Version 3.7.3 has been released! | Documentation
Note: This plugin requires PHP 7 or higher and (optionally, for best performance) WordPress 5.8 or higher!
Lighthouse is a performance tuning plugin, removing lots of default WordPress behaviour, such as filters, actions, injected code, native code and third-party actions.
Increase your site loading speed up to 300%
For a WordPress installation to work as expected, load fast and error-free, it needs a bit of cleanup in order to help the browser cache the requested content and the caching plugins to work with 100% efficiency.
With Lighthouse, you save over $480 in over 10 hours of coding by a web developer, which you would need pay to do it for your website, or to purchase separate optimisation plugins.
Case Studies
“Makes a huge difference. Reduced number of queries and increased speed by over 20%”
“Very good cache and compression! (other options are great, too!) I combined this with WP Speed of Light and get a great performance by this. Hope you keep on the great work! ❤”
Screenshots
Changelog
= 3.7.3 =
* UPDATE: Remove Dashicons options as it does not apply anymore and, in some rare cases, it breaks the admin bar for non-admin users
* UPDATE: Remove deprecated hooks as they are not being applied anymore
= 3.7.2 =
* FEATURE: Added options to disable automated plugin update email notifications
* FEATURE: Added options to disable automated theme update email notifications
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WPCS specifications
= 3.7.1 =
* FIX: Fixed 2 typos
* UPDATE: Exposed current database version on the plugin Dashboard
* UPDATE: Removed 8 database queries on plugin installation
* UPDATE: Added PHP requirements (7+)
* UPDATE: Removed CPU and memory check as not many hosts allow running the calls
* UPDATE: Improved back-end performance by removing several OS/server calls
= 3.7.0 =
* FEATURE: Implemented code cleanup on demand
* FEATURE: Implemented optimization presets
* UPDATE: Updated code according to WordPress Coding Standards
* UPDATE: Removed unused file and cleaned up old code
* UPDATE: Removed unused variables and improved audit performance
* UPDATE: Removed emoji from option name
* UPDATE: Removed Security tab and moved options to the Performance tab
* UPDATE: Removed CMS tab and moved options to the Setup tab
* UPDATE: Updated Frequently Asked Questions section
= 3.6.2 =
* UPDATE: Added a Frequently Asked Questions section on the plugin's dashboard
* UPDATE: Added a GitHub.com access token helper for automatic updates
* UPDATE: Updated PHP recommendations
= 3.6.1 =
* FEATURE: Added HTML, inline JS and inline CSS minification
* UPDATE: Updated UI for the options navigation bar
= 3.6.0 =
* FEATURE: Added Core Web Vitals tracking and evolution
= 3.5.4 =
* UPDATE: Removed EDD licensing model and preparing for a subscription model (phase 2)
= 3.5.3 =
* UPDATE: Added TGMPA class to include Git Updater
= 3.5.2 =
* FIX: Fixed beacon creation
* UPDATE: Removed EDD licensing model and preparing for a subscription model
* UPDATE: Minified prefetch.js and prerender.js
= 3.5.1 =
* UPDATE: Removed HTML minification as the algorythm was not saving enough to justify the output buffering time
= 3.5.0 =
* FIX: Only use the wp_enqueue_scripts action once and enqueue/dequeue in one place as required (4 requests -> 1 request)
* FIX: Only use the plugins_loaded action once and filter as required (3 requests -> 1 request)
* FIX: Check and define fallback value for CURL_HTTP_VERSION_2_0 if it is not defined
* FIX: Fixed CRON items being non-accessible
* FIX: Fixed issue with CrUX.js being enabled globally
* FIX: Fixed lots of unused variables being used (leftovers from SpeedFactor transition)
* FIX: Fixed a division by zero error
* UPDATE: Removed error reporting and monitoring and only add a guide (-1 include request, -1 option request)
* UPDATE: Removed 2 options from loading by default (added specific options and disabled them by default) (-2 filters)
* FEATURE: Only load SpeedFactor files in the back-end
* FEATURE: Added block editor (Gutenberg) options
* FEATURE: Added srcset removal option
* FEATURE: Added jetpack.css removal option
