#loading times

[plushchimera]

i ran out of slots for outdoor furniture and as you can see i’m being very normal and reasonable about it

[girl4music]

My review of the XBOX Series X

So I’ve had nearly a full week with the XBOX Series X and here is my honest opinion on my experience with it and this is my initial review of it. I’m not gonna talk about the technology or go into anything about the console’s hardware too deeply. I will talk about the features and benefits it offers. Going into some things that work and don’t work as well as promised by Microsoft and XBOX. Finally, I will talk about all the bugs and issues that I experienced and found most annoying. Most of which have already been identified and reported. 

First up, be aware that I am coming from an XBOX 360 as my last XBOX console experience so I may say stuff that applies to the XBOX One as well.

1. BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY AND AUTO HDR: Microsoft promised that the XBOX Series X and S would work right out of the box with 1000’s of gaming titles across 4 generations. This promise holds up… However, they do not run anywhere half as well as they also promised they would. They do run better than their native platform, that is true. But it’s not a groundbreaking difference. And AUTO HDR doesn’t really work with most games that never had it to begin with. It makes the colours and textures look really odd and you don’t get that nostalgic feeling of playing an old legacy title because of the “updates”. Which is something I was very much looking forward to. It’s pick your poison I guess. You can either have a legacy game running better and looking greater on a platform that can take the graphical fidelity and framerate boosts, or have a full reunion with your beloved legacy games from your childhood. You can turn AUTO HDR off via the main console settings, but this still doesn’t really give you the latter. Not in my personal opinion anyway. It’s not disappointing as it’s not something I really expected. I just would have liked to have it. Nostalgia >>> Shiny any day.

2. QUICK RESUME AND LOADING TIMES: The XBOX Series X (can’t speak for the S) has significantly improved on speed thanks to the custom lightning fast and functional SSD. So much so that you can now travel between multiple games fully loaded up on the SSD within the time of a few seconds. However, quick resume is not only useful to be able to play between 3 or 4 games (more according to YouTube influencers who have tried and tested this out far more than me) in one sitting. You can also effectively use it to save your game. Or rather… Replace save states IN a game. What quick resume allows you to do is keep your game saved at ANY point, and completely SHUT the console down and UNPLUG it for several days (or longer, again, never tested it that far) and then PLUG it in and switch it ON again, and come back to exactly where you left off in the game. And I do mean EXACTLY WHERE YOU LEFT OFF!

For example; you could be in an all-important boss fight in ‘Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla’ and be so frustrated with not being able to beat this boss after trying many times. You could indeed just pause the game, come out to the dashboard, turn the console off and walk away from it all…. And when you came back to have another go at it, you would not have to restart the boss fight and just carry on with where you left off in chopping down their health. I did this several times because I suck at boss fights… And every time, this worked and it was the strategy that got me through them all. So a little cool off time is more than affordable with the XBOX Series X. And if you hate boss fights, suddenly you won’t hate boss fights as much anymore if you do the same. It makes a world of a difference to your experience. Believe me, quick resume is a literal life-saver.

To add to that, you also benefit from much quicker load times both with booting up the games and in-game fast-travelling or level-entering. Instead of 5 minutes waiting for a game to boot up into the main campaign or wherever,… It will take at most up to 50 seconds for the most power-taxing of games. 'Grand Theft Auto 5' for instance, known for it’s notoriously long boot into story or online mode… Now only takes 10 seconds from the company title advertisements to get into the area of the game you want to play. It is so fast that you do not have the time to read the tips and tricks dialogue that takes up the screen during the initial loading. It’s honestly a quality of life you never even knew you needed or was missing until you had it.

3. BUGS AND ISSUES: Being that I bought the XBOX Series X at Launch (November 10th), I very much expected it to come with a plethora of bugs and issues to discover and be witness to as a consumer and user of newly developed and released hardware and software. And these bugs and issues have already been identified and reported to Microsoft and the respective console and game developers. Bugs where you cannot play games that offer 4K at 120 hertz (4K/120fps) without visual and audial distortions or even without turning the game off altogether. I particularly had trouble with this in trying to play ‘Rise Of The Tomb Raider' 20 Year Celebration edition. Once I downloaded it from the XBOX Store fully, (which took a LONG FUCKING TIME, we’ll get on to that in a bit), I immediately tried to play it and because my display settings were set at 4K/120 because I have a TV that supports that setting, it was having all sorts of problems in booting up. There was all this distortion happening on screen both visually and audially that I thought my ultra high speed HDMI cable that came with the console was broken or faulty. I also remember specifically that it kept turning my Game Mode on and off rapidly and I didn’t know how to stop it avoiding a full reset of the console. This game was the worst for it but it also happened in other games I tried to play too. Including those I had as physical disks.

