Before the thumbnail update, we were always able to make project thumbnails when we save our projects… What does this update do that we were not able to do from before?

I've read the topic from the announcements. The only thing it does is “capture image of your project when you press it”, thus setting ii as your thumbnail. But you could already do this by hitting save project in the editor. Am I missing something here, or is this just “another option to do a feature that we can already do”?

on the outside, probably nothing. the new feature acts very similar to just saving your project normally. so they're basically implementing this new feature as an attempt to make it more user-friendly.

ScratchCat wrote:

Why are you changing the way project thumbnails are saved?
We’re changing the way Scratch thumbnails are saved to give you more control over how your projects look. It will also make setting thumbnails easier and more accessible to Scratchers just getting started.

I mean, they gave us a thumbnail button out of editor. So, does that mean saving your project inside the editor no longer “sets” your thumbnail? What about projects being loaded on to the site from when using the offline editor? Those would still give the current project thumbnails?

NMario84 wrote:

I mean, they gave us a thumbnail button out of editor. So, does that mean saving your project inside the editor no longer “sets” your thumbnail?

saving your project no longer overrides the current thumbnail, yes

NMario84 wrote:

What about projects being loaded on to the site from when using the offline editor? Those would still give the current project thumbnails?

if you create a new project and import a project file it still keeps the scratch cat thumbnail; you still need to override it manually

LaughabIe wrote:

NMario84 wrote:

I mean, they gave us a thumbnail button out of editor. So, does that mean saving your project inside the editor no longer “sets” your thumbnail?

saving your project no longer overrides the current thumbnail, yes

NMario84 wrote:

What about projects being loaded on to the site from when using the offline editor? Those would still give the current project thumbnails?

if you create a new project and import a project file it still keeps the scratch cat thumbnail; you still need to override it manually

So that means they made a new button that has a feature that EVERYBODY knows about, then they took the feature from saving to make this feature “useful”? This is stupid!

suswhopper123 wrote:

So that means they made a new button that has a feature that EVERYBODY knows about, then they took the feature from saving to make this feature “useful”? This is stupid!

apparently they started working on this feature to reduce server traffic and costs: https://github.com/scratchfoundation/scratch-editor/pull/264 (credit to medians for finding this)
if you think about it, when thousands of people are working on their project at the same time every day, it causes a ton of autosaves that result in a lot of thumbnail updates for the server to keep up

suswhopper123 wrote:

LaughabIe wrote:

NMario84 wrote:

I mean, they gave us a thumbnail button out of editor. So, does that mean saving your project inside the editor no longer “sets” your thumbnail?

saving your project no longer overrides the current thumbnail, yes

NMario84 wrote:

What about projects being loaded on to the site from when using the offline editor? Those would still give the current project thumbnails?

if you create a new project and import a project file it still keeps the scratch cat thumbnail; you still need to override it manually

So that means they made a new button that has a feature that EVERYBODY knows about, then they took the feature from saving to make this feature “useful”? This is stupid!

No, it's not. It has a benefit. Before they added the button, every time I updated my projects, the thumbnail was no longer perfect, and that made me mad. But now when I update my projects, it keeps the thumbnail just the way I want it without ruining it. You will get used to it eventually.

Matikiscool wrote:

suswhopper123 wrote:

LaughabIe wrote:

NMario84 wrote:

I mean, they gave us a thumbnail button out of editor. So, does that mean saving your project inside the editor no longer “sets” your thumbnail?

saving your project no longer overrides the current thumbnail, yes

NMario84 wrote:

What about projects being loaded on to the site from when using the offline editor? Those would still give the current project thumbnails?

if you create a new project and import a project file it still keeps the scratch cat thumbnail; you still need to override it manually

So that means they made a new button that has a feature that EVERYBODY knows about, then they took the feature from saving to make this feature “useful”? This is stupid!

No, it's not. It has a benefit. Before they added the button, every time I updated my projects, the thumbnail was no longer perfect, and that made me mad. But now when I update my projects, it keeps the thumbnail just the way I want it without ruining it. You will get used to it eventually.

I honestly feel the reverse to you, it doesn't really have any benefit if Scratch forces you to use it to get rid of the default thumbnail(scratch cat). Yes people will get used to it soon but to me it's dumbing down the work you had to put into making a thumbnail. Also why do they add this when their Trending page barely works 90% of the time, their report system is extremely flawed and they add this but not fix the main issues. But it's just how I see it, if you see it differently go ahead, I'm not going to force you to change your ways to be my beliefs.

28behler22 wrote:

i had to make this post shorter because lag

I agree with you. Now that I think about it, we aren't really into 3.0 yet, rather “2.5” as multiple websites still have the 2.0 website, cloud variables are easy to hack due to the API and ScratchAttach, and the same problems as you talked about. 3.0 was rushed because Flash was going to end support, which is why it looked like this, which was understandable. But the fact that they made it BLUE, the fact that the horrible image made by ScratchCat that shows a blue page, 0 views, 1 remix, 2 hearts (i think) and 20 stars was announced, the fact that it still has bugs just shows how DESPERATE ST can be when it comes to money. I wonder on what will they spend it, though: more moderators would be nice (it took me 3 whole weeks to get an answer from ST asking why was my project falsely banned, thank god they put it back on) but more coders and designers would be also neat (My Stuff/My Profile/Forums are still in their 2.0 state)

This is honestly a useful feature because before, you had to have the thumbnail sprite available at all times for the thumbnail to be shown every time you save whilst the new thumbnail button allows you to save your thumbnail and keep that thumbnail and delete the thumbnail sprite so you don’t have to have your thumbnail sprite all the time

Edit: I can’t quote because I’m in an edit but @Suswhopper why is the mock-up such a concern? It’s literally a mock-up and as a reminder ST relies on donations and getting mad over hacks that ST has NO CONTROL OVER is something that isn’t their fault and with everything they have going on (preparing for 4.0, working on face sensing, etc) they wouldn’t have much time to fix cloud variables right now. And it costs money to hire people and scratch team is already using that money to run the website so I really don’t get how it would be easy to hire more people when that money is already being used up on the main website. Also the 2.0 pages are fine. I don’t get how they’re a problem (I like them anyways except for the profile one. That one desperately needs an update)

Scratch_Cat_Coder8 wrote:

This is honestly a useful feature because before, you had to have the thumbnail sprite available at all times for the thumbnail to be shown every time you save whilst the new thumbnail button allows you to save your thumbnail and keep that thumbnail and delete the thumbnail sprite so you don’t have to have your thumbnail sprite all the time

Yeah but the only thing that it makes better is probably save some RAM on your projects, around 100-130kb (not as much as i thought)

suswhopper123 wrote:

28behler22 wrote:

i had to make this post shorter because lag

I agree with you. Now that I think about it, we aren't really into 3.0 yet, rather “2.5” as multiple websites still have the 2.0 website, cloud variables are easy to hack due to the API and ScratchAttach, and the same problems as you talked about. 3.0 was rushed because Flash was going to end support, which is why it looked like this, which was understandable. But the fact that they made it BLUE, the fact that the horrible image made by ScratchCat that shows a blue page, 0 views, 1 remix, 2 hearts (i think) and 20 stars was announced, the fact that it still has bugs just shows how DESPERATE ST can be when it comes to money. I wonder on what will they spend it, though: more moderators would be nice (it took me 3 whole weeks to get an answer from ST asking why was my project falsely banned, thank god they put it back on) but more coders and designers would be also neat (My Stuff/My Profile/Forums are still in their 2.0 state)

I have a feeling they blow all their money on useless or unnecessary stuff. I think 3.0 is only for the offline version.

Scratch_Cat_Coder8 wrote:

-snip-

Because they actually had TIME to make it. I could just make a mockup right now and it would still be better! If you want to make a mockup you have to make it realistic. Sure, the 2.0 pages are fine, but a little redesigning would help A TON. I don't get it: why do they blow their money on the “About” section when there really IS better stuff to redesign out there. Also, please call me @suswhopper123 instead of @Suswhopper , my username has been intenionally misspelled so many times I wish I would change it. My username didn't took a bunch of time to make, I just thinked of amogus, the fact that there are like, 5 MCDONALDS in the whole COUNTRY (hence the “whopper” from suswhopper123) and 123 because why not?

