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Optimization plugins

Optimization plugins work on what the browser has to load. They make stylesheets and scripts smaller or combine them, delay scripts that aren’t needed right away, leave out files a page doesn’t use, and compress images or convert them to smaller formats.

Why it matters

Section titled “Why it matters”

What the browser loads and runs decides how soon the page appears and when it reacts. A good optimization can noticeably improve Largest Contentful Paint and Total Blocking Time.

Optimizing also changes how the page is put together, and that can break things: a menu that no longer opens, a form that doesn’t send, a layout that jumps. Two plugins doing the same job can get in each other’s way. Several plugins doing different jobs, such as one for images and one for scripts, are common.

What influences it

Section titled “What influences it”

Browser: Optimization plugins work on the files that reach the browser. How much they gain depends on what the theme and the other plugins load; a lean site has less to optimize.

WordPress: The plugins run inside WordPress. Some do their work while WordPress builds a page, which a page cache then stores, so only the first visit pays for it. Others work ahead of time, for example when an image is uploaded.

In Permo

Section titled “In Permo”

The Optimization plugins card is in System info, tab WordPress, under Caching. It names the first optimization plugin it finds among the active plugins and lists any others under Also. Without one, it says None and No optimization plugin found. The card gives context; Permo doesn’t rate it, and several plugins don’t trigger a warning.

Permo recognizes the common ones by their plugin file: WP-Optimize, Autoptimize, Async JavaScript, Perfmatters, Flying Pages, Asset CleanUp, Speed Booster Pack, Smush, EWWW, Imagify and ShortPixel, including their paid versions. Other plugins aren’t recognized, and neither is optimization done by a cache plugin, the hosting provider or a CDN. None therefore doesn’t mean that nothing optimizes your pages.

Section titled “Related”

Sources