[Stealth]

it's been said that we should put up a "Main page loading" thing up on the banner page.  well even on 56K the actual main page (not the introduction, banner page) loads in only a few seconds, which is very good... the biggest load time is loading the banner, so if anything, rather than putting up a webpage loading, we could just remove the intro picture/banner/whatever.

now i was thinking... so right now http://3dap.com/hlp/ goes to the regular 3dap hosted site server (which doesn't support advanced scripting)... BUT what's to say we can't just move the main site to the main site on the dynamic server?  If the admins emailed 3DAP and told them to change the URLs for HLP to the dynamic server main page as opposed to the hosted server main page (as it is now), traffic would bypass the 3dap.com server and go right to the dynamic server.

likewise, if all traffic's going to the dynamic server, and all information's on the dynamic server page, within a few months, anyone searching for "HARD LIGHT PRODUCTIONS" on a search engine would pull up the dynamic page, since the 3DAP page wouldn't exist, or would just be a simple "Our site has moved... Redirecting" page.  that way no one would ever know the 3dap.com/hlp/ page was ever there, and all traffic would go directly (from all updated sources) to the dynamic4 page.

now i know my idea was mentioned before a few posts up, and the reply was that it was hard for newbies to remember... but how many people actually have to remember domains?  they come across the site via a website, or search engine, etc... how many of them do you think are going to memorize the URL?  It would be pointless, i know that i don't memorize the URL to every site i visit.  i just bookmark it or something.

[Goober5000]

So what if you're on a public site computer and don't want to type in a gigantic address?

[Unknown Target]

For some bizzare reason, the main page takes forever for me to load.

Besides, I usually surf HLP at school, which means I have to type the address in manually. www.3dap.com/hlp is way easier than what the main page's addy is

[Setekh]

Originally posted by Stealth
that way no one would ever know the 3dap.com/hlp/ page was ever there, and all traffic would go directly (from all updated sources) to the dynamic4 page.

Mmmm... I know you've put plenty of thought into this, Stealth, but what it boils down to is that neither we nor our hosts are really comfortable with this small fact here. Pretty much our only connection to our free host is our domain. Even now we're pushing it - we're a member of the 3D Action Planet network. I don't want to stretch things even further.

[Xelion]

Okay, probably a bit late on this nevertheless heres my OP (Originall Bobboau's and PhReAk's idea combined and modified)

The loading time is a killer on that banner . What I think would be best is to have two small banners one on the top and one on the bottom. Each roughly 150%-200% larger than a standard advertising banner. Hard-Light Productions Home Page and Hard-Light Productions Forum, though place a redirect of about 10-15 seconds for it to load the home page. thats it

[Lonestar]

Instant Redirect.

It seems pointless to just reduce the image's size. If the interest is faster loading then a redirect surely is the quickest.
Also, i click it and go "why in the heck do i have to click AGAIN!" just so i can get some content and links to a forum.

As nice as it is to have an intro page, unless your trying to show something in the intro and explain to the user what the site is about. Otherwise its just showing off. Who really cares about an image thats half a meg in size anyways? Put it in an image gallery i say and redirect the main to the content. Its all that matters to me, and probably most users IMO.

[Setekh]

Oh, I'd forgotten I'd left this here. Thanks for the input, Lonestar. I think we're going to change it to a redirect...