Better Resource Hints
Better Resource Hints will make your WordPress site or application faster and generally more performant by intelligently leveraging resource hints like prefetch, preload, preconnect, and server push. As it stands, WordPress isn’t that bad about providing a base level of these hints. In fact, a basic, dedicated API has been shipped since version 4.6.. However, this functionality only scratches the service, providing only dns-prefetch tags out of the box, and there’s growing opportunity to take advantage of different hints as they are introduced and gain more browser support. Specifically, this plugin focuses on the following types of hints for your styles and JavaScript assets: Preconnecting – This hint is similar to “dns-prefetch,” but a beefier version. Instead of just resolving the DNS, the preconnect hint handles TLS negotiations and TCP handshakes, resulting in reduced page latency. Preloading – Preloading occurs when the browser is told it can start downloading an asset in the background early during page load, instead of waiting until the asset is explicitly called to start the process. This hint is most beneficial for assets loaded later on in the page, but are nonetheless essential to the page’s functionality. More often than not, this is a JavaScript file. Enabling this results in an overall faster load time, and quicker time to interactive. Prefetching – Prefetching assets is similar to preloading, but the assets are downloaded in low priority for the purpose of caching them for later use. For example, if a user hits your home page and is likely to go to a page that uses a heavy JavaScript file, it’s wise to prefetch that asset on the home page, so it’s cached and ready to go on the next. Again, the result is a quicker subsequent page load, quicker time to interactive, and an improved overall user experience. This is different from DNS prefetching, which will only resolve the DNS of a resource’s host, and not actually download the resource itself. Server Push – If enabled, server push will tell your server to start delivering an asset before the browser even asks for it. This results in a much faster delivery of key assets, and be toggled on for both preloaded, prefetched, and preconnected assets. Note: This feature requires a server that supports server push, and is the most experimental strategy this plugin provides. As with any sort of performance-enhancing technique, just be aware that they should be used judiciously, and that the results you see will depend on the size the of resources your site loads, as well as how your server is configured. For additional reading, see some of the resources below: Preload, Prefetch, & Priorities in Chrome Preloading Key Requests Preload: What’s It Good For? Resource Hints – What is Preload, Prefetch, and Preconnect? What Makes This Plugin Stand Apart? There’s no shortage of plugins out there that aim to leverage resource hints for boosting performance. However, I’ve seen that several of them make the following mistakes: Inflexible Hint Management Many similar plugins only provide very limited flexibility in their options, and only allow setting hints globally for every page, regardless of whether the resources are actually needed on the page. This can often result in unecessarily bloaging your bandwidth, since hints on several pages are effectively useless. In some cases, this could actually lead to a less performant site. This plugin attempts to provide options to manage hints more flexibily and intelligently, meaning you won’t be unecessarily preloading assets in the background when they’re not even needed on the page. Misunderstanding What Different Hints Do I’ve come across some plugins that fail to understand and leverage different hints like they were designed. For example, promising that assets are being preloaded, when they’re actually being prefetched. These and other hints have very different purposes, and should not be interchangably used if you want them to impact your site in the most effective way. This plugin attempts to leverage these hints in way to maximize their effectiveness. For example, BHR won’t prefetch any assets that are enqueued on the page, because that’s just not how the prefetch hint is designed to be used. Is Better Resource Hints perfect? Absolutely not. That’s why I encourage any constructive feedback or bug reports to be sent my way immediately, so that I can’t improve this plugin as quickly as possible. A Note About Preloading CSS Because of their high placement on a page, if the option is enabled, your CSS files will be asyncronously preloaded, and then turned into a stylesheet once they’ve completely loaded. The advantage to doing this is that while the files are downloading, they won’t block the rest of the page from rendering, resulting an overall faster page load. However, this also means that there may be a flash of unstyled content on the page for a brief moment as the files download. To prevent this, it’s recommended to only preload CSS files that are not critical to the initial view of the page. This will allow you to gain some performance points without sacrificing use experience as the page loads. Filters The following filters are exposed for your use. /** * Modify the HTML link generated for preconnecting hosts. * * @param string $link (HTML tag) * @param string $url (URL of the host) * @return string */ add_filter('better_resource_hints_preconnect_tag', function ($link, $url) { return $url; }, 10, 2); /** * Modify the HTML link generated for prefetching hosts. * * @param string $link (HTML tag) * @param string $handle (WP handle of the resource * @param string $type (script or style) * @return string */ add_filter('better_resource_hints_prefetch_tag', function ($link, $handle, $type) { return $url; }, 10, 3); /** * Modify the HTML link generated for preloading hosts. * * @param string $link (HTML tag) * @param string $handle (WP handle of the resource * @param string $type (script or style) * @return string */ add_filter('better_resource_hints_preload_tag', function ($link, $handle, $type) { return $url; }, 10, 3); What Happens Out of the Box? Upon activation, Better Resource Hints will optimize your resource hints in a conservative, low-risk way by only doing two things out of the box: Preloading JavaScript assets enqueued in the footer. Setting preconnect hints for all third party hosts that already have dns-preconnect hints. Using the Plugin After activation, you are able to adjust settings to tweak optimization as seen fit. As a means of testing your optimizations, use a tool like Google Lighthouse to measure the impact of these changes on your site’s performance. As mentioned, the techniques used here are largely supported by modern browsers, but your results may vary depending on the amount of assets being loaded on your site, as well as your server configuration. Feedback You like it? Email or tweet me. You hate it? Email or tweet me. Regardless of how you feel, your review would be greatly appreciated!
