Theme performance should be improved

[lindseymacmillan]

User Story

As a visitor, I want the Sunrise Naitonal Theme to load quickly, and be performant, so that I can find what I'm looking for faster.

Details

Currently, the Sunrise National Theme scores poorly on Lighthouse reports, and anecdotally has been noted to load slowly. By using Lighthouse reports as a basis for a larger audit, we can identify specific quick-wins to boost site performance and decrease load times.

The Lighthouse scores are being looked at with special consideration because these are ultimately a factor in Google's page ranking algorithm, and low scores could already be negatively affecting Sunrise's SEO standing.

Starting scores:

Acceptance Criteria

• All theme styles and scripts loading is deferred where possible
• Autoptimize settings have been reviewed to prevent render blocking JS issues
• Use of Getwid blocks have been reviewed (https://wordpress.org/plugins/getwid/)
• Sunrise National website scores 85 or above in all lighthouse report areas

[lindseymacmillan]

Next diagnostic steps to take:

1. Get site up and running locally
2. Disable Autoptimize
3. Run lighthouse tests, compare performance issues

[evanmac123]

Todo:
Caching Plugins
- Disable autoptimize?
- Figure out which ones

Blocks is slowing things down
- Take inventory of getwid blocks
- loading all the blocks on every page
- Code them in core
- Checking out
- Twitter block
- Instagram block

Design
Tina Luke project

• Could we make the site front end edittable
• Check out what blocks look like?
• Could we edit on the front

Accessibility
Mobile Speed

[evanmac123]

Run through Security
https://observatory.mozilla.org/analyze/sunrisemovement.org

Run through Validator
https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunrisemovement.org

[skyfaller]

Consider adding Greenhouse plugin to Lighthouse to test for sustainability of assets according to the Green Web Foundation's manually maintained directory of web hosts. Last time I checked, the plugin still worked, but it hasn't been updated since 2019, so it might need some love.