OTP (the future)

  By Mystic | April 2, 2012 - 01:40 |

OTP loads too slowly.
The cheap hosting is probably to blame.
Wordpress and Buddypress do not help either.
What to do~?
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Written by: Mystic on April 2, 2012.
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  • snedmeister1

    Good morning, Nick…:)

    If OTP were a web site, would this then mean anybody making their own posts, would need to do so in code..???
    May sound a daft question, but I have never built a web site… !!!

    I know I don’t really invest any time in making posts myself, but as you say, a few do….
    Also, what is the cost difference…???

    To be honest, the loading speed doesn’t bother me that much, it is more the “timeout” issue… ( And even that is not really a biggy )….??

    If it is beneficial, anyone preferring the upgrade could make a regular Flattr contribution, I don’t mind upping mine a bit…??? 
    Maybe even a small advert window….??? ( Although I have no idea how you would do that..!! :) )

    • Anonymous

      Hi Sned,
      Dumb? How does the flattr work?

      • snedmeister1

        Morning Axel…

        It’s just a way of donating to sites that you think are “worthy” of acknowledgment…

        You register, put some money in your account, and then when you want to, you click the Flattr button
        on the website you like…. ( Not many sites use it though, although I did notice a Steve Keene one uses it )..

        I only put in say  €20, and out of that pot, donate €3 per month….

        You have a fixed amount, that gets paid every month, ( an amount you choose ) regardless of clicks…
        So if I don’t “Flattr” anyone, the €3 goes to charity….

        If I Flattr Nick once, he gets  €3…

        If I Flattr Nick 15 times, he gets €3….

        The system works on proportion though, so if I Flattr Nick, and another site, the money is split over the amount of “Flattrs”…

        eg 2 Flattrs for Nick, and one for Keeno, would mean Nick gets €2, and Keeno gets €1….

        It works for me, as I never Flattr another site, and I know my max is €3 / month ( tight arse aren’t I..?? )….
        Nick gets my €3 per month, every month….

        I do make sure I Flattr every day though, as who knows, I may like another post somewhere, and I wouldn’t like them to
        automatically get 50% of the donations, just because I have only clicked Nick once that month….

        ( The only issue I can see with subsidising the site this way, is that it is voluntary month by month… People could leave, stop paying etc, and then Nick would be left with the larger bill..??? )

        • Anonymous

          Morning ( evening) Sned,

          Thanks, will set up over the weekend (got to pay me’ school fees regardless).

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       I think I can be sure in saying that when you play `websites`, you can have it set-up just about anyway you want. 

      I know you regularly Flattr (many thanks) and I then re-Flattr that (mainly to Steve Keen).

      If we went to a GT host, then I wouldn’t mind if someone `sponsored` that; but, I would never like to resort to adverts. 

      • snedmeister1

        No problem…

        The Flattr thing for me is a no brainer really…

        I either invest the time and money you do each day, ( to find the info you pass on anyway ), or I just contribute to
        your end of it, hopefully making it a little less of a burden for you, and freeing up my time in the process…

        Win win..!!! :)

        To be honest though, I’m easy…
        Whatever will work, and what the majority want is just fine by me…??!!

    • Lyle

      Essentially this IS a website in the broad definition. It’s an internet accessible ’program’ stored on a big hard drive called a server. Not unlike a program stored on your own computer. The primary difference is everyone in the world cannot access your computer hard drive and run your programs – and at high transfer rates unless you have say… a fiber optic cable run into your house and pay the phone or cable company an enormous amount of money for a “T1″ or say a “T3″ function.  :)

      Apparently this is a 3 part program working together in a ‘box’ called ‘wordpress’ – stored on a server. If it were to be a function of a more typical website - it would then become all that 3 part program in a box – placed within another box.  Grossly simplistic description – but it works.  :)

      • snedmeister1

        Cheers Lyle :)

        You would think I would know a little more about this wouldn’t you…???
        Considering I work in Telecoms…! ;)
        ( usually to do with those fibre lines you refer to…!!! )

        My main question though, was if I want to make a blog now, I just write in English, and click tabs, with a few links etc….

