sIFR, ever used it?

[Boss Hog]

Great explanation Pete, thanks for taking the time :icon_thumbup:

[Pete]

No worries, got in early this morning.

[Helen]

Wow, thanks....will have a good look at that tonight when I have more time :)

[IS-James]

I've used sIFR on quite a few sites and it can make a big difference to the look, as well as being a great way to convince designers not to try and make images for headings!

One thing to watch out for is overusing it though. Each sIFR replaced element on the page will add time to the page load as the HTML is rewritten and the flash is loaded. It is fine for a couple of headings per page but I wouldn't use it more than 3 or 4 times per page or the page load becomes noticably slower.

As an example I used it on a site, just for headings and subheadings not considering that on the comments pages there could be 20 - 30 sub headings all being replaced at once.

The other thing is, remember to calcualate ratios for your sIFR elements it is an easy step to miss or ignore but if you don't calculate the ratios it tends to make the page shift all over the place as the elements are loaded.