Forum VERY slow as of yesterday...seems to be Javascript related

[D. Thomas]

On dedicated server and host can't find any problems. If members disable javascript in Firefox the forum loads fine, otherwise pages that previously too 2 seconds, now take 30 seconds to load.

Thinking the few ads I have might be suspect, I deleted all ad code that required javascript and it made no difference whatsoever.

Any ideas ? Below is some info one member found.

www.practicalmachinist.com

=========================================================
It looks like one of the servers is not responding. There is a logical cluster of a.practicalmachinist.com, b.practicalmachinist.com... that respond in round-robin, and the a machine is dead. Turning off javascript disables the round-robin from the client side and you're able to get right in.
bash-3.2$ traceroute www.practicalmachnist.com
traceroute: Warning: www.practicalmachnist.com has multiple addresses; using 66.45.254.244
traceroute to www.practicalmachnist.com (66.45.254.244), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets (it timed out)
Same test to 209.216.209.188 (b.practicalmachinist.com) worked fine.

=========================================================

Also, via the browser source function, I'm seeing some source code (see below) that I had deleted via AdminCP style sheets/header/edit. A check of header/edit and it is still gone... so how do I really get rid of that code ? I mention this as Ominture was a problem in the past related to javascript and loading speed...so I worry maybe it is the source of the trouble still even thought the ads it was servicing are long gone.

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var SESSIONURL = "";
var IMGDIR_MISC = "images/misc";
var vb_disable_ajax = parseInt("0", 10);
// -->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="clientscript/vbulletin_global.js?v=368"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="clientscript/vbulletin_menu.js?v=368"></script>
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Practical Machinist - The Manufacturing Forum RSS Feed" href="external.php?type=RSS2" />

<!--Begin F100 Tool Company Mods for Double Click Ad -->
<script language="javascript" src="/DCScripts/doubleclick.js"></script>
<!-- End F100 Tool Company Mods-->
<!-- Begin OAS scripts -->
<script language="javascript" src="/OASScripts/DisplayAds1.js"></script>
<script language="javascript1.1" src="/OASScripts/DisplayAds2.js"></script>
<script language="javascript" src="/OASScripts/DisplayAds3.js"></script>
<script language="javascript" src="/OASScripts/LocalFilename.js"></script>
<!-- End OAS scripts -->
<!-- SiteCatalyst code version: H.11.
Copyright 1997-2007 Omniture, Inc. More info available at
http://www.omniture.com -->

<script language="JavaScript">
var s_account='<omniture account name>';
</script>
<script language="javascript" src="<path to Omniture javascript file> "></script>
<script language="JavaScript"><!--

var path = location.pathname;

// set the fullpath including the querystring...like CGI.REQUEST_URI
if( location.search.length != 0 ){ var fullPath=path + location.search; }
else{ var fullPath=path; }


s=s_gi(s_account);
s.channel="Community";
s.pageName=fullPath;

var Today= new Date();
s.prop1=Today.getHours();
s.prop2=location.hostname;
s.prop6='<Omniture category>';
s.prop7=s.pageName;
s.prop8=s_account;

s.trackingServer='metrics.<site address>.com';
s.trackingServerSecure='smetrics.<site address>.com';
s.linkInternalFilters='javascript:,<site address>.com';
/************* DO NOT ALTER ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ! **************/
var s_code=s.t();if(s_code)document.write(s_code)//--></script>
<script language="JavaScript"><!--
if(navigator.appVersion.indexOf('MSIE')>=0)document.write(unescape('%3C')+'\!-'+'-')
//--></script><noscript><a href="http://www.omniture.com" title="Web Analytics"><img
src="http://metrics.<site address>.com/b/ss/<omniture account name>/1/H.11--NS/0"
height="1" width="1" border="0" alt="" ></a></noscript><!--/DO NOT REMOVE/-->
<!-- End SiteCatalyst code version: H.11. -->

<!-- TACODA -->
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">var tcdacmd="dt";</SCRIPT>
<SCRIPT SRC="http://an.tacoda.net/an/11870/slf.js" LANGUAGE="JavaScript"></SCRIPT>

<!-- End Omniture / Tacoda bloc --

[D. Thomas]

I just noticed when I have javascript enabled and click on a page on my site, it says "connecting to a.practicalmachinist.com" but with javascript disabled it just says "transferring data from www.practicalmachinist.com" ...as it should.

So, the $64,000 question is, what the heck is "a.practicalmachinst.com" ???

[D. Thomas]

Latest reply to my question about how to disable "a.practicalmachinist.com" from host below. How do I check my VB configuration for this ?

