IF we offered a lighter forum style..

[ubuntu-geek]

Would you use it? I am talking about a css based skin with minimal graphics.. thoughts?

[earobinson]

You should add a poll to this.

No I would not use it, unless the forums where being really slow.

[DirtDawg]

I doubt I would either, I like the forums how they are now. People with dial-up modems would probably appreciate it, though.

[Omnios]

My dad just installed Ubutnu on his computer and he lives rural with slow dial up I think he would greatly appreaciate it.

[az]

As it is, a user can set options to not load graphics and such, correct? What you are talking about is a theme without all the drop-down menus and such, right?

This would benefit people with slower processors or less memory who find that the site lags when you hover over items on the page, waiting for the drop-down menu to appear.

How much work is it for you to implement it? Maybe this is the sort of thing that people would have to see and try out to know if it would benefit them.

[niviche]

I wouldn't use it as my internect connection is fast enough to load the current version, but if Ubuntu aims at users in countries were dial up is the norm, it might be nice to have a forum lighter on bandwidth, indeed.

[earobinson]

As it is, a user can set options to not load graphics and such, correct? What you are talking about is a theme without all the drop-down menus and such, right?

This would benefit people with slower processors or less memory who find that the site lags when you hover over items on the page, waiting for the drop-down menu to appear.

How much work is it for you to implement it? Maybe this is the sort of thing that people would have to see and try out to know if it would benefit them.
I second this

[ubuntu-geek]

Actually Its 90% done I have been looking for ways to reduce server load and improve the forums response times. Currently 60% of transfer from this site is image based from the general forum templates which is taking a toll on apache...

Just something I thought I would toss out and see..

[earobinson]

dident the servers just move to try and resolve this problem as well as cost?

[ubuntu-geek]

dident the servers just move to try and resolve this problem as well as cost?
Yeah 4 months ago when we had 30,000 less users. I figure we can handle about 10-20k more users on this current setup. Doing anything to releave the pressure on the server (apache/mysql) itself will be nice.

At any rate thanks for the replies.. I got a few of your suggestions and thats what I was looking for thanks..

[byen]

How about this for an Idea....
How about having a link/icon in the front page which gives the user an option to switch to a lighter forum-style? I mean lets think about this practically... If someone has a slow dial-up they can choose that option and this might also help further decrease the load on the server as well.Ive seen this in many forums and It might work here too....

PS- This is just an idea and I apologize if this doesnt make any sense. You see, if I was a dial-up user and had to turn off all the options to make the pages lighter, I would have to go to the options and change it myself. How many users actually do that (I'll be suprised if everyone knows abt this)? Wouldnt a link in the front page (Ubuntu forums-lite?) make this easier and make it a more available option?

[xequence]

Yes. I would.

Unless the minimalness took away from the usability.

[BSDFreak]

Would you use it? I am talking about a css based skin with minimal graphics.. thoughts?

Probably not, i like the kubuntu style.

[picpak]

What about http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/ ?

[byen]

I am talking about a css based skin with minimal graphics.
Is there a site similar to the new-style? can we see what it might look like?

[matthew]

I probably wouldn't use it, but choice is a good thing.

[imagine]

Depends how it looks like.
If there's a way to disable graphical smilies *without* turning off other images in the postings I'll use it for sure.



Another idea to reduce the server load: Disable avatars for guests.

[kassetra]

It's also possible that we could create a very nice forum style, that had minimal graphical elements (such as icons and smilies) - which would lighten our load and still provide for a sharp appearance.

[majikstreet]

Yes. I would.

Unless the minimalness took away from the usability.
I agree -- but I probably wouldn't use it most of the time, though..

[Galoot]

I'm not here for pretty pictures, I'm here for information.

If you offered a lower-bandwidth choice I might use it. If you insisted on a lower-bandwidth interface (no choice) because of costs and efficiency I'd still use it. I'm all for doing whatever it takes to keep the forums running, and running smoothly.

[tekwarren]

I'd use a light version. I don't think its to bad here but on some forums...even that I myself run signitures and member icons can get downright silly if not ridiculous. I sometimes even go as far as turning off the options to view sigs, which speeds things up ALOT in some instances. I think if there was a tutorial or something for people who want to optimize for informaition that would help. If people are here just because things are "pretty" well then those are the ones using up unnesessary bandwidth.

