NEWS

WordPress Takes Steps to Achieve Performance Lead via @sejournal, @martinibuster

Published

3 years ago

November 2, 2021

The new WordPress Performance Team, which includes contributors from Google and Yoast, is meeting to plan the next steps for coordinating efforts for improving WordPress performance. A kickoff meeting is happening on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.

What is underway is an energized approach toward solving performance bottlenecks in all areas of WordPress, including plugins and themes.

Virtually everything is on the table, with currently 19 categories of focus-areas to improve.

The initial meeting is in the WordPress slack group. Those without access are encouraged to participate in the announcement comment area.

Initial plans for the performance team meeting:

“lead the working groups formation

coordinate the initial administrative tasks (slack channel, weekly meetings, schedule working groups representative nominations, etc.)

create a mission statement for the team

coordinate the areas to tackle

outline the scope and the roadmap”

The Performance Team Meeting Agenda

The meeting agenda lists three items, a welcome, an open floor (where people can speak freely) and a time for defining areas of focus.

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Defining areas of focus is an important part of the agenda because it may help set the outlines for a road map of continuing the efforts to improve WordPress performance.

That said, there is already a spreadsheet with 19 categories of areas to improve.

The Performance Team describes keeping the focus of the meeting limited to begin with:

“…we will initially aim to keep the scope limited by defining the most impactful area of focus and create working groups if need be.

Defined focus areas will be the main points of discussion during weekly chats.

An agenda item for the first meetings will be to define the initial focus areas for the team.”

19 Categories for Improvement

There is a spreadsheet called, WP Performance Team: Focus Areas and Working Groups that lists 19 areas of focus.

Among the categories are these targets for improvement:

Images
Serving images in good quality but as small as possible
JavaScript
Optimizing JavaScript orchestration – Script prioritization, async/defer loading, use of module(s), loading scripts in footer, conditional loading…
CSS
Reducing CSS overhead – Critical CSS inlining, CSS tree shaking, CSS minification, …
Web fonts
Reducing web fonts overhead – Web fonts orchestration, fonts CSS inlining, avoiding multiple requests, …
Themes/Plugin requirements
Encouraging plugins to provide better performance: Automatic performance tests in CI, flagging problematic plugins, …

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This is the full list of 19 categories, which can be reviewed in the official Performance Team spreadsheet:

Images
JavaScript
CSS
Web fonts
Asset caching
Page caching
Object caching
Bootstrap
Embeds
Facades
SQL
Redirects
CDN support
Themes/Plugin requirements
Host configuration
Site Health
Localization
Measurement
Hints

Helping Plugin Developers/Not Policing Them

A forward-looking approach taken by the Performance Team is to focus on how they can help plugin developers better performing software that didn’t slow down a website.

Performance Team members left comments on the right hand side that align with the 19 categories of focus that are listed on the left hand side of the spreadsheet.

Screenshot of a WordPress Performance Team Comment

WordPress Performance Team Comment

One commenter on the performance projects spreadsheet discussed creating a handbook while another (Googler Thierry Mueller) suggested adding performance signals to help publishers better understand where their plugins stood in terms of performance.

One of the Performance Team members commented about helping plugin developers:

There is a huge work to be done to educate plugin and theme developers to better understand how to enqueue assets correctly/when needed.
I’m available to write a handbook section about this and to put together some enqueues best practices/lessons as I already have started this QA job in my company.

In the same comment stream Thierry Mueller of Google commented about how to help plugin developers:

“Top of mind is introducing some performance signals to the plugins and themes review. That could already stop some of the bleeding for new plugins/themes and we could think of helping plugins/themes on update as well which would very quickly circle around all active plugins.”

Active Performance Projects

WordPress tracks various development projects and some of them are related to performance, as listed in this official WordPress page.

One of the projects is fixing a bug in the media uploader that causes the WordPress site to create a new version of the image that is three to four times bigger than the original image.

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Another project currently in progress is omitting the lazy load attribute from images that are above the fold in order to improve performance.

WordPress is Fighting Back

WordPress is taking a coordinated approach toward improving performance. The next steps will be discussed Tuesday November 2, 2021.

The focus is already toward achieving the most “impactful” wins on the WordPress core itself and thinking of ways to help plugin and theme developers create software that doesn’t slow websites down.

Among the project participants are contributors from Google and Yoast. While this is just a beginning, looking at the projects already underway WordPress may begin building success upon success very soon.

Drupal, Wix , and Duda have surged well ahead of WordPress in terms of performance. The new performance team may help WordPress gain the top spot.

Citations

Read the Details of the Performance Team Kick Off Meeting

WordPress Performance Team Kick Off

Review the WordPress Spreadsheet with List of Future Improvements

WP Performance Team: Focus areas and working groups

Continue Reading Below

Searchenginejournal.com

NEWS

OpenAI Introduces Fine-Tuning for GPT-4 and Enabling Customized AI Models

Published

2 weeks ago

August 21, 2024

Max

OpenAI Introduces Fine-Tuning for GPT-4 and Enabling Customized AI Models

OpenAI has today announced the release of fine-tuning capabilities for its flagship GPT-4 large language model, marking a significant milestone in the AI landscape. This new functionality empowers developers to create tailored versions of GPT-4 to suit specialized use cases, enhancing the model’s utility across various industries.

