How can I create a “Please Wait, Loading…” animation using jQuery?

Question

I would like to place a \"please wait, loading\" spinning circle animation on my site. How should I accomplish this using jQuery?

Answer 1

As far as the actual loading image, check out this site for a bunch of options.

As far as displaying a DIV with this image when a request begins, you have a few choices:

A) Manually show and hide the image:

$('#form').submit(function() {
    $('#wait').show();
    $.post('/whatever.php', function() {
        $('#wait').hide();
    });
    return false;
});

B) Use ajaxStart and ajaxComplete:

$('#wait').ajaxStart(function() {
    $(this).show();
}).ajaxComplete(function() {
    $(this).hide();
});

Using this the element will show/hide for any request. Could be good or bad, depending on the need.

C) Use individual callbacks for a particular request:

$('#form').submit(function() {
    $.ajax({
        url: '/whatever.php',
        beforeSend: function() { $('#wait').show(); },
        complete: function() { $('#wait').hide(); }
    });
    return false;
});