Performance team meeting summary 8 February 2022

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

Focus group updates

Announcements

@mxbclang

• Interest in turning off 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/. integration with the #performance channel
  • Currently showing all PRs, new issues, and closed issues
  • Should we change or remove altogether?
  • Discussion was pretty evenly divided between keep and remove the integration; @mitogh suggested a separate channel for the integration
  • @mxbclang will request that the integration be turned off in #performance for now and ask if a new, separate channel can be created specifically for the integration

Images

@adamsilverstein @mikeschroder

GitHub project

• @adamsilverstein: Pushing forward on WebP integration
  • @flixos90 created this doc overview of images work and updated the overview issue in GH (#22). Closed Ensure the -scaled image remains in the original uploaded format #143, related to the -scaled image that WP creates.
  • Investigating best approach to creating and storing data about images (based on the WebP/JPEG decision in #96). An overview ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. has been created for this issue, When uploading, generate both WebP and jpeg format images by default #142, and @mitogh has created a doc for discussion.
  • @mitogh had the idea of leveraging _wp_attachment_backup_sizes, where WordPress already stores data about cropped images, and created this POC. By storing jpeg images as usual and adding WebP (or other) images in backup_sizes, we benefit from coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.’s built in handling for these images and can still update core functions to support multiple mime types (and use WebP by default for output). An added benefit is perfect backwards compatibility: users can disable 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. or turn off the WebP by default feature with no additional effort. 
  • Also exploring the best approach to reliably generating the additional WebP images, looking at leveraging core’s built in mechanism for generating “missing” image subsizes (including an ajax callback) which were introduced in 5.3.
  • @dainemawer: Planning to deliver feedback on Investigate email client support for WebP, plugin usage #74 and Providing images in the appropriate “responsive” sizes #140 tomorrow
• @spacedmonkey: Would love to see us move away from adminadmin (and super admin) ajax; much easier to work with the REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/.. https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/39553 is a simple drop-in solution for replacing admin AJAX with REST API on the plupload uploader. Once we’re using the REST API, we can do stuff like https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/blob/6ce98cd133ea6c0adfdc65f724ad40e118ca1ac8/packages/api-fetch/src/middlewares/media-upload.js#L44-L51.
  • @adamsilverstein: Would need to figure out an async trigger, otherwise we risk overloading servers with additional images
  • @mitogh: Trigger could be attached to heartbeat as an option

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (8 issues)
• Needs Review (1 issue)
• Needs Testing (1 issue)

Object caching

@tillkruess @spacedmonkey

GitHub project

• @tillkruess
  • Remove cache time limitation in WP_Term_Query #78 got merged into core
  • We opened a PR for Allow flush runtime cache to be flushed #81
  • There has been a cross-over discussion in Revisit indexes for DB performance #132 about adding database indicies, which isn’t quite object caching, but we don’t have a team for it
  • Can core contribs push this forward https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55080; Jonny plans to review.
• @spacedmonkey: Hoping to commit Add wp_cache_set_multiple/wp_cache_add_multiple/wp_cache_delete_multiple #2018 and Implement the wp_cache_*_multiple function in core #2271 this week; Add caching to comment feeds #2194 is also close
• @pbearne: We have the review done in XWP and will be creating the pull requests this week for Support flushing cache groups #38 and working on https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/37189

Feedback requested

• For core committers: Push Introduce a new `wp_cache_flush_runtime()` method forward (@spacedmonkey plans to review)
• Needs Discussion (2 issues)
• Needs Review (6 issues)

Site Health

@audrasjb

GitHub project

• We’re seeking an additional POC 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 Slack
• @audrasjb offline
• @furi3r: Several issues needing discussion/review (see below)

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (3 issues)
• Needs Review (2 issues)

Measurement

@wp-source @josephscott

GitHub project

• @josephscott: @gilzow has set up a basic WP site at https://trunk-hy2b2li-rk425yy73kk4w.us-4.platformsh.site/ that is from https://github.com/platformsh/wordpress-performance and checks https://core.git.wordpress.org/ every 15 minutes for updates. We’ll also be looking at how to integrate WebPageTest.org as well, since they have a GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged by the repository owner. https://github.com/ Action that can be used – https://docs.webpagetest.org/api/integrations/. Next steps:
  • Integrate blackfire.io profiling
  • Set up blackfire.io alerts
  • Build the tooling to automate generating of GH issues if alert thresholds are met
  • Build an environment based on the latest stable tagtag A directory in Subversion. WordPress uses tags to store a single snapshot of a version (3.6, 3.6.1, etc.), the common convention of tags in version control systems. (Not to be confused with post tags.) (e.g. 5.9.0) for profiling comparisons
• @wp-source: Also reviewing and discussing @tweetythierry‘s measurement overview doc
• @joegrainger: Been working through Define a list of metrics that we need to measure #63 and Tools to collect performance metrics #64 and wrapping up a proposal on capturing front-end measuring looking at potential metrics and tooling; plan to share this week
• @madpixels: Created a POC for local machines to measure back-end performance; still a work-in-progress and welcome feedback

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (4 issues)

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

• @sergiomdgomes: @adamsilverstein has started an investigation around the use of document.write, which could have an impact on some of our decision making around improvements to script loading, and is writing a proposal
• @adamsilverstein: @rviscomi provided a great analysis of document.write in Investigate document.write usage in WordPress sites #153

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (2 issues)
• Needs Review (1 issue)

Infrastructure

• @flixos90 offline
• @mxbclang: Prepare initial release #133 needs additional discussion about the scope of the initial release
• @dainemawer: Lots of feedback and ideas shared on Performance Lab: Branding #144; will revise designs soon

Feedback requested

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

Open floor

• @madpixels: What do we think about implementing the serviceworker integration to improve performance for users on subsequent visits?
  • @dainemawer: Like that idea; could be useful for caching and third-party scripts
  • @adamsilverstein: There’s a ticket for this in TRACTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress.: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/36995
  • @westonruter: Been working on getting a v0.7 release of this out this week. Has 40k active installs, so there’s a good community and ongoing feedback, but could benefit from more core contributor use and feedback.
  • @adamsilverstein: If we merge into core, could we use in wp-admin?
    • @westonruter: Yes, it actually installs a service worker specifically for the wp-admin scope, so it could be used for offline access to admin screens
  • @madpixels: Is the wp_register_service_worker function is how we load service workers?
    • @westonruter: Yes; can define for multiple scripts and define an inline script to be included in the service worker: https://github.com/GoogleChromeLabs/pwa-wp/wiki/Service-Worker#:~:text=function register_bar_service_worker_script
  • @spacedmonkey: Is there any hope of getting PWA into core?
    • @westonruter: If there’s demand, why not? Not much interest recently, though
    • @spacedmonkey: Feel like this could be part of performance work
    • @tweetythierry: +1, or at least part of it – not sure offline editing is really in scope

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-chat, #summary