Performance Chat Summary: 19 May 2026

The full chat log is available beginning here on Slack.

WordPress Performance TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. tickets

• @westonruter shared updates related to WordPress 7.0 ahead of the scheduled release the next day. Regarding loading blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. styles on classic themes, which had several fixes during the 7.0 release cycle, @westonruter updated the Load Combined Core Block Assets 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. to bump the “Tested up to” version and added an inline adminadmin (and super admin) notice for sites on 7.0 with the plugin active, asking users to re-check whether the plugin is still needed.

Performance Lab Plugin (and other performance plugins)

• @westonruter also updated the “Tested up to” version for the Instant Back/Forward plugin, which is included among the features listed in Performance Lab. @westonruter mentioned that the “Tested up to” versions for the Performance Lab plugins still need to be updated on 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/, though the changes had already been done in GitGit Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. Git is easy to learn and has a tiny footprint with lightning fast performance. Most modern plugin and theme development is being done with this version control system. https://git-scm.com/.
• @westonruter shared that PR #2469 bumps the minimum supported PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher version in the Performance Lab monorepo from PHP 7.2 to PHP 7.4.
• @westonruter also shared PR #2479, which adds an .npmrc file to harden npm installs against supply chain attacks. Security was improved with ignore-scripts = true in the .npmrc among other enhancements. @westonruter noted that this means the pre-commit Husky hooksHooks In WordPress theme and development, hooks are functions that can be applied to an action or a Filter in WordPress. Actions are functions performed when a certain event occurs in WordPress. Filters allow you to modify certain functions. Arguments used to hook both filters and actions look the same. are no longer installed automatically, so the handbook documentation was updated to mention that npm run prepare now needs to be run during the initial setup.
• @westonruter also shared PR #2482, which fixes plugin installation and activation flows in Performance Lab when WordPress is using FTPFTP FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol which is a way of moving computer files from one computer to another via the Internet. You can use software, known as a FTP client, to upload files to a server for a WordPress website. https://codex.wordpress.org/FTP_Clients filesystem methods such as ftpext or ftpsockets. The issue was originally discovered while testing the new Connectors screen in CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., where provider plugins failed to install. @westonruter mentioned that the PR is still being kept as a draft until the related GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ PR is merged.
• @westonruter also shared PR #2473 to improve 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/ Copilot usage in the Performance Lab repository by pre-warming wp-env in the coding agent setup steps. @westonruter later mentioned that the PR had been approved and was being merged.
• @westonruter added that several PRs still remain in need of review.

Open Floor

• @adamsilverstein shared a newly opened issue to explore adding AI based performance recommendations to the plugin when WordPress 7.0 is available and AI is configured #2485
  • @adamsilverstein mentioned that this may work better as a separate plugin and shared that AI has improved enough to provide genuinely useful recommendations to users and potentially even fix issues automatically. @adamsilverstein also referenced the earlier wp-performance-wizard project built two years ago, noting that it already provided good results at the time and that the new idea would likely start with a simpler approach.

Our next chat will be held on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at 16:00 UTC in the #core-performance channel in Slack.

#core-performance, #hosting, #performance, #performance-chat, #summary