After clearing a queue, delay() seems to get shorter

Question

I have an image slider and a function that fades one image in, delays for 5 seconds, then fades out.

By clicking a button which is generated via JQuery you can switch directly to a certain image. The current image is to be faded out before. After the selected image is shown, the slideshow is to go on from that point on.

Problem: The delay getting significantly shorter when I click one of the direct access buttons. I don't know why that is happening?

Code:

$(document).ready(function(){
  var index = 0;

  var bilder=[
    ["HA_Promo_1.jpg","(a Link here)"],
    ["HA_Promo_2.jpg","(a Link here)"],
    ["HA_Promo_3.jpg","(a Link here)"],
    ["HA_Promo_4.jpg","(a Link here)"],
    ["HA_Promo_5.jpg","(a Link here)"],
    ["HA_Promo_6.jpg","(a Link here)"]
  ];

  $(bilder).each(function() {
    $("#linkleiste").append("<span class=\"klick\">" + ($(bilder).index(this)+1) + "</span>");
  });

  $(".klick").click(function() {   
    index=$(this).text();  
    $("#promo_slider").clearQueue().fadeOut(500,runIt);
  });

  function runIt() {
    $(".blink").remove();
    if(index==bilder.length) index=0;
    diesbild="<a class=\"blink\" id=\"" + "promo_a" + index + "\" href=\"" + bilder[index][1]+ "\"><img src=\"./images/" + bilder[index][0]+ "\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" /></a>";        
    index++;        
    $("#promo_slider").append(diesbild).fadeIn(500).delay(5000).fadeOut(500, runIt);
  }  
  runIt();
});

Answer 1

I got better results using setTimeout() instead of delay(). Apparently, stop() does not cancel a delay. From the documentation:

The .delay() method is best for delaying between queued jQuery effects. Because it is limited—it doesn't, for example, offer a way to cancel the delay—.delay() is not a replacement for JavaScript's native setTimeout function, which may be more appropriate for certain use cases.

Demonstrative snippet, below:

$(document).ready(function() {
  var index = 0;
  var loopTimer;

  var bilder = [
    ["http://lorempixel.com/200/200/abstract/1/", "(a Link here)"],
    ["http://lorempixel.com/200/200/abstract/2/", "(a Link here)"],
    ["http://lorempixel.com/200/200/abstract/3/", "(a Link here)"],
    ["http://lorempixel.com/200/200/abstract/4/", "(a Link here)"],
    ["http://lorempixel.com/200/200/abstract/5/", "(a Link here)"],
    ["http://lorempixel.com/200/200/abstract/6/", "(a Link here)"]
  ];

  $(bilder).each(function() {
    $("#linkleiste").append("<span class=\"klick\">" + ($(bilder).index(this) + 1) + "</span>");
  });

  $(".klick").click(function() {
    clearTimeout(loopTimer);
    index = $(this).text() - 1;
    runIt();
  });

  function runIt() {
    if (index == bilder.length) index = 0;
    diesbild = "<a class=\"blink\" id=\"" + "promo_a" + index + "\" href=\"" + bilder[index][1] + "\"><img src=\"" + bilder[index][0] + "\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" />" + (index + 1) + "</a>";
    index++;
    $("#promo_slider").fadeOut(500, function() {
      $(this).html(diesbild).fadeIn(500);
      loopTimer = setTimeout(runIt, 5000);
    });
  }
  runIt();
});

.klick {
  margin-left: 20px;
  margin-right: 20px;
}
.klick:hover {
  cursor: pointer;
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.4/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div id="linkleiste"></div>
<div id="promo_slider"><span class="blink"></span></div>

Here's a jFiddle, too.