I was due for a site software update, so I decided to modify the site as a whole. My main goal was simplification and to improve on usability. As I went through the visual-template code, I also attempted to improve execution speed by minimizing include files and removing unnecessary features.
- Minimize the website banner to remove wasted space (logo redesign as well).
- Remove unpopular items from the site such as the forums.
- Reorder the site tags, recent postings, and other navigation links to improve on ease of use.
- Lessen the use of colors on the site.
- Clean up the footer area.
I’ve noticed that the site seems to load faster in general. I suspect something like that XML parser for the forum was decreasing overall speed quite a bit.