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new to web design here and I have simple question.

I am creating a rotating header for a website and I have a couple of options. I can use a script that I created that's only 2kb. But the animation from frame to frame is a simple show/hide effect (very boring). Or, I can use one of a couple of plugins that has the exact effect I am looking for, but the file sizes are either 20kb, 25kb or 32kb.

There will be a total of 5 images that I will be rotating with a file size of 40-60kb and the page it's on is going to have a lot of stuff.

I know it's best to keep file sizes as low as possible, making the 2kb script better to use but I was wondering if the difference of 18-33kb is that big a deal?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

skaffman
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kdub
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2 Answers2

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Try it both ways, and measure the performance.

I suspect an extra 30 KB won't make any noticeable difference to anyone not on dial-up, but keep in mind that these things add up over time.

Brennan Vincent
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  • wow very quick answer. I really appreciate it. I was actually in the middle of editing my post (few spelling corrections and reworded) and hit save and poof, I had an answer. – kdub Jun 22 '11 at 21:56
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It depends. How much traffic / hits does your site have? If its a small site with about 1.000 - 10.000 users it does not matter as they will cache the script after their first visit.

If you are concerned for speed on dial-up 30 KB is not much. You should go for the looks.

ayckoster
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