Bornegraphics is LIVE!!!!!

[djr33]

That's a significant improvement. The background image on your portfolio page should be saved with a little bit higher quality-- the image compression* is currently making it have color "bands" because the blurring distinctions aren't preserved and that looks a little unprofessional-- definitely worth a few more KB to avoid it.

(*Banding can also come about from another source: using 8-bit mode while editing images. This is the default and almost always works fine, but with gradients it can make ugly transitions. So if you can switch the image mode to 16+ bit while working on it and blur in that larger color space (read "more distinctions of colors") then the final result can be converted back to a normal 8-bit image and (perhaps 'magically') now not have the banding. This is probably NOT your issue now, but in case it is I wanted to mention it so you don't waste hours trying to get rid of them in 8-bit color space if it's not possible. Let me know if you have questions about this particularly technical problem.)


Overall, your site now loads reasonably fast. But it's still slow. Even the little arrow icons in the portfolio took a few seconds to load (when they really shouldn't be delayed-- they can't be more than a couple KB). So I think this really could be the server. Are you invested in your current hosting? I don't know what company you're using now, but there are LOTS of reasonable companies for $5/mo., and they should be faster than this. It's not a practical problem any more, but unless you have a reason to stay where you are, I don't see why you wouldn't want to move.

[bornegraphics]

Perfect, I am glad to hear things are loading faster for you and you noticed a different in loading time for certain graphics. I will continue to make alterations in file size while maintaining image quality. Thanks again for all your help and advise you have been a huge help. I can't thank you enough.

I am currently using GoDaddy as my web host, from what you said there sounds be to better ones out there, any chance you can recommend a better one, a link to a list of web hosting providers or perhaps even the web hosting provide you use.

Again, I can't thank you enough for your help.

I appreciate it greatly.

Cheers,
Alan

[djr33]

That's odd. I use godaddy (and I have for years) and there's no reason that it should be slow. Maybe you can check with them. Or maybe something was particularly wrong with my connection. It does seem to be loading a little faster now (and at the moment I'm using my university's wifi).
What I suggest then is to check on this from time to time from different connections. If it seems frequently slow, then maybe you should consider a new host. Godaddy is pretty easy to use, but they're support is bad-- there probably are better hosts for the same amount of money, but I use them because they have cheap domains (and actually use another host for one of my more serious projects). Godaddy is generally reliable and fast, though, so I'm not sure this is their fault... let me know if you figure anything out about it. Either way, everything is loading within a reasonable amount of time now so it isn't an issue.

Remember also when checking these things that there are two speeds: 1. loading speed (transfer speed, eg, "100kb/s"); 2. request speed (how long it takes for the server to start sending information after you ask for it). Often the second part is overlooked and is always responsible for slow speeds on loading small files (like an HTML page or a small icon image), while the transfer speed only really matters for bigger images, audio, video, etc.

[bornegraphics]

Awesome! I'm glad to hear things are loading faster now. Still a few files I want to change the size of which I think will again help with load time.

If you don't mind me asking what is the other web hosting provider you use? Have you heard bluehost? I've been reading up on them and they seem to offer good incentives with some unlimited features. I am considering giving them a try. Any thoughts?

I want to thank you again for all your help, you have made a world of difference. If there is anything you ever need designed or help with please do not hesitate to ask.

Cheers,
Alan