Performance team meeting summary 1 March 2022

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

NOTE: The initial 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 release, 1.0.0-beta.1, will take place on Monday, March 7, 2022, at 19:00 UTC. We will hold a release party chat in the #performance 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/. channel at that time and all are welcome! See the Infrastructure section below for more details on the release.

Focus group updates

Announcements

@mxbclang

• Database optimization focus area
  • Want to reassess the interest for this as a focus group
  • Please re-vote on the focus group spreadsheet here by adding/removing your WP.org username from the groups that you want to work on in Column D, Contributors wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ username
  • Please only enter your name on two or fewer groups. If you’ve already voted and want to revise, remove your name from other areas.
  • We’ll reassess focus groups based on updated votes next week

Images

@adamsilverstein @mikeschroder

GitHub project

• @adamsilverstein: Great progress on Create WebP images on upload #22 this week, with a lot of great work from @mitogh
  • Merged When uploading, generate both WebP and jpeg format images by default #142 (ready for review) and Update the_content with the correct image format #149
  • Open PR for When generating WebPs, ensure full size is generated(-scaled for large images) #174 and proposal under review for Allow developers to tweak which image formats should be used #187 (needs discussion)
  • Once #174 and #187 are resolved, we should be in a good place for the initial plugin release (see Infrastructure update below)
• @dainemawer: Working on Enable <picture> element support #21 and will have a proposal document ready for community review tomorrow
• @adamsilverstein: Digging into WebP EXIF data and posted findings on https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55057
• @mitogh: Discussion needed on Expose backup sizes or additional mime types via REST API #167 and Select the smaller image size from the list of available sources #186 and some PRs open (see Needs Review link below). Ongoing effort to identify how existing plugins behave so that we can integrate with them in the future in Ensure WebP/Image/Optimization plugins can integrate & use existing WebP images #160; document open for feedback.
• @joegrainger: Working on a proposal for Update WordPress core functions to support multiple mime types #155; document is still in progress but open to early feedback

Feedback requested

• Analysis of existing plugins that convert to WebP document (for #160)
• WordPress core functions to be updated to support multiple mime types (for #155)
• Needs Discussion (11 issues)
• Needs Review (2 issues)

Object Cache

@tillkruess @spacedmonkey

GitHub project

• @tillkruess: Object Cache health check #111 has been merged. @spacedmonkey suggested always recommending object cache for multisites in Promote object caching in Site Health for multisites #161, which is open for feedback.
• @pbearne: Added clearing of cache groups #4 is ready and will be pushed to coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress..
• @spacedmonkey: Want @flixos90‘s thoughts on object caching for multisites as a fellow maintainer. https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/2346 and https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/2318 need review. Hope is to get these merged as they include lots of changed to query caching. Once they’ve been merged, will add a dev notedev note Each important change in WordPress Core is documented in a developers note, (usually called dev note). Good dev notes generally include a description of the change, the decision that led to this change, and a description of how developers are supposed to work with that change. Dev notes are published on Make/Core blog during the beta phase of WordPress release cycle. Publishing dev notes is particularly important when plugin/theme authors and WordPress developers need to be aware of those changes.In general, all dev notes are compiled into a Field Guide at the beginning of the release candidate phase.. These could mean big wins for performance and database usage.
  • @flixos90: Some concerns about #2318 due to what was raised in https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/36949

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (3 issues)
• Needs Review (3 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 Slack
• @flixos90: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/pull/136 could use additional reviews as it’s planned for the initial release. @furi3r planning to review feedback this week.

Feedback requested

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

Measurement

@wp-source @josephscott

GitHub project

• @josephscott: Making sure that @wp-source has access to the appropriate platform/Blackfire accounts; @glizow added him today
• @joegrainger: Shared a proposal on capturing front-end metrics and potential tools on Define a list of metrics that we need to measure #63 and Tools to collect performance metrics #64: doc is available here for feedback

Feedback requested

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

• No updates

Feedback requested

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

Infrastructure

@flixos90

GitHub project

• @flixos90: The critical WebP module changes have now been merged and only a few PRs left to merge in the milestone so proposing that we publish our first release 1.0.0-beta.1 next Monday 7 March, including:
  • Images – WebP Uploads
  • Site Health – Audit Enqueued Assets, WebP Support
  • Object Cache – Persistent Object Cache Health Check
• @flixos90: Requesting more feedback on PRs for the release: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/pulls?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Apr+milestone%3A1.0.0-beta.1. Will leave an update on Prepare initial release #133 and follow up with updates there throughout the week as we work through the release tasks. We’ll use the 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 be the repository owner. https://github.com/ workflow to publish the release.
• @dainemawer: Could use additional reviews on https://github.com/WordPress/performance/pull/199

Feedback requested

• Needs Discussion (4 issues)
• Needs Review (5 issues)

Open Floor

• @flixos90: Had a conversation with @spacedmonkey about if we should have a rule that two people have to approve all PRs. Been assuming that we should be aiming for two people approving each PR, though not a hard and fast rule. Open to thoughts.
  • @gagan0123: Two pair of eyes are always better than one; speed impact is minimal but quality of code is significantly better
  • @spacedmonkey: If we can enforce this on GitHub, let’s go for it (with no self-reviews)
• @mxbclang: Seeking feedback on new designs shared in Performance Lab: Branding #144

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