Performance team meeting summary 8 March 2022

Meeting agenda here and the full chat log is available beginning here on Slack.

Focus group updates

Announcements

@shetheliving

• Initial release is out!
• Database optimization focus area
  • No major changes in the re-vote in the focus areas spreadsheet here
  • We’ll keep focus areas as is for now but of course feel free to work on issues outside of the main areas as you have capacity
• Branding vote
  • Please take a look at the latest concepts here in Performance Lab: Branding #144 and leave a comment to share which one(s) you like best

Images

@adamsilverstein @mikeschroder

GitHub project

• @adamsilverstein: Continuing to focus on Create WebP images on upload #22
  • Immediate priorities for next release are When generating WebPs, ensure full size is generated(-scaled for large images) #174, Allow developers to tweak which image formats should be used #187, and When creating additional mime types use the original image instead of attached image. #204
  • Then will move on to items listed under “Required for subsequent coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. patchpatch A special text file that describes changes to code, by identifying the files and lines which are added, removed, and altered. It may also be referred to as a diff. A patch can be applied to a codebase for testing.(es)” in Create WebP images on upload #22
  • Already working on a proposed core patch and tracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. based upon what’s already in the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party so far; will have that ready for review by next week
  • @codekraft has been making progress on AVIF compression working in browser for future exploration
  • Need help with testing the plugin to date as well as remaining issues on Create WebP images on upload #22
• Several documents ready for review and community feedback:
  • Proposal for Update WordPress core functions to support multiple mime types #155
  • Proposal for Enable element support #21
  • Proposal for Ensure WebP/Image/Optimization plugins can integrate & use existing WebP images #160
• @lu: Why are we only creating WebP versions for JPEGs, not PNGs, too?
  • @adamsilverstein: Lossless compression and transparency are currently not well supported on the server. We need to work on getting libgd to fully support these for WEbP. For now we’re focused on swapping WebP for JPEG where it’s a 1:1 replacement. Imagick supports these better so we could add an enhancementenhancement Enhancements are simple improvements to WordPress, such as the addition of a hook, a new feature, or an improvement to an existing feature. when that is present.
  • @spacedmonkey: Good to know; we should document this somewhere, such as release notes, as there will be more questions like these.
• @spacedmonkey: For #19 Add low quality image placeholders, the XWP team has been discussing and wondering if instead of creating a low-quality version of an image, it might be better to find and store a primary (base) color of the image
  • @adamsilverstein: That sounds interesting, but need to be sure that it actually improves performance. @westonruter did some testing that also questions the benefit here.
  • @flixos90: Potential caveat of LQIP is that it in the end it ends up loading more images, just less immediately
  • @mitogh: For the most part it improves perception rather than performance itself
  • @andronocean: LQIPs work with lazy loading, but need to be careful about intermittent connectivity

Feedback requested

• See documents linked above
• Needs Discussion (10 issues)
• Needs Review (3 issues)
• Needs Dev (3 issues)

Object Cache

@tillkruess @spacedmonkey

GitHub project

• @tillkruess: This PR can be merged: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/pull/206 and working on Create object caching section on optimization docs #163 today. Would like review from @sergey and @spacedmonkey on https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/2368.
• @spacedmonkey: Work continuing on https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/2346 and https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/2318. A member of the XWP team is looking into user query caching and working on a PR here: #2 [Object Cache] – Add query cache to WP_User_Query class.
• @pbearne: Plan to get https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/36905 and https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/36723 ready this week.
  • @adamsilverstein: The earlier we can get these in the release cycle, the longer we get to test them and catch edge cases
• @spacedmonkey: Planning to get https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/49412 into core tomorrow to help with slowdowns related to offloading assets

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (2 issues)
• Needs Review (4 issues)

Site Health

N/A

GitHub project

• We’re seeking 1-2 POCs for this group; if you’re interested, please comment here or pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” in SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.
• @furi3r: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/pull/124 has been pending for awhile and can be merged

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (4 issues)
• Needs Review (1 issue)

Measurement

@wp-source @josephscott

GitHub project

• @joegrainger: Open to more feedback on this proposal for Define a list of metrics that we need to measure #63 and Tools to collect performance metrics #64

Feedback requested

• Measurement overview doc
• Capturing front-end performance metrics in WordPress doc (for #s 63/64)
• Needs Discussion (5 issues)
• Needs Review (1 issue)

JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/.

@aristath @sergiomdgomes

GitHub project

• No updates

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (3 issues)
• Needs Review (1 issue)

Infrastructure

@flixos90

GitHub project

• @flixos90: A few small tweaks to make to our release workflows based upon discoveries during yesterday’s release. #213 Prepare 1.0.0-beta.2 release is the issue for the next release.
• @mitogh: Added two new issues as part of yesterday’s release: #217 Introduce `.gitattributes` in favor of `.distignore` and #216 Update Workflow to deploy to WordPress.org
• @kirtan95: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/pull/177 ready to merge
• @gagan0123: Added two issues related to default settings: #219 Default settings not working with WP-CLI and #218 Default settings not working as expected in multisite; @flixos90 will review today
• @justinahinon: Plan to go through documentation issues and add details this week

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (3 issues)
• Needs Review (1 issue)

Open Floor

• @mitogh: Flagging #209 Consider auto-deleting head branches after PRs are merged if folks have opinions about the approach
  • @flixos90: Makes sense after we’ve protected the branches that shouldn’t get deleted (trunk and release/*
• @josklever: Had an issue where some images couldn’t be loaded on my WP dashboard and it was caused by a widgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. that was disabled in the screen options. It appears that all the widgets are loaded even if disabled. Would this be a performance improvement? Or is there a good reason to load resources for disabled widgets?
  • @adamsilverstein: Sounds like a core bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority., but don’t see a Trac ticket for it
• @lu: Are we considering converting animated GIFs to MP4, similar to https://github.com/GoogleForCreators/web-stories-wp/issues/7232? Recently had to do this as the animated GIF size was huge compared to compressed/optimized video.
  • @spacedmonkey: Agreed that there are massive performance and file size wins there, but in Web Stories we converted GIF to MP4 using JSJS JavaScript, a web scripting language typically executed in the browser. Often used for advanced user interfaces and behaviors. in browser, which unfortunately won’t work in many WP contexts
  • @adamsilverstein: Could potentially provide a browser-based approach in core if server support is lacking
  • @andronocean: Would be concerned about server resource usage with larger GIFs or budget hosts
  • @gagan0123: If sever support is lacking, someone will have to do it manually rather than by CLICLI Command Line Interface. Terminal (Bash) in Mac, Command Prompt in Windows, or WP-CLI for WordPress. or cron job
  • @spacedmonkey: We used an ffmpeg library which requires array buffering, which isn’t available in older browsers and requires isolation of the page, meaning that images and scripts could not be hotlinked
  • @swisspidy: It’s doable, but there could be conflicts
• @westonruter: Opened #220 Add Site Health test for full page caching (advanced cache)

Help wanted

• All issues labeled Needs Discussion
• All issues labeled Needs Decision
• All issues labeled Needs Dev
• All issues labeled Needs Review
• All issues labeled Needs Testing

#core-js, #core-media, #performance, #performance-chat, #summary