        If we change, would that mean those who post, would have to use computer code…???

        • Lyle

          Good point – I didn’t even consider the streaming vids. Too early in the AM – not enough Java yet.  :)
          I’m fairly certain wordpress has a reputation for being slow – but clearly it’s nonetheless very popular. Cheap I guess.

          Yeah I started as a tech with AT&T in 1968 at the age of 18.  There was still some tube equipment in use.  :)
          Progressed along many years later to working ‘outside’ caring for fiber routes and regen’s ( regeneration equipment in little buildings ).
          Went to fiber optics school in 1990. Oy! -  I remember understanding it all from end to end for about 20 minutes on a Thursday afternoon. After that… ziltch!  OK – so if a red light is on – change the unit after getting clearance from God almighty.  :)

          There’s no getting around using some type of social Blog program like wordpress, YouTube, etc. No one is about to have to write anything but what they do now. No way no how. :)

          After looking at the code used for this thing it reminds me of what is known as ”cookie cutter” website creation programs that are basically huge templates that will provide a place for most anything anyone wants to put within their confinements. Problem is – they’re super heavy coding that will allow for an awful lot that most people won’t utilize. Some will use some parts – others other parts – but few will need or utilize ALL the available parts. Nevertheless – all the template ‘parts’ be they empty or not must be uploaded to the users every time. 

          WordPress is hugely popular and for the bucks – probably as good as it’s gonna get. There might be some ‘tweaking’ possible that could improve things a bit. I’m not at all familiar with the function and set up of WordPress so I can’t say for sure.

          • snedmeister1

            I see not much has changed in fibre, Lyle ( including asking God for downtime !! )…..:)

            Maybe the answer in this is, as Paul suggested, just slimming the existing package down a bit..???

            To be honest, I’m not that fussed either way…
            5 seconds to load a page vs 1 second…???

            Doesn’t bother me that much….. :)
            Maybe it is more of an issue when posting the blog though..???

  • Anonymous

    Hi Nick,
    Happy to contribute towards ‘a ‘ tip jar’ in order to improve the service. I hope you keep the groups, it would be a shame to lose them ( one never knows what may pop up).

    I am rather dumb with all the computer techno stuff, so no advice
    My experience of the site: Given up the kiwi thing as it does not workfor me’. Vimeo loasd stupid slow. Normal vids sometimes drop or become stuck (like a stuck record).

    Otherwise all good & well worth the niggle. Oh… Overthpeak site gags on I pudding.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Hold your Flattr account for the moment……Let’s see what comes out of this.
      (thanks anyway)

  • Paul

    Nick,
    We appreciate the many hours you devote each day to OTP.  You should not devote your money as well.
    I recommend you jettison the Buddypress and Groups section.  If those few users want to keep them, then they can pay for the upgrade.  That’s the fair solution.  Or maybe send the bill to BigCollapso, but that would mean you can’t call him IdiotCollapso anymore.  ;)

    The presentations (yours and others) and the comment section are all that is really needed for OTP.

    • snedmeister1

      Fair points, Paul….

      Maybe BC’s “worthless” Dollars could pay for it…???
      He obviously doesn’t need them…!! :)

      ( Although, I am still waiting for mine….There are cobwebs on my PayPal account…..!!!   :)   )

      • Paul

        I’m still waiting for my 10%, under your “generous” 90/10 split contract, Sned!

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Yo Paul,
      I would love BC to pay for it…….then I could show how big I was by insulting my paymaster as well~!

      • Paul

        Nick, that would be the best of both worlds, especially if BC’s monthly payment was increased exponentially~!

        I have been having problems loading as well, pretty slow or not at all.  I just try back later.  It’s not that big a deal, just a bit annoying.  Also, sometimes your vids don’t show up on OTP for me, just your links.  So, I end up watching the vid on Vimeo, while I click through your links/charts on OTP.  Again, not a big deal, but somewhat annoying.  The strange thing is a day or so later the video will be linked up just fine on OTP.  It’s like there is a 24 hour delay for “Open Your Presentation” to sync properly?  I am not a computer guy, just making an observation.

