Jarrod

I have a mobile website I created for a client using EZ Mobile Site generator. Unfortunately, the size of the site when complete is too large, causing slow load times (and it is actually impacting the speed of their normal site as well).

Besides checking size of the images, anyone have any other tips of how I can reduce the size of the site itself?

Jay Moreno

Hi JJ - do you have a link to the site? Would make it easier to recommend and help you actually being able to see the site in question

Nail Yener

You can start with optimizing images, believe me no matter how much you optimize images, they can still be optimized, or better replaced by CSS if possible. Optimizing the code will require considerable coding knowledge as I think the tool you are referring to is a WordPress plugin. Also, you can use tools like Pingdom Tools to see the size of individual files and which ones are causing longer load times.

tiRo

Optimize images using photoshop and saving them for the web. Use primarily text, most mobile website visitors are just looking to obtain quick information.

Mobile Websites |

theimdude

go responsive using wordpress as I do that and works perfectly as you covered for pc, tablet and any mobile device

JohnE

Images are usually the first culprit when it comes to overall size. You will more than likely need to reduce the size of your images to lighten the weight of the site.

Photoshop does offer a great tool to substantially do this while maintaining image quality to a certain degree.

There are also free sites that allow you to virtually do the same thing; I can't, however, think of any off the top my head. A quick Google search will produce some results.

squark192

smushit.com for images is awesome.

Also, if your site is currently using jQuery, try switching to a mobile-optimized jQuery-compatible library like zepto.js (what I use, although there are others).

A few other good tips (although some require more advanced coding):

* CSS sprites instead of individual images cuts out multiple round-trips to the server.
* Inline CSS images can reduce round-trips, although at the expense of increased size.
* Minify all html, js, and css.
* Move supporting files (images, css, js) to a CDN.
* Remember that browsers typically have a low same-source connection limit (usually 2), so splitting your files across multiple domains can widen your pipeline.
* Move initial presentation code as far up the page source as possible. HTML is downloaded and rendered in chunks from top to bottom. As much as possible you want to get your ATF (above-the-fold) presentation to the user's device in the first chunk (~1k).
* Move scripts to end unless absolutely necessary.
* Use Geographic DNS routing for lower latency (I use DNSMadeEasy and it rocks).
* Redirects and DNS resolution are particularly important on mobile. Avoid multiple CNAME hops and try to have ANAME records where possible.
* Use both browser and server caching, where possible.
* Use tools like Pingdom and YSlow to determine where your bottlenecks are.
* Other stuff I can't remember at the moment... but Google can.

As you can see, mobile page optimization can be pretty intense when you get serious about it... but it also has a disproportionate impact on user experience compared to the desktop. If you're actively targeting mobile traffic then you'll want to put effort into resolution, load time, and rendering. It can make a huge difference.

Adrian John

I agree that images usually take the most size of an mobile website.
Try reduce their number, optimize and size them to 350px width max
You can use this website or using Photoshop by:
1. Open the images
2. Transform it into a Smart Object
3. Re-size the image till 350px
4. Click Save For Web and from the left Panel chose either JPG or PNG and adjust the quality
5. Click Preview (don't click Save in that Window) and than save the image from the New Window(IE or Mozilla) by right-clicking and Save As

This should do it.I always do this with my pictures.If you need Video instructions just let me know.

You can also use an Bulk Size Application that you can find on google whenever you got plenty pictures and don't want to do each one by hand.

Hope it helps.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

NFriend

Actually I think there is an issue with the plug-in itself. I too have been using EZ Mobile Site generator and really like all of it's options. But as soon as you turn it on in Wordpress, WP slows to a crawl. And trying to run mobile sites via the same WP install is slow as well.

What works GREAT is export to HTML and uzip it directly in a domain or subdomain. It's incredibly fast. But even though this feature is OK with me the tedious slow working in the environment is making me reconsider this option.

I have put support tickets in but they go unanswered. I do hope they address this.

Neil

Jay Moreno

Sounds like the developer hasn't truly mobile optimized their WP plugin/theme to work with Wordpress, had they done - there is no need for it to be slow or have you need to export the sites to HTML to speed up the site.

Support tickets for a paid product should never go unanswered - that just shows lack of commitment and bad customer service.

Hope you get things resolved.

Jarrod

Thanks for all the replies. Upon further investigation I see that, while I had done a bit of work to resize the images, there was still much more to be done in this area, and it was indeed the main culprit.

Re: EZ Mobile Site Generator.

The developer (Irene, WF username SunnyGal) has, unfortunately, had some major health issues which have impacted her support. From all I hear she provided the best support prior to this, but she was a one woman operation, so when she goes down, the support goes with her.

I love EZ Mobile Site generator to create mobile sites. Just love it. Very easy, very customizable, etc. But yes, though my prayers are with Irene, the lack of support is forcing me to look at other options.

Will probably start another thread on that in the near future.

Thanks for all the replies!