Dynamic Pagination

Dynamic pagination can dramatically improve the load time of large section pages. Typically, a page that loads slowly does so because of the total size of the images (thumbnails) and HTML code on the page. Usually, the total size of the images (thumbnails) outweighs the size of the HTML code (text) by a large margin. With dynamic pagination, the thumbnails for a particular page are downloaded only. The other images are downloaded only on an as-needed basis (when you click "Next Page" for example.)

With dynamic pagination, pages practically always load faster than without pagination. For those of you interested, below is a little math comparing the page size of a dynamically paginated page versus a static, standard section page:

im = average thumbnail image size
ps = page size (number of items per dynamic page)
n  = number of items on the section page
js = JavaScript code required per item
oh = overhead (JavaScript code library for pagination)
ht = html code per item

n(im + ht)

<=

ps(im + ht + js) + (n - ps)(ht + js) + oh

n

<=

ps * im + oh
------------
  im - js