[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #51739: Randomize Header Images aren't actually random

[WordPress Trac]

#51739: Randomize Header Images aren't actually random
--------------------------+-----------------------------
 Reporter:  richbhanover  |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)  |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal        |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  General       |    Version:
 Severity:  normal        |   Keywords:
  Focuses:                |
--------------------------+-----------------------------
 Using WP 5.5.3, with Twenty Eleven theme. I have uploaded 24 header images
 and selected Customize -> Header -> Randomizing Uploaded Headers.

 The problem: the site displays some of those images, but definitely does
 not give a uniform distribution. Certain images (not always the same ones)
 appear three or four times as frequently as others.

 I decided to check the behavior of 100 refreshes of the page at
 https://randomneuronsfiring.com. Here are the results:

 8 bent branch
 7 house with christmas lights
 6 trail to franklin hill
 6 tennis court fence
 6 second mirrored sunset
 6 mirrored sunset
 6 Holts ledge (little field in center)
 5 sunset with big pine in center
 5 sunset on snowy field
 5 moon mirrored on lake
 5 lone red tree
 4 ice flowers
 4 holts ledge horizon
 4 christmas trees on common
 5 sun shining on frozen pond
 3 orange sky
 3 hoarfrost
 2 lake beach
 2 house from hill
 2 foggy top to post hill
 2 compass hill view
 1 pond from pinnacle
 1 forest glade
 1 foliage on papoose trail

 My observations/questions:

 - The expected result, of course, is that all images appear roughly the
 same number of times: for 100 samples of the 24 images is about four
 occurrences of each. The distribution above doesn't meet that expectation.

 - I observed that the same image frequently appears twice in a row. This
 is undesirable, because the viewer doesn't realize that they will
 (often/usually) be different.

 - The images seem to "get stuck" in small cycles, showing a small set of
 images a couple times in a row before moving on to "other sets" of images.

 - This is hardly a crippling behavior. But it's annoying, and I work on
 the principle, "We promise not to fix it if we don't know it's broke." :-)

 Thanks for listening

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51739>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress publishing platform