Top 10 Tech Web Tips

To Widget or Not to Widget and the Server Speeds that Spoil Them

This weekend I am catching up with Utterz and came upon a great question by Matt Thomas of Matthom.com and PainInTheTech.com.

BTW he has a great article on Zoho Metting at PainInTheTech.

His Question in Audio below, asks what people think about Widgets and whether or not they should be used on sites at all as many of them reduce the load time of a website down significantly.  Websites that have many of these widgets can load painfully slow sometimes and that translates into a bad reader experience.

Bad reader experience is bad for publishers most of the time unless you are running an insult site or something.

So first let me ask you Matt’s Question, do you think widgets are bad? 

 

My Perspective - It Depends on the Server Speed of the Service

Tip!  Listen to my perspective and you will find out why I think widgets can enhance and add value to your site and I’ll give you a hint, you are looking right at it!

So if you listen to my perspective, you will see that my response to Matt simply indicates that you have to find a balance and monitor it.  If you are running a blog say on Dreamhost and paying $50 a year and you are loaded on to a server with 3000 other sites, you may not have the fastest load time in the world even if you are just sporting a Hello World page.

OK, that was an exaggeration.

But seriously, if you are picking up a widget from say Google or Yahoo or maybe even Flikr, which I do not use. Odds are these companies have better and faster servers than what you are paying for.  They are not likely to be culprits in slowing down your website.

Your reader is on the internet and has to hit your server already, another server will add some load time but if its a fast server it will not be noticeable.

The real issue to look out for is

1. Do not put too many widgets on your website that slows down performance all the way around
2. Pay attention to what is there, if you see a degradation you may need to pull something from your site.

Here are some follow up questions for you

1. Do you have widgets that are slowing your site down? 
2. Do you have Java script or a stats tool slowing you down?
3. Do you have a button or two that came with a hot linked image that loads notoriously slow?

Tip of the Obvious

You have probably heard this tip before, but if you are including a button on your site for something, download the graphic and host it yourself.  then change the code and load it on your site.  Do not hot link the graphic!  You can still give someone a recommendation link with the button if you choose (Google considerations aside).

So with that go forth and be happy.  This is something that I run into on a regular basis myself, especially with annoying button requests and more frequently with stat tools that run on javascript like google analytics.  When someone else’s server runs down like a rechargeable flashlight that has seen a few too many charging sessions, its time to swap out that code, that hot link, that button, or that widget for some new batteries and get yourself something that will keep your readers happy!

 

Check Out Matt’s Blog

Lastly, I do not know Matt from the next person, but he does have some good insights.  I’d recommend checking out his blog and some of his conversations.  The comment above by Matt is part of what may become a series of conversations.  In part 2 he talks about a concept that I use all the time on almost all of my sites and that is Feed incorporation of content.

Firebug - Web Development Evolved

A good friend of mine recommended some JavaScript editing software called Firebug.  It not only enables you to edit JavaScript but also CSS and several other types of script.  Even better its a Firefox add on!

One of the unique things about software that definitely captured my eye was its ability to work with live website so that you can see the script that you’re editing and its impact live on the website as you’re working with it.  This what you do result in what you see editing style can definitely be useful for people that have less experience working with JavaScript.  I wouldn’t classify it as a full WYSIWYG, but it does come close to that.  I suspect it may have other uses for more advanced coders and scripters as well. 

I will let you know when I get to that level with JavaScript and after I have had a chance to put this tool through its paces!

If you have had some experience with this software or with something better, let me know and I will be happy to mention it here and give you full credit for your reference.  It doesn’t matter to me who you are or whether or not you are a do-it-yourselfer coder, or a software engineer or even a real estate agent, I’m more interested in what you know.

Firebug