Slow navigation and missing ads

[TiLT]

Since the ad service was replaced, an annoying problem I used to have on this forum has returned in full force. Using Opera on a forum typically means that pressing the Back button instantly sends you one step back to the cached version of that page. There's no delay and no loading involved. Now (and in the distant past) hitting Back means the screen goes blank and I have to wait about 0.5-1 second before the page appears. That might not sound like much, but in a place like this you often hit Back multiple times in a row, and if you're checking multiple threads in order you use the button quite often that way too. It's certainly annoying. For comparison, Octopus Overlords is instant, and the GT forum was up to last week as well.

I use Opera, but I just confirmed that the same problem appears in Chrome. It's harder to tell if it happens in IE since that browser is incredibly sluggish no matter what you do or where you are.

In what might be related news, the ads usually don't appear in Opera, even though I specifically don't block anything. I often just get an empty image, the Opera-equivalent of the red X in IE. Ironically, bringing up the Block Content interface will load the ad, and then it remains even when I cancel out of the dialog. There could be a link between this problem and the sluggishness.

Edit: On further testing, it seems Opera has some hidden ad blocking going on. I just disabled the blocker entirely for the site, and that at least showed the ads. When using the Back button they show up instantly now, while the rest of the site is delayed as described above.

[th'FOOL]

Well, we don't support Opera (I don't think SMF does on their end either) and I'll keep an eye on Chrome issues, but we are also going to be migrating off of SMF Forums software in the near future as SMF hasn't made any significant upgrades to the software in many many years.

[th'FOOL]

Are these problems only on the forum side of things? That knowledge might help me diagnose the issue more effectively.

[TiLT]

Are these problems only on the forum side of things? That knowledge might help me diagnose the issue more effectively.

It seems to happen on the main site too. Navigated directly between two reviews and had the same symptoms. While testing that I also noticed that if I hit Back, then Forward, any further use of those two buttons to navigate between those two pages is near instant, as long as I don't try to go elsewhere first. In Chrome the pages seem to reload every time, no matter how many times I click Back and Forward.

I also noticed that the front page right now never stops loading, both in Chrome and Opera. Some kind of resource is probably trying to load from a server that isn't responding.

[th'FOOL]

I also noticed that the front page right now never stops loading, both in Chrome and Opera. Some kind of resource is probably trying to load from a server that isn't responding.

I've isolated this issue, but the fix will have to wait for this evening. I can't seem to replicate the other Chrome issues you are experiencing at all, and I'm wondering if they might be related to our CDN.

[TiLT]

I also noticed that the front page right now never stops loading, both in Chrome and Opera. Some kind of resource is probably trying to load from a server that isn't responding.

I've isolated this issue, but the fix will have to wait for this evening. I can't seem to replicate the other Chrome issues you are experiencing at all, and I'm wondering if they might be related to our CDN.

If it helps, I could go so far as to create a Youtube video of the problem.

[th'FOOL]

I also noticed that the front page right now never stops loading, both in Chrome and Opera. Some kind of resource is probably trying to load from a server that isn't responding.

I've isolated this issue, but the fix will have to wait for this evening. I can't seem to replicate the other Chrome issues you are experiencing at all, and I'm wondering if they might be related to our CDN.

If it helps, I could go so far as to create a Youtube video of the problem.

Yes, please.