Publish Online | Extremely slow | InDesign 17.4

[StudioFerz]

Hi, since a couple of days loading of our published documents is extremely slow. Has anybody else experienced this and, if so, is this an Adobe server issue? Maintenance? Docs that were previously loading in a sec now take almost ten to half a minute to load... Fingers crossed this is temporarily and quickly resolved.

{Renamed By MOD}

[Willi Adelberger]

No, Adobe employees are not often here.

[Nigey-LTA]

All the info is in my post, sick of repeating myself to be honest 🙂

[Willi Adelberger]

Alot of bla bla, but not real important information that enables someone to help.

[Nigey-LTA]

Publish Online documents load slowly - ever since I also noted that the
ability to save PO document to homescreen also disabled - what more is
there to say - obviously a change made to Publish Online server setup

[Nigey-LTA]

This issue has been outstanding for over 3 months, pity because before the issue arose, doc load speed was blisteringly fast

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

All in all, I would suspect something with your location, service, and connectivity more than a problem with Publish Online itself. Have you had anyone test the load speed at different points around the net?

I'd work to eliminate that variable before excoriating the system and all those who support it.

—

[Nigey-LTA]

As said previously B, Publish Online document delivery was blisteringly
fast. The slow down was noticed exactly the same time as I also noticed
that the ability to ‘save to homescreen’ in mobile Safari resulted in
truncation of full document url to just indd.adobe.com. To me it appears
that Adobe made a strategic change to the Publish Online server setup for
this to happen - was it just Adobe thinking that they could get some
marketing exposure through these means for Indesign’s Publish Online? - I
don’t know, but Adobe Support’s reticence to progress these issues to me
seems like this url change was meant to happen, that’s why I keep getting
the ‘Your case is now closed’ when it really isn’t, because support can’t
query Adobe’s implemented change.
Appreciate your comments re covering myself by using In5, but it just was
massively more hassle particularly with animation, which is critical for my
business.

[rob day]

Can you post the problem link?

[Manan Joshi]

Hi @rob day and other august members. I went through this conversation and I have to say that I do empathize with the situation that @Nigey-LTA is trying to convey and we may be missing his point while trying to help. I mean think on the following lines

• The document is a valid document accepted by the service. So even though a variance in load speed is always understandable but that is valid for every other website on the internet. But if the OP is mentioning a lag that is an irritant and has also been accepted by the support team then we need to look beyond the obvious document complexity track
• @Nigey-LTA there are only n number of things that we as volunteers could suggest and that would mostly revolve around changing things inside InDesign like laying out the document another way or flipping some settings in Publish Online. Beyond that the performance issues are something that only Adobe engineers can look into and suggest alternatives or probably if identified fix it permanently
• Closing out a support request when the problem has been acknowledged and no solution or reason has been a provided is a big let down. @Nigey-LTA I suggest you reconnect to support and escalate the matter by asking to be connected to a senior until you get someone who is willing to help or provide proper answers and also log your past experience of the issue being closed
• Also the proper way to get attention of the Adobe engineering staff would be to make a post at https://indesign.uservoice.com . However, when it will be picked for investigation or possible fix is something only Adobe team knows and we can do only so much. I know it can be frustrating but if the post gets enough upvotes, denoting that many users are facing same issue then it might be picked up early by the Adobe team.

Lastly did you test using different browser and OS combination. This might as well be an issue with those areas.

-Manan 

[Nigey-LTA]

Thanks Manan,
Yes, did all tests, also Adobe guy on Thursday confirmed slow at his end
also. He did check my account, as he said can be an issue but fine.

Nigel

[J E L]

I agree, @Manan Joshi, there are valid reasons to be frustrated, and I also empathize with the situation that @Nigey-LTA describes. Publish online has changed considerably from its beginnings. To push the program, I just tested publishing a 608-page book with only text and no images, graphics, or colors applied. InDesign completely froze. I waited about 10 minutes, and this is as far as the bar got before I had to quit from Task Manager. The file is 16.4 MB. Again, I wouldn't recommend publishing such a long work, but I wanted to push the limit.

Next, I published a six-page document with images (4.81 MB). InDesign processes it fairly quickly, but once online, there is a considerable wait for the browser to render the document with a wait to load between each page. I can only image how long the wait would be for a file that was 50 MB or larger, or a 20- to 30-page document.

I'm using Windows 10 and my Dell XPS is six months old, with 64 GB of installed RAM. My connection is Internet 1000 (Fiber 1 GIG) and I'm connected by cable, not Wi-Fi. I get the same results with Brave, Edge, and Chrome browsers.

[Nigey-LTA]

Hi J E L,
It’s frustrating the slow document load speed - weird because they use AWS
which has the best web infrastructure bar none. When I started using
Publish Online (PO), it was incredibly fast loading - using AWS helps, but
also because it was basically just opening optimised html/css ans
svgs/images with no requirement to query a database meant incredible
load-speed - until 3 months ago. The first thing I noticed was I could no
longer save open documents to the home screen (Safari/IOS). But at the same
time, the incredibly fast load speed was gone.
Adobe have made a change that has had a catastrophic effect to this. But it
seems I’m not allowed to mention this Blah, Blah (as one Adobe Community
Professional rudely commented). I’m not interested in their badges and hot
air, I just want Adobe to sort out the change they’ve obviously made to
their server PO document delivery. Like me, I suspect you’re trying to run
a business and would like this issue resolved. Join me on user voice on
Monday. I’m 90 days in now to not receiving a fix to the problem. So
monday’s day 91. Also, don’t be brow-beaten by the Ajar In5 promotion, I’ve
checked it out extensively and it’s nowhere near up to PO standard (not
knocking it, but when the trial dropped all my animations - Ajar said
recreate with Lottie animations. I haven’t got time for that. ). As I’ve
said before, the subscription payment I make each month is not for
Indesign, it’s for Publish Online which in my opinion is ground-breaking if
you’re a publishing business that’s moved from print, over to digital.
Come on Adobe, get this issue sorted - don’t sabotage your own business!