==========================================
I would check your vbullentin configuration for any entries that point to a.practicalmachinist.com. I can see it exists in your database somewhere:

[root@admin1 ~]# cd /var/lib/mysql/forum/
[root@admin1 forum]# grep a.practical *
Binary file vb_blog_text.MYD matches
Binary file vb_pmtext.MYD matches
Binary file vb_post.MYD matches
Binary file vb_postparsed.MYD matches
Binary file vb_usertextfield.MYD matches
[root@admin1 forum]#

[Zachery]

Whta if you try the default vBulletin style with no modifications.

[D. Thomas]

How to do that ? "Revert all templates" or ?

Btw, the latest is now, even though neither I nor server host actually made any changes, the site it blazing fast with I.E. and works ok with latest version of Firefox...BUT now the 'search' button doesn't respond...also clicking on member names (to see profile) don't respond. And yet if I turn off javascript, they do respond !

[Zachery]

AdminCP > Styles & Templates > Style Manager > Add New Style

No Parrent > Save


Disable plugins via AdminCP > vBulletin Options > Enable/Disable Plugin system

[D. Thomas]

OK I did all that but the style has not actually changed....are you sure the steps you wrote are all that is necessary...seems like I should need to do something beyond "save"...

[Zachery]

Sorry, there should now be a drop down box like on this forum for addtional styles. Choose it.

[D. Thomas]

Interesting...I have no such box. When the forum got slow I deleted some source code for two ads in the footer (thinking the ads might be the javascript problem)... I wonder if I deleted the code for that box in the process....

Below is my footer code as it is now.... see anything missing ?

<br />
<div class="smallfont" align="center">$vbphrase[all_times_are_gmt_x_time_now_is_y]</div>
<br />
$spacer_close
<!-- /content area table -->
<form action="$vboptions[forumhome].php" method="get">

<table cellpadding="$stylevar[cellpadding]" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="$stylevar[outertablewidth]" class="page" align="center">
<tr>
<if condition="$show['quickchooser']">
<td class="tfoot">
<select name="styleid" onchange="switch_id(this, 'style')">
<optgroup label="$vbphrase[quick_style_chooser]">
$quickchooserbits
</optgroup>
</select>
</td>
</if>
<if condition="$show['languagechooser']">
<td class="tfoot">
<select name="langid" onchange="switch_id(this, 'lang')">
<optgroup label="$vbphrase[quick_language_chooser]">
$languagechooserbits
</optgroup>
</select>
</td>
</if>
<td class="tfoot" align="$stylevar[right]" width="100%">
<div class="smallfont">
<strong>
<if condition="$show['contactus']"><a href="$vboptions[contactuslink]" rel="nofollow" accesskey="9">$vbphrase[contact_us]</a> -</if>
<if condition="$vboptions['hometitle']"><a href="$vboptions[homeurl]">$vboptions[hometitle]</a> -</if>
<if condition="$show['admincplink']"><a href="$admincpdir/index.php$session[sessionurl_q]">$vbphrase[admin]</a> -</if>
<if condition="$show['modcplink']"><a href="$modcpdir/index.php$session[sessionurl_q]">$vbphrase[mod]</a> -</if>
<if condition="$vboptions['archiveenabled']"><a href="archive/index.php">$vbphrase[archive]</a> -</if>
<if condition="$vboptions[privacyurl]"><a href="$vboptions[privacyurl]">$vbphrase[privacy_statement]</a> -</if>
<a href="#top" onclick="self.scrollTo(0, 0); return false;">$vbphrase[top]</a>
</strong>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br />
<div align="center">
<div class="smallfont" align="center">
<!-- Do not remove this copyright notice -->
$vbphrase[powered_by_vbulletin]
<!-- Do not remove this copyright notice -->
</div>

<div class="smallfont" align="center">
<!-- Do not remove $cronimage or your scheduled tasks will cease to function -->
$cronimage
<!-- Do not remove $cronimage or your scheduled tasks will cease to function -->

$vboptions[copyrighttext]
</div>
</div>
</form>
<div align="center">
<table id="google">
<tr>
<td>

[D. Thomas]

Ah, that was the reason for the missing box.... I just now put the ad code back and the box reappeared... stay tuned...

[D. Thomas]

OK, with the default style the seach and other functions do now work....sooo, what to do to fix the style I've been using ?

[D. Thomas]

Adding to the wierdness, I've just noticed the style box only appears in Firefox.... in I.E. the blue bar is there but the white box to change styles is missing.

Does VB offer contest for the wierdest problems ? If so, where do I enter ?

[D. Thomas]

OK, now the style box has dissapeared from Firefox also...and yet I did nothing....

Am I hearing crickets chirping and tumbleweeds blowing across the screen because you guys are as mystified as me, or are you all out fishing ?

[D. Thomas]

A day and a half later and zero response....why ?

[Dilly]

Um - just open a support ticket.