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Author Topic: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!  (Read 5568 times)

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Offline randommaker

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I have had a lot of issues with Smfforfree being really slow. Dont you tihnk it also needs more features? I mean it is a good forum provider but it needs a few more touch ups to make ti the best!

Offline [JeReMy]

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2009, 11:46:40 am »
thats why theres a support forum
and idk how much more simple it could be

Offline - Lawrence -

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2009, 11:50:18 am »
It is already really easy, and only very rarely are the servers slow ;).

Offline simply sibyl

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2009, 11:52:41 am »
It is already really easy, and only very rarely are the servers slow ;).

smfforfree.com  -  results from my forum...  I would say its NOT slow...  there may be times it is, but overall it runs very well

Page created in 0.088 seconds with 4 queries.

There is a lot of help here at Support  (check the Guides and Tutorials Board)  There are Guides for almost every option in your Admin Panel.   Click the Guides & Tutorials Index link in my sig.   The Index is pinned to the top of the Guides  & Tutorials Board for future reference.
There is also help scattered throughout your forum itself.    Clicking the "?" icon next to options will give you a popup with explanations of the features.
And as stated there is help here via members who help out here at the Support Forum.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2009, 12:08:24 pm by simply sibyl »

guest2694

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2009, 03:48:14 pm »
I have had a lot of issues with Smfforfree being really slow.
Don't you think it also needs more features?
I mean it is a good forum provider but it needs a
few more touch ups to make ti the best!

First of all other then buying ad free credits
that makes your forum better, SMF is free!
There are so many codes you can add to make
your forum awesome. Like anything in life you get
out of it what you put into it.
I myself love SMF and have a lot of fun with endless
opportunities to add fun things for my users. I see a lot
of young kids that come on here and just want it all and
want you to do it all for them. This is a great place to
learn about creating a forum, with what works and what does
not. Don't be afraid to be creative. Too many try to add too much
at one time, or too many changes. What is important is to make
your forum a place people want to hang out first. I have found it's
not all the bell's and whistles that make your forum great, however how
much the Admin theirselves put into thier forum.
And as far as help, anyone here is willing to lend a hand. :smitten:

Offline Crasy

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2009, 04:53:01 pm »
There are limits to what we can do for free.

The pages are generated in under a second, most of the time. Slowdowns do happen during peak times, but they are minor and rarely noticed. Page generation times under a second is good for a forum, even on paid hosting.

SMF For Free is waiting for the next version before we start adding more features. For now most new features can be found for a cost. The new version of SimpleMachines comes with more stuff built in...so that'll be cool.

We can't add more features AND make it simpler though!
Sibyl and I try to ensure there is fairly comprehensive documentation on SMF For Free. Between contributions of members and guides of our own we've pulled off a pretty great set of documents for this version of SMF. In the next version we'll have to rewrite everything! Just like how we had to rewrite everything during the last upgrade.

Much fun eh?
Did my answer help you? Want to help out hosting costs?


Every donation counts.

Offline simply sibyl

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2009, 04:58:23 pm »
Sibyl and I try to ensure there is fairly comprehensive documentation on SMF For Free. Between contributions of members and guides of our own we've pulled off a pretty great set of documents for this version of SMF. In the next version we'll have to rewrite everything! Just like how we had to rewrite everything during the last upgrade.

Much fun eh?

rewrites for the Admin Guides won't be too bad.  I pulled most of them from simplemachines and took out all of the 2.0 documentation.  It'll mean taking the time to add it back in.  I "could" have left it in with notations it was for 2.0 only but felt it would lead to confusion.

guest2694

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #7 on: January 24, 2009, 05:12:29 pm »
  We appreciate all you two do for us 

Offline Jessie

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #8 on: January 24, 2009, 05:14:53 pm »
Yeah, especially since its all voluntary work.
Feel free to PM me or email me. ;)

My Forum :)

Offline brandy

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2009, 07:43:10 pm »
I love SMFforfree. If it weren't for this I wouldnt' HAVE a place for my friends and I to visit and keep up with one another. I certainly don't have the skill to make my own forum without the templates he offers. and I am the most computer literate person that I know in real life!

(which shows how little my friends know!) ;D ;D :P

Offline Jade

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2009, 07:44:32 pm »
My SMF for free board is as fast as paid web hosted forums.

Suggestions- shell out the dough for ad free credits..if you're board is just getting started and isn't that busy, a one time fee of $7 to remove 10,000 page views of credits could last you several months..that's going to help your speed right there.

If you have made modifications to your headers or footers, or to your CSS..and especially if you have added codes such as additional smileys...that can slow the board down too. Take a step back, remove any changes you made to your headers or footers (save them to a text file) and backup your CSS file and work on a new one from one of the defaults) and see how it goes.

Offline simply sibyl

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2009, 03:49:12 pm »
Good tips Jade.
I would add that I see many forums that have a bunch of Youtube videos, music boxes, and very large graphic images on the forums.    All of that "stuff" has to load up and it does slow down the load time.   Give some real thought to what you really NEED on your forum.   It is afterall a place for people to gather and post.   Some of the "fluff" really can slow it down a lot.   Don't make your banner take up half of the screen.  Using full screen images for backgrounds takes time to load up.    Always keep in mind that any members you may have that are on a slow connection are having to wait for all of that to load.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2009, 03:51:48 pm by simply sibyl »

Offline 13583emma

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2009, 05:51:23 pm »
All i can say is before i found smf i didnt have a clue. now thanks to you guys and all your hard work i understand things i didnt even know the meaning of months ago.

I think we should all be gratefull that smf given its popularity is still free.

Keep up the good work it is appreciated ;D

Offline simply sibyl

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Re: SMF For Free needs to be faster and make it easier for beginners!
« Reply #13 on: January 27, 2009, 06:12:08 pm »
All i can say is before i found smf i didnt have a clue. now thanks to you guys and all your hard work i understand things i didnt even know the meaning of months ago.

I felt that way when I first came here.   I first checked out the Support Forum before even creating a forum to see how Support was. I was impressed and decided creating a forum with this service was a wise move.   There are a whole lot of posts from the beginning made by me;  fumbling around, trying to figure out how this all works.   I was lost!

Thank you for the positive input..  it is always very much appreciated!

 

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