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally
HOST FONTS, IMPROVE WEBSITE SPEED, AND ELIMINATE PRIVACY CONCERNS ★★★★★ IMPROVED SPEED AND PERFORMANCE 🚀 Custom Fonts enables you to upload your own custom fonts or choose from a vast collection of Google Fonts, all hosted directly on your own web server. By hosting fonts locally, you can significantly improve your website’s performance. As the fonts load directly from your server, it reduces external requests, significantly reducing page load times. Try it out on a free dummy site UPLOAD YOUR CUSTOM FONTS OR CHOOSE FROM GOOGLE FONTS 🎨 With Custom Fonts, you have the freedom to customize your website typography to match your unique brand identity! You can easily upload your own custom font files, such as .ttf or .otf, and use them throughout your website. Or, you can choose from a rich library of Google Fonts and host them locally on your server, ensuring full control over their use. UPLOAD MULTIPLE FONT VARIANTS 🆒 You have the flexibility to upload any number of font variants to suit your design needs. Whether it’s different weights, styles, or character sets, easily manage and customize the necessary font variants. Personalize your typography to perfection and create a unique visual identity for your website. ENHANCED PRIVACY AND GDPR COMPLIANCE 🛡️ Privacy is a top priority, especially in light of data protection regulations like GDPR. By using Custom Fonts, you can self-host your fonts, eliminating any privacy concerns associated with external font services. Take full control over the fonts you use on your website and ensure compliance with privacy regulations. FULL SITE EDITING THEME SUPPORT AND EASY INTEGRATION 🎉 Custom Fonts seamlessly integrates with WordPress full site editing themes, allowing you to effortlessly choose and customize fonts across your entire website. Say goodbye to limitations and enjoy the freedom to create a consistent and visually appealing typography experience for visitors. BEAUTIFUL AND USER-FRIENDLY INTERFACE MADE WITH REACT JS 💻 We take pride in providing an elegant and intuitive user interface for Custom Fonts. Built with React JS, our interface offers a seamless experience, making it easy to upload and manage custom fonts, select from Google Fonts, and customize typography settings to suit your needs. COMPLETELY FREE, NO UPSELLS OR HIDDEN COSTS 🆓 Custom Fonts is completely free, with no upsells or hidden costs. We believe in empowering website owners with essential tools without nickel-and-diming. Enjoy full access to all the features and functionality of Custom Fonts. WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM CUSTOM FONTS? Web designers and developers: You can easily enhance the typography and overall design of your projects, making them stand out from the crowd. eCommerce store owners: Custom fonts can enhance your brand identity and provide a distinctive visual style for product descriptions, banners, and more. Hosting fonts locally with Custom Fonts improves website performance, benefiting you and your consumers. Bloggers and content creators: Make your content truly pop. Stand out from the crowd and captivate your audience with Custom Fonts. SEO experts: You can now boost page speed by hosting fonts locally with Custom Fonts. Fewer external requests means faster loading times! Plus, you ensure compliance with privacy regulations. Custom Fonts caters to anyone who values the customization of typography, performance optimization, privacy control, and compliance with regulations. If you want to take control of your website’s typography and enhance its overall appearance, Custom Fonts is the plugin for you! SOME OF THE SUPPORTED WORDPRESS THEMES: Astra WordPress Theme Spectra One Theme All FSE themes SOME OF THE SUPPORTED WORDPRESS PLUGINS: Spectra Page Builder Elementor Page Builder Branding Guidelines When mentioning Custom Fonts, please use the following format: Custom Fonts [correct] CustomFonts [incorrect] Custom fonts [incorrect] CustomFont [incorrect] Customfont [incorrect] Our Other Products: Astra – The most popular WordPress theme that perfectly integrates with Custom Fonts. Spectra – A visual website builder built with WordPress’ native block editor. Ultimate Addons for Elementor – The best addons to extend Elementor’s capabilities. Schema Pro – All-in-one schema markup plugin that offers complete functionality and easy configuration. ProjectHuddle – Lets you collect sticky note-style feedback on page designs and web projects. Other partnered products: CartFlows – One-click sales funnel builder for WordPress. Presto Player – Best video player plugin for WordPress. SureCart – A powerful eCommerce platform designed to grow your business by effortlessly selling online. SureMembers – Fastest and easiest way to protect content on your website and build memberships. OttoKit – Connects your favorite tools so you can automate workflows and streamline your business processes. SureWriter – AI writing tool to make your web design journey faster.
