best viewable slideshow option?

[mlegg]

What would you consider the most viewable slideshow, not Flash, so that it can be seen on all browsers and devices?

I've played with http://visualslideshow.com/ and the demo seems to work nicely. It costs $69 for unlimited website use, although free is always best

Visual JavaScript SlideShow is a free software that helps you easily generate delicious slideshows with gorgeous transition effects, in a few clicks without writing a single line of code. Just drag&drop your photos into Visual JavaScript SlideShow window, press "Publish" and your own web SlideShow with beautiful effects will open in the browser instantly! No flash, javascript, css, html coding, no image editing, just a few clicks to get your web slideshow ready.

Admin/mod: If this is in the wrong sub forum, please move to correct one.

thanks

[djr33]

What is a "slideshow"? Or, more specifically, what features of a slideshow do you need to be included?

The most compatible slideshow would be a series of pages that have images and links to the next image. But that's probably not what you're looking for.

Explain a bit more and maybe someone will have an idea.

Flash will cause your slideshow to not work on any device that doesn't have Flash, such as the iPhone. But to have interactive content at all you'll need something more than plain HTML. That means you're left with Javascript. Not all devices support Javascript, but the majority do and smart phones (especially the newest ones) tend to have "real" browsers on them. Something like an ebook reader is still behind, though, so if you really want this to work for EVERYONE, even Javascript won't really do it.

The other approach would be to mix everything. Use Flash, and if Flash isn't available, use Javascript. And if neither is available, use plain HTML and links. (You could actually create a "slideshow" using separate pages with images and links and add a meta refresh tag to make the page automatically go to the next image without Javascript at all. It's not very customizable, but it would be cool. I'm not sure how well that works on all devices, but at least it's a third option.)

In short, the most compatible option for a 'real' slideshow will be with Javascript. Generally speaking, they'll all work on most devices. The only exception is if one is badly styled (CSS) so that it doesn't work in some browsers, or if the Javascript is so complicated (or outdated) that it doesn't work in some browsers. But in theory Javascript should work for almost all modern browsers and many mobile devices.

If you need some fancy features, such as fading, that might change things.

Another way to approach this is to use a slideshow that is based on a Javascript library such as jQuery, because that is designed to work across all browsers so it could save you some time.

[mlegg]

I would want the slideshow option, in this case, just to be images only. So when you go to a certain page that said images just swap in slideshow manner.

[djr33]

What are the requirements for customization? Timing options? Do you need any transitions at all?

If you need just the basics, then I'd recommend the simplest script you can find. In fact, you might want to code it yourself. One possible source is to search for a tutorial to make one, since tutorials usually have simple code.

There are three steps:
1. Create a list of images (an array is probably a good option).
2. Create a loop (based on a timer) to change the image every X seconds.
3. To change the image, just change the SRC of the image object.

For any browser that doesn't support that basic level of Javascript, they would see nothing. Secondly, you could even, if you want, create a non-JS backup with a link to another page with the next image. That's about as compatible as you'll find.

Note: that's not going to be fancy, won't include preloading, etc., but it should accomplish what you want and be very compatible. You could always have a better slideshow available for devices that do support it.

Also, make sure all of the images are the same size, or your page will jump around.

[ajfmrf]

http://www.stunicholls.com/gallery/index.html

some are css only

[mlegg]

I am sorry it took so long for me to get back to this. What I would like to do is something like this

http://www.homesandland.com/unbrande...720&height=540

I want the slideshow and want the thumbnails so that someone can skip viewing it all if they desire and just go to certain images.

The slideshow does not have to have that pan effect, it can be as simple and just switching from one image to the next.

[jscheuer1]

I'm pretty sure that Nivo Slider can be adapted to do that:

http://nivo.dev7studios.com/

It's completely free unless you want to use it's Wordpress plugin, which is only for setting it up with Wordpress. You can still use it with Wordpress for free if you set it up yourself. It has a lot of transitions, and all or only a few or only one can be used, it doesn't natively do the panning though.

The reason I think it can be adapted is that it has those bullets, which with a little tinkering could be thumbnails. They each have an active state when their image is showing, which could be the toggle between the larger and smaller thumbnails. There's even an option called controlNavThumbs so I'm sure most of that's already in the script.

Wow Slider does all that too and even has the panning effect (they call it 'kenburns'):

http://wowslider.com/

It's free for non-profits and for personal use and has an Windows and a Mac executable that process the images and writes the javascript code for you according to your preferences in a series of menus.

These type of sliders are a really hot item around the web, so I'm sure there are tons of others. I think I may even have seen a free version of a Wordpress plugin for Nivo somewhere under a the Wow name (no relation to Wow Slider linked to above). I did, just not sure if it was free or how good it is. I looked and the underlying javascript was Nivo the code for which is GNU/GPL. I think the underlying javascript code for the official Wow Slider is open source too, but I haven't gotten any confirmation of that yet.

[mlegg]

I don't need WP plug in. I played with the Wow slider a while ago. I will check out both of those.