Performance optimization Practical
The N+1 problem: get_post_meta in a loop, and priming
WP_Query primes caches for its own results only. A hand-built list of IDs gets none of that for free — and that difference decides your query count.
Technote
Performance optimization
Caching, Redis, Core Web Vitals, image optimisation and query tuning — everything that makes WordPress fast, grounded in measurements rather than folklore.
44 articles· Performance optimization
Performance optimization Practical
When field and lab data disagree, which do you believe?
Lab data is one reproducible run under controlled conditions; field data is the distribution of what real customers experienced. When they disagree, they are answering different questions.
Performance optimization Intro
Reading a query profile: slow versus duplicated
They sit side by side in the same panel but they are not the same problem. One needs the query rewritten; the other disappears with a cache. Telling…
Performance optimization Practical
The first-screen image deserves special treatment
How fast a page feels is when the largest element on the first screen finishes drawing. Lazy-load the hero and you have delayed that moment yourself.
Performance optimization Practical
What you can animate for free, and what costs a frame
A frame is a very short budget. Only transform and opacity move without layout work; everything else charges you on every single frame.
Performance optimization Intro
The Lighthouse score is a summary; the work is in the items
The score is several metrics weighted into one number. What you can act on is the list underneath it — and that list, not the number, is what…
Performance optimization Advanced
Why the page jumps when your font arrives
When a late web font swaps in, the line count changes and everything below moves. Match the fallback family's metrics to the web font and the shift disappears.
Performance optimization Intro
Measure before you fix: the first thirty minutes
Optimising by intuition usually improves something. The trouble is that it was rarely the bottleneck. Start by splitting the request into segments and getting numbers.
Performance optimization Intro
The three routes from speed to revenue
"A second of delay costs this much conversion" is a number from somebody else's site. Once you know the three routes from speed to money, you can measure…
Performance optimization Advanced
Auditing a theme: what it loads versus what it uses
Themes routinely ship assets for features you never use. Once you have the list, what can safely go and what cannot becomes obvious.
Performance optimization Practical
The hidden cost of an embedded video
The player loads whether or not anyone presses play. A poster-first approach charges that cost only to the people who actually click.
Performance optimization Advanced
Metric overrides: stopping the jump when the font lands
Text jumps when a webfont lands not because it was late, but because the fallback had different widths and heights. Match the two and the swap leaves the…