How many times have you seen your browser load a 250K page with few images and only a single paragraph of text? Bloated HTML and/or useless JavaScript (when isn't it?) are usually the cause.

Other common annoyances are: - As a page is loading, its useful contents are visible. When the loading is complete, they suddenly become invisible (due to idiotic backgrounds, etc.) - As a page loads, its useful contents are visible, but they disappear if loading is interrupted. * plowing through the source often allows the text to be seen, but is highly inconvenient.

What is needed is a browser that: - selectively skips "bloat" as the page is loading (using prediction algorithms, etc.) - allows partial display of ANY loaded data.
-- dsm, Nov 12 2000

Internet Junkbuster http://internet.junkbuster.com/
What you want is a filtering proxy. Here's one. There are many, many others, many of which do almost everything you describe. (The exception is partial rendering, which must be built into the browser. Newer browsers -- IE5, NS6 -- are much better at this than older ones; the problem is almost gone.) [egnor, Nov 12 2000, last modified Oct 04 2004]

That's why every page I write is Enhanced for Lynx.
-- Uncle Nutsy, Nov 12 2000


The gecko rendering engine in Mozilla does incremental rendering, iirc.
-- cswiii, Jan 09 2001


Uncle Nutzy: If you visit my wife's memorial web page (I need to put more content in there and add actual links/thumbnails for some of the more recently-uploaded content, but that's another story...) you'll notice that it's designed to be any-browser friendly. If you like frames, it'll use 'em. If you hate frames, it won't.<p>

That sound like a good version of the "enhanced for Lynx" concept?
-- supercat, Jan 09 2001


Recently, my Internet Explorer browser refuses to show a partially loaded page's text when it also includes a 250k graphic. I have to wait for the WHOLE page to load.
-- Amishman35, Feb 25 2001


I like the 'machete' part! Would like to see a visual graphic of the blade actually slicing off the head of the programmer who puts in all the bloat. And the pool of blood. And when you open the site again, there is an apology from the since-fired programmer for being such a silly as
-- bobzaguy, May 08 2001


My website, before I hacked it into smaller pieces, was almost 80k of HTML. Not pictures, just HTML.

By its nature, my page is very graphic heavy. I did the best I could, but it is still going to be pretty big. Been toying with the idea of using Java* to preload the images on the subpages, but am averse to pages doing things to my system without asking me, so haven't.

Sometimes it's necessary.
-- StarChaser, May 09 2001


StarChaser, I'll visit your site in a minute, but first--all the graphics may not be relevant to all your viewers. How about a browser giving you the option of loading the HTML and displaying the graphics as clickable icons? In my free time (not much) I've been putting together a browser, and I'd be interested to hear what features you think the Big Two are missing.
-- Dog Ed, May 09 2001


My site is the Furry Artist InFURmation page. It's purpose is to show people contact information, posting information and a sample of the artist's signature. I dislike Java* and don't want to open new windows, and older browsers can't do that anyway. The page is a table, with a column for each entry. With 150 artists, it got a little big, and I finally decided to subdivide. I still have the full one as an option, because if I'm looking for a name, I'd rather be able to ctrl-F and search all at once. I dislike having to click a million icons to get what I'm looking for, and the idea of the page was to be able to see what the signatures look like to figure out who belongs to what pawprint. I'd prefer to have all the pictures available and look through them, than have to click 'Nope', click 'Nope', click 'Nope'...

Things I'd like to see in a browser: The ability to turn off banner ads. ESPECIALLY java* banner ads. Maybe have it deactivate just any picture that's standard banner size? The ability to selectively deactivate java* things, like 'new window on close/open', or that -a-yiffin'-nnoying thing that makes a window shake and move all over the screen. Also...Make it a brower. JUST a browser. Not an email and HTML editor and FTP client and....<All of those can be done on websites, and that's fine, but I hate that IE pretty much demands Outlook to work, although you can convince it otherwise...>
-- StarChaser, May 10 2001


Obligatory Opera Browser Post
-- thumbwax, Dec 06 2002


Its baked, Opera web browser lets you nmot load picutres
-- squeaky, Feb 08 2003



random, halfbakery