h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The first question relates to why my browser freezes while on h2. It does this very occasionally with other websites, but pretty consistently with h2g2. Mostly what happens is that while pages are loading the whole computer system freezes anywhere from several seconds to several minutes.

It's always done this. Emptying the cache and/or history sometimes appears to help, but it's hard to tell.

I'm on a Mac OS9.2.2 using I.E. 5.1:mac.

My question is - is there something about h2 that causes or contributes to this problem. Does the fact that I'm on a Mac have anything to do with it?

I'm probably upgrading my mac this year, so it would be useful to know how much of this problem is related to this particular site (because I spend so much time here).


My second question is: the following 2 pages are too wide for me to read (and no horizontal scroll bar appears). Is this a gML problem (in which case I'll go to the gML page)? or something to do with my computer? or something to do with h2?


thanks,
kea.

the two pages: U178834 and A1910062

The U178834 one isn't too wide for me but has its width distorted in the right-hand panel by a reference to an unbroken nickname:
"Z Phantom [ACE] (jedi master Gr-sim Den'new)mynameisthislongtoupsetyour"

The A1910062 one *is* too wide in the text but *I* get a scroll bar. So that part of the problem is definitely yours. The reason for the large width looks to be the quoted login link (again lacking breaks, though this time because it has to be like that rather than personal perversity).

Thanks SEF

Do you think the scroll issue is because I am using a mac version of IE? I know that a page I was working on looked fine on my mac, but some others (not on macs) found it looked too wide (I had the COLS too wide), so I'm assuming that my browser 'reads' pages differently - would that be true?

Also, can I take it that both those pages above could be fixed with some gML tweaking?

The scroll issue is quite likely to be a browser implementation fault - though the obscure coding of the page (the surrounding BBC stuff more than the GuideML) doesn't help. The browser may not realise the page is going to be too wide at the time it decides whether or not to use a scroll bar. Paradoxically, I think *narrowing* your window can make it give you one if that *is* the problem.

No, I believe you are wrong about a GuideML fix. Firstly, the main problem is the BBC layout. Secondly, the problem is in a perverse nickname (not part of the page though you could call it a fix to remove the name from references altogether or quote it in a hidden way). Thirdly, the problem is in the need to quote a link without spaces because any spaces might make someone put them in for real. I suppose more artificial line breaks could be added but then a strong caveat would have to be added to the text to say that the link must be pieced together without spaces in order to be usable.

Hi kea

I'm a Mac user too and I get the same problems as you with those two pages when using IE5 for Mac.

There are two problems with Marjin's page. Marjin can fix one of them. The main part of the page is too wide because of the angel marquee. The marquee tag is not subject to standards in the same way as other tags leaving the designers of browsers to make their own decision about how to interpret the width attribute. If Marjin changes this attribute from 'width = "100%"' to 'wdith = "600"' , it will work in a wider range of browsers without causing problems.

Of course, the angel marquee code has been shared between GAs, so there are probably many other pages that are being pushed too wide.

The second problem is the decision by Z Phantom to obstruct the use of the viewer tag by choosing not to put breaks in his name.However, Z Phantom has elvised, so perhaps the Italics could step in and edit his name.

The problem with your browser crashing might be the amount of memory assigned to it. You probably know how to increase the memory allocation: if not, give us a shout. I have the minimum and preferred sizes both set to 40000K which stops most crashing problems in ordinary usage. But there is a memory leak in IE5 so it will crash eventually if you use it for long sessions or look at pages with lots of different file formats like shockwave movies, pdfs etc. Try to remember to start again at convenient moments and always close down windows you're not using any more.

Amy

Good tip - I can get a scroll bar on the A page now.

thanks,
kea.

Sorry, very slow reply to SEF there.

Thanks Amy. Maybe I'll let Marjin know. Will the Eds be reading this, or should I approach them directly about Z Phantom's name?

I'll check what the memory allocation is next time I quit IE. I think the default is 30,000, and I can't remember if I upped it since I reinstalled late last year.

That is *so* good to know about the memory leak. I have gotten into the habit of quitting quite regularly, but that is because frequently IE refuses to open pages on sites other than the one I am currently looking at (it returns a no such device message). I'm also better now at shutting down once a day rather than just putting to sleep.

I do have to say though that I can look at h2 straight from startup, and still have the same problem after a while. It's more the freezing that bothers me (rather than the crashes which are less frequent) as it happens so much.

I am looking forward to getting a new machine, but I will be disappointed if I still have the same problems on h2.

cheers,
kea.

If you're still having trouble with freezes and crashes, drop by at the Orchard (A690653) for more mac-related advice.

You can monitor IE's use of memory by going back to the Finder and then looking in the apple menu for 'About this computer...'

If you're buying a new Mac you won't have the same trouble because OS X is based on a completely different architecture from the previous operating systems.