Netvouz becomes a GrabPERF monitoring agent

I've been a long time user of GrabPERF (hey - I've even sponsored the site because it was so useful to me!) and when GrabPERF needed more monitoring agents, I decided to help out. So now I am hosting a GrabPERF monitoring agent on a dedicated Linux box in my apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden. This has nothing to do with Netvouz really (the GrabPERF agent and Netvouz servers are not in the same location), but I have always used GrabPERF to keep an eye on the Netvouz performance.


In addition to that I have also done some DNS changes to Netvouz and these have also improved the responsiveness of Netvouz. Here's what the GrabPERF top 20 list looked today - Netvouz has climbed to 3rd place for the homepage (a new measurement) and about 10th place for the tag search. These figures vary as site response times vary, but it's nice to see that the DNS change clearly made a difference.


I also have some other performance improvements on my to do list which I will implement and roll out as soon as possible. And the neat thing is that these will also have side effects which will improve the quality of the bookmarks and the value Netvouz brings to our users.

//Henrik

Silence is good! Silence means hard work...

First I must apologize to everyone for not posting more often to this Netvouz blog. I know there is a stream of Netvouz users that visit the blog regularly, and if I were you I would be turned off by not having any news to read.

But silence on the blog is actually good! Because when I don't write blog posts I work hard on developing Netvouz and our service. So less posts means more development time. And more development time means a better service. And a better service means more users!

So today I post because I want to share some figures with you. As you can see from the graphs below Netvouz is seeing a substantial increase in traffic (read members and visitors), and the traffic increase the first quarter this year is quite impressive.

Statsaholic traffic graph

This graph shows the Netvouz traffic according to Statsaholic (who gets their data from Alexa). As you can see Netvouz has been gaining traffic at a healthy rate for quite a while. And after a slight drop late 2006 (perhaps because of our DNS problems), we are seeing a substantial increase in traffic the first quarter this year.

Compete traffic graph
The second graph comes from Compete and just as Alexa they also measure a significant increase in traffic in 2007. Quite impressive, don't you think?

Quantcast traffic graph
The third and final traffic graph is from Quantcast, another company trying to measure site traffic. Their analysis follows the same pattern as the other two and also shows a massive increase in traffic in 2007.


But more traffic means a slower service, right? No!

Netvouz has also been tracked by GrabPERF for a couple of years, and the graph below shows our response times from their measurement locations in the US over the past year.



As you can see, since we upgraded our servers in mid November our response times (from the US) have been cut by 50%, going down from 1-1.5s to 0.5-0.7s. The spike in mid November was when we ran on our slower backup servers for a week. Now, overlay this graph with the traffic graphs above (you have to do it in your head yourself) and you realize that as our traffic has increased our response times have actually gone down! How come? Well.... That's how I spend my time when I don't post to the blog....


Another fun thing is that Netvouz has also made it into the GrabPERF top 20 list (albeit in the 20th place...).

This may not sound like a big achievement, but if you look at the details of a GrabPERF request, shown below, you will see that it actually is.



On this particular request detailed above, GrabPERF could quickly find the IP address for www.netvouz.com (because most of our DNS servers are hosted in the US). But then it took 0.17s for the GrabPERF request to travel from the US to Europe, where the Netvouz servers are located. GrabPERF then received the reply after 0.24s, and after an additional 0.18s the whole page (only 6kB) were transmitted. If you sum this up you end up with a total response time of 0.59s, which is what is shown in the GrabPERF response graph above.

But how much time did Netvouz actually spend processing this request? Well, approximately 0.24-0.17 = 0.07s, or 70ms. The bulk part of the remaining time (0.5s+) is "penalty" because the Netvouz servers are located in Europe. So if we would have our servers in the US and we would have the same transfer times as most other sites being tracked (such as Technorati, Google, Skype etc.) we would probably be among the top sites.

But performance isn't everything, and every Netvouz visitor is not in the US, and Netvouz is among the top 5 bookmarking services in other aspects, so I'm very happy anyway!!

And rest assured, while we continue adding new useful features, we will always always keep an eye on performance.