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           Yes, it is often a wait for the Vimeo to get going in the presentation (it normally gets there after a while though (for me anyway)).

          And yes again……exponential everything for BC~!

  • integrationbyparths

    Good afternoon, Nick

    I can’t comment too much about the Groups and the postings, since I don’t use either, but am happy to contribute monetarily.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Thanks for the offer (again).
      Let’s see, but maybe we could have sponsors for -
      The hosting (maybe upgraded), Vimeo (or find something better), ….. what else is there really~?…..My FT subscription.
      Again…..let’s see what comes of the comments.

  • Lyle

    OTP has always been a little slow for me – I just accepted it was from Over The Big Pond. For whatever reason it has been much more slow in the past few weeks.There’s potentially hundreds if not thousands of reasons why some people get different results than others. At core, regardless of all other factors, data is data. Blog or website, it’s all about data transfer speed and the fastest transfer rates will of course come from the higher $ server costs.

    Most hosting companies of any size now have EZ TO DO build it yourself programs that work quite well actually. And many come with a blog option too. They’ve come a long way of late. No matter what, if you’re on the cheapest shared server plan you won’t get super fast speeds, particularly during heavy commercial business hours of the server area. But then too, these blog sites should be far less bandwidth demanding than most any higher end website with photos, flash, etc. etc. etc.

    I wonder if you can keep the Buddylist but only in the background with a link to it such that it doesn’t load each time although would still be accessible if desired.Typically you’ll most likely have to accept random advertising to achieve both reasonable speed at the lowest cost.

    Of course I’m not saying much here that probably isn’t fairly universally known. Maybe we should all just be thankful we’re not still on 26K dial up modems. :)I have a super internet geek friend ( a young computer science student and a big time gamer ). I’ll check with him and see what he might have to offer.

  • Lyle

    Was just looking at the code scripts for this page – whew!!!  She’s more than a bit heavy – indeed.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       I wouldn’t know it if I saw it…………but, in a strange way I can imagine (the heavy dooood script)

      • Lyle

        :)  I could tell you how to see it easily with IExplorer but it wouldn’t make much difference. Consider the longest page ever of comments and mulitiply it about 100 to 1000 times and instead of words it all looks like a bunch of gobbledygook. Now ya got it.  :)

  • Agodina6

    Loads up here nicely in Wisconsin USA . And on my ipad2.

  • Windcutter

    I’m in Asia and have no issues with the speed of the website.

    If you are personally experiencing large delays, then maybe your local provider is too slow?

    Just came across this

    “The worst is over for the $10 trillion U.S. Treasury market following the biggest quarterly rout since 2010, say Wall Street’s largest bond trading firms.”

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-02/biggest-bond-traders-see-worst-over-for-treasuries.html 

    Oh! I thought without thinking. That’s some good news.

    Bur no!

    What’s good news for some, namely those speculative bond holders looking to make a capital gain, is rather bad news for the rest of the economy.

    “Signs of strength in the economy, which caused a 5.56 percent loss in bonds maturing in 10 years or more last quarter, may fade in the second half of 2012, the dealers say.”

    Oh right! The world is now utterly screwed when we get Bloomberg headlines promising “the worst is over” when it really means for most of the population “economic recovery fails to take hold”.

  • Subtlepath

    Here in Va. USA I’m having no problem with the load speed.  But I’m loading through business class DSL.  You needn’t change a thing…. ;-)

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Yo, there’s another plan…….Buy all OTPeeps business class DSL  (Way to go~!?)

  • Ben W Martin

    Do you have any access to the wordpress settings?

    Have you made any changes to it to try to fix the slow loading yet?

