If I put 30 Menu blocks on my home page will I slow down loading of the page?

ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
edited November 28, 2013 in SmugMug Support
I'm creating a visitor site map on my home page and currently think the best way to do that is via menu blocks. But, I will have 35-40 of them. Can I expect this to cause problems with the page loading after I unveil? It does seem to add a little time, but if SM will tell me, Whoa There You're In Trouble, then I will back off and redesign the home page. Thanks.

Comments

  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited November 26, 2013
    I can't imagine sifting through 30 menu choices .... seems like a bad idea to me. Maybe if you mocked it up, the community can advise you better.
    Andy

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  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited November 26, 2013
    Andy wrote: »
    I can't imagine sifting through 30 menu choices .... seems like a bad idea to me. Maybe if you mocked it up, the community can advise you better.

    Thanks Andy - but you underestimate me. :D
    It's roughly 40 BLOCKS, not just 40 gallery links.
    Each block has either one folder link, or a batch of gallery links.
    Here are two snapshots of parts of the page.

    Thanks for any input.

    i-ChRgs3B-X3.jpg

    i-NGGhv4d-X3.jpg
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited November 27, 2013
    Some content blocks have to contact the SmugMug server in order to fetch their contents before they can be displayed, which is pretty slow. But it looks like menu blocks aren't like that, so they should display pretty quickly.

    Also, I really doubt there is any performance differential between pre/after unveil, so it should continue to perform like it does at the moment.
    https://www.sherlockphotography.org/

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  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited November 27, 2013
    Oh thank you so much, that is very relieving. I realize that most folks would not set up a page, especially their home page, this way. My site contents put me in the position of, I need Narrative to bring viewers to the Visual. Professional photographers are more the opposite, they aim for the Visual to bring people to the Narrative (if there is any).

    I also discovered a bit of tweaking I can do to maximize space. In this image there are three menu blocks:

    Folder Name (350 px)
    Galleries Galleries (these 2 blocks are side by side) (350 px each)

    I gave the right side Gallery menu block, a negative top margin, to bring it way up.

    I realize most photographers on Digital Grin kind of freak out at this kind of site formatting so I really appreciate the technical input.
  • brandofamilybrandofamily Registered Users Posts: 2,013 Major grins
    edited November 27, 2013
    ChancyRat wrote: »
    Oh thank you so much, that is very relieving. I realize that most folks would not set up a page, especially their home page, this way. My site contents put me in the position of, I need Narrative to bring viewers to the Visual. Professional photographers are more the opposite, they aim for the Visual to bring people to the Narrative (if there is any).

    I also discovered a bit of tweaking I can do to maximize space. In this image there are three menu blocks:

    Folder Name (350 px)
    Galleries Galleries (these 2 blocks are side by side) (350 px each)

    I gave the right side Gallery menu block, a negative top margin, to bring it way up.

    I realize most photographers on Digital Grin kind of freak out at this kind of site formatting so I really appreciate the technical input.

    I assume each line is a different "Nav bar" or is each block a "Nav bar"?
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited November 27, 2013
    brandofamily wrote: »
    I assume each line is a different "Nav bar" or is each block a "Nav bar"?

    No, each is a Menu block. All are set to Horizontal type, with "open folder contents" OFF. The titles of the galleries wrap (as they are horizontal). When I set them to Vertical, the row spacing was too far apart. CSS might have fixed that.
    I did have to place galleries in a way that each would start a new line. That was somewhat contrived.

    This example has 4 Menu blocks, Category, Sub-cat., and 2 sets of galleries.

    CORRECTION: the top one is a folder, not a Menu. That's the only way to get a thumbnail.
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited November 27, 2013
    Oh, Navbar = Menu block.
    :D
    Yes.
    I was thinking breadcrumb, which isn't relevant.
  • brandofamilybrandofamily Registered Users Posts: 2,013 Major grins
    edited November 27, 2013
    ChancyRat wrote: »
    Oh, Navbar = Menu block.
    :D
    Yes.
    I was thinking breadcrumb, which isn't relevant.

    You could do the whole thing in an html block and save a huge amount of time and head ache.
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited November 28, 2013
    brandofamily wrote: »
    You could do the whole thing in an html block and save a huge amount of time and head ache.

    Thank you Brando, but I have an HTML sitemap on Legacy and over the years determined it was a nightmare to manage. New SM functionality, with it's many variations on how to set up links and menus and such, offers incredibly attractive alternatives for me. I realize there is some ramp up work involved but that okay.
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