jQuery 1.4 Animation Techniques - Index of

Delaying queue execution
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Chapter 3
As of jQuery 1.4 we can choose to delay the execution of the next function in the queue
using the delay() method. We need to supply the duration as an argument to the method
to tell it how long the delay before the next effect starts should be, and we can optionally
supply the name of the queue to delay as an argument as well. The method is used in
this format:
jQuery(elements).delay(duration, [queue name]);
The duration argument may be supplied as an integer representing the length of the duration
in milliseconds, just like the effect methods we've covered so far, or it may be one of the
strings slow or fast which correspond to the standard values. If no duration is provided,
the queue will not be delayed, and if a string other than slow or fast is provided, the delay
will be the default duration of 400 milliseconds.
The queue does not need to be directly manipulated in order to set a delay. All we need
to do is chain the method between our animation methods, so an animation that fades an
element in and out several times that required a delay could be constructed like this:
$("#fader").fadeOut().delay(2000).fadeIn().fadeOut().fadeIn();
Note that the delay() method is only supposed to be used with methods or functions in a
queue, just like the stop() method, and cannot (and is not meant to) replace JavaScript's
setTimeout() function.
Clearing the queue
Plugins
There are several great plugins that make working with both the
setTimeout() and setInterval() native JavaScript functions
quicker and easier. Just search the plugin repository for setTimeout.
As well as viewing the queue and manipulating its contents, we can also remove all of the
functions from it entirely. jQuery provides the clearQueue() method allowing us to easily
clear all functions in the specified element's queue.
Like dequeue(), this is a simple method that takes just a single optional argument:
jQuery(elements).clearQueue([queue name]);
This method is generally used with non-animation-based queues, when using the stop()
method is not possible, and so will not be discussed further.