Sluggishness - Large City Directories Batches - Recommendations
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS:
(a) If you are experiencing sluggish response when indexing a batch from this City Directories Project while indexing in Table Entry Mode (or even Form Entry Mode) try indexing in Row Entry Mode. Per @CoffeyJo Row Entry Mode, unlike Table Entry Mode is not sensitive to the number of Entries that need to be indexed, and provides a stable indexing environment for these large batches.
Some may feel that it's gotta be Table Mode or nothing, maybe because it is easy to spot duplicate Indexed names in Table Mode. But consider that the System deletes adjacent identical Entries, and the rare non-adjacent duplicate isn't going to do great harm anyway - certainly not as much harm as use of Table Mode is inflicting. Also, consider that Row Entry mode is just Table Entry Mode on a diet, so you have the look and feel of a Table, but without the negative consequences.
(b) Modify the Banner warning at the front of each City Directories Batch to reflect this recommendation. This should allow/ encourage more Indexers and Reviewers to stick with rather than abandon these large batches and even the whole Project. A suggested re-wording follows:
Current Wording: In some cases, images with hundreds of names may cause the indexing program to slow down significantly or freeze. If this happens to you, please close your internet browser and open it again. Return to the My Indexing page and return the batch. You may want to try another project.
Suggested Wording (or something like this): In some cases, images with hundreds of names may cause the indexing program to slow down significantly or freeze. If this happens to you, please close your internet browser and open it again. Consider utilizing Row Entry Mode as an alternative to Table Entry Mode. It appears not to suffer from the sluggishness problems that affect Table Entry Mode with large numbers of Entries. If this doesn't help, then return to the My Indexing page and return the batch. You may want to try another project.
The entire conversation that led to these recommendations can be found at the link below. Full credit and kudos to @CoffeyJo who made the case for using Row Entry Mode as a preferred way of handling giant City Directories Batches with minimal frustration and maximum productivity. Please give it a “thumbs up” if you support these recommendations
https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/93847/slow-reviewing#latest