Speaking of… I did not encounter the “black/blank screen of death” issue other next-gen XBOX consumers and users did where you would enter a game disk and be met with a black or blank screen. BUT I did have trouble with downloading the “updates” for the games I had bought physically. I expected the games I downloaded digitally to take a long time to download fully, but I figured that it would be much quicker for the “updates” for physical games. This was not the case, and for some games, it actually took LONGER. I don’t know why this happens or if it can even be fixed in a firmware update, but it has put me off buying games physically for it, which is certainly not a good thing for store game retailers. And I’m someone who actually cares about that and would want to help them out as much as possible since they are a dying breed. But if it takes longer to download physical games than to download digital games, I’m not sure I can hold up that promise. The time it takes to download is a major frustration for me. I’ll be leaving my console on for long periods of time doing nothing but downloading that I otherwise wouldn’t. And I’ve got to say right now that I am glad I do not have an OLED TV where this would be much more of a problem due to burn-in risks. I would highly suggest anyone who is buying a new TV for their XBOX Series X or S with all the bells and whistles to not buy an OLED for this reason. Leaving an OLED TV on with a display picture that never moves for hours at a time would severely decrease it’s life and usage capacity. I recommend a Samsung QLED TV instead. That’s what I’ve got. I bought their Q95T 55inch 4K TV for gaming alone and it has not disappointed in the slightest. But I won’t go into why it’s the better TV to buy for next-gen gaming since this is not a TV review. You can look that up for yourselves at your leisure.

Another issue the XBOX Series X has is with its sharing image snapshots and video clips feature. The new controller for the console has a dedicated share button and that works really well. I’ve had no problems with it capturing the content that I want to share. But sharing to social media and to XBOX Live itself is the issue. And this happens with video clips more so than image snapshots. For some reason, when I go to share a video clip to Twitter, the load bar moves forward partly but then it immediately stops and gives me a black/blank screen. And sure enough, when I go to check my Twitter on my phone, it has not posted the video clip. And trying to share it to XBOX Live first and then share it to Twitter from my phone via the XBOX app doesn’t work either. The same issue applies here too. Black/blank screen when trying to share it to XBOX Live. Snapshot images also has this issue but every once in awhile it will allow you to share to both XBOX Live and social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch ect…) whereas it will not allow you to share video clips at all. This is an issue Microsoft are aware of and are apparently fixing in a November firmware update at the end of the month. To what degree they fix it though is the real question because this feature is buggy as hell. So much for promoting and hyping up that dedicated share button on the controller, eh Phil Spencer and Co?

Well, that’s it. That’s been my experience with the XBOX Series X so far. Of course the pros of quick resume and loading times cut in half far outweigh the cons of faulty 4K resolution at 120 hertz gameplay and buggy sharing content features. I say do not let that put you off buying this fantastic piece of hardware because those bugs and issues can be fixed easily. The extremely long downloading for digital and physical games might not though and you might want to reconsider buying a next-gen XBOX console if you have an OLED TV. Or if you have the console already but not the TV to get the most advantages out of the console, consider buying a Samsung QLED instead. Thank you.

[mingos-commodoreblog]

ZZzzzzz... ZZzzzz...

[kittykat8311]

Why is my computer misbehaving again

[fandombros]

I opened love n deepspace n it was loading cuz my tablet is like 6 years old. My friend had never heard the whole main theme before that moment 💀

[drishasblog]

Conducting Performance Audits on Shopify Stores

A performance audit is a thorough evaluation of a website's efficiency and effectiveness. For Shopify stores, it involves analyzing various aspects of the store, including speed, user experience (UX), and search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure optimal performance and customer satisfaction.

Importance of Conducting Performance Audits on Shopify Stores Conducting regular performance audits on Shopify stores is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in the e-commerce market.

These audits help identify and resolve issues that could hinder the store's performance, leading to improved customer experience, higher conversion rates, and better overall business outcomes.

Types and Categories

Types of Performance Audits

Technical Audits Technical audits focus on the backend elements of the Shopify store. This includes server response times, code efficiency, and technical SEO aspects like structured data and sitemap configurations.

UX/UI Audits UX/UI audits assess the user interface and user experience aspects of the store. This includes evaluating the design, layout, navigation, and overall usability to ensure a seamless shopping experience for customers.

Content Audits Content audits involve reviewing all the content on the Shopify store, including product descriptions, blogs, and meta tags. The goal is to ensure that the content is relevant, engaging, and optimized for search engines.

Categories of Performance Metrics

Speed and Load Time Speed and load time metrics measure how quickly the Shopify store loads and performs under various conditions. Key metrics include First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Time to Interactive (TTI).

User Experience User experience metrics focus on how easily users can navigate and interact with the store. This includes assessing bounce rates, session durations, and conversion paths.

SEO Performance SEO performance metrics evaluate how well the store ranks on search engines. This includes tracking keyword rankings, organic traffic, and the effectiveness of meta tags and structured data.

Symptoms and Signs

Indicators of Poor Performance

Slow Loading Times Slow loading times are a primary indicator of poor performance. If a Shopify store takes too long to load, customers are likely to abandon it, leading to high bounce rates and lost sales.

