Title: Core Performance Team Update: July 2023
Author: Emily Clarke
Published: August 1, 2023

---

 [  ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/clarkeemily/) [Emily Clarke](https://profiles.wordpress.org/clarkeemily/)
5:05 pm _on_ August 1, 2023     
Tags: [core-performance ( 16 )](https://make.wordpress.org/updates/tag/core-performance/),
[performance ( 18 )](https://make.wordpress.org/updates/tag/performance/)   

# Core Performance Team Update: July 2023

### **Tickets and contributions**

_The Performance Team works on performance-related tickets in coreCore Core is the
set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.
and holds a fortnightly Bug Scrub on Wednesdays; check _[_https://make.wordpress.org/meetings/_](https://make.wordpress.org/meetings/)_
for current time._

The large focus of the Performance Team for June was on closing out TracTrac Trac
is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much 
like GitHub.[https://core.trac.wordpress.org/](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/).
tickets for the WordPress 6.3 release and performance benchmarking against BetaBeta
A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under
real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are 
generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however,
design changes often occur as part of the process., RC1, and RC2. Based on these
benchmarks, the WordPress performance team has successfully committed a series of
issues that have contributed to 28% improvement for 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. themes, and 19% improvement for
classic themes, compared to WordPress 6.2 [[see spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rlzIF9dJvaoq88uGeKA3NtI1PE0iMhVdzv0A_5seyPI/edit#gid=0)].
This is a major achievement in terms of performance . A blog post will be published
following the release of WordPress 6.3 to highlight the specific performance improvements.

A few notable inclusions here are client-side performance improvements from adding
support for the fetchpriority=”high” attribute and improving the way WordPress applies
native lazy-loading to images (please refer to the [6.3 dev note on image performance improvements](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/07/13/image-performance-enhancements-in-wordpress-6-3/)).
Additionally, the introduction of script loading strategies which allow loading 
scripts with defer or async. This is a major milestone for performance in general(
Please read the [6.3 dev note on registering scripts with async and defer](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/07/14/registering-scripts-with-async-and-defer-attributes-in-wordpress-6-3/)
to learn more on how you can leverage the APIAPI An API or Application Programming
Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each 
other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. as a developer). Database
performance improvements were made to lazy-loading metadata, outlined in the [6.3 dev note post on metadata API improvements](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/07/13/improvements-to-the-metadata-api-in-wordpress-6-3/).

The Performance Team are now looking ahead to the 6.4 release, where a good portion
of the focus will be on follow-up enhancements based on the 6.3 launches. The team
is also commencing work on some larger pieces from our [2023 performance roadmap](https://make.wordpress.org/performance/roadmap-2023)
including [i18n performance analysis](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/07/24/i18n-performance-analysis/)(
feedback kindly requested on this post), optimizing autoloaded options, automating
performance benchmarking and improving template loading.

#### 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/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/)󠁿 or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. Checker

The Performance Team has successfully completed the QA testing phase and everything
is working as expected. The technical documentation for the Plugin Checker tool 
is now complete and merged. With the documentation in place, it’s now possible to
gain a deeper understanding of the tool’s functionality and how it works. For detailed
context and information, please refer to the following link: [https://github.com/10up/plugin-check/tree/trunk/docs](https://github.com/10up/plugin-check/tree/trunk/docs)

### **Team headlines and updates**

This month saw the second Performance Hallway Hangout on Thursday July 27 where 
an overview of the 6.3 performance improvements were discussed, along with a deep
dive into the data. The idea of a mid-point merge for PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym
for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting
language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into 
HTML. [https://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php](https://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php)
backports and a more formal workflow for both Core and 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/](https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/)
teams was also discussed. The notes from the Hallway Hangout can be found here [https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/06/29/hallway-hangout-performance-improvements-for-wordpress-6-3/](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2023/06/29/hallway-hangout-performance-improvements-for-wordpress-6-3/)
along with the recording. 

The team is looking forward to WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized
conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places 
where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned
throughout the year and share the joy. [Learn more](https://central.wordcamp.org/about/).
US which happens in August. For those interested in joining the Performance table
at Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently
held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events
where people get together to work on various areas of [https://make.wordpress.org/](https://make.wordpress.org/)
There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus.
[https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/](https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/),
please reach out to [@flixos90](https://profiles.wordpress.org/flixos90/) or [@clarkeemily](https://profiles.wordpress.org/clarkeemily/)
to discuss. 

### **Performance Lab Plugin**

[_Performance Lab plugin_](https://wordpress.org/plugins/performance-lab/)_ updates
are released monthly on the third Monday of the month._

June’s release [2.5.0](https://github.com/WordPress/performance/releases/tag/2.5.0)
includes further enhancements to creating stand-alone plugins and infrastructure,
as well as some small bug fixes. The team is also waiting for the next standalone
plugin, Dominant Color Images, to be approved by the plugin review team. Additionally,
work has commenced on the next set of enhancements around uncoupling the plugin 
features from the Performance Lab plugin.

The Performance Lab plugin has also reached 90k active installations this month!

[#core-performance](https://make.wordpress.org/updates/tag/core-performance/), [#performance](https://make.wordpress.org/updates/tag/performance/)

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# Post navigation

[← What’s new on Learn WordPress in July 2023](https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2023/08/01/whats-new-on-learn-wordpress-in-july-2023/)

[Documentation Team Update – August 7, 2023 →](https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2023/08/07/documentation-team-update-august-7-2023/)