Weston Ruter
@weston.ruter.net
WordPress Core committer 👨🏻💻 Daddy² & husband 👨👩👦👦 Going by bike/bus/train 🚴♂️🚍🚈 Runner 🏃♂️ Cat person 😸 Linguaphile 🇲🇽🤟 Portland, Oregon 🇺🇸 [ˈwɛs.tn̩ ˈɹu.ɾɚ]
Blog: https://weston.ruter.net
Profile pic credit: @andy.thefragens.com
Blog: https://weston.ruter.net
Profile pic credit: @andy.thefragens.com
Worked nights and weekends (and days) to get these performance improvements landed! Getting 6.9 out the door on December 2nd will be a great relief. Hoping for a >20% boost to Largest Contentful Paint for Christmas! 🎄
The Release Candidate 1 for WordPress 6.9 is here! This milestone invites you to explore enhanced Site Editor features, performance improvements, and updates across the board. Your testing is crucial in building a better WordPress. Join the journey and test the RC1 version now: wp.me/pZhYe-51z
wp.me
November 11, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Worked nights and weekends (and days) to get these performance improvements landed! Getting 6.9 out the door on December 2nd will be a great relief. Hoping for a >20% boost to Largest Contentful Paint for Christmas! 🎄
Reposted by Weston Ruter
As I was saying…
Jimmy Kimmel is Back!
YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live
youtu.be
September 24, 2025 at 4:27 AM
As I was saying…
Reposted by Weston Ruter
Big thanks to @weston.ruter.net for joining me on the ✨ SPDY STREAM 009 ✨ yesterday. Lots of details were shared about the progress on the #WordPress platform re: performance. This should edited for next week.
September 11, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Big thanks to @weston.ruter.net for joining me on the ✨ SPDY STREAM 009 ✨ yesterday. Lots of details were shared about the progress on the #WordPress platform re: performance. This should edited for next week.
I love this new post from Speed Kit. They divide up the 2.5-second “Good” threshold for LCP into two additional thresholds: Instant (300ms) and Fast (1000ms), while the current Good threshold becomes merely “OK”.
Don’t Settle for “Good”: It Is Time for New LCP Thresholds | Speed Kit
We at Speed Kit are now extending Google's LCP thresholds in all our dashboards by adding two additional buckets to show more details for page loads faster than 2.5s.
www.speedkit.com
September 11, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I love this new post from Speed Kit. They divide up the 2.5-second “Good” threshold for LCP into two additional thresholds: Instant (300ms) and Fast (1000ms), while the current Good threshold becomes merely “OK”.
Just landed in WordPress trunk: scripts and script modules can be registered with a `fetchpriority` arg, and the Interactivity API script modules and comment-reply script use `low` by default. This can improve LCP by ~7% when the LCP element has an image: core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/60...
Changeset 60704 – WordPress Trac
Blog Tool and Publishing Platform
core.trac.wordpress.org
September 3, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Just landed in WordPress trunk: scripts and script modules can be registered with a `fetchpriority` arg, and the Interactivity API script modules and comment-reply script use `low` by default. This can improve LCP by ~7% when the LCP element has an image: core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/60...
I've joined @wpengine.com to contribute full time to WordPress core, continuing the performance work I started while at Google:
Joining WP Engine - Weston Ruter
I've joined WP Engine to contribute full time to WordPress core, continuing the performance work I started while at Google.
weston.ruter.net
August 27, 2025 at 10:44 PM
I've joined @wpengine.com to contribute full time to WordPress core, continuing the performance work I started while at Google:
I just presented “The Site Speed Frontier with Performance Lab and Beyond” at WordCamp US. Shortly before my talk, I published a companion blog post that has 10x the information I had time to share, and I've just added an embed of the livestream: weston.ruter.net/2025/08/27/t... #WCUS
The Site Speed Frontier with Performance Lab and Beyond - Weston Ruter
Analysis of the LCP impact for optimizations featured by the Performance Lab plugin and proposed for WordPress core. Presented at WCUS 2025.
weston.ruter.net
August 27, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I just presented “The Site Speed Frontier with Performance Lab and Beyond” at WordCamp US. Shortly before my talk, I published a companion blog post that has 10x the information I had time to share, and I've just added an embed of the livestream: weston.ruter.net/2025/08/27/t... #WCUS
My blog has reached a web performance milestone: It's now in CrUX for both mobile and desktop (at the origin level), and it passes the CWV assessment for each! But the web performance journey isn't over…
Web Performance Milestone - Weston Ruter
My blog is now passing the CWV assessment on desktop and mobile in CrUX and has 100 in Lighthouse! But the web performance journey isn't over.
weston.ruter.net
August 22, 2025 at 6:26 AM
My blog has reached a web performance milestone: It's now in CrUX for both mobile and desktop (at the origin level), and it passes the CWV assessment for each! But the web performance journey isn't over…
I've just made some updates to my Portland picks post for WordPressers coming to my town for #WCUS: weston.ruter.net/2024/09/12/m...
