Fetch random row from MySQL on click - php

Question

I am creating a random quote generator and store the data in a MySQL database.
The code is working but it continues to fetch the same row and not a new random row everytime I click. But if I wait for say 30 seconds and click again, it works as it should. I just want it to work right away on click.
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {
$(".display").click(function() {
$.ajax({ //create an ajax request to load_page.php
type: "GET",
url: "display.php",
dataType: "html", //expect html to be returned
success: function(response){
$("#responsecontainer").html(response);
setTimeout(response, 5);
//alert(response);
}
});
});
});
I suspect the timeout function is not working properly as it takes longer to fetch a new row. I used the order by Rand() to get the random row. My PHP looks like this:
<?php
include("connect.php");
$finds = "SELECT * FROM citater5 ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1";
$result = mysql_query($finds, $con) or trigger_error(mysql_error()." ".$finds);
while($data = mysql_fetch_row($result))
{
echo "<aside class=\"citatout\">";
echo "<div id=\"paradiso\" class=\"text-vertical-center-q\">";
echo utf8_encode("<h1 class=\"animated fadeIn\" align=center>$data[0]</h1>");
echo utf8_encode("<h2 class=\"animated fadeIn\" align=center>$data[1]</h2>");
echo "</div>";
echo "</aside>";
}
?>
Why is a new row not being fetched every time?

Answer 1

Not quite sure if ORDER BY RAND() is working as you want it too.
- I haven't really been working with PHP for a few years, but I would probably try something like this out:
<?php
include("connect.php");
$totalrows = mysql_num_rows(mysql_query("SELECT * FROM citater5"));
$finds = "SELECT * FROM citater5 WHERE id='".rand(1,$totalrows)."'";
$result = mysql_query($finds, $con) or trigger_error(mysql_error()." ".$finds);
$data = mysql_fetch_row($result);
echo "<aside class=\"citatout\">";
echo "<div id=\"paradiso\" class=\"text-vertical-center-q\">";
echo utf8_encode("<h1 class=\"animated fadeIn\" align=center>$data[0]</h1>");
echo utf8_encode("<h2 class=\"animated fadeIn\" align=center>$data[1]</h2>");
echo "</div>";
echo "</aside>";
?>
And - as you're only getting 1 result, theres no need to run it through a while().
Hope this helps a bit.

Answer 2

Like the others said, rand() may not be the best to use, but I don't think it is what is causing your issue. Most likely the result is being cached if it's displaying the same result for a short period of time.
You could try turning the cache off:
$.ajaxSetup({ cache: false });
Or append the URL in the ajax call with a random number or timestamp.