Allow uesrs to select the capture method of thumbnails

[samylat-1]

The feature request is related to the problem below
In 29.3 version, creating a dial will retrieve a thumbnail by visiting a webpage (i.e. "Refresh by visiting page"). However, in some particular cases, the created thumbnail does not quite meet expectations — when I use ADblock, the screenshot still has a semi-transparent placeholder for an advertisement.
The above problem can be solved by "Refresh image in background 2". And This is the only option that can avoid changes in page layout caused by Windows scaling.

My solution
Edit Dial > Thumbnail > Auto-generated thumbnail: Add an option to let user choose how the thumbnail is captured. And remember thechoice as a global setting.

(One possible implementation)

Alternatives
None.

Additional context
I'm using ADblock version 5.22.0 for compatibility with manifest v2. And I haven't ruled out the possibility that the problem is caused by an outdated plugin.

[Juraj-Masiar]

Hello,
I realize now, the different reload methods are not documented anywhere.
I've just wrote an article that should explain it:
https://github.com/fastaddons/GroupSpeedDial/wiki/Refresh-image-%E2%80%90-thumbnail-generator

It also mentions how you can globally change change the default method in the Options page / Thumbnails tab.

[samylat-1]

It also mentions how you can globally change change the default method in the Options page / Thumbnails tab.

Oh I didn't notice that😭

[MrInkless]

Hello, I realize now, the different reload methods are not documented anywhere. I've just wrote an article that should explain it: https://github.com/fastaddons/GroupSpeedDial/wiki/Refresh-image-%E2%80%90-thumbnail-generator

It also mentions how you can globally change change the default method in the Options page / Thumbnails tab.

I was actually just looking at this! Thank you for the breakdown on these settings. Would you be able to add what the settings in "Max timeout for page to load:" all do exactly?

I just found out about GroupSpeedDial and have to say I love it, but just trying to understand how thumbnail generation works. I just have a few questions. Let me know if this would be better for it's own topic.

I was running into seeing that my dials didn't update and autoreload didn't work on Youtube. The youtube dial was displaying the platform, but all of the videos were just blank squares. So I clicked on the youtube dial and the page loaded so I opened up a new tab to see if the thumbnail updated. It did not and the squares just remained blank.

I then tried to manually refresh the image with Background 1 or 2, but I was still getting the same issue. "Refresh image by visiting page" worked perfectly, but it requires that to be set as globally for Auto Reload or I have to manually do it.

I figured that it was the iframe issue that is mentioned in the wiki where some websites won't fully load everything and that's why "Refresh image by visiting page" is best for some of those specific sites. Which leads me to the below questions.

• Are thumbnails supposed to update when I visit website?
  • If so, do I need to change any settings? It did not work on the 2 dials I have right now which is Youtube & Gmail.
  • If not, can that be a possibility for the future? I like Auto-Reload, but if I'm visiting a site I'd love for it to just have a more recent snapshot/thumbnail.

[Juraj-Masiar]

* Are thumbnails supposed to update when I visit website?
  
  * If so, do I need to change any settings? It did not work on the 2 dials I have right now which is Youtube & Gmail.
  * If not, can that be a possibility for the future? I like Auto-Reload, but if I'm visiting a site I'd love for it to just have a more recent snapshot/thumbnail.

Hello,
I'm sorry about the huge delay, I'm always busy and tend to push everything non-critical for later...
About your questions:

1. The "Max timeout for page to load:" is used by all reload methods (except the "Cloud reload"), it simply stops waiting for the page and thumbnail is created regardless of the current page state.

2. The YouTube is super complex page now, it has some guards/optimizations and usually won't load unless it's loaded in a focused tab.
   Actually, checking it now, it's even worse, it uses a "service worker" that caches some requests so the page won't load in iframe at all.

3. Thumbnails are not (yet) updated after each visit.
   There is a plan to add that feature. I'll add it once I have a bit more time, there are some urgent tasks I need to do in a near future.