My Portland Picks - Weston Ruter
Since so many of my teammates and colleagues are converging on my hometown of Portland, Oregon for WordCamp US, I've put together a list of some of my favorite things to do which may be helpful for WC...
weston.ruter.net
August 16, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I've just made some updates to my Portland picks post for WordPressers coming to my town for #WCUS: weston.ruter.net/2024/09/12/m...
I've published a new WordPress security plugin: Strict CSP. It helps mitigate cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities on the frontend and login screen (but not yet in the WP admin):
Strict CSP
Enforces a Strict Content Security Policy on the frontend and login screen to help mitigate any XSS vulnerabilities.
wordpress.org
August 10, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I've published a new WordPress security plugin: Strict CSP. It helps mitigate cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities on the frontend and login screen (but not yet in the WP admin):
I've been enjoying Gemini Code Assist for GitHub. It is a very helpful AI code reviewer! I just learned it supports configuration via a .gemini/ directory, allowing you to provide a style guide. I've put together an initial one for my WordPress plugins: github.com/westonruter/...
Introduce code style for Gemini Code Assist by westonruter · Pull Request #1 · westonruter/wp-plugin-template
I just learned that Gemini Code Assist for GitHub supports a .gemini directory which can be used for configuration. One of these configuration files is a styleguide.md. This PR introduces an initia...
github.com
July 31, 2025 at 7:05 PM
I've been enjoying Gemini Code Assist for GitHub. It is a very helpful AI code reviewer! I just learned it supports configuration via a .gemini/ directory, allowing you to provide a style guide. I've put together an initial one for my WordPress plugins: github.com/westonruter/...
If you're using Additional CSS (Custom CSS) in the Customizer and have a Block Theme active, you may have noticed that live preview hasn't been working. This will be fixed in the next version of Gutenberg (21.4):
Fix ability to preview Additional CSS changes in the Customizer when using a Block Theme by westonruter · Pull Request #70428 · WordPress/gutenberg
The implementation here is described in https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63589#comment:23
Instead of re-introducing the separate STYLE tag for the Customizer's Custom CSS in the Customiz...
github.com
July 30, 2025 at 4:23 PM
If you're using Additional CSS (Custom CSS) in the Customizer and have a Block Theme active, you may have noticed that live preview hasn't been working. This will be fixed in the next version of Gutenberg (21.4):
Planned performance improvements for WordPress 6.9, including:
• script fetchpriority
• output buffering
• bfcache
• CSS minification/inlining
And more:
• script fetchpriority
• output buffering
• bfcache
• CSS minification/inlining
And more:
Roadmap to 6.9
WordPress 6.9 is scheduled to be released on December 2nd, 2025 with plans for a simplified editing mode in the Site Editor, improvements to template management, block leveling commenting, and more…
make.wordpress.org
July 29, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Planned performance improvements for WordPress 6.9, including:
• script fetchpriority
• output buffering
• bfcache
• CSS minification/inlining
And more:
• script fetchpriority
• output buffering
• bfcache
• CSS minification/inlining
And more:
Do you like instant navigations on the WordPress frontend? Speculation rules! What if speculative loading was also in WP Admin? Check out this new experimental plugin that adds prerendering with moderate eagerness for links in the Admin Menu and Admin Bar:
GitHub - westonruter/speculative-loading-admin: Adds speculative loading to the WP Admin for prerendering links with moderate eagerness in the Admin Bar and Admin Menu. Experimental.
Adds speculative loading to the WP Admin for prerendering links with moderate eagerness in the Admin Bar and Admin Menu. Experimental. - westonruter/speculative-loading-admin
github.com
July 25, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Do you like instant navigations on the WordPress frontend? Speculation rules! What if speculative loading was also in WP Admin? Check out this new experimental plugin that adds prerendering with moderate eagerness for links in the Admin Menu and Admin Bar:
If you've liked Speculative Loading with prerendering, you'll like this: The new “No-cache BFCache” plugin for WordPress enables instant back/forward navigations, particularly while logged in.
Instant Back/Forward Navigations in WordPress - Weston Ruter
The new No-cache BFCache plugin enables instant back/forward navigations, especially while logged in.
weston.ruter.net
July 23, 2025 at 8:08 AM
If you've liked Speculative Loading with prerendering, you'll like this: The new “No-cache BFCache” plugin for WordPress enables instant back/forward navigations, particularly while logged in.
In one of my Duolingo lessons for Spanish, I encountered a word I hadn't used before: “conocedor”. But I quickly recognized its meaning since it just has the -edor agent suffix for the verb “conocer” which means “to know”.
July 19, 2025 at 4:36 AM
In one of my Duolingo lessons for Spanish, I encountered a word I hadn't used before: “conocedor”. But I quickly recognized its meaning since it just has the -edor agent suffix for the verb “conocer” which means “to know”.