Fine-tuning has long been a desired feature for developers who require more control over AI behavior, and with this update, OpenAI delivers on that demand. The ability to fine-tune GPT-4 allows businesses and developers to refine the model’s responses to better align with specific requirements, whether for customer service, content generation, technical support, or other unique applications.

Why Fine-Tuning Matters

GPT-4 is a very flexible model that can handle many different tasks. However, some businesses and developers need more specialized AI that matches their specific language, style, and needs. Fine-tuning helps with this by letting them adjust GPT-4 using custom data. For example, companies can train a fine-tuned model to keep a consistent brand tone or focus on industry-specific language.

Fine-tuning also offers improvements in areas like response accuracy and context comprehension. For use cases where nuanced understanding or specialized knowledge is crucial, this can be a game-changer. Models can be taught to better grasp intricate details, improving their effectiveness in sectors such as legal analysis, medical advice, or technical writing.

Key Features of GPT-4 Fine-Tuning

The fine-tuning process leverages OpenAI’s established tools, but now it is optimized for GPT-4’s advanced architecture. Notable features include:

Enhanced Customization: Developers can precisely influence the model’s behavior and knowledge base.
Consistency in Output: Fine-tuned models can be made to maintain consistent formatting, tone, or responses, essential for professional applications.
Higher Efficiency: Compared to training models from scratch, fine-tuning GPT-4 allows organizations to deploy sophisticated AI with reduced time and computational cost.

Additionally, OpenAI has emphasized ease of use with this feature. The fine-tuning workflow is designed to be accessible even to teams with limited AI experience, reducing barriers to customization. For more advanced users, OpenAI provides granular control options to achieve highly specialized outputs.

Implications for the Future

The launch of fine-tuning capabilities for GPT-4 signals a broader shift toward more user-centric AI development. As businesses increasingly adopt AI, the demand for models that can cater to specific business needs, without compromising on performance, will continue to grow. OpenAI’s move positions GPT-4 as a flexible and adaptable tool that can be refined to deliver optimal value in any given scenario.

By offering fine-tuning, OpenAI not only enhances GPT-4’s appeal but also reinforces the model’s role as a leading AI solution across diverse sectors. From startups seeking to automate niche tasks to large enterprises looking to scale intelligent systems, GPT-4’s fine-tuning capability provides a powerful resource for driving innovation.

OpenAI announced that fine-tuning GPT-4o will cost $25 for every million tokens used during training. After the model is set up, it will cost $3.75 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens. To help developers get started, OpenAI is offering 1 million free training tokens per day for GPT-4o and 2 million free tokens per day for GPT-4o mini until September 23. This makes it easier for developers to try out the fine-tuning service.

As AI continues to evolve, OpenAI’s focus on customization and adaptability with GPT-4 represents a critical step in making advanced AI accessible, scalable, and more aligned with real-world applications. This new capability is expected to accelerate the adoption of AI across industries, creating a new wave of AI-driven solutions tailored to specific challenges and opportunities.

GOOGLE

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Published

2 months ago

June 30, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Here’s what happened in the world of Google and search engines this week:

1. Google’s June 2024 Spam Update

Google finished rolling out its June 2024 spam update over a period of seven days. This update aims to reduce spammy content in search results.

2. Changes to Google Search Interface

Google has removed the continuous scroll feature for search results. Instead, it’s back to the old system of pages.

3. New Features and Tests

Link Cards: Google is testing link cards at the top of AI-generated overviews.
Health Overviews: There are more AI-generated health overviews showing up in search results.
Local Panels: Google is testing AI overviews in local information panels.

4. Search Rankings and Quality

Improving Rankings: Google said it can improve its search ranking system but will only do so on a large scale.
Measuring Quality: Google’s Elizabeth Tucker shared how they measure search quality.

5. Advice for Content Creators

Brand Names in Reviews: Google advises not to avoid mentioning brand names in review content.
Fixing 404 Pages: Google explained when it’s important to fix 404 error pages.

6. New Search Features in Google Chrome

Google Chrome for mobile devices has added several new search features to enhance user experience.

7. New Tests and Features in Google Search

Credit Card Widget: Google is testing a new widget for credit card information in search results.
Sliding Search Results: When making a new search query, the results might slide to the right.

8. Bing’s New Feature

Bing is now using AI to write “People Also Ask” questions in search results.

9. Local Search Ranking Factors

Menu items and popular times might be factors that influence local search rankings on Google.

10. Google Ads Updates

Query Matching and Brand Controls: Google Ads updated its query matching and brand controls, and advertisers are happy with these changes.
Lead Credits: Google will automate lead credits for Local Service Ads. Google says this is a good change, but some advertisers are worried.
tROAS Insights Box: Google Ads is testing a new insights box for tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend) in Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns.
WordPress Tag Code: There is a new conversion code for Google Ads on WordPress sites.

These updates highlight how Google and other search engines are continuously evolving to improve user experience and provide better advertising tools.

FACEBOOK

Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

Published

6 months ago

March 20, 2024

Max

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.