Alright thanks for the information.

From what I understand from this conversation:
- Loading/saving a project from an offline project into your Scratch profile here no longer sets the thumbnail image. The new thumbnail button is now required to use.
- This “set thumbnail feature” was to prevent, or to reduce overloading server costs.
- After setting your “new thumbnail”, I assume you are able to delete the said image from inside your project, while the thumbnail image will still remain after saving your project.

Yeah, that all checks out.

I noticed that thumbnails worked the same as they did before with a project uploaded using the “Share to website” feature in the Scratch 2.0 offline editor (at least, my thumbnail saved when I uploaded it to an alt account)
Edit: same with 1.x

Before the update, while yes we could create thumbnails, and most people probably knew how, it didn’t always work. I can’t tell you how many times I and people I know have spent hours fighting with a project, trying to get the correct thumbnail to show up. A lot of times even if a project was saved showing a certain thumbnail, that’s not the one that would show. I’m hoping this feature eliminates that problem.
I’m surprised by how much pushback I keep seeing for this update, ngl. At best it makes things easier, at worst it’s one extra button to click.

Wishingdeer wrote:

Before the update, while yes we could create thumbnails, and most people probably knew how, it didn’t always work. I can’t tell you how many times I and people I know have spent hours fighting with a project, trying to get the correct thumbnail to show up. A lot of times even if a project was saved showing a certain thumbnail, that’s not the one that would show. I’m hoping this feature eliminates that problem.
I’m surprised by how much pushback I keep seeing for this update, ngl. At best it makes things easier, at worst it’s one extra button to click.

I think for the push back, people don't want a button for thumbnails when we want the main issues fixed(The 90% not working Trending page and the flawed report system)

28behler22 wrote:

Wishingdeer wrote:

-snip-
I’m surprised by how much pushback I keep seeing for this update, ngl. At best it makes things easier, at worst it’s one extra button to click.

I think for the push back, people don't want a button for thumbnails when we want the main issues fixed(The 90% not working Trending page and the flawed report system)

I guess I’ve just never completely went with that logic. I get it, but at the same time not getting new features like the thumbnail button isn’t going to make the other issues go away. I’d bet there’s someone working on those at the same time

Wishingdeer wrote:

28behler22 wrote:

Wishingdeer wrote:

-snip-
I’m surprised by how much pushback I keep seeing for this update, ngl. At best it makes things easier, at worst it’s one extra button to click.

I think for the push back, people don't want a button for thumbnails when we want the main issues fixed(The 90% not working Trending page and the flawed report system)

I guess I’ve just never completely went with that logic. I get it, but at the same time not getting new features like the thumbnail button isn’t going to make the other issues go away. I’d bet there’s someone working on those at the same time

I think there are 2 ways they can handle the push back. the first way they could do: They make it where the person making the project can choose it on the settings. The second way they could do: Ignore what some if not most people are saying about how it's worthless and not try to somewhat fix a main issue. I don't care which one as long they try to fix one of the 2 main issues. But if you like it, I'm fine with that, I just don't like it and it would take an while for me to warm up to it.

28behler22 wrote:

Wishingdeer wrote:

28behler22 wrote:

Wishingdeer wrote:

-snip-
I’m surprised by how much pushback I keep seeing for this update, ngl. At best it makes things easier, at worst it’s one extra button to click.

I think for the push back, people don't want a button for thumbnails when we want the main issues fixed(The 90% not working Trending page and the flawed report system)

I guess I’ve just never completely went with that logic. I get it, but at the same time not getting new features like the thumbnail button isn’t going to make the other issues go away. I’d bet there’s someone working on those at the same time

I think there are 2 ways they can handle the push back. the first way they could do: They make it where the person making the project can choose it on the settings. The second way they could do: Ignore what some if not most people are saying about how it's worthless and not try to somewhat fix a main issue. I don't care which one as long they try to fix one of the 2 main issues. But if you like it, I'm fine with that, I just don't like it and it would take a while for me to warm up to it.

Scratch team did it so they could save money on running costs FYI.