Yes, I am using a cache and CDN on my site so the fast response you got is what most people would get. Still, the Flickr API has been so slow recently that, even though the site re-renders infrequently, it’s still setting off Appdex alerts in New relic. Additionally, when our admins go to the site, logged in to WordPress, they often have to wait several seconds for the page to load since they don’t get the cached version.
I agree that generally Flickr API calls are fast but, for whatever reason, they seem to have been taking 5-10 or more seconds during the last few days.
I was thinking a second cache for the Flickr calls might be useful as it could be set to refresh less frequently than my server cache and not at all for admins when they’re logged in… just an idea though and I didn’t think it all through…
Ah, this JS loading mode is excellent. Since my gallery is further down on the page it might be fine for it to be delayed. I’ve turned it on on our dev site so you can see that it usually takes some time to load, right now at least: https://dev-lfeventsci.pantheonsite.io/kubecon-cloudnativecon-north-america/
The AJAX call doesn’t seem to be getting cached on the server so each time you load the page the gallery takes time. Right now I’m seeing anywhere from 2-9 s to load the gallery via AJAX.
Anyway, thanks for your response and this good option.