adobe Flash process running. If so, I kill it, unless I am running something where I know I need it (which is usually never). Often that clears up the slowness instantly. Though, I don't recall it ever being as slow as you're describing it.

[Vanimal46]

 

I often bring up the Task Manager on my Windows device, and check to see whether there is an Adobe Flash process running. If so, I kill it, unless I am running something where I know I need it (which is usually never). Often that clears up the slowness instantly. Though, I don't recall it ever being as slow as you're describing it.

Thanks for the tip. The site's going much faster now that I killed the process. And the auto-play video ad is now a normal pop-up ad on my browser. Could be a team effort so thanks Brock in case if you did something. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Thanks for the tip. The site's going much faster now that I killed the process. And the auto-play video ad is now a normal pop-up ad on my browser. Could be a team effort so thanks Brock in case if you did something. 

I discovered a server tech knee-capped our built-in caching. I fixed it an hour or so ago. The sites seem snappier now but the *real* improvement won't come until I implement the new design.

[diehardtwinsfan]

FYI, that was a noticeable improvement (up till today), though my internet is being flakey too right now.  I'd note I pulled resource monitor up and was watching network bandwidth during some of the site's slower movements.  Noticed a couple of providers that seemed to suck up a pretty large amount of network bandwidth:

 

tg2-den.search.spotxchange.com was sucking up a lot when it's add was running.

 

There were a bunch of IPs too.  I'll watch that a bit closer and see if I can identify a some common ones.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I've started real work on the complete redesign, BTW. My target is Opening Day or thereabouts. It'll be a difficult timeline but manageable. At the very latest, expect to see it by early May.