2004
January, 2004
You can group styles common to different rules into their own classes to save repeating yourself. By applying multiple classes to one element in CSS you can modularize your code to help optimize your style sheets.
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Defer execution of your JavaScripts with the defer attribute to speed initial content display.
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US broadband adoption jumped to 42.85% in December, up 1.31 percentage points from 41.54% in November 2003. 57.15% of U.S. home users connect to the Internet with "narrowband" connections of 56Kbps or less.
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High-level type selectors style identical elements in your document without the need for extra classes.
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February, 2004
Descendant selectors are an elegant way to apply styles to specific areas of your page while reducing the need to embed classes within elements.
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Whitespace removal eliminates unnecessary spaces, tabs, and returns in your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code for faster downloads.
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US broadband adoption crawled to 43% in January, up only 0.15% from December 2003. Sweden has the highest Internet penetration worldwide at 76.9%.
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Image stabilization creates sharper pictures by damping vibration to avoid motion blur. Gyroscopic stabilizers steady cameras for sharper photographs and videos.
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March, 2004
A stable tripod creates sharper pictures and videos by damping out vibration. Sharper shots mean smaller multimedia destined for the Web.
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US broadband adoption jumped to 45.15% in February, up 2.14 percentage points from January 2004. Nearly 75% of Americans have access to the Internet.
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Choosing the right image format is the first step in optimizing web graphics. Learn how to choose between the GIF, PNG, and JPEG formats for different image types.
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Weighted optimization or regional compression applies different degrees of compression to different areas of your image. By varying the quality within images you can improve file size.
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April, 2004
By using purely structural XHTML markup you can easily target your content with CSS selectors.
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By layering your content you can display useful content quickly to make your pages appear faster. Feedback can increase your users' pain threshold for delay.
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Omitting redundant classes and default attributes shrinks xhtml code to speed page response times. Many tags and duplicate attributes can be safely removed with no change in appearance.
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The US has narrowed Canada's broadband lead by 9.2%. US broadband penetration grew by 12.2% to 46% over the past year, while Canadian broadband adoption grew just 3% to 67% over the same time period.
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Lossy compression lets you squeeze more bytes out of your GIFs and PNGs. Lossy compression increases identical pixel patterns to improve compression in indexed-color images.
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May, 2004
Substituting CSS2-styled lists for graphic menus and JavaScript can streamline your pages and make them more accessible.
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Minimize the number of colors in GIFs and PNGs to optimize file size. Lower bit-depths mean smaller palettes and code widths, which makes for smaller images.
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Histogram influencing minimizes banding in GIFs and PNGs by weighting color palettes towards problem areas. Lower banding at lower bit-depths makes for smaller images.
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US broadband penetration grew by 1.9 points to 47.9% in April. Broadband penetration for US home users should break 50% by July 2004. Will broadband penetration plateau at 75%?
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Dithering uses existing colors to strategically change pixels to minimize apparent banding. While dithering increases file size, when used in combination with lossy compression and weighted optimization, dithering can allow lower bit-depths for GIFs and PNGs.
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June, 2004
Background blurring reduces non-critical details to make the JPEG algorithm work more efficiently. Converting to Lab Color mode allows you to maximize blur for minimum file size.
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Conditional SSI let you deliver customized content to different browsers and platforms without requiring additional HTTP requests. With conditional CSS, you can include additional styles for modern browsers, without upsetting older ones.
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Shorthand hex notation substitutes 3-character color values for 6-character colors when each of the color channels is identical in an RRGGBB hex triplet. Shorthand hexadecimal colors can help optimize your style sheets, especially when combined with shorthand properties and grouping.
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US broadband penetration grew by 0.74 points to 48.6% in May. Broadband penetration for US home users should break 50% by July 2004. Meanwhile, broadband penetration in wired US households should break 50% by summer 2005.
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Web page analysis and optimization tools can help locate and minimize performance bottlenecks. They can improve accessibility, spelling, XHTML markup, and even search engine visibility. We survey the webpage optimization tool landscape.
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You can improve HTTP compression by using all lowercase markup. We test five popular sites for improved compression. Remember, all characters are not created equal.
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July, 2004
Content negotiation can make your URLs shorter and more abstract. By rewriting URLs without file extensions to the right resources you can save bytes and migration headaches.
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We look behind the screens at Yahoo and Webreference to see how using short abbreviated URLs and mod_rewrite can save space for maximum speed.
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Hawaii leads all states in residential broadband penetration. US broadband penetration grew to 49.5% among active Internet users in June 2004.
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Using short, relative urls saves space, speeds page display, and eases migration headaches. The little-used relative base element can save even more space. Learn how to avoid long URLs while making search engines and IAs happy.
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August, 2004
For the first time, US broadband broke 50% among active Internet users in July 2004. Broadband share in the US should exceed 70% by November of 2005.
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Converting graphic text to CSS text speeds up your site, makes it more accessible, and search engine friendly.
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September, 2004
Using width and height attributes on images ensures fast webpage display. Conserve bandwidth by using actual size for thumbnail images.
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US broadband penetration continued its steady growth past 50% among active Internet users in August 2004. Broadband penetration tends to be higher in affluent coastal cities versus inland areas.
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Eliminating comments within your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code helps optimize your web pages for maximum speed.
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October, 2004
Upgrading to your own server improves performance, reliability, and control over your website. Andy King talks about his experience moving to a dedicated server for WebSiteOptimization.com.
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Configure your Apache server for more efficient caching to save bandwidth and improve web site performance. A web cache reduces latency and improves web site response times.
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For the first time, US broadband penetration decreased among active Internet users in September 2004. In an effort to boost US broadband penetration the FCC Thursday approved rules governing broadband over power lines.
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November, 2004
Skip intro splash pages degrade performance, increase bailout rates, and decrease your search engine rankings. Most importantly splash screens reduce web credibility with up to 71% traffic loss.
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US broadband penetration jumped 1.53 percentage points to 52.86% in October 2004. NASA has begun work on a laser-based interplanetary broadband link to transmit data from Mars.
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Refactoring restructures your code into a more simplified or efficient form in a disciplined way. Refactoring software code improves its internal structure without changing external functionality for more efficient execution, faster download speed, and easier updates.
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December, 2004
The US is a generation behind Japan and Korea in high-speed broadband, according to Technology Futures, Inc. US broadband penetration climbed 0.73 percentage points to 53.59% in November 2004.
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Crop images contextually for faster downloads and higher impact. By cropping maximally and resizing you can convey meaning without slowing down your web pages.
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