Some readers seeing blank page when they go to my blog
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I changed my theme on Monday, to Photolia. Since then, a couple readers have e-mailed me to say that they can no longer see my blog. When they go to the site, they see an all-white page. The readers report this happening on Android using the default browser, on Safari 5.1.10 on Mac OS X 10.6.8, and on Safari on a brand new iPad Air.
I asked the user on Safari 5.1.10 to clear cache and cookies and do the Mac equivalent of CTRL-F5 and that still didn’t resolve the matter.
Help!
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi Jim!
I was unable to reproduce the all-white page on any of the following browsers/devices:
Chrome Ver. 33
Safari 7
Firefox Ver. 28
Safari on iPad Mini Retina
Android deviceAre your readers still experiencing this issue? For the Mac Safari users, I would recommend having them update to the latest version of Safari. The latest browser versions can be found here:
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Thanks very much Jeremy.
The one user is on MacOS 10.6.8 on Safari 5.1.10, which is apparently the latest Safari available on that version of MacOS. He is still experiencing this issue.
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Hey Jim,
Can you ask the user if they can update to a later version of OS X? Currently, the version OS X Mavericks is on the 10.9._ release. The upgrade should be free to Mavericks. Then, they can update their Safari browser to run a later version of Safari. I only suggest this as they will likely have trouble viewing many sites (not just yours) with their current browser version.
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Jeremy, I can try asking the user to upgrade.
What I don’t get is why he could view my site just fine when it still ran the Vigilance theme, but the very minute I switched to Photolia, he could no longer view it.
It makes me think that there is something about Photolia that demands a latest browser. That would be a disappointing result. It’s not like Safari 5.1.10 is like still running IE 7.
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Hey Jim,
I understand. Although Safari 5.1.10 wasn’t that long ago in time, it’s entirely possible that it doesn’t support certain web standards. For what it’s worth, running an outdated browser version also posses a potential security risk when browsing online.
However, with that being said, I was able to successfully load your site in Safari 5.1.7 and Safari 6.1. When the page initially loads, there is a moment of a blank screen when the content is loading. Before we go to the trouble of asking the user to update, can you have them try another browser? If the site loads fine in another browser, I suspect the outdated version of Safari may be to blame. However, if it doesn’t load in another browser, it might be related to something different.
Let me know!
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Jeremy,
That’s awesome that you tried Safari 5.1.7. That you were able to view my blog on that browser suggests that my reader’s problem is not the browser.
I will suggest that he try downloading the latest Chrome or Firefox and go to the site with it. If he still can’t see the site, there is some other problem, and it is probably unrelated to me having switched to Photolia.
Thanks,
-Jim -
Jeremy,
My user was unable to see my site with any browser.
I reverted my site back to the Vigilance theme, which is what I used before I bought Photolia. Immediately, this user was able to see my blog again.
There is something about Photolia that appears to be causing problems for some readers. I’ve heard from two readers about it — the one on Safari 5.1.10, and one who reads my blog on his Android phone a Galaxy Note II, using the default browser.
I’m unhappy. I switched to Photolia after a lot of previewing other themes because, unlike others, it gave me the look and feel I wanted. But if some of my readers can’t see the site because of it, then it’s a non-starter.
Are other users experiencing challenges with Photolia? Can you check the logs for my site to see if there are PHP errors or other clues?
–Jim
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Hi Jim,
I recreated a demo version of your site to test this using the Photolia theme. Then, I opened the site on multiple devices (both iOS and Android – including a Galaxy Note using the default browser) without any trouble. I also was able to successfully open the site in an old version of Safari. To answer your question, we haven’t had other challenges with users running Photolia that I’m aware of.
The main explanation for this issue would be a slower internet connection. The site does display as a white screen for a second or two upon loading. This is likely due to the high amount of images on your blog. Additionally, it looks like some of those images are sourced from Flickr, meaning the browser has to ping Flickr for each one. Have they experienced the issue on multiple internet connections?
The main reason I’m leaning towards the connection idea is that the user wasn’t able to load your site in any browser. That suggests the problem is not with the theme or individual browser but either with the internet connection or device itself. Can you have them try a different internet connection and see if that loads the site? Also, can you ask how long they are waiting before closing the browser? Does that site not load after 10-12 seconds?
