

Forget tacky loading spinners, just use a wait cursor - ptbello
http://bricss.net/post/17941857127/forget-loading-spinners-use-a-wait-cursor

======
micheljansen
Nice idea, but I disagree that this should make us "Forget tacky loading
spinners". Loading spinners are a big step forward from wait cursors in that
they:

\- Can be used to show _what_ is loading, especially if you use AJAX to update
only part of the screen/content, rather than indicate a global loading state.

\- Work on devices that do not have a cursor. Touch anyone?

\- Don't make you feel like you are running Windows 3.1

\- Don't make you fear your browser/system has frozen.

~~~
tommoor
You've said everything I wanted to.

------
michaels0620
One issue I have with this is that due to the commonality of spinners, I
associate the wait cursor with waiting on the browser (memory issue, temporary
CPU spike, large js script running) rather than an waiting on the results of
an ajax request.

For me at least, using this technique would probably cause me to perceive the
site as being slower or more resource intensive than it truly is.

------
apricot13
I just clicked on your demo and my brain instantly though, oh crap my browsers
crashed again. Even though I knew it was going to change the cursor to a wait
button.

------
enapupe
Did this (using jquery):

var loadingLayer = { step: 0, add: function(){ this.step += 1; //didn't know
how to call checkState() automatically after any other call this.checkState();
}, remove: function(){ this.step -= 1; this.step < 0 && (this.step=0);
this.checkState(); }, clear: function(){ this.step = 0; this.checkState(); },
checkState: function(){ if (this.step === 0){
$("body").removeClass("loading"); } else { $("body").addClass("loading"); } }
}; $(document).ajaxStart( function(){ loadingLayer.add(); });
$(document).ajaxComplete(function(){ loadingLayer.remove(); });

I know the JS is uggly but i'm not an js expert (it works).

~~~
enapupe
Live demo: <http://jsfiddle.net/NXqe5/>

------
weavejester
I vastly prefer loading spinners over wait cursors.

A wait cursor usually represents some form of synchronous wait to the entire
application. If I get the wait cursor in a native application, there's a good
chance that I'll need to wait for it to finish before I can continue my work
flow.

A loading spinner is often more asynchronous and targeted. If I click the
preview button in GitHub, then only that element is being loaded, and it
doesn't stop or slow down any other part of the UI.

A good UI should be asynchronous; ideally there shouldn't be any operation
that locks or slows down the UI. If an expensive operation is taking place,
place a busy notifier on the affected elements. Having a wait cursor for the
whole application or window seems an anachronism.

------
jeffehobbs
No cursors on mobile. So.

------
startupcto
There's no cursor for mobile devices so whatever you think works only works
for a percentage of users.

------
urbanjunkie
Because browser wait cursors tend to make me instinctively cmd-w or cmd-q

(close tab or close application for you non macheads)