= 3.4.8 =
* UPDATE: Added option to deregister mediaelement.js
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* FIX: Change some of the option labels to make options more clear
= 3.4.6 =
* FEATURE: Added Chrome User Experience Report (needs a Google Lighthouse API key)
* UPDATE: Added more contextual help for the TTFB measurement
* UPDATE: Improved speed of the SpeedFactor report page
* FIX: Fixed TTFB raw value
= 3.4.5 =
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
= 3.4.4 =
* UPDATE: Added optional email notification for each audit
= 3.4.3 =
* FIX: Fixed updater path
= 3.4.2 =
* UPDATE: Added automatic blogging/commenting optimization
* UPDATE: UI improvements
= 3.4.1 =
* FIX: Fixed textarea sanitization
* UPDATE: Added automatic Beacon creation
= 3.4.0 =
* FEATURE: Merged SpeedFactor monitoring and tracking
* FEATURE: Merged SpeedFactor payload monitoring
* UPDATE: Switched from Git Updater to proprietary license
* UPDATE: Switched to a yearly support/updates plan
= 3.3.2 =
* UPDATE: Updated minimum PHP recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
= 3.3.1 =
* FIX: Removed beacon creation
* UPDATE: Updated minimum PHP recommendations
= 3.3.0 =
* FEATURE: Added instant loading (prerendering and prefetching)
* FEATURE: Added option to remove core lazy loading
* FIX: Remove option to disable archives/taxonomies
* FIX: Remove option to disable REST API as more and more core features depend on this feature
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated minimum PHP recommendations
* UPDATE: Cleaned up plugin back-end and remove statistics
= 3.2 =
* UPDATE: Removed jQuery Migrate option as the script will be removed starting with WordPress 5.5
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
= 3.1.1 =
* FEATURE: Added GitHub Updater compatibility and removed hard-coded GitHub API
* UPDATE: Removed questionable scripts-to-footer options
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated minimum PHP recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
= 3.1.0 =
* FEATURE: Added SpeedFactor beacon
* UPDATE: Removed license and hardcode it for easier update
* UPDATE: Added guide for default WordPress optimization
= 3.0.3 =
* FIX: Renamed user agent for the updater class
* FIX: Renamed updater class name to avoid conflicts
= 3.0.2 =
* FIX: Renamed wrong license option name (again)
= 3.0.1 =
* FIX: Renamed wrong license option name
= 3.0.0 =
* FIX: Removed potentially confusing details
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated minimum PHP recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated UI
* FEATURE: Added SpeedFactor integration
= 2.9.0 =
* UPDATE: Removed all TinyMCE-related options (embeds and emojis)
* UPDATE: Removed `lighthouse_clean_attributes` option, as WordPress 5.3 adds theme support for this
* UPDATE: Removed cached menus as they lose dynamic classes and IDs
* UPDATE: Removed cached template parts as it's not good practice anymore (there's better ways of caching and better ways of optimising queries)
= 2.8.1 =
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Removed deprecated Yoast filter
* COMPATIBILITY: Removed several pre-WordPress-5.0 options
= 2.8.0 =
* FIX: Fixed documentation link
* UPDATE: Updated minimum PHP recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* FEATURE: Exposed Site Health in Lighthouse Settings screen
* COMPATIBILITY: Removed several pre-WordPress-5.0 options
= 2.7.0 =
* FIX: Removed duplicate option
* UPDATE: Removed MySQL check as it's hard to detect all possible configurations (Maria DB, Percona)
* UPDATE: Removed OPCache check as it's not relevant anymore
* UPDATE: Updated plugin requirements to PHP 7+
* UPDATE: Removed all pre-PHP 7 code
* UPDATE: Removed caching headers in favour of .htaccess rules
= 2.6.1 =
* FIX: Removed obsolete cache purging
* FIX: Removed obsolete cache counter
* FIX: Consolidated __return_false
* FIX: Fixed wrong checked/recommended option count
* UPDATE: Updated minimum PHP recommendations
* UPDATE: Removed OPCache support due to server errors
* UPDATE: Improved pings removal
* FEATURE: Added taxonomy (archives) disabling
= 2.6.0 =