Reposted by Weston Ruter
Weston Ruter wrote about how to improve LCP by deprioritizing Script Modules from the Interactivity API. This is a really lovely deep-dive into the issue, the research, and the result, the plugin that fixes it.
weston.ruter.net/2025/05/26/...
weston.ruter.net/2025/05/26/...
Improve LCP by Deprioritizing Script Modules from the Interactivity API - Weston Ruter
Adding fetchpriority=low to script modules and moving them from the head to the footer can improve LCP by >9%!
weston.ruter.net
July 18, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Weston Ruter wrote about how to improve LCP by deprioritizing Script Modules from the Interactivity API. This is a really lovely deep-dive into the issue, the research, and the result, the plugin that fixes it.
weston.ruter.net/2025/05/26/...
weston.ruter.net/2025/05/26/...
Really excited to see how the adoption of PHPStan will improve the quality of the WordPress codebase. Static analysis FTW!
Proposal: PHPStan in the WordPress core development workflow
tl;dr Several official WordPress projects use PHPStan for static code analysis of PHP files as part of their development tooling and quality control. It’s used by thousands of WordPress plugins and…
make.wordpress.org
July 12, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Really excited to see how the adoption of PHPStan will improve the quality of the WordPress codebase. Static analysis FTW!
I realized I could use Veo 3 to generate heartwarming AI videos of bison 🦬 (my favorite animal). But in order to share them, I had to first fix a problematic layout shift in the Video block, hopefully improving the CLS passing rate of WordPress along the way!
Eliminating Layout Shifts in the Video Block - Weston Ruter
To share heartwarming AI-generated bison videos from Veo 3, I had to improve CLS in WordPress by adding width, height, and aspect-ratio.
weston.ruter.net
June 5, 2025 at 9:30 PM
I realized I could use Veo 3 to generate heartwarming AI videos of bison 🦬 (my favorite animal). But in order to share them, I had to first fix a problematic layout shift in the Video block, hopefully improving the CLS passing rate of WordPress along the way!
For the first time ever, I've just seen my blog appear in field metrics from CrUX (Chrome UX Report), albeit in desktop only and for the origin not an individual URL. Baby steps. In any case, Core Web Vitals Assessment: Passed ✅ pagespeed.web.dev/analysis/htt...
June 1, 2025 at 3:15 PM
For the first time ever, I've just seen my blog appear in field metrics from CrUX (Chrome UX Report), albeit in desktop only and for the origin not an individual URL. Baby steps. In any case, Core Web Vitals Assessment: Passed ✅ pagespeed.web.dev/analysis/htt...
I've been doing a deep dive on the performance of script loading in WordPress. Adding fetchpriority=low to script modules and moving them from the head to the footer can improve LCP by >9%! Plugins available to implement now, and a WP core PR is drafted. Full writeup:
Improve LCP by Deprioritizing Script Modules from the Interactivity API - Weston Ruter
Adding fetchpriority=low to script modules and moving them from the head to the footer can improve LCP by >9%!
weston.ruter.net
May 26, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I've been doing a deep dive on the performance of script loading in WordPress. Adding fetchpriority=low to script modules and moving them from the head to the footer can improve LCP by >9%! Plugins available to implement now, and a WP core PR is drafted. Full writeup:
Please don't tell Duo. 🤟
May 25, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Please don't tell Duo. 🤟
Great writeup from @felixarntz.bsky.social on how Speculative Loading (the Speculation Rules API) landed in WordPress 6.8. I was heavily involved in this project. Looking forward to seeing the performance impact on LCP and to further iterating on it now that the initial version is in core!
Two years ago today, I opened an experimental pull request for a "Speculation Rules" module in the Performance Lab plugin. Little did I know then that it would launch as a key feature of WordPress 6.8 last month.
Join me as I share the process behind it:
felix-arntz.me/blog/specula...
Join me as I share the process behind it:
felix-arntz.me/blog/specula...
Speculative Loading, or A Brief History of Landing a Performance Feature in WordPress Core - felix-arntz.me
Join me as I share the process behind the speculative loading feature included in WordPress 6.8, from the early experiments to launch.
felix-arntz.me
May 22, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Great writeup from @felixarntz.bsky.social on how Speculative Loading (the Speculation Rules API) landed in WordPress 6.8. I was heavily involved in this project. Looking forward to seeing the performance impact on LCP and to further iterating on it now that the initial version is in core!
When rebuilding my blog with a block theme, I was surprised to find the Featured Image block doesn't support caption or lightbox, like the Image block does. I wrote two little plugins to implement these until they land in Gutenberg / WordPress core:
Adding Caption & Lightbox to the Featured Image Block - Weston Ruter
Earlier this year I re-built this site using the Twenty Twenty-Five theme, finally adopting a block theme over the veritable Twenty Twenty classic theme I had been using. In this rebuild, one thing th...
weston.ruter.net
May 18, 2025 at 3:43 AM
When rebuilding my blog with a block theme, I was surprised to find the Featured Image block doesn't support caption or lightbox, like the Image block does. I wrote two little plugins to implement these until they land in Gutenberg / WordPress core: