I’m well versed in the popular mantra around here that states, ‘The Straight Dope server is so extremely overloaded, due in large part to it’s tremendous popularity, that at any second it could conceivably explode, sending hot molten computer shrapnel throughout the SD empire.’, or something similarly dire along those lines.
Whenever I read that line, I envision thousands of people around the globe frustrated that the SD can’t load faster, doing what they hate- actually doing something constructive at work while the page loads.
But periodically I get an entrance screen, or page, that gives normally hidden details about this site out to the masses. I assume it’s an administrative page because it shows how many registered users are logged in at that time, and how many visitors are currently connected as well. I typically don’t see this page except those few times when the stars are aligned just so.
Every time I’ve seen this page, I’ve been stunned at how few people are here. That is, the last time it came up, it showed something like 62 registered users and 116 guests. That’s it. Now that doesn’t seem like a lot to me, but what do I know about these things. I always assumed the numbers were huge, like 15,000 people accessing this site at any given moment. But apparently, that’s not the case.
So, my question is, just how many people are here at any one time? Is 178 visitors the norm? Does it take so few people viewing this site that it brings the server to its knee’s? Or are there hundreds, nay, thousands of people out there viewing this stuff at any one time?
On average between 100 to 200 people having accessed the message board within the previous five minutes sounds about right. I’ve checked a few times since we’ve installed vBulletin and it normally falls within that range.
You know, I spent all that time typing up that question and what happens?
In only a matter of seconds, it gets dispensed with complete certainty.
Talk about a let-down.
I mean, where’s the wild speculation from the others? The assertions and counter-assertions? The arguments that lead to broken friendships and hurt feelings around here? The build up, the suspense!?!
Dammit! You ruined it.
Can’t any of you involved in the administration of this board do anything right?
Oh, alright, I’ll be serious now.
Thanks jdavis, I appreciate the reply. Honest.
Call me naïve, but I’ve always assumed the number of people trying to access this site was higher than one or two hundred people. Don’t ask me why, I just did. I guess I think that of all the sites I visit.
Considering how fast you took care of my initial question, if you please, would you mind another?
Is that number normal of other sites on the web? That is, is it your experience that 100-200 visitors are on at any one time on at a particular site?
I remember when the SDMB switched to vBulletin - for a day or two, it would show exactly how many were logged on and give the names of registered users. (Go to The Pizza Parlour for an example.)
As I recall, that option was closed for privacy concerns. I thought it was sort of neat, but I understand why some would be bothered by it.
Not everybody realized that, and I recall at least one panicky ATMB post to Tuba, on the first day of VB, saying, “This thing scrolls the names of everybody who’s currently on the boards, and my boss is registered here, too, and he knows what my user name is, so any minute now he’s going to log on and VB’s going to tell him that I’m logged on, too. Help!”
I also seem to remember that trolls were using the “logged in” list of names to make their sock puppets. They’d take a username and put a space in front of it and then wreak havoc.
What the hell were either of them doing on SDMB? Neither of them is getting paid to be on the internet, nor does her boss have the right to fire her for it, freakin’ hypocrite.
How do you know they’re not getting paid to be on the Internet? And why would you presume to tell people who can and can’t be on the Internet? Are you the Grand Poohbah of the World Wide Web?
[hijack]
You have to earn it. It’s voted on by a group of people cut off from society on an island in Micronesia. Among this group are a cranky old fart, a prima donna, a goody-two-shoes, a sycophant, a yes man, and a lip reader. The lip reader was added to satisfy ADA requirements.
The term is life, but there’s a catch. As soon as you are selected, global law allows anyone on Earth to kill you. Should you be assassinated, a herd of hairless rabbits will surround your corpse, strip you naked, and parade the corpse around the country for a time period not less than one year in length. Meanwhile, that same select group begins their selection process anew. (In fact, rumor has it that they already have a top-ten list in mind, so if #1 gets killed, they simply select #2.)
