The Problem:
Currently, Scratch does not have a built-in feature to set animated GIFs as project thumbnails. Because of this, creators who want dynamic, eye-catching covers for their projects have to rely on third-party browser extensions, bookmarklets, or external scripts.

Why current workarounds aren't fair:
Relying on external tools creates a huge disadvantage for a big part of the Scratch community:

• School devices: Thousands of Scratchers use school-managed pads or macs where installing browser extensions or running custom scripts is completely blocked.
  
• Mobile and tablet users: Users creating projects on mobile devices or tablets have no way to use these workarounds at all.
  
• Safety concerns: New or younger Scratchers shouldn't be encouraged to look for third-party scripts or extensions just to customize how their projects look on their profile.
  

My Suggestion:
Scratch should add a native, official way to set an animated thumbnail (such as uploading a short GIF or selecting a short loop from the project's stage) directly inside the project editor or project page.

Benefits:

• Equal opportunities for everyone: School device and tablet users will finally be able to make animated thumbnails just like PC users with extensions.
  
• More creativity: Artists, animators, and game developers can give a brief, exciting preview of their projects right from their profile or studios.
  
• Safer experience: Keeps everything inside Scratch without needing external tools.
  

What about lag, moderation, and NFE?

• To prevent lag or flashing images, Scratch could limit native GIF thumbnails to a few seconds (for example, 2–3 seconds) and low file sizes, and keep the existing rule of marking flashing animated thumbnails as NFE (Not For Everyone) so they don't appear on the front page.
  
• Users could also have an accessibility toggle in Account Settings to pause animated thumbnails if they prefer static images.
  

Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts below.

Heyyy can u support plz?

chae_crys17 wrote:

Heyyy can u support plz?

I do think we should have an easier way to have gif thumbnails, though you should probably use the existing topic i listed

AdaVesta_ wrote:

chae_crys17 wrote:

Heyyy can u support plz?

I do think we should have an easier way to have gif thumbnails, though you should probably use the existing topic i listed

i actually think that this explains more abt it >< !!

AdaVesta_ wrote:

a similar suggestion

This does appear to be a dupe, but the earlier topic only (had) two posts and this one goes more in depth

knowitall1237 wrote:

AdaVesta_ wrote:

a similar suggestion

This does appear to be a dupe, but the earlier topic only (had) two posts and this one goes more in depth

ik

knowitall1237 wrote:

AdaVesta_ wrote:

a similar suggestion

This does appear to be a dupe, but the earlier topic only (had) two posts and this one goes more in depth

thank you! i really tried to explain why this is so important for school devices and mobile users who cant use extensions. hopefully more people can share their thoughts here!

this is ai, isn't it?

Spooky_Lukey wrote:

this is ai, isn't it?

Wait, this is AI? I didn't even realize
I guess it's because it had no em dashes—those are almost always in AI generated text

knowitall1237 wrote:

Spooky_Lukey wrote:

this is ai, isn't it?

Wait, this is AI? I didn't even realize
I guess it's because it had no em dashes—those are almost always in AI generated text

I haven't tested it for AI yet but judging by this person's track record already I'm guessing this is AI or AI polished

why use le chat j'ai pété when you have a brain

also I don't care whether it gets added

knowitall1237 wrote:

Spooky_Lukey wrote:

this is ai, isn't it?

Wait, this is AI? I didn't even realize
I guess it's because it had no em dashes—those are almost always in AI generated text

its no ai i spended like a full hour making this plz dont say its ai if it isnt

69% AI the detector says. But I support for reasons provided

scratchy_boy106 wrote:

69% AI the detector says. But I support for reasons provided

why do u even say its ai without even asking the person that spended an hour writing it like bro calm down plz i only wanted it to look good and you say its ai, right? now everything i say its ai, right? well, no. imma real person that writed it and ur ai detector get wrong bc i writed it, srry if im rude and srry abt that but plz dont say its ai without even asking

I get the concern and the part surrounding the summarized text by ai to make your writing a little easier to understand, and I usually don’t like some use cases of Ai being used for some things and this might sound crazy, but I feel like that we should step back on that for a moment and think about what the OP wants for the suggestion, the OP has a right to use it if they want to or if they choose to, even if it’s text summarized and generated by Ai.

This is not a way for me to go in depth about Ai or why it’s bad, but it’s starting to make the op a little uncomfortable, I’d assume.

Getting back to the suggestion now… I like that we can suggest something like this. I always wondered why there hasn’t been or why there wasn’t an option to do this before, animated thumbnails are actually pretty cool and fluent in terms of design choice and aesthetic purposes!

And I don’t see animated thumbnails taking up server storage or space on the website, unless there is cache involved, but that’s always something images carry online. Of course, that can be fixed with a cache refresh/reset.

And there doesn’t seem to be any or huge downsides to implementing this suggestion, so I definitely think that this would help people who don’t have a way to do this at school or in places where third-party extensions and scripts aren’t allowed to be used on computers. The workaround provide a solid solution, but they aren’t enough if you wish to do this every time you upload a project on the main website.