I've had a quick look through this forum but couldn't see what I wanted so excuse me if it has already been said. But......... Would it be possible that whilst considering a score for a photo and writing a comment that the next photo could be preloading in the background to make the page transition quicker?
Once I have voted it's a tiny bit odd to have to wait for the next image to arrive even though I have broadband. It must be worse for those still on dial up. So why not use the thinking time to give the impression of a smoother flow?
I've had a quick look through this forum but couldn't see what I wanted so excuse me if it has already been said. But......... Would it be possible that whilst considering a score for a photo and writing a comment that the next photo could be preloading in the background to make the page transition quicker?
Once I have voted it's a tiny bit odd to have to wait for the next image to arrive even though I have broadband. It must be worse for those still on dial up. So why not use the thinking time to give the impression of a smoother flow?
You'll be glad to know that this has been discussed amongst SC; we recognize that dialup users would benefit greatly from this. I believe that this does require a fair amount of coding, so likely will have to wait until after the DPC Prints update.
First solutions that spring to mind is either the shot in a 1px by 1px iframe, or just the image rescaled to 1px by 1px, hidden somewhere on the page..
I've had problems with that... cause it'll start to go back to ones you already voted for in the other window :-/
That isn't because of the multiple windows. That's just the "random" voting which doesn't seem to be random. The next time you vote stick with one window and skip photos. You'll find they pop back up much more frequently too.
First solutions that spring to mind is either the shot in a 1px by 1px iframe, or just the image rescaled to 1px by 1px, hidden somewhere on the page..
The problem with that is the photo order would be fixed, it wouldn't be random. A person would always view photo x and then photo y.
I think the solution would involve having php query the database, create an array of unvoted on images, pick one randomly, and then use javascript to preload with a random value inserted via php. Then after voting you have the browser check for the cached image if it's there, fine, if not download it.
However, the whole thing is browser dependant. It all depends on how the browser's own cache settings are controlled (if the user changed them for example). It may work for some but not others. It would also involve more processing. I'm not sure if that is something the administrators are concerned with or not.
I am just starting to learn to use asp for database programming so I am no expert on how to achieve the idea of preloading but to my laymans eyes I see another image loading as soon as I click on my vote. Surely the 'random' process that sends that next image could be triggered earlier. Unless of course it is dependent on the score given to the current image in which case it surely can't be random.
Getting a bit off thread here so thats my last comment on this. I just hope it can be done, but if not a few years from now I'll have faster broadband and it'll matter not a jot.
