* Improved indexing of names on generated websites

[craigmollekin]

Hi,

I've just tried this on my biggest site and I think it's maybe not working so well with large numbers. It seems to lock up/not load very quickly.

The site is: http://mollekin.net/swintonpeople

Craig

[Jane]

The script has a lot of work to do to filter the very long page, probably the only way to make a very quick index is to write a php script to run with ajax rather than a simple filter, speed might be improved slightly by changing the filter to only work on a button rather than on each button press on the javascript trigger.

[tatewise]

I will have a look at that Craig.
I had rashly assumed from your earlier feedback that you had tried your large Name Index.

There were some other Comments on the web site I reviewed earlier about speeding up using local lists.

Otherwise, the Plugin could automatically adapt the script to use a Filter button or only filter after pressing Enter.

[EDIT}
A quick fix is to edit the _nameindex.js file with a plain text editor like Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad.
If you right-click on the file and chose Edit from menu it often opens in Notepad, or use Open With and pick Notepad.
In line 36 remove keyup from the .bind command so the line becomes:

Code: Select all

	$(input).bind('change', function () {

Then Save the file.
Now the search filter is only activated when the user presses Enter or Return.
Also after clearing the filter box with Ctrl+Z the user must press Enter or Return to display full list.
BUT the initial search and clearing the search is still very slow with such a large list.

[tatewise]

An updated Plugin V2.5 is on my OneDrive at Improve Website or CD DVD HTML.

This adds some warning text that large lists may react slowly, plus a Clear Search button and Start Search button.

I have altered the script slightly to help speed up searches.

The initial search and final clear are slow, but intermediate searches seem OK.

Unfortunately, this method loses the ability to refresh the search list on every character entered.

It might be possible to add further refinements depending on the size of the initial Index of Names and/or the current search list.

[craigmollekin]

Hi,

Many thanks for the replies, Jane and Mike.

Mike, do you think the searches would be only marginally quicker with the update or noticeably quicker? In Chrome, the search function doesn't seem to work at all when using the plugin that you created on the 16/06/14. It worked in Windows Internet Explorer but was too slow to use.

The website currently has 18,000 names but that's going to keep growing :-/

Craig

[tatewise]

I only expect marginal speed improvements.
It may be that this current technique is not suitable for such large lists.
I am far from an expert in this area, so if anyone has any ideas they would be welcome.

Can you clarify which version you mean by 16/06/14? Is that the V2.4 16 Jun 2014 still in the Plugin Store?
The problem with Chrome is something I can look at as I don't check all browsers before posting in OneDrive.
Please try the V2.5 19 Jun 2014 from OneDrive above.

Possibly a way forward is to split the Name Index into smaller sub-lists somehow before applying the search filter.

[craigmollekin]

Yeah, it's a tricky problem for so many names

I maybe just needed to wait longer for it load in Chrome :-/

[tatewise]

Yes, even the basic Index of Names takes ages to load with so many names, even before the Plugin changes anything.
The only way to improve that would be an Index of Surnames, similar to my very first proposal before we investigated the search filter.

[craigmollekin]

I personally don't find the loading time of the names to be a problem, normally, without the plugin. With the plugin, just the basic index takes ages to load.

[tatewise]

OK, maybe my recollection is wrong and will review that tomorrow.

[craigmollekin]

I'm rebuilding the site now ( www.mollekin.net/swintonpeople ), but without the search function, and it will be uploaded within about two hours, so maybe you'd like to test the speed tomorrow please?

[tatewise]

OK, thanks, the Plugin makes several changes to the styles of the names list as well as add the search filter, so I will check which changes affect speed of loading.

[tatewise]

It seems that some of the style changes had a significant run time effect in conjunction with the search filter.

I have revised V2.5 dated 20 June 2014 available from the same OneDrive link: Improve Website or CD DVD HTML.

It has been tested on your 18,000 Index of Names with browsers IE v11, FF v29 & Chrome v35.
They now open the page within a couple of seconds and most searches take less than 10 seconds.
Some searches take longer, such as popular single letters like "a" or "e".
Chrome seems to be fastest.

[craigmollekin]

Many thanks, Mike. I'll try this out tonight and report back later

[craigmollekin]

I've just tried this and I really like it; it's very good. Loads better than before and far, far quicker.