Next feature to launch is our third generation spam protection. It's in the works...

//Henrik

Access your Hotpicks even faster!

Today as part of a maintenance release, I have added support for so called access keys (or accelerator keys) on Hotpicks. This means that you can now access the first nine Hotpicks displayed on any page using the keys 1-9 on your keyboard.

Depending on your browser you need to combine the numeric key with other key(s). The list below shows the combinations for some popular browsers:
Firefox: Press Shift-Alt-[Key#]
Internet Explorer: Press Alt-[Key#] and then Enter
Opera: Press Shift-Esc and then [Key#]
Safari (Mac): Press Ctrl-[Key#]

Where [Key#] is the key 1-9.

If more than 9 Hotpicks are displayed only the first 9 are accessible using access keys. To access the remaining you have to click the link with your mouse, as usual.

Access keys was added to better support our mobile visitors. Using a cell phone or PDA and Netvouz as the start page mobile users can now access their favorite web sites with just a single click or keypress (depending on the mobile device).

//Henrik

P.S. I am now working on some major improvements that I will roll out over the next coming weeks. I am really excited about these changes so I have a big smile on my face, 24h a day :-)

RawSugar import broken

Due to a problem with RawSugar, Netvouz is currently not able to import bookmarks from RawSugar. We have contacted RawSugar about this and they are working on fixing the problem on their side.

Update: RawSugar has now fixed their problems so importing from RawSugar now works again. Hurray, and thanks Frank!

//Henrik

New server, and new location

It wasn't long since I set up new servers and this coming weekend it's happening again. This time I am also setting it up in another hosting location to provide even higher availability in case there are any problems with any Internet Service Provider (ISP).

So keep bookmarking and I will keep installing new servers, develop new features, reply to emails, and have lots of fun watching the traffic and member stats go absolutely the right way! :-)

//Henrik

P.S. Next on the to do list are features which will both improve performance of searches and give you better quality of the search results. So stay tuned...

Netvouz wants some del.icio.us RawSugar

I read on TechCrunch that RawSugar is having difficulties and may shut down or sell. So after a conversation with the RawSugar team I decided to offer RawSugar members an alternative.

So now Netvouz imports bookmarks directly from a RawSugar account. Just enter your RawSugar username and password and we will retrieve your RawSugar bookmarks and import them to your Netvouz account. The import is done in real-time and your bookmarks will retain the same visibility settings as they have on RawSugar.

But we will not just import your bookmarks into a flat hierarchy as on del.icio.us and most other services. No, we will actually convert your RawSugar tag hierarchy into Netvouz folders and put the bookmarks in the most relevant folder! So this will mimic your whole RawSugar account in the Netvouz way. If you do want a flat structure you can of course choose not to create Netvouz folders. But I understand many RawSugar users are concerned about moving to other services and losing the power of folders.

Take a look at http://www.netvouz.com/RawSugarDemo for an example. This import was done from a RawSugar account and as you can see Netvouz has recreated the whole tag hierarchy as a folder structure. Isn't that beautiful!

So from Netvouz to all RawSugar users - Welcome to Netvouz!

Oh, I almost forgot. We can now also import straight from del.icio.us as well. Works the same way except your bookmarks are imported into a flat structure.

//Henrik

Netvouz blog has a fresh new design - and a new address

After having updated the Netvouz color scheme I felt it was time to also put some effort into the Netvouz blog. So I did. And here it is. The Netvouz blog 2.0 :-)

And while doing the update I also moved the blog to it's new address, http://blog.netvouz.com.

It's my vision to post more frequently and to keep you all updated on the development activities going on. (Hmm.... haven't I said that before....) And when new features are rolled out I will also add a small banner on the top of the Netvouz page so you all know that there are new stuff.

//Henrik

Netvouz on Sociable's short list

A few days ago the popular Wordpress plugin Sociable was released in an improved 2.0 version.

Sociable is a tool that offers Wordpress bloggers a simple way to add buttons to their blogs which blog visitors can click on and instantly save the blog post on their favorite social bookmarking service.

