what is causing slow load in 4.08 netscape?

[scorpion]

I have a strange problem: I have a graphic intensive webpage (with slices, javascript rollovers, etc..), well off my own hard drive it loads very fast in IE 6 and NE7 (<1second), but in Netscape 4.08 it stalls and takes(no joke), like 30seconds to load off my HD! Seems to stall at 27% and then after 30 seconds the full page comes up...looks like its cycling or iterating or something...anyone experience this? What could cause this? and how can it be fixed? Happens even when you hit reload...

[msr986]

It sounds like a JavaScript problem to me. How fast does the page load when you disable JS?

[scorpion]

a bit faster, but still very slow, probably cause its so graphic intensive...

[martinibuster]

What could cause this?

I've seen a stall like this happen on a linked css. The css was hideously formatted (not by me!). This may or may not be your problem.

Download Topystyle Pro and cleanup and validate your css with it.

Also, one of the best things you can do is run your code through the W3C validator.

If all of the above says your code is ok, then it's Netscape 4.08. It is pretty ancient. Anybody using that is probably not buying what your selling if they can't afford to upgrade their computer from x386.

I would sweat a little more about 4.7, but only if your audience includest Los Alamos Lab, government workers, senior citizens, or people who aren't internet saavy. I'm not being sarcastic.

NS 4.08 is pretty much safe to ignore.

In other words, test it against NS 4.7 and judge it against that. (If it was a JS error it would show up on your NS or IE browser as an error message).

[edited by: martinibuster at 5:12 am (utc) on Mar. 19, 2003]

[scorpion]

very interesting, apparently the problem is with a small html/CSS section on anotherwise 100% graphically sliced design...removing that makes it load instantly, must be the CSS stuff...

[martinibuster]

Hey Scorp,
Try Topstyle. I never leave home without it.

For some reason NS seems to choke on CSS.

[msr986]

Just an interesting observation: When you disable JS in N4.x, it also disables CSS. If the CSS is disabled, why does it take longer to load? Then again, nothing with N4.x surprises me!

[tedster]

For some reason NS seems to choke on CSS.

Here's the way I undertand it. Netscape first created something called "javascript style sheets" or JSS. When JSS was not adopted as a standard and CSS came in, Netscape kludged their CSS engine on top of their JSS engine in a big pile of spaghetti code.

If you turn off JavaScript in Netscape 4.x you will also turn off stylesheets -- they are interlinked all the way. So lousy stylesheet code can generate some nasty javascript looping off stage in NN4.x. Wasn't fixed until NN 6.

[scorpion]

apparently this code chokes on 4.7 too, anybody know a good standaline css validator or an online version? the topstyle evaluation requires a plugin for it I think

[tedster]

The best online - from the W3C

[jigsaw.w3.org...]

[scorpion]

actually the problem seems to be the html editor used, i simplified the code and it works fine. The problem code was done in frontpage I think, when I let dreamweaver autogenerate new code, it worked fine...

[martinibuster]

Topstyle doesn't require a plugin. It is a fully functional version that works for 25 times.

[g1smd]

>> i simplified the code and it works fine. The problem code was done in frontpage I think, <<

Why am I not surprised?