Open up a seperate tab for each forum you are interested in
Choose “bookmark this group of tabs” under the Bookmarks menu
The next time you want go to the SDMB, hit your bookmark made above. All your forums will start loading simultaneously, each in its own tab. While waiting for a thread to load in one tab, you check out the other forums in the other tabs. While waiting for anything at all (a thread to load, a post to submit, etc) you have the other forums to look at.
Yeah, sometimes all tabs are busy, but then I load another tab with any other web page.
After the tabs are set up, it’s only one button click to have all forums loading simultaneously. After all windows are loaded, then yes, it’s pretty much the same as opening new browser windows.
I find it helps at least a little to turn off images when surfing the SMDB. I might be rationalising to myself however. I don’t allow much cache space however, so it does make at least a little difference.
Nope. You are requesting the same amount of data from the server, you are just letting it request it and wait for it while you are doing previous tasks. Unless you start using this method to visit the board more frequently, it’s exactly the same amout of load on the board.
Revtrim, any single action that you see, that causes the SDMB to pause, or to hang indefinitely, is putting a load on the SDMB server.
Your technique is fine if you’re trying to optimize your computer. But it’s helping CAUSE slowdowns on the SDMB. And your computer almost certainly isn’t what’s causing the slow performance you see. So you’re adding to the problem, not fixing it. I wouldn’t go into this, but apparently a number of other SDMBers use similar – and similarly destructive – techniques.
As Mangetout pointed out, unless you actually always read all the threads you’ve requested, you’re adding to the load.
The SDMB server is not particularly intelligent. Nearly anything slows it down, including: use of smilies, signatures, searches, previewing posts, etc.
And so, another unsolicited comment to the SDMB vBulletin administrators. Is there some way of stopping people from doing what Revtrim is describing? Or is this another “we don’t own the code, don’t want to change it” situation?
You can also just make a desktop folder. Visit each forum & drag a short cut URL to the folder that you have on the desktop. The folder is now full of shortcuts, select them all & click OPEN voila!..
Can we stop people from loading five fora simultaneously? No.
I guess if you use Revtim’s method to load five fora, then read the threads in those you like, and THEN reload the fora, it’s no different then “normal” use. I submit that five is a bit much, but I often have an MPSIMS thread “on the load” as I’m reading a BBQ Pit thread, for example.
This is simularto an issue brought up with internet accelerators which would prefetch all links on a page (so when you clicked on one it would already be loaded). I tried this on the SDMB a long time ago when the board wasn’t quite as slow - when I realszed what I’m doing on the far end I stopped.
As for your method I use IE and open each link I’m interested in a new window. When It loads I read.
For the second time: It doesn’t load any threads you would not have loaded anyway. It loads no threads you don’t specifically click on. It loads no threads you would not have loaded anyway. Why isn’t this clear? The initial load only loads the FORUM you would have loaded anyway, the page that LISTS the threads, not the threads themsleves. You have to click the threads to load them. Only click the threads you want to read, like normal.
Since you don’t request any more data than normal use, you don’t add any additional load.
I don’t have groups of bookmarked forums, but I do have each individual forum bookmarked. That way, the hamsters don’t have to bring me the main SDMB page when I log on–they can head straight for each forum’s list of threads.
It saves a little wear and tear on the server, and a little bit of time for me, too.
That’s a good point Tamex. The tabbed method I described also avoids the main SDMB page, so it actually LESSENS the amount of data requested to the server.
Yeah, the only difference between your separate window method and the tabbed method I described is, well, it’s in tabs instead of windows. You might like to try Mozilla and tabbed browsing, I like it a lot better than separate windows.
To re-iterate to all: the method I described does NOT pre-fetch any threads, and requests no more info from the server. Actually a little less, since you avoid the SDMB main page.
It loads all the forums every time you go to that bookmark. Did you always go to all the forums every time you went to the SDMB front page? If so, it’s no extra load. If not, it is. Right?