Spinning wheel when I try to look at Gallery

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Some memories now have image missing.

DBTodd

Hello. Today is 27 June 2023, and my Memories used to work fine although apparently I too have a very large collection of 1000s due to trying to add probate and land record images. But now it locks up with wheel spinning forever if I try to look at Memories Gallery, or try to open one which I can see already attached to a person. Any new one I add, I can get added, but I cannot open it to say write a description or anything, so I can't reach it. It sounds like we are to wait things out, but its now making me question the wisdom of adding Memories...Images that display are so very helpful!

RobertLeighPritchett

Listening to the FamilySearch Library webinar of this morning (27 June 2023), I learned that tags are limited to 1,000 per account (so be judicious on tagging sources) and there is currently "no limit" to the number of memories that can be added, but the system slows down quite a bit after adding 5,000, so there is that.

DBTodd, have you tried using a different Browser? I found that "certain" browsers do not play nice with FamilySearch Messaging and yet with others, the Messaging system populates nicely. Besides iffy network connections and bandwidth, there may also be caching issues on the computer side that might be compounding the issue. But apparently the FamilySearch engineering team realize a "known problem" on the server side, so....

Oh, oh also! FamilySearch may be looking at the image sources closely to verify they are legally valid for showing on FamilySearch. It may behoove us to go back and add citation data attached to profiles and where the images came from and origin, in case the links "break". Especially if "we" are the originators of those memory items. Just sayin'...

Another item to add to my to-do list, because I also have "lots" of memory items in my account and I "know" I have not added citations or showed where the images originated other than a "link"or a Memory upload. And my photos, oh my! A title is not good enough. I need to add dates and fill in the other metadata items.

Dennis J Yancey

FamilySeach Memories has a PER ALBUM album max of 1,000 items it will display when using albums (though it doesnt stop you from actually adding more to the album - which makes no sense. )

(by default though - album usage is not required and people usually just start out using the general gallery without creating albums) The 1,000 is a per album limit - but there really is no hard specific limit on overall gallery limit - but I know from personal experience - you should be able to get to at least 20,000 or so (total items all together ) without issue

as to the general gallery limit for number of items - - at some point above maybe 25,000 items or so - you will crash your browser due to memory limits. but there are various factors that will differ from one person to the next - it is not a hard fixed number.

Are you using albums? or just letting everything fall into the main gallery and not using albums?

Albums is the way to go if you have any large number of items.

if you do have some very large number of items in your gallery ( above like 10,000) - it can take as long as a minute or so to get them to display - when you select the gallery.

Which is why you should really have your gallery categorized by ALBUMS (folders) with a max of 1,000 per album.

an album with 1,000 items will usually display in a few seconds.

also - there may be some major differences - between responsiveness in computers versus smart devices (phones etc)

the stats that I provided were for a Windows computer with 16GB of RAM using Google Chrome and a Fiber Internet Connection

American Family Historian

Introduction:

Dealing with a slow-loading gallery can be frustrating, especially when it stop loading completely. We are aware of this issue and are working on a permanent fix, but what can you do in the meantime?

There are several solutions to alleviate this issue. One effective approach is organizing your memories into albums. Dennis describes this above, and there are many benefits to using albums, such as the ability to share an entire album with family and friends using just one URL. However, it's still frustrating to add them to albums once your gallery stops loading.

Solution:

I recommend moving a portion of your memories from "My Memories" to "My Archive". This takes them out of the "My Memories" folder allowing it to load again.

I move mine to "My Archive" as soon as I am done adding tags and information, in order to keep my Gallery loading fast. This has no negative effect on my memories. It doesn't change how they appear or who they are attached to. It's simply a large folder that (fortunately) loads separately from my default gallery folder. Thus it significantly improves my gallery's performance by making it only return the Memories I are currently uploading and working with.

Can an Archive get too big?:

At this time, it is possible your archive could get too large and have the same issue with loading. However, I haven't seen it myself. Likely because this is where those albums really come in handy. Albums will allow you to find your Memories, view them, share them, and load them without needing to dig through your Archive, which may get very large and sluggish on its own.

I recommend adding a Memory to album, then moving it to the Archive, in that order.

How do I move memories into the Archive?:

Normally, I drag & drop memories into my archive without a second thought. I understand your gallery isn't loading right now, however, so it may require a little more guidance.

Here's a few ways to do it:

1) Begin by selecting a person from your Tree. Navigate to the Memories you have tagged to that person. Here, you can individually click on the memories and relocate them to "My Archive" using the "Actions" menu.

Once you've moved the memories associated with that person, check your gallery again to see if it loads successfully.

2) Take a look at my gallery, below. Notice that while I have 20 memories in "My Memories," I have successfully stored 986 memories in "My Archive." Yet currently, only one memory is loading because I've utilized the row of icons (highlighted in red) to switch from displaying "All" to only showing "Stories."

By selecting any of the categories—such as All, Photos, Stories, Documents, or Audio—your gallery may load, as it fetches a reduced amount of information. This may be more convenient for you than the previous option, as it allows you to create a "New Album", like one called "Land Records", drag all the land records into the album, then drag them all into "My Archive". If these filters don't help, you might also try searching for keywords like "probate" and seeing if this gets a smaller subset of memories to load for you.

Conclusion:

The album feature facilitates easy retrieval and sharing, while archiving ensures your gallery loads smoothly until a permanent fix is implemented.

Thank you very much for your patience, as we work to redesign how galleries are loaded!

Dennis J Yancey

Personally I don't even directly use the gallery or the archive - though of course I have them.

I just put everything in albums and then go directly to the album - I dont have to wait for the Gallery to display. with everything in albums - I find no real use for the gallery or the archive. and the delay in displaying the gallery doesnt impact me.

throwing thousands of records into one folder (the archive) - makes no sense to me

I like to have things grouped into categories (albums).