[The Geek]

Originally Posted by hockyfan

No, that's what I had thought, memobug's post led me to believe otherwise, but no worries.

So is there any reason though I keep getting one thread many times, while other ones I have yet to see at all?


h

I think that it is one of those random things. Unless there is some nuance with mySQL's rand() function that I am not aware of, then its simply down to the luck of the draw and maybe one of your articles are simply getting a bit more lucky than others. I have refreshed your home page several times and occasionally I will get one I have already seen, but that is typical of something being random.
The other choice is to keep a cache of the 'last shown feature' and then incriment to the next. In other words, instead of random you would get a cycled. The random factor then would be the person loading the page. They could still see the same ad - it just depends on how many people viewed since they were last on.
It would also require an extra select and an extra update (essentially 2 more queries to do) - hmmmm - I wonder though... I wonder if I could do something with a cookie that may mix it up a little.

Ill have to give it some thought. If anyone has any ideas - feel free