High Bounce Rates High bounce rates indicate that users are leaving the store shortly after arriving. This can be due to various issues, such as slow load times, poor navigation, or irrelevant content.

Low Conversion Rates Low conversion rates suggest that while users are visiting the store, they are not completing purchases. This could be due to complex checkout processes, unappealing product pages, or trust issues.

Common Performance Issues

Image Optimization Unoptimized images can significantly slow down a Shopify store. Large image files take longer to load, affecting the overall speed and performance.

Code Bloat Excessive or poorly written code can lead to slow loading times and reduced performance. This includes unnecessary JavaScript, CSS, and third-party plugins.

Inconsistent Design Inconsistent design elements can confuse users and create a poor shopping experience. This includes mismatched fonts, colors, and layouts that do not align with the brand's identity.

Causes and Risk Factors

Common Causes of Performance Issues

Unoptimized Images Images that are not properly optimized for web use can drastically affect load times. This includes large file sizes, incorrect formats, and missing alt attributes.

Excessive JavaScript Too much JavaScript can slow down the rendering process of the store. It is essential to minimize and defer JavaScript to ensure it does not block the loading of critical resources.

Poor Theme Choices Choosing a theme that is not optimized for performance can lead to various issues. It is important to select a theme that is lightweight, well-coded, and regularly updated by the developer.

Risk Factors

High Traffic Volumes Stores experiencing high traffic volumes without proper optimization can suffer from slow load times and crashes. It is crucial to ensure that the server and infrastructure can handle peak loads.

Frequent Theme Changes Frequently changing themes can introduce new performance issues. Each theme comes with its own set of code and assets that need to be optimized.

Extensive Use of Apps and Plugins While apps and plugins add functionality, they can also add bloat to the store. It is important to use only necessary apps and regularly audit their impact on performance.

Diagnosis and Tests

Tools for Performance Testing

Google PageSpeed Insights Google PageSpeed Insights is a tool that analyzes the content of a web page and provides suggestions to make it faster. It provides both mobile and desktop performance scores.

GTmetrix GTmetrix offers detailed insights into a website's performance, including load times, size, and the number of requests. It provides actionable recommendations to improve speed and efficiency.

Lighthouse Lighthouse is an open-source tool from Google that audits a web page's performance, accessibility, and SEO. It is integrated into Chrome DevTools and provides detailed reports.

Conducting Diagnostic Tests

Setting Up Tests Setting up performance tests involves configuring the tools to analyze the Shopify store. This includes specifying the URLs to test, setting test parameters, and scheduling regular audits.

Interpreting Results Interpreting the results from performance tools involves understanding the key metrics and recommendations. This includes identifying areas of improvement and prioritizing them based on their impact.

Key Metrics to Monitor

First Contentful Paint (FCP) FCP measures the time it takes for the first piece of content to appear on the screen. It is a crucial metric for assessing the initial load performance.

Time to Interactive (TTI) TTI measures the time it takes for a page to become fully interactive. This includes the ability to click buttons, scroll, and interact with the page elements.

Total Blocking Time (TBT) TBT measures the total time that the main thread is blocked and unable to respond to user input. It is an important metric for understanding the overall responsiveness of the store.

Treatment Options

Technical Improvements

Image Optimization Optimizing images involves compressing them without sacrificing quality, using the correct formats (such as WebP), and implementing lazy loading to defer off-screen images.

Minifying CSS and JavaScript Minifying CSS and JavaScript involves removing unnecessary characters, comments, and whitespace to reduce file sizes. This helps improve load times and performance.

Leveraging Browser Caching Browser caching stores static resources in the user's browser, allowing subsequent visits to load faster. This involves setting appropriate cache headers and expiration times.

UX/UI Enhancements

Improving Navigation Improving navigation involves simplifying menus, using clear labels, and ensuring that users can easily find what they are looking for. This enhances the overall user experience.

Ensuring Mobile Responsiveness Ensuring mobile responsiveness involves designing the store to work seamlessly on all devices, including smartphones and tablets. This includes using responsive design techniques and testing on various screen sizes.

Enhancing Accessibility Enhancing accessibility involves making the store usable for all users, including those with disabilities. This includes using semantic HTML, providing

conclusion

If you need help with conducting performance audits on Shopify stores, Arham Ecommerce is here to assist you.

[websitespeedy]

How to Drastically Reduce Your Ecwid Store’s Loading Times?

When it comes to optimizing the loading times of your Ecwid store, Website Speedy emerges as the ultimate solution. This innovative tool is specifically designed to boost Ecwid website speed and performance effortlessly. With its intuitive interface and powerful optimization features, Website Speedy analyzes your Ecwid store and identifies areas for improvement.

Read full article - https://medium.com/@websitespeedy/how-to-drastically-reduce-your-ecwid-stores-loading-times-7bff74400440