I have been told, that when viewed using a dial-up connection (as opposed to broadband), my WordsmithsProject.com pages are very slow to open. Does this relate to the large image files, or is my background image too high a resolution?

If the former, what can I do, while still providing a high enough res for large prints? If the latter, what size should the background image be?

Thanks again, Sally

I'd say that this image is part of the problem:



It's 298Kb which will take 46 seconds to download using a dialup connection according to photoshop. Photoshop is terrible at compressing png files. Fortunately for you there is no reason at all that you need to use a png file for this particular image (if you were using a transparent background - which you probably should be using - that would be another story). If you were to make it transparent, it wouldn't need to be anywhere near that large in its actual dimensions so that would help a lot.

So you've got two options. Either go in and make it a transparent png (if you need help I can even do it for you, it'll really be super easy to do, I'll just need to know what font to use. Or you can use the save for web dialog to make it a gif. I can get the file down to 60K just by cropping it and saving it as a gif (even if it has 256 colors). Or by creating a new one that is transparent I can make the png only 22K.



I obviously don't have your font so I just picked the first fancy script font I came across. Just showing you that it can be done. If you're using IE6 you won't see a transparent png, there is a way to make it transparent so no big deal there.

Thanks, Mike. I've made it a transparent PNG. Hopefully, that will fix things.

Sally

Mike:

I just reread your post, in which you said that I wouldn't see a transparent PNG in IE6. But looking at my site, I am seeing the background through the header.

???
Sally

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing... I think I messed up.

I've posted a transparent png to http://pixels.smugmug.com/gallery/1773157/1/105728477

However, I'm not sure how to change the customization in www.WordsmithsProject.com, to make it the new header.

Help!

Thanks again, Sally

Originally Posted by sgrotta A little knowledge is a dangerous thing... I think I messed up. I've posted a transparent png to http://pixels.smugmug.com/gallery/1773157/1/105728477 However, I'm not sure how to change the customization in www.WordsmithsProject.com, to make it the new header. Help! Thanks again, Sally

Try this CSS code.

#WSPheader {display: block; 
   background: url(http://pixels.smugmug.com/photos/105728477-O); 
   _background: url(http://pixels.smugmug.com/photos/94512129-O); 
   height: 200px; width: 800px;
   background-repeat:no-repeat;
}

AL

Edit: Just a few tweaks needed to center and freeze there.

Originally Posted by sgrotta A little knowledge is a dangerous thing... I think I messed up. I've posted a transparent png to http://pixels.smugmug.com/gallery/1773157/1/105728477 However, I'm not sure how to change the customization in www.WordsmithsProject.com, to make it the new header. Help! Thanks again, Sally

First off it looks like you increased the size of the space around the title. Why? We can make it centered without doing that. All you did was make it larger and take longer to download.

Okay, I've cropped the image and I'm replacing the current one with that. Does my code point to the correct file?

http://pixels.smugmug.com/gallery/1773157/1/105728477

thanks, Sally

Okay. I've found where to replace the code correctly. I have a transparent PNG that is about 30k in size for the header, But when I open up my pages at www.WordsmithsProject.com, the transparency of the header opens up more slowly than the rest of the page.

I've tried various versions of the file, and it still isn't working. The thing is that I have broadband, and when I had the larger header file in there, I had no difficulty viewing it immediately. (The problem were viewers using dial-up.) Now, with the same broadband, using a much smaller header file, the transparency background is opening up first as a grey background and then comes up in a few seconds as transparent.

Is this related to the previous comment about IE6? Or, am I doing something else wrong?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Sally

Originally Posted by sgrotta Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Sally

Barb to the rescue, stay tuned Sally...

Originally Posted by sgrotta Okay. I've found where to replace the code correctly. I have a transparent PNG that is about 30k in size for the header, But when I open up my pages at www.WordsmithsProject.com, the transparency of the header opens up more slowly than the rest of the page. I've tried various versions of the file, and it still isn't working. The thing is that I have broadband, and when I had the larger header file in there, I had no difficulty viewing it immediately. (The problem were viewers using dial-up.) Now, with the same broadband, using a much smaller header file, the transparency background is opening up first as a grey background and then comes up in a few seconds as transparent. Is this related to the previous comment about IE6? Or, am I doing something else wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Sally

Hi Sally :)

Would you check now and see if it is okay? IE doesn't really like transparencies, so a filter needs to be inserted into the code to make it work correctly. I've done that for you, but would like for you to check to make sure I did it right!

Barb: You're great! It looks just right.

Now, I have to check back with the folks who told me that the site was sluggish on dial-up, and see if that fixed the problem.

Thanks, Sally

Originally Posted by sgrotta Barb: You're great! It looks just right. Now, I have to check back with the folks who told me that the site was sluggish on dial-up, and see if that fixed the problem. Thanks, Sally

Let me know. We can do something if need be :)