I'm not really thrilled with the way my blog loads in browsers, especially on lower speed connections. I also find it difficult to load certain blogs, even on highest-speed T1 lines.
Every blogger who wants to keep existing and attract new readers should keep in mind that many people around the world are still on dial-up, and a lot more are on "low" high-speed (usually poor DSL connections) internet.
I'll give you a couple of examples. there are two ladybloggers, Marzie and Lady Java. Each has three or more blogs. Even if I let the browser "sit" on any of Lady Java's websites, it just can't bring it home. Now, this may be geographical, as I notice the page trying to load items with a .my extension and something called "blogthingsimages.com" which freeze the browser... there's another "static.apture.com" that totally hangs the browser (firefox - forget IE, it won't fully load on IE) for ultra-long periods of time. Eventually, you end up with a nearly complete load. I've notice on IE my blog does the same thing. It's not my computer, either: I checked it at the public library and an Internet Cafe. Something changed with IE.
I tried loading
ladyjava.org in
the OffByOne browser: the entire blog (and all images and any badges not connected to java scripts) was there in 5 seconds flat(OffByOne ignores all java and java-widgets)!
Mariuca.com loaded just as quickly. I wish there was a way to show you a screenshot! Needless to say, if you're on dialup or your computer has limited resources (or both), OffByOne is certainly worth experimenting with!
Okay, here's the rundown: ladyjava.org is still "stuck" and half-loaded on firefox, 5 minutes after I connected to it. (At least I was finally able to "drop" an entrecard, which did not appear via OffByOne!) But in 5 seconds I had everything I needed via OffByOne!
UPDATE: 10 minutes in, most of the blog is loaded, save for something from "slogbite.com" which may be another badge or widget. 12 minutes in, the blog is 100% complete! UPDATE AGAIN: wait a minute! I did get a Yellow Triangle in a square on the sidebar, with this accompanying text "The connection was reset. The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading." Hmmmm...
I had asked a blogging friend in Singapore to put my blog through a similar test. It takes a bit longer there to load there than it does here in the states. I'm going to clean out the sidebar soon: I've been waiting for yahoo to pull the plug on mybloglog.com, since they announced last month they would no longer be supporting it. Once that's gone, there are a total of 3 java-widget-thingies that I'll have to remove from the sidebar. Oh well,less clutter!
One of Marzie's blogs,
Meow Diaries, (which I really enjoy reading) loads very quickly, but her other two are so busy with widgets and scripts, they kind of "half-load." Now, when you encounter these kinds of blogs and the blogger decides to include imbedded video, that can be disaster for those on dial-up and low-DSL. That's why I don't like to imbed videos: instead, I use "snapshots." Now, this is NOT an advertorial post or an endorsement for snapshots. It IS a way that all bloggers who want to offer videos (even if the blogger is on dial-up) can do so without slowing down blog loading time.
Example: I have selected a video from YouTube, which you can
watch HERE. BUT WAIT!
Before you go ahead and click on the video, instead just place your cursor over the link. The "snapshot box" will open. If your connection has enough oomph, you can watch the video right in that box. (You can enlarge the size of the box if you want to!) By linking videos this way, you don't make your blog take too long or just be plain impossible to load with certain connections and through certain browsers!
Also: You can grab a screenshot or a picture related to the video and place the link underneath it, so that when surfers mouseover the picture, again the "snapshot box" will display the video (or they can "click through" to view the video directly!) Try it: mouseover the picture!