[rob day]

that Publish Online documents were extremely slow loading

Hi @Nigey-LTA , the load speed of any web page would depend on the page content and obviously the speed of the connection. It would help if you could describe the document contents (number of pages, images, vectors) and your Publish Online settings. For example this 16 page doc loads in a 2 seconds on my cable connection, but it’s content is text only, and I did not include a PDF:

https://indd.adobe.com/view/4f1f54a3-167e-447d-9b79-d18a919cd99f

[rayek.elfin]

Your example is not representative for most: typically these type of fixed layout interactive projects feature media-rich layouts. I experience lagging and very poor server performance as well. Even your simplistic document takes about 4-5 seconds to load up on my side (and I have a super fast connection).

I realize I am repeating myself here: take back control over your published project and stop using the Publish Online option. Instead, invest in a plugin like In5, and upload projects to your own web hosting service, rather than depending on a third-party hosting service with Adobe as an unresponsive intermediary. The bureaucracy and behemothian business hierarchy is a perfect recipe for disastrous situations such as this one.

Stop using Publish Online if you have are running business that relies on it. Switch to serving the content via your own hosted solution. Take. Back. Control.

(ps I would not be surprised if Adobe would stop offering the (free) Publish Online option in the upcoming two years. Be forewarned and prepared.)

[Nigey-LTA]

Hi there,
Have loaded In5, checked out thoroughly and no, not anywhere near as good
as Publish Online unfortunately.

[Derek Cross]

What can't you do in in5 that you can do in InDesign Publish Online (apart from Publish Online is "free")?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

But you have that backwards, Derek. Publish Online is $30/m and the tool that's been used for 20 years to build a large collection of legacy docs is the "free" prize in the bottom of the cereal box. 🙂

Here's my wish that Adobe had never launched PO. All it seems to have accomplished is to bring in a community of bitterly complaining users.

—

[Derek Cross]

Please answer the question.

[Nigey-LTA]

Been producing websites since about 1996, so would have covered all that
stuff

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Then, in all good humor, you should be aware of the erratic progress of web-based tools. Between us (I also go back to the mid-90s with web development), how many dozen tools, platforms, language extensions and revolutionary innovations could we list that have quietly disappeared because they overreached or underdelivered?

I empathize with those who jumped on Publish Online as a fantastic way to go from the undisputed king of layout apps right to the web... but can only shake my head at those who are furious because (like many of those dozens) it did not appear as a fully mature, defect-free, limitless option, and for all the usual reasons, it's got performance and implementation glitches.

If you are paying Adobe for PO, you should stop immediately. If, on the other hand, you recognize that PO is another of (dozens of) relatively minor add-ons, trials, support tools, niche apps among the muscular set of main tools... I'd suggest patience while PO seeks its InDesign CS3 moment of becoming a full-fledged version of itself, and not use it as the anchor of any critical business needs. There are other options, many of them (dozens?); if you are using PO because it's "free" then complaining because you're not getting what you're paying for is something of a contradiction.

But mostly, ranting at the folks here who are all on volunteer/outside time to try and help the community in ways that tech and product support really can't, is probably not a productive effort. Which, after 25 years, you should know.

—

[Nigey-LTA]

Have to say I think the word ‘ranting’ is rude. What actually is your
beef? Think my error has been using this service, rather than user voice.
But, are you a paid employee - no you’re not. You’ve been given a badge
haven’t you?
If you can’t see my point, then that’s your problem. I’m paying for a
service which is Publish Online - not Indesign, which incidentally I’ve
been using since version 1.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Okay. Well, I'm done here. Hope things work out for you.

—

[Derek Cross]

Are you flouncing off James!

[Manan Joshi]

Folks, I think we are missing the forest from the trees. This problem has been reported a number of times in the last couple of days. So this can't be attributed to something the users of the feature did, because whatever be their workflow or the complexity of their document it wouldn't have changed overnight to cause problems for them. I list one similiar post where I have pasted link to other posts complaining for the same 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/publish-online-extremely-slow/m-p/13239849#M4952...

A feature not working is a problem, and should be accorded proper attention. This is not an experimental feature, if it's released in a public version it should meet the basic expectations atleast and will also face public scrutiny.

So I would suggest that since many of us have verified the issue as true. We should try and get this attention from the Adobe engineering team. The only option provided by Adobe for this is the uservoice so a post there and then upvoting it would be the first thing that should be done. I hope Rishabh from Adobe on the other thread I listed would also work to bring attention to this issue within Adobe.

-Manan

[StudioFerz]

Thank you @Manan Joshi for pointing out others with the same issue. Hopeful that this can be resolved soon. 🤞@Derek Cross @Rishabh_Tiwari