* FIX: Code compliancy fixes
* FIX: Strict check fixes
* FIX: Removed old, unused option
* UPDATE: Updated server software recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress compatibility
* UPDATE: Updated oembed removal
* UPDATE: Added 3 more widget removal options
* UPDATE: Added author archives removal option
* UPDATE: Removed presets as they weren't up to date
* UPDATE: Removed unnecessary admin/page check
* PERFORMANCE: Refactored settings count/savings/recommendations
= 2.5.1 =
* UPDATE: Updated PHP 7.2 compatibility
* UPDATE: Removed deprecated function
= 2.5.0 =
* FIX: Fixed undeclared variable
* UPDATE: Removed transient cleaner as WordPress 4.9.0 implements it natively
= 2.4.1 =
* UPDATE: Removed faulty Gravatar caching
* UPDATE: Removed script concatenation as it generated conflicts with lots of incorrectly coded themes
* UPDATE: Added OPcache status
* PERFORMANCE: Added new HTML minification engine
= 2.4.0 =
* UPDATE: Improved emoji removal
* UPDATE: Remove additional frontend styles and scripts as they are against WordPress.org guidelines
* PERFORMANCE: More performance tweaks on theme init
= 2.3.5 =
* FIX: Fixed HSTS help link
* FIX: Removed old nofollow fix breaking the Dashboard
* UPDATE: Removed Zen notice from pages other than Lighthouse settings page
* UPDATE: Updated server software recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated Normalize.css (6.0.0 to 7.0.0)
* UPDATE: Updated Pure.css (0.6.2 to 1.0.0)
* UPDATE: Removed an incorrect check for server protocol
= 2.3.4 =
* FIX: Fixed commenter link nofollow attribute removal
= 2.3.3 =
* FEATURE: Added memory usage and CPU load
* UPDATE: Updated server software recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated Normalize.css (5.0.0 to 6.0.0)
* UPDATE: Updated REST API recommendations
= 2.3.2 =
* FIX: Fixed PHP 7 compatibility with Gravatar caching
* FEATURE: Added option to disable REST API
* UPDATE: Added Entypo Fontello to theme tweaks
* UPDATE: Updated Modernizr.js (2.8.3 to 3.3.1)
* UPDATE: Tweaked server software recommendations
* UPDATE: Tweaked option security (and improved performance by forcing strict checks)
= 2.3.1 =
* UPDATE: Removed jQuery UI option as it's a theme specific feature
* UPDATE: Removed ambiguous HTTPS message
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated server software recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated Normalize.css (0.6.0 to 0.6.2)
= 2.3.0 =
* FIX: Removed a potentially limiting option
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated server software recommendations
* UPDATE: Updated Normalize.css (4.2.0 to 5.0.0)
* UPDATE: Updated FontAwesome.css (4.6.3 to 4.7.0)
* PERFORMANCE: Replaced a preg_replace() function with a native WordPress filter
= 2.2.1 =
* UPDATE: Merged <head> cleanup options
* UPDATE: Wording and contextual help updates
* UPDATE: Fixed several typos
* UPDATE: Removed the Genericons dequeue option
* UPDATE: Removed the Fancybox dequeue option
* UPDATE: Merged content parsing options
* UPDATE: Added documentation
= 2.2.0 =
* UPDATE: Removed footer link attribution
* UPDATE: Changed method of removing jQuery Migrate and using an outdated jQuery version
* UPDATE: Removed a recommended option which added extra database queries
* UPDATE: Removed two deprecated functions
* UPDATE: Changed a request check after the option check
= 2.1.0 =
* FIX: Checked if cache size is higher than 0 before applying filters
* FIX: Properly formatted numbers and filesize
* FIX: Fixed some ambiguous wording
* FIX: Fixed wrong value in the Sweeper section
* UPDATE: Removed a size calculation function
* UPDATE: Added a Zen mode option which removes most of WordPress-related clutter, notifications, meta boxes and filters
* UPDATE: Combined three options into one
* UPDATE: Removed Open Sans removal option (WordPress 4.6 defaults to system fonts)
* UPDATE: Updated enqueued developer scripts to use HTTPS (cdnjs.com and jsdelivr.com)
* UPDATE: Updated normalize.css to 4.2.0 (from 4.1.1)
= 2.0.6 =
* UPDATE: Made Gravatar cache optional via setting in "Cache & Compression" tab
* UPDATE: Added error reporting option
* UPDATE: Updated Theme Tweaks scripts and stylesheets versions
