textWidth.js

/**
 * textWidth
 * Get the pixel width of a string before rendering it in the DOM, requires jQuery global
 * 
 * @param {string} - The text string you want the pixel width of
 * @param {string} - Any classes that need to be taken into account when calculating
 * 
 * @return {integer} - The width in pixels of the text string
 */
var textWidth = function (string, classes) {
    var width, $elem = $('<span></span>');

    $elem.addClass(classes);
    $elem.attr("style", "position: absolute;top: -999px;left: -999px;");
    $elem.text(string);

    $('body').append($elem);

    width = $elem.width();

    $elem.remove();

    return width;
}