Above Header Slider slow to load

I have just about completed my install of www.rayscountryham.com

I have a full page Hero Image above the header, and you will notice that the image is very slow to load.

  1. Support assisted me with positioning this image and I am reluctant to change the size of the image (which is too large). I have resized the image in the image in the Media Library but cannot find a way to substitute it in Slider Revolution Slide 1: http://rayscountryham.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Blue-Ridge-Mountains-186818265_5822x2848-e1499442866641.jpeg

  2. In hopes of speeding the site, I installed W3 Total Cache, and it crashed my site, so I removed it.

  3. I have now just installed Hummingbird plugin, and the site seems to be running OK, but I have not yet noticed any improvement in speed, especially with the Above the Header image.

Your suggestions for the above would be most appreciated.

BTW, hats off to Apex/Themeco for the extraordinary support during this install. It is why I purchased my third X Theme, and without which I could not have created just what I had in mind. Thank you and all for your support!

Hi there,

First of all, thank you for your kind words. If you manage to create a cool website that is the best work satisfaction which we can get :slight_smile:

Now regarding the loading issue. I checked your website and the image you mentioned was not the problem actually.

The image you mentioned is 214kb which is acceptable for a slider.

These are the big images that you should fix:

  1. http://rayscountryham.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/FRONT-Rays-Package.jpg (4.8 MB)
  2. http://rayscountryham.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Package-Presentation.png (1.3 MB)
  3. http://rayscountryham.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Composit-2.jpg (1.0 MB)
  4. http://rayscountryham.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/iStock-479968314-1000.jpg (745 KB)
  5. http://rayscountryham.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/iStock-183323897-BG2.jpg (540 KB)

Fixing those images will make your website load very fast.

Thank you.

Thank you for your extra effort to find those problems. I have changed 1) to 683 MB, 2) to 849 MB, 3) to 793; however, feel I look intended quailty if I try to do much more with 4) and 5).

Nevertheless, I don’t see immediate difference after clearing caches and reloading live. The above the header image still loads in two parts, Logo and then image, exergating the already slow load time.

Any furhter thoughts?

Cheers,
Ray

Hi Ray,

It might be good to check this detailed suggestion to improve site performance: https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/customizations-performance/210

Let us know how it goes.

Well not going as I would hope. I reviewed carefully: https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/customizations-performance/210

I also installed W3 TOTAL CACHE, and it caused problems with the site. The Home Page came up white. I had this problem with W3 TOTAL CACHE once before with an X-Theme. It could well be my fault. However, it did not work for me.

I purchased an added WP Rocket which I have had a good experience with pairing with the X-Theme. The options to Enable for Images, Enable for iframes and videos, Enable caching for mobile devices, and Separate cache files for mobile devices.

I deleted Hummingbird that I had tried earlier with no noticeable improvement for fear the two plugins might conflict.

My primary issue is the pause between the loading of the logo and the Hero Image upon startup. Please go to www.rayscountryham.com and that to which I refer. Any further suggestions for curing this problem would be appreciated. I think that the remainder of the site is running reasonably efficiently.

Have tried optimizing your images? If optimizing does not help, try using a smaller image. Also turn off layer animations.

Thanks.

Must admit I am disappointed in this overly generalized reply I could have gotten just googling the issue. If someone would take the time to look at this particular Hero image, there must be something wrong with the way I have set the Slider Revolution settings. I am not the only user of this theme to be emulating your home page https://theme.co/x/. I need help getting the same effect. Please.

I’ve setup a test slide and added it in this test page http://rayscountryham.com/x-support-test/, replicated your setup and the issue is the same. There’s a delay if you use the layer’s background option so I added the image as the slider’s background in Layout & Visual and now the background loads fast. Please do the same with your slider.

Thank you very much. That did it!

Glad we could help.

Cheers!

I would like to reopen this request. If you view www.rayscountryham.com you will see that the title for the Above the Header Hero Image comes up about a second or two after the background picture opens. I wish they could come up at the same time with no delay in the title slide. I have tried to master Slider Revolution settings with little experience and no success. Could you please take a look and help me? Thanks.

Hi there,

I checked your website and found out the logo at the top left section which you are talking is 1200 X 947, which is way bigger than what is needed. I suggest that you edit the image with a Photo Editing Software such as Photoshop and make it something like 100 x 79 pixels.

That will make the logo load very fast. But please kindly consider that there is no control over the browser deciding which image to load first.

Thank you for your understanding.

I think you misunderstood the image to which I was referring. You reference a “logo at the top left section which is 1200 x 947.

That is the icon in the Customize and I am not sure how I missed that…it has been changed to 155x155, and 144x144 respectively. It is in fact the last image to open on the home page nevertheless, but not of concern.

I am referring to the Title Overlay “Ray’s Country Ham” which does not load at the same time as the background in the Hero Image above the Header in Slider Revolution. Should I simply overlay that in Photoshop and be done with it? (But that is not how it is suppose to work :slight_smile:

Yes, the best thing would be to combine the images to one. I’m afraid this would require custom development or optimization to speed up the load time of the image. I tried various settings and it didn’t help. You might want to check out https://wpspeedguru.com/ for speeding up your website. Or, we do have an in-house custom development team that offer paid services, who may be able to assist. They can be contacted at pinnacle@theme.co if this is of interest to you.

Thank you for your understanding.

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