Views Slideshow vs list View+jquery cycle lite? The rotating images on my work site's home page are created as a View in list format. I'm using the jQuery Cycle Lite plugin for the rotator effect. The cycle.lite.js file is set in the scripts array in my theme's .info file, and there's a bit of code in page.tpl.php to check whether this is the homepage, and if so, set up the rotator.

Now I'm working on a second rotator for another section, and I've been trying out the Views Slideshow module.

What are the pros &amp; cons of each approach (theme vs module), especially from a server load or page weight point of view?
I personally try to avoid using any Views jQuery modules for popular jQuery plugins and prefer just to add the jQuery plugin directly to my theme by adding the .js file to my theme.info file. I will then create another .js file that runs on load that instantiates the jQuery plugin.

I use Semantic Views module which allows you to tune the output of the view to your liking. I will use this module to output the markup in a compatible format for use with the jQuery plugin.

I find that if you use a Views plugin module for something like jQuery Cycle or jCarousel for example, you are limited by the options exposed by that plugin. I prefer not to rely on a 3rd party module which may not support the latest changes or all the features of that latest jQuery plugin.

I would expect there would be a very minimal overhead using if any at all using a Views plugin instead of using the jQuery plugin natively.