how to encode cookie data

Question

I'm setting a cookie with some query string values for a page I've built, so that when you revisit the page you will have option set for you.

So if the URL is http://mysite.com/index.php?setting1=blue&orientation=horizontal&background=paper the cookie will store the setting1=blue, orientation=horizontal, and background=paper values to be read back on the next visit.

It seems like most people advise json encoding these values prior to storing in the cookie. However, I'm getting way bigger cookie sizes (like 4-5x bigger!) when json encoding vs. just saving these values in a standard query string format and parsing them later.

Any best practice for this situation?

Answer 1

Query string format is fine, if it's easy for you to parse them back.