Site continually crashing and reloading

I’ve switched browser to chrome as suggested instead of safari. It’s a little better but it still freezes and jumps to the wrong bit mid scrolling/ reading. Frustrating.
I’ll use go to next comment for op but that only works 3/4 times then takes me back to the top.

I’ve been on this thread a few times. But i was reading today. It refreshed and it also froze.

When i looked through there are several long adverts : some moving. Adverts in the guise of mumsnet posts sometimes after just 2/3 actual posts then guess what…. another long advert that’s blank cos it can’t load. It’s utterly ridiculous and makes the site unreadable and unusable because it refreshes and takes you to the top and you lose your place.

But as long as the revenue is coming in…

Today at MNHQ

When I clicked on my notifications yesterday it would take dial up waiting times to get to the posts. Today I've had a mixture of the same and immediate, there doesn't appear to be a pattern.

If I refresh a page it doesn't automatically land at my last bookmarked post, just goes to the top of the page.

When I click on a notification about a post I've made, it does a similar thing: doesn't go to the post itself, just to the top of the page.

Has only started doing this today. I'm using Chrome on Android, haven't had this problem before and it's irritating.

Anyone else?

Mines freezing rather than returning to the last post I read. It's also moving as slow as molasses. I wonder if it is the heat affecting the servers.

I've had days of pages freezing half way through and having to close everything down again but a new problem today as I'm getting notifications but when I click to read the update it goes to the last page of the thread and then takes about 4-5 mins to actually move to the latest posts.

It is reminding me of the online version of our local newspaper which as become impossible to use because the stories are either very slow to load or paras jumping around as numerous ads load up.

I agree that it seems getting maximum advertising revenue is far more important than getting this sorted out.

Eventually those paying for their advertising will realise that fewer people are using the site because it's so unpleasant, for whatever reason, and go elsewhere. A bit of forward thinking wouldn't go amiss.

This issue is making the site completely unusable. I have tried all the ‘hacks’ suggested and nothing helps. I agree that it seems getting maximum advertising revenue is far more important than getting this sorted out.

Agree. The site is virtually unusable at this point. Every page I have to do a hard shut down and reopen to get it to load

Yeah mines doing bit even in the ‘i’m on screen’ this morning. Let’s face it they’ve had plenty time to address it and nothing has happened. The revenue from the ads that slow the site seem more important than the users these days.

Having this a lot today on safari and Orion on iPad. Downloaded duck duck go thanks to this thread and it’s much better.

It's still not working on my iPad so still just using the iMac as it only works on that, it makes my iPad hot and drains the battery and crashes Safari so no other page loads, this has been months now.

Any updates @BeckyAMumsnet its still ongoing reloads every time you try & click onto pages/see all feature or when you try & click onto a new thread it’s not improved in any way if any thing it’s gets worse.

Yup. Bloody painful trying to navigate anywhere. And also still draining my battery.

Anyone else have the latest feature of this ongoing never ending farce, now when you try & ‘click’ onto the next page of a thread it reloads & takes you back to the page you’ve read takes a couple of attempts before you can get to the next page, also happens when you try & open a new thread brings you back a couple of times to the thread you have tried to exit.

DuckDuckGo is so much better. At least I can read and post.

I tried duck duck I'm on it now, still clunky taking ages to load. But it's stopped jumping around.

This. I try it on Safari every few months, find it still unusable and go back to DDG. I would tolerate a few ads but I literally can’t use it on Safari because of them.

Wish I knew where else to go! MN is such a good resource honestly I am so sad that it’s being left to run so badly.
i post so much less because of the reloads meaning I have ti find my place again repeatedly just to read a page and respond to it. It’s a false economy to keep user experience this clunky because users provide the content and the views.
It also alters the mix of who posts- the responders who typically read first before posting, are forced to engage much less. The posters who just fire off stuff regardless of what anyone else is saying are fine with this, but you need a mix of all posters. Otherwise it’s just people shouting into the void in parallel and not a community.

So if selling where will users go, I only know MN!

I also have found the lack of fix and studious lack of communication about it unnerving. Your points are intriguing.

I had wondered if it was a case of not wanting to invest pre sell-off, and also being hell-bent on creaming off as much ad revenue as possible regardless of the obvious downsides in terms of causing the site to be so unstable for users.

That's what happened to our local marina an investment company before cutting it off cut everything to the bone. Result lots of empty berths this season and the new owners another investment company are handing out reduncies. It's a downward spiral.

I find it unnerving this lack of fix and lack of communication about actions taken toward fix from HQ. These are major site issues. If these are not addressed what other vulnerabilities are not being addressed? What’s the bigger picture about the vision for the site?

I’m really disappointed in general about the sale or sale to fund expansion or whatever it is (what is it exactly?). MN supports vulnerable people as well as confident well resourced ones and I think it’s a huge shame that the founders are risking the platform by selling it off in whatever form to people who aren’t motivated towards MN by wanting to support women, but by making money. Not least because we the public (mostly women) provide the content for free.

This thread has been running for months now. I don’t understand the inertia. I wondered if there could be any link to the reported future sale of stakes in the company (who presumably in future could push to sell outright?)

I asked an AI why a company might slow down or stop its tech investment before a sale. I’m not asserting that this is what is happening here, I couldn’t possibly know.

AI suggests the following can happen, so hopefully none of these apply:

‘1. They’re minimising investment before exiting
If owners know they’re selling, they may stop putting money into upgrades, refactoring, or new systems because they won’t be around long enough to see the return. Tech investment often pays off over years, not months.
2. Short-term profit looks better than long-term health
By cutting back on development, maintenance, or infrastructure, they can boost short-term profitability (or at least reduce costs). That can make financials look cleaner to a buyer—even if the underlying tech is quietly deteriorating.
3. They expect the buyer to replace or integrate it anyway
If the likely buyer is a larger company, they may assume the existing technology stack will be scrapped or absorbed into the buyer’s systems. In that case, investing in it beforehand can feel pointless.
4. Resource drain and focus shift
Preparing a company for sale (legal work, financial audits, negotiations) consumes a lot of management attention. Tech upkeep can slip simply because leadership focus has moved elsewhere.
5. Lack of capability or fatigue
Sometimes it’s less strategic and more human—key technical staff may have left, hiring may be frozen, or leadership just doesn’t have the energy to keep pushing improvements if they’re planning to exit.
6. More concerning: trying to extract value before selling
In worse cases, owners might knowingly underinvest while continuing to draw out profits, leaving the buyer with “technical debt.” That’s not unusual in lower-quality deals, and good buyers will usually discount the price once they spot it.

The important nuance: this can backfire. Serious buyers will assess:

• technical debt
• scalability risks
• security issues
• maintenance backlog

Apologies, but am going to “report” your post - the only reason being is that it’s the latest one and it’s the quickest way to flag with HQ. Just to clarify, nothing wrong with your post.