Tiny, performant, SEO-friendly lazy loading library
Note
It's 2023 – by now most browsers support native lazy loading with
loading="lazy". If you're looking for a library that combines native lazy loading with blurry placeholder support, I recommend unlazy. It's the spiritual successor of Loadeer.js.unlazy has a smaller footprint and doesn't require an Intersection Observer. I recommend using it instead of Loadeer.js.
If you have used Lozad.js, then you already know how to use Loadeer.js. This library is basically an overhauled and opinionated version of Lozad.js, which includes sizes support, makes usage of data attributes instead of classes and is written in TypeScript.
Loadeer.js is intended to be used with <img>, <picture> and <video> tags. It supports the srcset and sizes attributes, as well as the loading attribute. It is also possible to use the data attributes instead of the native attributes.
- 🍃 Zero dependencies: 1 kB minified & gzipped
- 🏎 Auto initialize: with the
initscript attribute - 🪄 Sizing: Automatically calculates the
sizesattribute - 🎀 Native: Use native
loading="lazy"if you prefer - 🔧 Customizable: Use
dataattributes for image sources - 🎟
<picture>: Supports multiple image formats - 🔍 SEO-friendly: Detects e.g. Google Bot and preloads all images
Loadeer.js can be used without a build step. Simply load it from a CDN:
<script src="https://unpkg.com/loadeer" defer init></script>
<!-- Anywhere on the page -->
<img
data-lazyload
data-srcset="/foo.png 1024w, /foo-2x.png 2048w"
/>
<!-- Or use the picture tag instead -->
<picture>
<source data-lazyload data-srcset="/bar.jpg" media="(min-width: 800px)">
</picture>- The
deferattribute makes the script execute after HTML content is parsed. - The
initattribute tells Loadeer.js to automatically initialize and watch all elements that have adata-lazyloadattribute.
If you don't want the auto initialize, remove the init attribute and move the scripts to end of <body>:
<script src="https://unpkg.com/loadeer"></script>
<script>
const loadeer = new Loadeer()
loadeer.observe()
</script>Or, use the ES module build by installing the loadeer npm package:
import Loadeer from 'loadeer'
const loadeer = new Loadeer()
loadeer.observe()The short CDN URLs are meant for prototyping. For production usage, use a fully resolved CDN URL to avoid resolving and redirect cost:
- Global build: https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/loadeer.iife.js
- Exposes
Loadeerglobal property, supports auto initializing
- Exposes
- ESM build: https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/loadeer.es.js
- Must be used with
<script type="module">
- Must be used with
Add the data-lazyload attribute to an element of your choice which you seek to lazily load. Set a data-src or data-srcset attribute as well.
<!-- You can use the img tag -->
<img data-lazyload data-src="image.png" />
<!-- … or the picture element -->
<picture>
<source data-lazyload data-srcset="/foo.jpg" media="(min-width: 800px)">
</picture>Although Loadeer.js' default selector is data-lazyload, you may configure it to a selector of your choice. See the libraries options for more information.
Finally, instantiate Loadeer.js as follows:
const instance = new Loadeer()
// Lazily loads all `data-lazyload` images
instance.observe()Note
Use with caution. Especially if placeholder images are used, the native lazy loading attribute interferes, since all
data-srcattributes will be converted tosrconce Loadeer.js runs. All placeholder images will be overwritten and if the images are loaded slower than the user scrolls, blank spaces will occur. Thus, Loadeer.js doesn't enable native lazy loading by default.
Browser support for loading="lazy" is decent. At the time writing, only Safari lacks support. If the option useNativeLoading is set to true and Loadeer.js detects the browser supports lazy loading, the loading attribute will be set to lazy and all data-src attributes changed to src. No intersection observer will be initialized.
Use the default selector:
<img data-lazyload data-src="image.png" />Or use the future-proof loading attribute as selector:
<img loading="lazy" data-src="image.png" />Finally, change the default selector parameter for the latter case:
const instance = new Loadeer('img[loading="lazy"]')
instance.observe()Loadeer.js supports setting the sizes attribute automatically, corresponding to the current size of your image – just set the value of data-sizes to auto.
The automatic sizes calculation uses the display width of the image.
<img
data-lazyload
data-srcset="image-480w.jpg 480w, image-800w.jpg 800w"
data-sizes="auto"
/>You may pass an element or array of elements to the constructor as well:
const root = document.querySelector('#app')
const instance = new Loadeer(root)
instance.observe()See the API for all available options.
If you want to load the images before they appear, use the triggerLoad method.
const instance = new Loadeer()
instance.observe()
const coolImage = document.querySelector('.image-to-load-first')
// Trigger the load before the image appears in the viewport
observer.triggerLoad(coolImage)Pass a onLoaded function to either manipulate the loaded element or do anything else with it.
function onLoaded(element) {
console.log('Lazily loaded element:', element)
}
const instance = new Loadeer('[data-lazyload]', {
root: document.querySelector('#app'),
rootMargin: '10px 0px',
threshold: 0.1,
onLoaded,
})
instance.observe()Both the rootMargin and thresholds options are passed to directly to the IntersectionObserver and thus infer their respective types.
Defaults to [data-lazyload]. Allowed types are every valid CSS selector string, an element, an array of elements, or a NodeListOf elements:
type LoadeerElement = HTMLImageElement | HTMLSourceElement | HTMLVideoElement
type LoadeerInput<T extends HTMLElement> =
| string
| T
| T[]
| NodeListOf<T>Note: Every property is optional and will be set to its default value if not provided.
| Option | Default | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
root |
document |
Element, Document, null, undefined |
The container within elements will be lazily loaded. |
rootMargin |
0px |
string, undefined |
See IntersectionObserver rootMargin parameter. |
threshold |
0 |
number, number[], undefined |
See IntersectionObserver threshold parameter. |
onLoaded |
undefined |
(element: HTMLElement) => void, undefined |
Custom function to run after each image is loaded. |
useNativeLoading |
false |
boolean, undefined |
Indicates if the native loading="lazy" attribute should be used (if supported by the browser). |
A fellow Kirby developer (Thomas Günther) using Loadeer.js in a project of his came up with a nice idea to use a blurry placeholder image with a blurred version of the actual image. The code below will create a smooth animation effect for the image placeholders, transitioning from a blurry state to the fully loaded image, using the powerful GSAP library for animations.
👉 Animate blurry-placeholder with Loadeer and GSAP on CodePen
Loadeer.js does not hide elements from Google. The library detects whether the user agent is probably a bot or crawler and will load all images.
- Lozad.js for heavy inspiration.
MIT License © 2021-2023 Johann Schopplich