The forums rely heavily on the caching features of browsers to improve the speed of page rendering. Performance of these forums should greatly improve after a few pages because more and more of the images, css and javascript is cached in the browser. As a consequence, when reporting forums performance issues the report should include some information on the state of the browser cache to determine whether the issue is a browser issue or a server issue. Such detailed information is generally not available from just watching the browser screen, but needs to come from specialized tools such as performance monitor plugins and recording proxies.

The preferred report method for performance issues is to use the speed reporting features build into or available as a plugin for a browser for both the page you want to report a problem with and several refence pages in the site. Detailed instructions are listed below separated out for different browsers. If possible, please use Firefox for submitting the report because it provides an export format that can be read back electronically.

Known performance issues

The performance issues with any screen with a Rich Text Editor, such as the Reply window and the compose Private Message window have been acknowleged and improvements are being implemented.

Mozilla Firefox (preferred)

Warning: it is currently not recommended to generate a speed report when logged in. The speed report has enough detail for somebody else to hijack your session and impersonate you on the forums. If you really must report while logged in, make sure you log out your browser after generating the speed report and wait at least 4 hours before posting.

1. Install the Firebug plugin
2. Install the NetExport 0.6 extension for Firebug
   
3. Enable all Firebug panels
4. Switch to the "Net" panel in Firebug
5. Click on this link
   
6. Export the data from the Firebug Net panel
7. Click on this link
   
8. Export the data from the Firebug Net panel
9. Browse to the page where you are experiencing the performance problem.
   
10. Export the data from the Firebug Net panel
11. Click on this link
    
12. Export the data from the Firebug Net panel
13. Click on this link
    
14. Export the data from the Firebug Net panel
15. Browse to the page where you are experiencing the performance problem.
16. Export the data from the Firebug Net panel

When you report a performance problem please attach the 6 exports from the Firebug Net panel and an explanation of how you are experiencing the issues (for instance how much slower it is then normal) and include a description of your internet connection (dial-up, dsl, cable etc.) and the country from where you are connecting. If you have non-standard tweaks to your Firefox configuration (such as pipelining enabled) or are running any plugins please include that information in your report as well.

Google Chrome

1. Open the Developer Tools (Ctrl-Shift-J)
2. Navigate to the resources tab
   
3. Enable resource tracking.
   
4. Click on this link
   
5. Export the resource loading data.
6. Reset the data by disabling and enabling resource tracking
   
7. Click on this link
   
8. Export the data
9. Reset the data by disabling and enabling resource tracking
10. Navigate to the page where you experience the performance problem
    
11. Export the data
12. Reset the data by disabling and enabling resource tracking
13. Click on this link
    
14. Export the data
15. Reset the data by disabling and enabling resource tracking
16. Click on this link
    
17. Export the data
18. Reset the data by disabling and enabling resource tracking
19. Navigate to the page where you experience the performance problem
20. Export the data

Since Google Chrome does not have an export format for the Resource Tracking information best current practice is to take a screenshot and note the hover details for any resource with a tail that is longer then 25% of the total load time. When you report a performance problem please attach the screenshots and an explanation of how you are experiencing the issues (for instance how much slower it is then normal)  and include a description of your internet connection (dial-up, dsl, cable etc.) and the country from where you are connecting.

Apple Safari

The Apple Safari Web Inspector has a Resources panel similar to the Resources panel in the Google Chrome developer tools.To get there, follow these steps:

1. Show the menu bar.
2. Go to preferences
3. Go to the Advanced Tab
4. Check “Show  Develop menu in menu bar”.
5. From the Develop menu select “Show Web  Inspector”. 

Collecting the performance information and exporting works exactly the same as in Google Chrome. Please refer to the instructions for Google Chrome.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

IE does not have native features to analyze web traffic. No plugins have been found that produce the required information (please let us know if we missed any). For now, please reproduce the issue with Firefox, Chrome or Safari.

Please note that due to the reliance on Javascript for the interactive effects the performance of these forums will be much better on MS IE 8 then on previous versions of MS IE.