In Sociable 2.0 Netvouz is now one of few pre-selected sociable bookmarking services, along with digg, del.icio.us, and some others. You'll see the icons under Share and enjoy.

//Henrik

Netvouz in spring colors

Today, February 3, Netvouz greets you with a brand new blue/green color scheme. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and finally it has happened. Because most users feel comfortable and like the way Netvouz navigation works all of the navigation still remains the same, so this is purely a spiced up color scheme.

In addition to this new color scheme there's a bunch of under the hood improvements, and as usual you won't see them - but they're equally important. This new release is actually the sum of no less than 20 sub versions of Netvouz that I have been working on for the past month.

So enjoy the new Netvouz color scheme!

If you have any comments or feedback, I appreciate it as usual either as a post here or to the Netvouz contact email.

//Henrik

Netvouz automatic link checker improved

Today I have installed a new version of perhaps one of the most sophisticated components of Netvouz - the automatic link checker. With the new improvements made there should be a lot less false alerts thanks to an even smarter decision engine.

The link checker is without competition the single component I have spent most time on in Netvouz. For anyone who hasn't yet written a link checker (are there really people out there who still hasn't? ;-) you should now that just getting the status codes from a web site and blindly assuming that they are right won't get you far.

No for me, Netvouz and you to be happy it requires quite a bit of logic to decide among all the various responses (or lack of responses) whether a link is working or not. As you know we flag the links as working, confirmed broken, unreachable and doubtful, and the Broken Links Manager (Tools -> Manage broken links) allows you to easily delete your broken links.

As before your links are scanned weekly and if a link has been broken for more than a week it is flagged and shows up in the Broken Links Manager.

So keep on bookmarking and rest assured that the Netvouz link checker takes good care of your links!

//Henrik

Ahooooooo..... off you gooooooo......

No Ahoo from Yahoo. Uploading 8700 bookmarks all pointing to your own web site is not the way to use Netvouz. Sorry if I haven't made that clear during the registration process.

And to be honest, the articles on your web site really suck so if you plan on making some money on Google ads I suggest you start writing some decent stuff.

I have a button specially made for users like you. It's shaped like a rubber. And it's sooo easy to use.

//Henrik

Successful maintenance Saturday 6th

As some of you noticed Netvouz went up and down on Saturday, just as planned. I have upgraded several parts of the system, found memory leaks which caused instability, performed tuning activities which cut down on CPU resources and made several other improvements. So there should be a lot less smoke coming from the server rack ;-)

Hope you all had an equally good weekend!

//Henrik

Up and down, and ... down

Just when all the DNS problems have been resolved we hear that our Internet Service Provider (ISP) is having some network problems. Arghh! Anyway, they are replacing hardware to resolve the problems and it should be fixed during the day (December 26).

Sorry for the inconvenience!

//Henrik

DNS problems

We are experiencing a DNS problem (three DNS servers are down!) which makes it difficult to reach the Netvouz web servers. We are working on resolving this, but please be patient as DNS updates can be slow. This problem affects both the Netvouz web site and our mail server.

Update Wednesday:
We have now resolved the problems and the DNS caches should have refreshed all over the world, so everyone should be able to access their favorite bookmarks on Netvouz as usual. Yehaaa!

We are, however, still experiencing a slight delay when logging on to your bookmarks page and we are working on resolving this final issue as well.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

//Henrik

Netvouz rated as a top 5 social bookmarking service

Once again Netvouz scores high in a social bookmarking service review! Reviews like that are always inspiring to read, and also provides good feedback on what users want.

//Henrik

Migration finished - and some minor fixes

After the migration of the runtime platform (i.e. server hardware and software) I did a few weeks ago I have today also made the final switch to my new development platform. What a relief. So now I have loads of new features and possibilities to leverage. It's gonna be an exciting couple of weeks/months ahead for me. And if you're lucky you may even see some visible changes to Netvouz as well!

According to Rackspace the Social Issues Research Centre has recently asked a number of people what they want from a web site. The most important factors was speed, uptime, and ease of navigation.

