Some advice for an absolute novice please. Is it best to use jpeg of gif images? Which will load quicker and have better quality at the same time? What is the resonable average time for a home page to load allowing for those still with dial up?
Thanks in advance!

1- jpeg generally has better quality and compression (smaller file)

2-It is generally best to keep the graphics tight. By that I mean small file size (few kb each) and not to populate the page with too many. This will go a long way in providing a quick load time for all users.

Use a picture optimizer to get the best results. I have cable as an ISP and it is pretty fast. However- I have signed up with a free dial-up ISP to test my pages for load times.

Andy

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I am finding that in hand painted illustration type photos, GIF is working much better for quality than Jpeg. But my photo images look better as Jpegs. So I think it has to do with what type of "photo" or graphic you are using. You will have to try it several ways to see what looks best to you.

Being a dialup user myself, (not by choice!) your customers will greatly appreciate if you keep your pages as fast as possible....i just won't wait for slow pages unless I know what I'm waiting for. I do not know the "size" number yet, but I would like to know, also, I'm just beginning to build my pages now that my illustrations are ready to go.

Hi there,

You know, I guess I never really thought about dial-up as I was building my website.

I was wondering if anyone here with dial-up would give my site a click and let me know if it loads too slow.

If no on can, that's ok too.

I'm just a bit worried now that it was brought up.

Thanks,
Tom
http://www.local1166.us

paperboy, i have the slowest dial up in the WORLD!!!! And your site wasn't as bad as most. I don't know the exact time it took...but your outside "frame" popped up very quickly and then your text, etc. The only problem were your photos...they took awhile...but were not impossible and not so slow that I gave up....you have a nice site but I only openend the main page.

The thing about dial up is this---I have heard that at least 70-80% of the internet users are still on dialup. I do not know if that is exact...but I believe it. I live just barely outside of the city limits in a suburb of Dallas...there are tons of people and industry here and you would not consider it rural... but there is no internet cable service. The only alternative is wireless (i don't use a laptop, though) or satellite (which is way to expensive for me right now)....

So, I suppose that if I am in this boat, most of my customers are, too! Just food for thought!

The figures for dial-up world-wide is 78%, and the US still hovers at 57% despite the hoopla created by the cable conglomerates. Interestingly, the number of US households that now have a computer in the home is 79%, and 44% have at least one additional computer....of all US households, 88% are connected to the internet (somehow, even if by bringing a laptop home).
Another interesting tidbit: the "slow generation" which is now averaging 52 years old now are using the internet to gather information prior to making a shopping decision (price searching) and have dramatically increased their numbers in the past 2 years from 15% of that age group using the internet to now almost 37%. Also important about this profile: although the 18-40 age group accounts for almost 74% of all online transactions, the 45-55 age group accounts for more than 62% of all online transactions over $5,000...a rather powerful consumer group notwithstanding their level of internet savvy!

Optimal size for JPG's to be used on websites is 70-100kb (standard "catalog" images supplied from vendors, for example, are usually 75 or 80), and is the preferred format for images of all sorts, as clarity and definition are maintained.
The GIF (graphic interchange format) is commonly used only for line art (gallery images, fonts, etc.) and animations only, and lacks the *****ness of a JPG file.

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Have to agree with islandlady on this one with the photos & images. Good software will help, like paint shop pro & others.
As for speeds. In the UK you usually have to be within 4 miles of the phone exchange to get to get 1meg at the 4mile point. This is with copper wire connections. With cable 8 meg is no problem.
Just a note for any one on dial up, there is lots of services that offer help with dial up, like this one. http://portal.onspeed.com/?rf=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onspeed.com%2Findex.php&A=Goo gleBT
I am sure many other countries have the same.

Cheers,


Chris.

Thanks all for the interesting input. I have tentativly loaded a few pages for the first time so its a bit of trial and error so all of the above advice is very helpful. I hav'nt managed to get all the links working smoothly yet but think I'm on the right track. I'm at richardsmart.com if anyone cares to have a look at my 'learner' attempts.
Thanks again.

Every Windows computer has a default photo-editor, which you can use effectively to crop and re-size images as JPG's before implementing them on your web applications, and does not require purchasing additional software. MS Publisher also has the capability to manipulate your images, and is commonly included in Windows OS bundles.
VodaHost makes a picture re-sizer available free as well: http://www.vodahost.com/pix.htm

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