Help! Text disappearing in Chrome

[Jeff Large]

Question:

Over the past week, my site (happymittengames.com) started having issues in Chrome. On about 1 out of every 5-10 refreshes, the text (headers, paragraphs, etc) "disappears" and I have no idea why. I say "disappears" with quotes because you can still click on hyperlinks even though they are visible. 

-I'm using the Startbox theme. 

-The only change that has recently been made was a blog post/ podcast posted Monday. 

-It seems to only happen in Chrome and only on the Home page. 

-Screenshot attached

Any help would be amazing. Thanks. 

-Jeff

[Jarrod Pyper]

Hi Jeff

I tried in chrome from my mac and wasn't able to reproduce the issue. I
didn't count my refreshes but it was over 10.

What OS are you using when you access the site? Are you on the latest
release of Chrome? (I may not be on latest, I don't close the browser much).

When you see it happen, can you inspect any of these links or headers
and see if some CSS is (or is not) being applied to them that could
cause it?

-Jarrod

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[Jeff Large]

Hey Jarrod, 

Chrome Version 33.0.1750.117 m

OS- WIndows 7

When I try to inspect them, the reappear. 

Also, I'm getting confirmation from to other people that the site wouldn't load at all. 

[Jeff Large]

The other user was using 

chrome Version 33.0.1750.117 

Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9.2

He said it wouldn't load at all and then it was dropping text inconsistently. 

On Wednesday, February 26, 2014 11:00:34 AM UTC-5, Jarrod Pyper wrote:

[John Vargo]

I was not able to reproduce the issue on Chrome Mac OS X 10.8.

I did notice your image slider lacks image width and height attributes. Sometimes that can cause problems as the text pops down after the browser figures out how much space to add. I would recommend putting those in.

I'd also recommend validating your HTML as a starting point.

HTH.

--
John Vargo
john....@gmail.com

http://about.me/jevchance

--

[Jeff Large]

Thanks. Is there a site you'd recommend for the validation? I'll fix the slider attributes. 

[Jarrod Pyper]

I second validation.  http://validator.w3.org/

-Jarrod

[Jarrod Pyper]

I checked it on the validator quick since I was there. Nothing major stands out, mostly it's balking at extra tag data for things like open graph.

Another guess is that maybe your host is having some issues if the site is totally unreachable to some.

-Jarrod

On 2/26/14, 11:41 AM, Jeff Large wrote:

[Tim Nolte]

Jeff,

It's interesting that you have posted this issue as I have recently been seeing this same issue with Chrome OS and Chrome in Ubuntu, and I think I've seen it on my work Windows 8.1 machine with the latest Chrome. Are you by any chance hosting on DreamHost?

- Tim

[Jeff Large]

No- bluehost

I haven't been impressed but we're riding out the deal we got. I'm going to contact them when I get out of work today. 

[Steve Colthorp]

Jeff, I too had a first page-load issue in Chrome Version 33.0.1750.117 in OSX Mavericks 10.9.2 (exactly like your client's settings) -- the nav links were "whited-out". Subsequent page refreshes did not show the issue, though, even after clearing cache. So, the first visit was the only defective one for me, in direct contrast to your client's experience with those same settings/versions.
 
I use Startbox child themes on a number of sites as well. Have you tested another Startbox child theme (meaning other than the Child standard) to see if you can replicate the issue? It's possible another child theme may clear up those issues somehow. I noticed (in checking the site in iOS7 on an iPhone 4S) that the site, though loading links properly, is not responsive -- there is a responsive child theme for Startbox called "Brochure"... this might be a good time to consider switching themes if responsive design is at all on your horizons checklist? Potential for 2-birds-1-stone. . .

Also, if you attend tomorrow's WPGR Meetup -- http://www.meetup.com/wpgrandrapids/ -- there's a better chance of connecting with someone in person or a collective effort to resolve the issue.

Best,

Steve C.
3Cstudio

[Tim Nolte]

FYI, I just got a Chrome update on my Android phone and I'm now having the same problem. They must have changed something in the latest Chrome builds that is causing this problem.

[Jeff Large]

Thanks Tim. That's what it's looking like on my end too. 

[Jeff Large]

Steve, 

I was going but it's pushed back until next week. I am interested in making things responsive, want to talk next week or try to connect before that? 

-Jeff

[Jeff Large]

So am I just supposed to wait until the next Chrome update and hope it's fixed or is there something I should be doing to resolve it? 

[Brian Richards]

WPGR was pushed back last week and is happening tonight, in case there is any confusion.

Grace and Peace,
Brian Richards

[Steve Colthorp]

Jeff, come on out -- tonight is the rescheduled event from last week's weather, as Brian mentioned -- the sun is shining, yet the temp will be nearing 0º. :) 
We'll see what the collective can come up with?

S

[Tim Nolte]

Jeff,

I can't make tonight's meeting but I will be very interested if you find any fix. I'm launching my site this weekend so I'm a little concerned. Thanks!

- Tim

[Brian Richards]

So here's the issue that Jeff is experiencing, explained in great detail, along with a fix: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22053010/google-webfonts-are-not-displaying-at-all-chrome-latest-version-mac

The problem is that http://happymittengames.com is using Google Webfonts, and the latest release in chrome intermittently prevents them from rendering correctly. A quick hack to CSS will provide a bandaid until Chrome is updated.

Enjoy!

Grace and Peace,
Brian Richards

[Tim Nolte]

Brian,

Thanks a ton! So glad there is a bandaid for it.

[Brian Richards]

To be clear, this only matters for the use of Google Webfonts, no other fontfaces are affected.

Grace and Peace,
Brian Richards

[Jeff Large]

And 3 hours too late, I get the message it actually was on.... le sigh. 

[Jeff Large]

Perfect- thanks a bunch Brian. I'll get on that tonight!

Sorry I missed you guys. Did you record it by chance? I was really interested in seeing this one. 

[Tim Nolte]

Brian,

This is interesting because I'm seeing the same problem with a couple of custom icomoon fonts as well.

[Brian Richards]

I suspect the problem you're actually seeing is an unrelated bug where inactive tabs in Chrome re-render all text in Times New Roman (which would cause icon fonts to vanish or turn to unicode boxes). The issue has been present since sometime last year, in fact, but has only recently become more widespread. A fix was finally issued in the last few weeks, but it will be another month before it makes it into a release. You can read up about it here: https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=236298

(short version: chrome falls back to a local font cache when a tab goes inactive, and that cache fails and falls back to the lowest common denominator of Times New Roman)

Grace and Peace,
Brian Richards