I like how the visitor is made aware that the search is taking place (rather than just a frozen screen).

Thanks for creating this, Mike

[tatewise]

I glad that is working for you. It is always tricky to check performance without a large data base to hand. So thank you for providing one.

I am still learning about the way jQuery and JavaScript and XHTML interact with each other.
There may be a few more minor speed enhancements to come.

Also I believe I have achieved the improvements without disrupting any of the other features of the Index of Names tab.

Most of the Plugin improvements are reversible, but for those that are not, I am considering adding some Undo capabilities.
This might include the Search Filter so it can be removed without having to recreate all the web pages.
I will probably include the Hyperlinks / Text tab Tab separator so None reverts to original web page layout.

[craigmollekin]

Well, it's excellent so far

The only problem I foresee with it is user error. I think people will for example enter John William Kew as opposed to Kew, John William.

I think I find the search function to perform quicker in Explorer.

[craigmollekin]

I've just tried this on an iPad. It works fine in Chrome but not in the Safari browser. It performs the same as before the refinements that you made today (frozen screen/slow loading) and missing the Clear Search / Start Search buttons.

[tatewise]

I could easily add some popup tooltip examples to help users.
But bear in mind the search works for any consecutive text.
Users can search for (life-dates) in parentheses, or just forenames, and if Record Id are included then RiD: can be searched.

Here are my rough timings:

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Search  GC  FF  IE
a       35  30  50
young    5   5  15

[craigmollekin]

I noticed before that the search function would work, for example, with William Kew as opposed to it having to be Kew, William. But I'm not complaining because it's works brilliantly. The search tips would be really handy I think. A lot of my users aren't very computer savvy (hence my reason for switching from PHP scripts as there were too many things/options for the user to get confused with).

[Jane]

I've just tried this on an iPad. It works fine in Chrome but not in the Safari browser. It performs the same as before the refinements that you made today (frozen screen/slow loading) and missing the Clear Search / Start Search buttons.

Did you try clearing your page cache, it's likely this is simply Safari using a cached version of the page.

[tatewise]

For iPad Safari, to enable or disable JavaScript, tap Advanced and turn JavaScript on or off.

To clear your history from Safari, tap Settings > Safari > Clear History.
To clear all cookies from Safari, tap Settings > Safari > Clear Cookies and Data.
To clear other stored information from Safari, tap Advanced > Website Data > Remove All Website Data.

[tatewise]

I have revised V2.5 dated 22 June 2014 available from the same OneDrive link: Improve Website or CD DVD HTML.

This adds the Tooltip advice as discussed above, and improves the style of the Search Filter and maybe the run time.

The Search Filter is now an option on the Index of Names tab, so it can be added and removed.

The Tab separator: None option on Hyperlinks/Text tab now removes tidy table columns to revert to original HTML.

You do NOT have to rebuild your web pages to try this revised version. Just run it on your existing web pages folder.

BTW:
While reviewing the _nameindex.html file you kindly supplied for testing, I noticed two tiny syntax errors.
These are only applicable for XHTML 1.0 Strict conformance, but some users are fussy about such things.
They apply to lines added by wizard Step 8: Advanced button and both tag lines should end with />.
i.e.
... at the end of the <head> section:

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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="my.css" />

... at the end of the <body> section:

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href="http://statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img
class="statcounter"
src="http://c.statcounter.com/6106748/0/10987276/0/"
alt="hits counter"/>

In fact this last section of code would be neater as:

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<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<div class="statcounter">
<a title="hits counter" href="http://statcounter.com/" target="_blank">
<img class="statcounter" src="http://c.statcounter.com/6106748/0/10987276/0/" alt="hits counter" />
</a>
</div>
</noscript>

Also target="_blank" is strictly speaking XHTML 1.0 Transitional.

[craigmollekin]

Thanks for the advice regarding Safari. I did clear the cache but haven't tried enabling Javascript. I may just add a note on the website explaining that it is best viewed in Chrome, I.E. and F.F.

I've just tried the updated search tool and it looks good. I can see too how it is highlighted in red etc whilst searching. But I cannot see the Tooltip. Where is that located please?

Thanks for observation with regards to the Statcounter. I'll look into that.

[tatewise]

Just as with any other Windows Tooltip, simply hover the cursor over the Search Filter box, buttons, or title.