Page loads slow

[WickedSense]

Take a look at this site I'm working on.

[url]http://www.viswiz.biz/simacor/simacor.html[/url]

Does anyone else watch the background images loading in sequence? I am trying
to get rid of this, I would like the page to load instantly - all at once. I
have done preloaders in flash, but not dreamweaver. I tried using dreamweaver's
code snippet for a preloader and it didn't make a difference.

Any advice?

[Murray *TMM*]

Your page is not excessively heavy at 53K -

Diagnosis
Global Statistics
Total HTTP Requests: 19
Total Size: 53461 bytes

Object Size Totals
Object type Size (bytes)
HTML: 11330
HTML Images: 30741
CSS Images: 0
Total Images: 30741
Javascript: 8998
CSS: 2392
Multimedia: 0
Other: 0

External Objects
External Object QTY
Total HTML: 1
Total HTML Images: 13
Total CSS Images: 0
Total Images: 13
Total Scripts: 4
Total CSS imports: 1
Total Frames: 0
Total Iframes: 0


The two things I would attack to improve the load time are the menus (I
wouldn't touch those with a ten foot pole since all of your external links
are embedded in this javascript - <script language="JavaScript1.2"
type="text/javascript">ACEDisplayMenu();</script> - making them unavailable
to search engines, or screen readers). I am guessing that you could cut
that weight in half by using a more accessible and SE friendly menu method -
like the ones at PVII -
[url]http://www.projectseven.com/products/menusystems/pmm/[/url] for example. Also
take a look at your CSS - you can reduce this:

..menutabs a{
font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-weight: bolder;
display: block;
height: 22px;
color: #000000;
font-size: 10px;
background-image: url(images/site1bannerbg2.jpg);
width: 162px;
padding: 4px;
border: none;
text-align: center;
}
..menutabs a:hover{
color: #000000;
background-image: url(images/site1bannerbg22.jpg);
}
..corner a{
font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-weight: bolder;
display: block;
height: 22px;
width:113;
color: #000000;
font-size: 10px;
background-image: url(images/site1bannerbg22.jpg);
padding: 4px;
border: none;
text-align: center;
}
..corner a:hover{
color: #ffffff;
}
..captionSmall {
background-image:url(images/Simacor_banner_12.jpg);
font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 8pt;
color: #FFFFFF;
font-weight: bold;
text-align: center;
vertical-align: middle;
border-top-color: #FFFFFF;
border-right-color: #FFFFFF;
border-bottom-color: #FFFFFF;
border-left-color: #FFFFFF;
}
..style6 {
font-size: 12pt;
font-weight: bold;
}

to this:

..menutabs a, .corner a {
font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-weight: bold; /* there is no bolder well supported */
color: #000;
display: block;
padding: 4px;
border: none;
text-align: center;
font-size: 10px;
}
..menutabs a{
height: 22px;
background-image: url(images/site1bannerbg2.jpg);
width: 162px;
}
..menutabs a:hover{
background-image: url(images/site1bannerbg22.jpg);
}
..corner a{
height: 22px;
width:113;
background-image: url(images/site1bannerbg22.jpg);
}
..corner a:hover{
color: #fff;
}
..captionSmall {
background-image:url(images/Simacor_banner_12.jpg);
font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 8pt; /* don't use points on the web */
color: #FFF;
font-weight: bold;
text-align: center;
vertical-align: middle;
border-color: #FFF;
}
..style6 {
font-size: 12pt;
font-weight: bold;
}
(I assume that your linked stylesheet is similarly redundant and voluminous)

In addition, if you had a valid and complete doctype on the page you could
get away with a single font family declaration for the body tag, and it
would inherit into all descendent tags.

Finally, I am getting a js error on line 8 - probably in the menu loader
js....

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
[url]http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com[/url] - Template Triage!
[url]http://www.projectseven.com/go[/url] - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
[url]http://www.dwfaq.com[/url] - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
[url]http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/[/url] - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================


"WickedSense" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:dpkcjm$fpl$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Take a look at this site I'm working on.
>
> [url]http://www.viswiz.biz/simacor/simacor.html[/url]
>
> Does anyone else watch the background images loading in sequence? I am
> trying
> to get rid of this, I would like the page to load instantly - all at once.
> I
> have done preloaders in flash, but not dreamweaver. I tried using
> dreamweaver's
> code snippet for a preloader and it didn't make a difference.
>
> Any advice?
>

[WickedSense]

Thanks, I'll work on these suggestions. Yes, my external CSS is insanely
redundant, I'm working on learning shorthand.

What is it that makes the popup menu you suggested more efficient?

Also, about declaring a single font-family in the body. Would that simply mean
I declare the body as verdana, arial.... and then remove the font-family line
from all CSS elements that are already verdana, arial?

[Murray *TMM*]

> What is it that makes the popup menu you suggested more efficient?

Less code, more accessibility, not javascript dependent.

> Also, about declaring a single font-family in the body. Would that simply
> mean
> I declare the body as verdana, arial.... and then remove the font-family
> line
> from all CSS elements that are already verdana, arial?

Yes. But to do this, the page has to render in Standards mode - that means
you must be sure to have a valid and complete doctype. Your page currently
has no doctype and is therefore being rendered in quirks mode. To read more
about this, go here -

[url]http://www.ericmeyeroncss.com/bonus/render-mode.html[/url]


--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Dreamweaver
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
[url]http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com[/url] - Template Triage!
[url]http://www.projectseven.com/go[/url] - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
[url]http://www.dwfaq.com[/url] - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
[url]http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/[/url] - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
==================


"WickedSense" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:dpmj7b$cgg$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Thanks, I'll work on these suggestions. Yes, my external CSS is insanely
> redundant, I'm working on learning shorthand.
>
> What is it that makes the popup menu you suggested more efficient?
>
> Also, about declaring a single font-family in the body. Would that simply
> mean
> I declare the body as verdana, arial.... and then remove the font-family
> line
> from all CSS elements that are already verdana, arial?
>