I guess if you explain the resoning behind the question it might soften up some people's oppinions. I get the feeling its not so much a user-needed change but more of resource usage on the "owners" end and wanting to opimize/lower what is available? I may be way off base...I mean no negativity just trying to help people feel what may be the underlying issue. I think people would still come here even if it wasn't "pretty", choosing not to come here for information or to help others based on not liking simplicity is just obsurd.

[rjwood]

I think you will lose alot of quality people ubuntu-geek. I believe these forums are the heart of Ubuntu. The forums are the main reason Ubuntu has been growing as it has. Ask for donations if you need to. I for one will donate monthly. Making any drastic change here could seriously hurt Ubuntu....

[siennalizard]

To be honest, only the avatars would not be cached after the first page loads of each type (forum list, thread, etc). Would kicking the avatars alone make a dent in the server load (and the download times for users)? Might be worth it, or am I way off the mark?

J.

[Omnios]

Generaly speaking its nto a matter is we would like a lighter version of the forum but rather do we need a lighter version for dial up and speed readers. Over the last ten months that I have been visiting this forum a lighter version for dial up users has come up many times.

I think an important question to ask is what defines a lighter forum version and work from there

[ardchoille]

Would you use it? I am talking about a css based skin with minimal graphics.. thoughts?
I would use it provided it has the current things such as Thread Tools, Search This Thread, Display Modes, Report Bad Post, etc. I wouldn't mind how these things are implemented and wouldn't even mind learning a different way of doing these things. I guess what I am saying is "try not to take away any of the current functionality".

Just my $0.02

[drogoh]

My two pennies: Do it, offer it, and suggest it. Don't take away any of the major functionality and don't force the style to be default because some people will be turned off by a drastic change, and therefore the community will shrink. The domino effect would be advantageous for the server load, but bad overall for the community.

[az]

The domino effect would be advantageous for the server load, but bad overall for the community.

I don't agree.

But anyway, I think if it were made common knowledge that picking a less "Bling" theme would help forum performance overall, I think that would make it quite popular. Very much in the spirit of Sharing software, beer and recycling.

I think it would be very interesting to implement it and see how much of a dent it can make in performance. If you posted regular updates as to the number of people using it and the associated performance gain (or savings), that would get more people excited about participating, I think.

[drogoh]

I don't agree.

But anyway, I think if it were made common knowledge that picking a less "Bling" theme would help forum performance overall, I think that would make it quite popular. Very much in the spirit of Sharing software, beer and recycling.

I think it would be very interesting to implement it and see how much of a dent it can make in performance. If you posted regular updates as to the number of people using it and the associated performance gain (or savings), that would get more people excited about participating, I think.

Perhaps I did not make myself as clear as I had intended, but what I had said was not intended to be taken as a "do it and you may as well kiss your userbase goodbye". I had only suggested that it not be forced on users as the default style. I understand you only took that one line on which to comment, but the outcome of the worst case scenario would benefit on the performance side of things.

[tekwarren]

I agree that really the only thing that will put a hit on performance is images such as avatars and signitures. If the settings are similiar to that of invisionpower board (what I use) you could simply suggest users to turn it off...or force not allowing avatars which will make some people cry. Having to load an extra image everytime some reads a post by a user who has an avater can definately add up if your on a limited alotment of bandwidth. You could also look into any "volunteers" who could host certain forums for you. Spread out the country specific hosts to volunteers in that region. Maybe this is already happening...


I do web hosting myself and I'm sure others in my position would offer their services as well.


Edit: I just disabled the showing of avatar and signitures in my profile options...suggesting this...or "forcing" it could very well reduce the resource usage.

[towsonu2003]

You should add a poll to this.
second this

if Ubuntu aims at users in countries were dial up is the norm, it might be nice to have a forum lighter on bandwidth, indeed
and this

How about having a link/icon in the front page which gives the user an option to switch to a lighter forum-style?
and may be this (especially for the high-speed internet users who dont want dial up people around)

I'd just use it as long as it had the features I use (list unread and new posts, subscribe to posts at will and by default, advanced search)

and open source (GPL) the new forum software...