    There are some possible wordpress settings that may help make the page load faster.  Have a look:http://wpmu.org/11-ways-to-make-your-wordpress-site-faster-and-leaner/ 

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

      Thanks Ben,
      I recognize a couple of those…..I’ve got the tab open and will see if I have a stab at some others.

  • Windcutter

    And, direct from La France,

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/world/europe/in-rich-europe-growing-ranks-of-working-poor.html?pagewanted=2&src=recg 

    Looks like the wealth in the “rich developed countries” is not trickling down to the “poor workers”.

    Unfortunately Friedman’s “free economy” fails to work when it become impossible to afford accommodation in the area you work. Or maybe it does, with those working (forced to work) at the margin will always struggle. In Friedman’s ideal world the basic wage would be determined by the cost of living, and maybe he assumed that this would be to allow workers to afford reasonable housing.

    I guess he lived in a little personal Utopia, never experiencing the real life that people have to endure.

    Along with the bankers, politicians and warmongers.

  • Lyle

    After reviewing some of the comments it seems clear the primary problems are most likely involved in the zillions of variations possible in the betwixtness. I’m connected to a 6 gig broadband cable feed – close to a local fiber node – running an Intel I7 processor – 8 meg memory… blah blah blah… yet… soma times a little slow… somma times not so slow. Of course my using Internet Explorer doesn’t help much either. I often have to hit compatibility view to unscramble some text – on this site and some others. Usually the ‘cookie cutter’ type sites I mentioned.

    I say ‘tweak’ a little if ya can – go on down the road.  :)

  • NascentMind

    How about starting up an overthepeek investment share club. Where we set up a sum of donated cash contributions via pay pal. then using our collective minds gamble away . we set up a trustee group then, argue investments in a volatile down slide. (Anyone say Silver I Will shoot you!)
    Any profits distributed amongst investees. Just a thought. create our own economy.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       I’ve got a lot of weeding to do in the garden~!

      • NascentMind

        I know what you mean :) Let the weeds grow you can eat Nettles and Dandelions

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           I guess I am a bit of a control freak.  I like it all tidy.
          I know…..not very `old hippy` (but there we are~).

          • Paul

            Humans need to fill the hours with purposeful pursuits, in an otherwise meaningless life, eh?!  Weeds, videos, economics and energy research, tending to a stray raptor, building stairs, petting a kitty cat.
            It’s all in a day’s “work”.
            I would like to see some more Mystic philosophy on OTP; a bit of a break from the economics lessons.
            Even kindergarten has a recess period~!  Keeps the mind fresh.

            • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

               Don’t think I haven’t thought of it….
              …So, this morning I have a choice – A video on `the meaning of life`, or maybe one on `central banking theory`…..hmmm~?

              But then, that would be to `do a Keen`…..wouldn’t it~!?

              • Paul

                Keen is in the world’s spotlight now.  He must stay focused. 
                We can run on a much more relaxed pace.
                You are the Alpha Wolf on OTP.  We are the Pack.  You call the shots.  But, we have gorged on so much banking meat over the last week, we are stuffed to the gills.  The Pack is still in the process of digesting Minsky and Keen and what theories they represent.  Let’s take one day off and rest a bit.
                I vote for a rambling Mystic Meaning of Life commentary, while our gastric juices break down banker proteins~!

                “ For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”

                -Rudyard Kipling
                http://www.bartleby.com/246/1131.html

  • Anonymous

    Yep, I would contribute in order to have a faster Over the peak. What would the target amount be for a faster server?

    If we have an idea of a target amount, we could take a poll of those who wish to contribure some Euro, and then see what we can afford?

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Thanks Axel…..We’ll see how she goes. 

  • Garryentropy

    its your gig brother, I’m northern and tight as a gnats chuff too, trim the code invoking bits and see how it goes streamlined, but its not so very slow at my end, a bit slow but not very. I never look at the groups.

    • snedmeister1

      Evening Garry.

      I Never did get that telescope working right…. 
      Get good views with yours..???

