# External swfs or one file?
**URL:** https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474
**Category:** flash
**Created:** [July 1, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474 "2003-07-01T06:19:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@turkey](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/turkey)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/1 "2003-07-01T06:19:06Z")
I am having trouble deciding on whether to use external.swfs or just putting my whole site in to one movie… How do I decide? My pages won’t have very large file sizes… Most of the loading time will be from the main movie.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/2 "2003-07-01T06:24:52Z")
Well it depends, if you’re planning on having a lot of content then I suggest using external swfs so that it will cut down the initial loading time and allow the viewers to download only what they click on.
If your site is small something around 200kb then I suggest using just one movie. If it’s more than 200kb, I suggest using more than one movie.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/3 "2003-07-01T06:27:14Z")
Thanks! 🙂 200k? I think I’ll just use one movie.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/4 "2003-07-01T06:39:29Z")
In my case dats not good idea since here in Brasil, 56k users are majority…
And most ppl cant actualy conect at 56k, its more like 40k
☹
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/5 "2003-07-01T06:45:17Z")
haha I guess sushi should reduce it down to 100kb, if it’s bigger than 100 kb than use multiple movies. 😛
Whever I build a site, I always try to keep the main movie below 200kb.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/6 "2003-07-01T06:46:02Z")
and you should also consider how frequently your site is updated. i’d rather edit a small movie than a movie containing the whole site… 😛
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/7 "2003-07-01T06:47:27Z")
Good point Kax, I built a demo site for school once that was contained in one movie and after awhile it looked like a mess with all those layers. 😛
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/8 "2003-07-01T06:54:32Z")
yeah… i know what that’s like. 😛
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 6:56am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/9 "2003-07-01T06:56:50Z")
Thanks for the help, guys! Layers/messiness shouldn’t be a problem because the site will be very simple. Most of the filesize will come from my photography and the movie background… I think I’ll have to use one external.swf for the photography section.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/10 "2003-07-01T07:02:13Z")
no problem, sushis.
hope it turns out ok for you. =)
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/external-swfs-or-one-file/24474/11 "2003-07-01T07:05:55Z")
Sushi, if you open your FLA and your eyes gets crossed then that means that FLA is becoming a mess, start a new one. 😛