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Jeremy,
Thanks for hanging in there with me on this. Your theory makes sense to me. I tested it thinly today by turning off wifi on my iPhone and loading my site. (Sprint, 3G, two bars.) Sure enough, I got a white page for several seconds before even my Vigilance-themed site loaded.
True that I host most of my images at Flickr. What I experience when Flickr is running slow is that the site loads, but there are blank spots for the images while they load.
So I’m inclined to believe that Photolia is just delivering a boatload more code to the browser than Vigilance is, and that over a less than stellar connection it would take time for the code to load and then the page to render.
I will try switching back to Photolia and asking the one user if he would mind yet another test, in which he waited 30-60 seconds to see if the site loads.
If that works, I’m still at a bit of a loss. The reality is, people will be coming to my site from all sorts of connection speeds. I don’t want any of them, especially readers who have been with me for a while, to be turned away by what will look like to them to be a broken site. Should I reach that point, would it be possible for me to get a refund on Photolia so that I can explore other theme options?
I will let you know how the test goes.
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Hey Jim,
Of course – if you would like a refund on the theme, I’m happy to do that for you. I just want to make sure we exhaust all possibilities prior to that point. Let me know how the test goes, and we’ll move forward from there.
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Jeremy,
One user reports 25 Mbps down. The other reports 0.99 down at work — aha!, at least until he got home, where it was 20 Mbps down. Neither user can see the site when it’s running Photolia.
I get 21 Mbps down at home.
So I’m out of ideas. Do you have any more?
-Jim
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Hey Jim,
I’m still looking into why/how this could be occurring. Could you pass along the following link to your user(s) that’s experiencing issues and see if it loads for them (it’s the theme demo site)?
http://photoliademo.wordpress.com/
Also, just so I can make sure I’m testing correctly, can you confirm that they’re using either Chrome or Firefox to view the site and still experiencing problems?
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Jeremy,
The one reader with the MacOS and Safari says the Photolia demo site loads instantly.
So this makes me wonder if there’s something about my page that causes the problem. Maybe it’s one or more of my widgets?
I can’t remember now whether this fellow has tried Chrome or Firefox, but given that the Photolia demo site loads right away on Safari for him, I’m inclined to think it probably doesn’t matter.
-Jim
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Hey Jim,
I apologize for the back and forth here. I’m trying to narrow down the issue. That’s a good sign that they can load the theme demo. That helps to pinpoint the problem. I have a few other questions/steps. Could you pass these along? Alternatively, I don’t have a problem connecting directly with the user if you would like me to. Just let me know, and I will contact them directly through Private Email.
1. Can you ask the user to load this page in Safari and let me know if it loads correctly?
http://groovydomains.net/2014/04/01/magnificent-flickr-photo/
2. Can you let me know where the user is located and what Internet Service Provider they use?
We’ll get to the bottom of this!
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Jeremey,
(and sorry for misspelling your name up to now) – I don’t mind the back and forth. I work in the software industry, have for 25 years; getting to the bottom of problems is what I do. (I run a test team.) But I am probably about to the point of wearing out my welcome with this one reader, so I hope you’re really onto something.
I’ve asked the reader to try the groovydomains link. I’ll let you know how that turns out. Meanwhile, he’s on Comcast Xfinity Internet and is in Bodega Bay, CA.
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The reader reports that your groovydomains link brings “the white page of death.” — in other words, it stops loading at a white page. -Jim
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Hey Jim,
I understand, and I definitely don’t want you to lose a reader over this. I do believe we’re on to something. At this point, I’m pretty certain this is an issue with how the Flickr embed is behaving within the theme.
One final test: Can you ask the user to load the following blogs?
http://jeremeysawesometestblogsitewithbusinessupgrade.wordpress.com/
http://jeremeysawesomeenterprisetestblog1.wordpress.com/
Both should only have a Flickr embed on the only post. However, they have two different themes on them (not Photolia). If the user can load those sites without a problem, then the issue appears to be only with Flickr embeds on the Photolia theme, which will help our theme developers tackle the issue.
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Both links load just fine for that reader, Jeremey.
Looking forward to hearing your next step.
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Hey Jim,
Thank you for relaying the information back to me. It looks like this is just an issue with Flickr embeds on the Photolia theme. I’ve reported it to our theme developers for further investigation. I’ll let you know as soon as I know more!
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