  • Mzagar

    Here in Finland the Site loads very fast (fast enough 3-5s). The better solution would be to use a cdn – content delivery network. You could CloudFlare.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Surely 3-5 seconds is too slow.  Is life in Finland so relaxed~?
      (thanx Max)

  • jp

    Hello Nick,

    You may want to try looking into installing a caching plugin if you’re not using one already.

    Here’s a link to a tutorial that explains what caching is as it relates to wordpress.

    http://www.tutorial9.net/tutorials/web-tutorials/wordpress-caching-whats-the-best-caching-plugin/

    Here a links to some popular caching plugins.  Make sure whichever one you choose is compatible with your version of wordpress.  The first option is referenced by the article above. The second option looks easier to install.

    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-super-cache/

    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/

    I’m new to wordpress so I’ve never used them personally, but if I was in your shoes it would be
    the first thing I try before upgrading my hosting package.  You should
    probably use caution and backup your site before installing in case
    something goes wrong. (Or get the people at GoDaddy  to help you install it).

    I hope all this doesn’t make your head spin.

     

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Ahoy JP,
      I use a cache add-on thingy.
      I’ll see if Go-Daddy has an `upgrade` or something…..that may be an easy thing to do~!?
      Thanks.

      • jp

        No problem.

        Since you have a caching plugin installed already, you may want to try disabling it to see if the site goes any faster.  There are cases where these things actually slow sites down. Looking a your page load through Firebug makes me think that this may be the case.

        If this is the case, you will need to play with the settings to get it to work, or replace the add-on with something else.  Turning off the “gzip compression” option might do the trick.

        The upgrade may not be an option as it looks like you have the latest version installed.

        Hope this helps.

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           I have had a good look on the GoDaddy site and there is a new hosting method which would be sharper.
          Also they have made a plug-in (add-on….stick-up) that can check what may be slowing a WordPress site down.

          (this stuff does do me head in)

  • Guest

    Forget the new server for a moment – you certainly don’t need a RackSpace server – that’s an overkill to say the least. How about I put something together that isn’t too far from this site then we can look at where to host it? I’ll setup it up with DISQUS and you can add “special” users via the admin who can post in the main section – all those t-shirt spamming people (and bots) can get lost and you won’t get them bothering you. Dump the forum parts says I. Oh and it WILL be much quicker ;-)

    • Paul

      Richard (and M_F) are the experts.  I’d go with whatever he recommends. 
      Hello Richard, I miss your insights on the comments section.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

      I have been trying to help myself.  OTP is on the new GoDaddy 4GH and I can pay for it to be alone and not in a group.
      Disqus slows things down as much as Buddypress.

      Last night it took me two hours to put up the BTU post because I couldn’t get through to the `back office`.

      I looked on GoDaddy forum and many people say that they are rubbish slow~!
      (but the ad for 4GH looks very fancy)

      Hello….
      nearly summer~!

      • Paul

        I am more than willing to contribute cash to the cause.  But, I don’t do electronic cash transactions.  Only a nutter would do that in this day and age.  Next time I am in France, I’ll buy you dinner and hand you an envelope.  Old school is the best school.  For the youngsters, keep your cash off the grid.  You’ll be much happier when the tax man comes calling with his Dobermans.  Herr Doberman was a tax collector, in case you didn’t know. 

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           I doubt it will come to that, but thank you Paul and we will stay out of the pinschers. 

      • Guest

        The server is a problem, but just switching to a slightly faster one isn’t going to fix the inefficient and clunky WordPress code – although it might be enough of a change to temporarily fix your immediate problems. 

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           I will go back to GoDaddy this afternoon and have another look at the upgrade to `getting my own room`.
          Will keep you informed, thanks~!

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           OK WordPress is the dog I got, but…………is there a way of knowing if – http://www.godaddy.com/hosting/virtual-dedicated-servers.aspx?isc=apphcclgo&ci=9013 will make it zing a bit~?

          • Guest

            I don’t think you need a dedicated or virtual server for this site – it’s just not that busy. I’ll email you an alternative.