Why do the puzzles look differently?

21 november 2017
We now use another script for the puzzles on the Dutch website and host them no longer on Jigzone. But within a few hours we got many reactions from people who want to know why or who have problems with the new puzzles. Here we would like to explain why we switched, what the possibilities and limitations are of this script and how you can solve any problems. If you have problems try first to reload the page by pressing Ctrl + F5 (that is, forcing the page to read it again from the internet).

- Dependancy of another website: In itself we were very satisfied with jigzone where we could upload our photos until 2 years ago and they delivered the puzzle script. A disadvantage was that puzzles were not shown if their website was offline. Nowadays it does not happen that often, but in the past it happened now and then.
- Limited number of puzzles: At Jigzone we could only upload a limited number of megabytes per account and in the meantime we had already created about 50, all with other email addresses to offer more puzzles. The space they offered was, however, restricted further and further.
- Not possible to upload new puzzles: Since 2 years no one can upload new photos at Jigzone and they do not respond to questions, there is no contact. This means that we could not post new puzzles while there is a lot of demand for them.
- Not suited for mobile devices: The jigzone puzzles could not be displayed on low-resolution screens, and that kind of devices are being used more and more.
- Search for another script: That was not so easy because we were quite happy with how Jigzone worked, it offered a lot of variety in shapes and number of pieces. Over the past six months, we have tried all sorts of scripts on a test website, and actually we were not really satisfied with anything. In the end we found this script that we could adjust a bit ourselves, but unfortunately I do not know anything about javascript (and I do not understand it at all). We have asked the creator for some adjustments, but unfortunately we did not receive any useful answers. After the last disturbance at Jigzone we realized that we really needed something and we chose to use this script.

- Independant: All photographs of the puzzles and the script are now on our own server so now only when our site is offline you cannot make puzzles. Before our site could be reachable but without puzzles when Jigzone was offline.
- Bigger pictures: At Jigzone we could only use pictures of 400x300 pixels, now we cab make them as big as we want. For larger screens we have chosen for 640 pixels wide, but they could even be larger.
- More puzzles: We can now quickly create a lot of new puzzles, so today more than 150 have been added in half an hour. But we have a lot more work in preparation: now we want to tell a bit more information about the photo with each puzzle.
- More possibilities: We can now take care of the design ourselves. For example, in the upper right corner of the puzzle there is a small picture of the puzzle that you can click on to see a larger version, even while you are puzzling. You also have the option to see only the edge or middle pieces. It would be nice if I understood javascript better, then I could improve even more.
- Extra options: The script can also be set so that pieces are shown rotated. I have now turned it off, but it would be nice if a puzzler could choose that himself. It is also possible to save the times per puzzle. The saving itself is not a problem, but I would like to build a nice system around it where you can also see which puzzles you have already completed in how many pieces and which time, but that is a project in itself.

- Shape of the pieces: Unfortunately, only the classic jigsaw pieces are used, where Jigzone offered a much larger variation. We do not know if we can adjust that in the future but we hope so.
- The clicking sound: There was no clicking noise in this script that indicates whether 2 pieces fit together. Fortunately, I have been able to build it myself (I like it) but now it would be nice if a user can decide to switch it off again. I will see if I can make that work.
- Displaying an iframe: The maker has created the script for a full screen and to fit it on our pages we have to use a so-called iframe, like showing a page within another page. The worst drawbacks I have been able to solve but still there are a few: the pieces above and below can disappear a little bit outside the screen. No matter how high I make the window, the phenomenon continues to occur. I will continue to play around with that.
- Number of piecesWhen you open a puzzle, your screen size determines the standard number of pieces, on a mobile phone you start with 12 pieces. On a large screen you get standard 108 pieces. You can adjust that yourself to 204 pieces (I can make more of it) but initially the selection menu shows 12 pieces, even if you start with 108. The creator of the script has written an adjustment for this, but then a lot of other thinfs wentr wrong so we left it first like it is.

- Layout: We have changed quite a bit on the site including the design. If you visit our website more often, most pages are in the so-called cache memory of your computer and it may be that old styles are still being read. You can easily fix this by pressing Ctrl + F5 in most browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Internet explorer and Edge. If that does not work, you could also empty the browser cache. More info about this on refreshyourcache.com.
- Disable sound: This is not possible yet. I do not understand much of javascript but I will go into it.
- The page is loaded again and again: In the browser Edge the page was refreshing all the time (you get a flickering image), we hope to have solved that now. If you still have it go to a non-puzzle page on our site and press Ctrl + F5 and then open a puzzle again
- Pieces do not appear at all: we are working on this but it seems that you have to empty your cache, see refreshyourcache.com.
- Other problems?: Do you have other problems or suggestions? Please contact us through the contact form.