Staff/Student dashboard construction - advice

[pdurber]

Hi

We've used a couple of methods to build links from our dashboards. links from pictures using the text tool and some HTML code widgets, which creates the image using code.

Which is the best method for speed of loading?

I have 2 members of staff arguing about it, there are egos involved, so I'd like to be sure of my ground before I say to use one or the other.

[simon brahan]

"creates the image using code" has me curious. Could you post a link to the site?

[pdurber]

Here you go.

https://portal.fromecollege.org/app/os

As you are Frog Staff I assume that you can get in to edit mode. The 2 "Coded" images/links are the Google Drive and Google Classroom ones. 

[simon brahan]

Thanks for that. I've had a look. Though there's no difference in the way each image is loaded, you may be seeing a difference in speed as some of the images are being loaded from other servers. Images loaded from Frog itself are usually subject to permissions checks as we want to make sure only the people who can view your site can view the images. This check doesn't take long but it's there.

On the other hand, images loaded from other servers may take more time to download to your location. Or less! It's not an exact science.

The HTML widget was originally intended for when you want to achieve something you can't do with other widgets; it's more powerful but is also more difficult for everyone to understand and update. Any speed differences you see will be dwarfed by random changes in your connection speed.

[pdurber]

Yes, this was just a sort of academic exercise done by someone who was trying to understand the HTML widget and how to use it to manipulate text on pages. It was never meant to be a serious alternative to the Text widget.

But it has turned into a bit of a competition between 2 members of staff.