= 2.0.5 =
* UPDATE: Added more methods for XML-RPC protection
* UPDATE: Merged ping option with XML-RPC as they are related
* UPDATE: Forced removal of pingback URL for themes with hardcoded tag
= 2.0.4 =
* UPDATE: Added option to move scripts to footer
* UPDATE: Added option to cache Gravatars
* UPDATE: Minor UI improvements
= 2.0.3 =
* UPDATE: Updated CSS/JS developer libraries
* UPDATE: Updated recommended PHP version
* UPDATE: Updated recommended MySQL version (decreased to 5.6)
* UPDATE: Updated WordPress version requirement
= 2.0.2 =
* FIX: Fixed a typo
* FIX: Removed unused backup options
* FIX: Fixed an XSS vulnerability in remove_query_arg()
* UPDATE: Updated FontAwesome to version 4.6.2
* UPDATE: Updated attribution link for better appearance
* PERFORMANCE: Combined all initialization actions for faster startup
* PERFORMANCE: Combined all widget initialization actions for faster startup
* PERFORMANCE: Changed version query removal to accept values from an array
= 2.0.1 =
* UPDATE: Updated FontAwesome to version 4.6.1
= 2.0.0 =
* UPDATE: Removed partial backup feature
* UPDATE: Removed LInfo module as it posed a security risk
* UPDATE: Updated FontAwesome to version 4.6.0
* UPDATE: Replaced FontAwesome with Dashicons in admin view
= 1.9.2 =
* UPDATE: Added protocol check
* UPDATE: Added HTTP/2 check
* UPDATE: Removed MySQL client library check and replaced it with $wpdb->db_version()
* UPDATE: Increased recommended PHP version to 7.0.3
* UPDATE: Increased recommended MySQL version to 5.6
* UPDATE: Added link to official WordPress guidelines for site hardening
= 1.9.1 =
* FEATURE: Added HTML minify
* UPDATE: UI improvements
= 1.9.0 =
* FIX: Added autoload argument to all plugin options
* FIX: Fixed ETag generation by using actual filename instead of SCRIPT_FILENAME
* FIX: Fixed call-by-reference variables
* FIX: Removed all session control
* FIX: Changed Cache-Control to public (allow for global caching, instead of per-user)
* FIX: Re-enabled capital_P_dangit() filter <img src="/images/smileys/happy.png" alt=" :)" title=" :)" />
* UPDATE: Updated URL schema of included scripts and styles
* UPDATE: Added contextual help and legend
= 1.8.0 =
* UPDATE: Fixed description style
* UPDATE: Merged some options
* FEATURE: Added server information (based on Linfo)
* FEATURE: Added CSS/JS compression
* FEATURE: Added contextual help
* FIX: Removed admin tweaks as it broke some installations
* FIX: Fixed admin FontAwesome enqueuing
* FIX: Reworded the Sweeper clean-up options for less technical users
= 1.7.0 =
* UPDATE: Added WordPress 4.4 compatibility
* UPDATE: Fixed Sweeper UI
* UPDATE: Improved Sweeper functionality
* UPDATE: Added Sweeper backup notice
* FEATURE: Added WordPress version check
* FEATURE: Added WordPress 4.4 embed option
* FEATURE: Added cache control options
* FIX: Removed a hardcoded link
= 1.6.0 =
* PERFORMANCE: Removed option autoloading (performance gain)
* DEV: Changed version format to x.y.z
* DEV: Removed hardcoded plugin version and switched to get_plugin_data()
* COMPATIBILITY: Added new WordPress 4.4 admin styles
* SECURITY: Added HSTS
= 1.5.0 =
* UPDATE: Reinforced XML-RPC protection by adding pingback protection
* UPDATE: Hidden XML-RPC from HTTP response headers
= 1.4.0 =
* FEATURE: Added widget removal
* FEATURE: Added content filtering removal
* FEATURE: Added various other actions disabling
* FEATURE: Added new helper (template part caching)
= 1.3 =
* FIX: Fixed a variable switch for Recommended and Aggresive plans
* FIX: Fixed GZIP detection
* FEATURE: Added transient clean option using CRON
* FEATURE: Added `If Modified Since` HTTP header
* FEATURE: Added autosuggest removal option (wp-admin only)
* FEATURE: Added security options
* FEATURE: Added XMLRPC system.multicall removal
* UPDATE: UI improvements
* UPDATE: Moved XMLRPC options to Security tab
= 1.2 =
* FEATURE: Added style tag clean option
* FEATURE: Added script tag clean option
* FEATURE: Added scheme normalization option
* FEATURE: Added CSS attributes removal
* FEATURE: Added nofollow removal option to scoring/ranking tweaks
= 1.1 =
* RELEASE: First public release