# Is this forum ALWAYS this painfully slow? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 11, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821 "2003-07-11T21:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![homercles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@homercles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homercles)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/1 "2003-07-11T21:12:56Z")
Need i add more? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/2 "2003-07-11T21:16:47Z")
It _is_ usually pretty slow, the worst time being mid-day in the Western Hemisphere. Iā€™ve become very good at Freecell. ---
**Author:** ![homercles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@homercles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homercles)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/3 "2003-07-11T21:38:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ringo \* > \*\*It _is_ usually pretty slow, the worst time being mid-day in the Western Hemisphere. Iā€™ve become very good at Freecell. \*\* Jeez, i hear ya. Im a n00b and i have seen this forum die on numerous occassionsā€¦makes it pretty tough to become and oldB. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/4 "2003-07-11T21:41:11Z")
Make that another Free Cell devotee for when things arenā€™t as fast as they could be. Delays are in minutes this time of day. Early morning here itā€™s much quicker. ---
**Author:** ![homercles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@homercles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homercles)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/5 "2003-07-11T21:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zeldar \* > \*\*Make that another Free Cell devotee for when things arenā€™t as fast as they could be. > > Delays are in minutes this time of day. Early morning here itā€™s much quicker. \*\* Is this why they dont allow avitars? ā˜¹ BTW, im assuming they dont as i havent seen a single avitar yet. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/6 "2003-07-11T21:53:23Z")
Avitar? I saw something about them but donā€™t have the vaguest what they even are. SDMB has disabled many functions of the basic vBulletin options, for various reasons. I try not to look a gift horse in the face. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/7 "2003-07-11T22:05:58Z")
Since this is a question about this message board, Iā€™ll move this thread to ATMB. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/8 "2003-07-11T22:26:13Z")
Move it? Heck, why not close it? šŸ™‚ Donā€™t feel too bad, **homercles**. It was about time for someone to ask why the board is slow. Thank goodness you stepped up to the plate! By the way, we use this question to help tell the new people from the old people. ---
**Author:** ![homercles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@homercles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homercles)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/9 "2003-07-11T22:26:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bibliophage \* > \*\*Since this is a question about this message board, Iā€™ll move this thread to ATMB. > > bibliophage > moderator GQ \*\* So, how about at least answering my Q about the avitars? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/10 "2003-07-11T22:28:11Z")
**homercles** , questions about the message board always go in the About This Message Board forum, even if theyā€™re General Questions. ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/11 "2003-07-11T22:31:58Z")
An avatar is a picture underneath your username. Iā€™d imagine if everyone had those itā€™d slow it down quite a bit more. ---
**Author:** ![homercles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@homercles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homercles)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/12 "2003-07-11T22:35:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*By the way, we use this question to help tell the new people from the old people. \*\* Ah, yes, the old learned helplessness issue. Sorry, i guess i have been spending too much time on boards that are optimized for usageā€¦ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![homercles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@homercles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homercles)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/13 "2003-07-11T22:36:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\ ***homercles** , questions about the message board always go in the About This Message Board forum, even if theyā€™re General Questions. \*\* Well, if my post was OT, why didnt the mod at least answer it while simultaneoulsy moving the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/14 "2003-07-11T22:39:11Z")
A avatar is an icon you can have placed beneath your username. An example of a board with avatars is [here](http://www.tforum.org/community/viewtopic.php?TopicID=166). Note it is not a vBulletin board, but a similar one. I donā€™t know any vB boards with this feature turned on off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/15 "2003-07-11T22:47:11Z")
Thanks, **Q.E.D.** , for the link and the def/picture. I can see how the hamsters would love to nibble on avatars! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/16 "2003-07-11T22:49:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by homercles \* > \*\*Ah, yes, the old learned helplessness issue. Sorry, i guess i have been spending too much time on boards that are optimized for usageā€¦ā˜¹ \*\* This board is provided free of charge by the Chicago Reader, and itā€™s costing them a fair chunk of change in bandwidth and whatnot as time goes by. Iā€™m happy to have it at all, even if itā€™s not ā€œoptimizedā€. And, yes, just about all the special features of the software, including avatars, are turned off to conserve bandwidth or to limit liability. ---
**Author:** ![homercles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@homercles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homercles)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/17 "2003-07-11T23:16:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smeghead \* > \*\*This board is provided free of charge by the Chicago Reader, and itā€™s costing them a fair chunk of change in bandwidth and whatnot as time goes by. Iā€™m happy to have it at all, even if itā€™s not ā€œoptimizedā€. And, yes, just about all the special features of the software, including avatars, are turned off to conserve bandwidth or to limit liability. \*\* Gotcha, grazie! šŸ˜ƒ To QED: [hereā€™s](http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/index.php?s=) a free forum that has enabled all opts of vBulletin. ALthough they do limit avatars to 60x60 pixels. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/18 "2003-07-12T01:32:40Z")
I think the Avatars are partially a bandwidth issue, and partially the ā€œa few people ruin it for the rest of usā€ with inappropriate avatars, etc. I canā€™t say Iā€™m sad, I donā€™t really think theyā€™re that useful anyway. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/19 "2003-07-12T01:36:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by homercles \* > \*\*Well, if my post was OT, why didnt the mod at least answer it while simultaneoulsy moving the thread? \*\* Well, he would know better than I would, but I can speculate. Since it was an ATMB question, maybe he felt more comfortable letting an administrator answer it. By the way, avatars can be nifty on small boards; they can be creative descriptions of the member, for example. See The Unaboard. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821/20 "2003-07-12T01:43:06Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=103503](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=103503) First post in the thread entitled ā€œFAQ - technical issues - please read this BEFORE posting a questionā€ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-forum-always-this-painfully-slow/187821.md?page=2)