So what do you think about Netvouz? You think it's fast enough? Easy to navigate? Perhaps even intuitive? It would be interesting to see what your rating of Netvouz is. If you have 60 seconds to spare, please go to Rate your site at Rackspace and fill out the form and then post your results here. I got a 94% close to perfection, but I guess I'm pretty biased so my vote doesn't count!

Oh, almost forgot. I have fixed the Firefox import and export features and they should now handle tags perfectly. Thanks Egon!

//Henrik

New URL syntax at Netvouz

We have a new syntax for the URLs here at Netvouz. Most people will not notice the change, but search engines like Google, Yahoo etc. will appreciate that it is easier for them to crawl Netvouz and gather the information they want. And some users may even appreciate our new, pretty URLs!

What we have done is we have reduced the number of parameters and instead included them directly in the path of the address. Here are some examples to explain the changes:

Browse by folder:
Now: http://www.netvouz.com/demo/folder/5873138918755759749/Newspapers
Was: http://www.netvouz.com/demo?category=5873138918755759749

As you can see we no longer use the "category" parameter but the category number is included in the path of the address, and the name of the folder is also included.

Browse by tag:
Now: http://www.netvouz.com/demo/tag/computers
Was: http://www.netvouz.com/demo?tags=computers

Just like the category parameter, the "tags" parameter is replaced by the "tag" token in the path. To use multiple tags, just add them like tag1+tag2+tag3.

Show a user's new (most recent) bookmarks:
Now: http://www.netvouz.com/demo/new
Was: http://www.netvouz.com/demo?page=new


Users using our Linkrolls for blogs or other kinds of feeds will appreciate that we are backward compatible with the old address syntax, so you do not need to change your blog templates, feed readers etc. immediately. However, we will drop the old syntax at some point in the future.

RSS, JavaScript and HTML feeds are still generated using the "feed" parameter, such as http://www.netvouz.com/demo/new?feed=rss, so there is no change.

Apart from this major change there's a number of small internal updates as well. As usual :-)

//Henrik

The Big Bang Upgrade - Finally!

One may think Netvouz development has come to a complete standstill because there hasn't been any announcements about new features for some time. But nothing could be more wrong.

The last couple of months I have spent all my time migrating to a brand new server platform. And finally, today, I have done the final switch. Phew!!! (To be honest the switch actually took place a week ago but because of some "interesting" network problems Netvouz has been running on the backup servers for a week, so today we did the final switch to the production servers.)

The new platform is a complete rip-and-replace upgrade of both hardware and software. Everything except the Netvouz code and the database content (your bookmarks!) has been upgraded to brand new versions. The new platform provides us with a solid foundation with advanced capabilities we can leverage when we continue develop new features again. The future looks bright!

//Henrik, the happy developer and sys admin

Follow the link. Not any more.

In accordance with the Google initiative to prevent comment spam we have now added the nofollow directive to all links on Netvouz. This change is in effect from today, 2006-10-26.

Another minor change is that we have also changed the titles and descriptions of our feeds (RSS, JavaScript, HTML) to make them shorter and more readable.

//Henrik

Calling for volunteers

As some of you know, Netvouz has been a one man show since it's inception in 2001. It has certainly been a lot of hard work but at the same time it's been great fun. Trust me, because Netvouz doesn't bring in any money, if it hadn't been fun, interesting, challenging, and educating I would have quit it long ago. But I haven't. And I won't.

However, with our current plans we (you do realize I often suffer from schizophrenia and talk about "we" and "us" when I talk about Netvouz, don't you ;-) feel it is time to see if there are any volunteers out there who would be interested in rolling up their sleeves and give a helping hand.

If you (or anyone you know) would like do help out you can do as much or as little work as you want (but I do appreciate a certain level of committment) and in several different areas, such as JavaScript, plugin development, marketing (I'm not doing much to market Netvouz, but despite that we have an increasing number of new users signing up every day), translations, search algorithms, graphics, Linux etc. etc.

So if you have a few hours to spare a little now and then, please contact me and we'll see how we can work together. I'd appreciate it.

//Henrik