Redesigning the MailChimp App

blog.mailchimp.com

9 pointsgarno4 comments

We trimmed a lot of code during the pre-design and redesign processes. We hopped on the CSS treadmill and managed to cut about 120kb

CSS is not my main area of competency... but to cut 120kb strikes me as a LOT? I don't think I've ever worked with a CSS file anywhere close to that size (I realize it might not have all been in one file, but still). Am I off-base here?

you'd be surprised. in a larger, complex app that is meant to be quite visually appealing, CSS will get huge.

i mean, i work with an app that isn't nearly as complex as mailchimp, and isn't nearly as well-designed, but the CSS for the app is over 120kb, for sure.

Link to their css file: http://us2.admin.mailchimp.com/release/5.5.1/css/screen.css

Minified. About 215k. Taking a glance, it looks about as clean as it can get, and any more optimization would probably make it much less flexible.

It does appear to have an exorbitant usage of !important, but I won't judge since I don't know any of the ins and outs of what their team has to deal with.

[...] I won't judge since I don't know any of the ins and outs of what their team has to deal with. Great comment, sometimes people forget this when reading/editing other people's code.

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