SWIS Performance #2
Update on SWIS Performance.
A few days ago, the SWIS Performance plugin was updated to version 2.0. I’ve already written a brief review of the previous version in another article.
SWIS Performance is a caching plugin that, depending on the license, comes bundled with the well-known EWWW Image Optimizer.
By the way, you can get a lifetime license at Appsumo—that’s where I bought my license.
What's new in Version 2?
Essentially, there are two major new features in the latest SWIS Performance Update:
- As a logged-in WordPress administrator, you can now set rules for individual pages in the front end. There, you can, for example, prevent or allow the deferred loading or execution (Defer) of individual pages.
- The "Optimize JS" feature in the backend has been enhanced and now focuses on delaying the loading and execution of JavaScript files. In principle, this is a useful update, but it comes with some drawbacks in my setup. More on that below.
So, how's it going?
As mentioned in the review of the previous version at the beginning of this post, the plugin delivered performance comparable to WPRocket for me. That’s why I was so excited about version 1.7—also from a financial standpoint, since it would allow me to save on the annual fee for WPRocket.
Version 1.7 worked right out of the box—I didn’t need to make any adjustments or exceptions. I simply enabled the features in the settings, and that was it. No errors whatsoever on the front end.
The update itself runs completely smoothly using the standard WordPress update feature. An initial speed test yielded the same results as the previous version.
So far, so good.
Then I took a look at the site as a regular visitor (i.e., not logged into WordPress). And unfortunately, the new Defer (JS Optimize) feature is causing me some serious problems:
- The cookie banner isn't loading—and it's no longer possible to change the privacy settings afterward. Unfortunately, that's a deal-breaker for me. So far, I haven't had any luck with entries under "Exclusions" either.
- The Nextgen Gallery is now only partially functional. For example, the image overlays are not displayed, and the images do not open in the Nextgen Lightbox. I was able to resolve the issue with the overlays by defining an exception. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to resolve the issue with the Lightbox.
- If you create exceptions to the JavaScript optimizations for individual pages, these unfortunately aren’t visible in the backend. You basically have to keep track of which pages you’ve created rules for. At least for me, after a week at most, I can no longer remember which rules I defined on which pages. I hope the developers can find a more convenient solution here. In principle, the idea of defining rules for individual pages isn’t a bad one, and with WP Rocket, for example, it’s possible to do this directly within posts and pages. Of course, WP Rocket doesn’t offer an overview of the edited pages either….
To be honest, SWIS Performance version 2.0 is causing too many issues for me. This is probably due to the theme I’m currently using and/or the combination of active plugins.
If I now have to create different rules for every page just to get the plugin to work properly, I might as well just leave the JavaScript optimization disabled.
Wish List
- My top priority is to have backward compatibility restored. As it stands, I unfortunately can't use SWIS Performance.
- It would be great to separate the deferred loading of JavaScript files from deferred execution on the backend.
- Ideally, there would be an overview in the backend showing which pages have rules set up for delayed loading. Personally, a list of post IDs would be more than enough for me. Of course, it should also be possible to delete them in the backend (though that would be nitpicking).
I'm curious to see what happens and hope that SWIS Performance will fix the issue in one of its upcoming updates. Since I was (and still am) extremely satisfied with the previous version, I'll keep an eye on this plugin.
Until then, I'll either use the previous version of SWIS Performance or switch back to WPRocket.
Update from November 1, 2022
Thanks to the developers' support, I was able to solve the problem :-)
Just adding "inline-scripts" to the exclusions for "Optimize JS Loading," and the page loads again with all its features.
Very nice!
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