silvertine

I just spent 3 hours analyzing tons of lightboxes, image galleries, jQuery plugins. Now I'm a bit frustrated.
I don't want a snazzy animation effect.
I don't want a pre-made layout.


This is what I want:

On page load, 12-15 bigger images are preloaded into browser cache.
Div#container contains a default image.
When user clicks a thumbnail link, the corresponding (bigger) preloaded image shows inside #container.


A jQuery solution would be good. Any assistance is mmmmmuch appreciated.

jonnymorris

I'm sure I've seen very simple thumbnail galleries that do exactly what you want, with no animation or such - just a large image that floats over the rest of the page when the thumbnail is clicked (presumably where ever you want it to - e.g. inside a pre-made area). I can't think of a URL for one off the top of my head but if you search javascript repositories for image or photo galleries then you're sure to come across it.

One thing I would be wary of though is pre-loading 15 large images, as this could delay page loading and leave the user waiting at a blank page.

You could check out my nature gallery here: http://www.jonathanmortimer.co.uk/nature/beasties.html
It does not use pre-loading but uses basic javascript to convert a thumbnail click into a larger image display. If you go to the About This Website page you'll find a link to download the stylesheet. My main difficulty with this site was getting the image description to change with the image, which was sorted out with help from the nice peeps on this forum.

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