Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster

Although Asset CleanUp is guaranteed to work with self-hosted (WordPress.org) websites, it can be used on WordPress.com ones too, but with limitations. Features such as minify/combine CSS/JS files or combine Google Fonts (if any loaded) aren’t guaranteed to work (basically, anything requiring writing files to the caching directory). However, if you want to unload CSS/JS files, which is the key feature of the plugin, then this has always been tested & working for WordPress.com websites. Note that at the time of writing this (June 21, 2020), you can only install plugins on WordPress.com websites if you sign up for their Business plan: https://wordpress.com/pricing/

There are various ways to check the speed of a website and this is in relation to the following: front-end (the part of the website visible to your visitors), back-end (PHP code, server-side optimization), hosting company, CDN (Content Delivery Network) setup, files loaded (making sure CSS, JS, Images, Fonts, and other elements are properly optimized when processed by the visitor’s browser).

Check out https://gtmetrix.com/ to do an analysis of your website and see the overall score your website gets in PageSpeed and YSlow.

Web assets are elements such as CSS, JavaScript, Fonts, and image files that make the front-end which is the look and functionality of your website that is processed by the browser you are using (e.g. Google Chrome. Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera etc.). Asset CleanUp deals with CSS and JavaScript assets which are enqueued in WordPress by your theme and other plugins.

No, Asset CleanUp does not do any page caching. It just helps you unload .css and .js that you choose as not needed from specific pages (or all pages). This, combined with an existing caching plugin, will make your website pages load faster and get a higher score in speed checking tools such as GTMetrix (Google PageSpeed and YSlow).

Yes, this plugin was tested with W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket and WP Fastest Caching and should work with any caching plugin as any page should be cached only after the page (HTML Source) was rendered and all the enqueueing / dequeueing was already completed (from either the plugins or the theme). Asset CleanUp comes with minify/combine files feature. Please do not also enable the same feature on a caching plugin. Example: If you already minified CSS/JS files with Asset CleanUp, do not enable Minify CSS/JS in WP Rocket or other caching plugins.

There are a few known reasons why you might see different or no assets loading for management:

• Those assets weren’t loaded properly into WordPress by the theme/plugin author as they were likely hardcoded and not enqueued the WordPress way. Here’s a tutorial that will help you understand better the enqueuing process: http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-properly-add-javascripts-and-styles-in-wordpress/

• You’re using a cache plugin that is caching pages even when you’re logged in which is something I don’t recommend as you might have conflicts with other plugins as well (e.g. in W3 Total Cache, you can enable/disable this) or that plugin is caching pages even when a POST request is made to them (which is not a good practice as there are many situations in which a page should not be cached). That could happen if you’re using “WP Remote POST” method (from version 1.2.4.4) of retrieving the assets in the Dashboard.

• You might have other functions or plugins (e.g. Plugin Organizer) that are loading prior to Asset CleanUp. Note that Plugin Organizer has a file that is in “mu-plugins” which will load prior to any plugin you have in “plugins”, thus, if you have disabled specific plugins through “Plugin Organizer” in some pages, their assets will obviously not show in the assets list as they are not loaded at all in the first place.

If none of these apply to you and you just don’t see assets that should definitely show there, please open a support ticket.

Whenever you unload certain CSS/JS files, you expect to either see an immediate increase in the Google PageSpeed Insights / GTMetrix score or not loaded when you test the page in Incognito (visiting it as a guest, while you’re not logged-in). However, this doesn’t always happen. Pleae check this post to find out the possible reasons: https://assetcleanup.com/docs/changes-applied-not-taking-effect/

You can get access to more features, priority support and automatic updates by upgrading to the Pro version. It’s strongly recommended to avoid using any Asset CleanUp Pro nulled versions as they might contain malware and you will also not get any official support and access to plugin updates (e.g. bug fixes).

The known jQuery library is being used by many themes and plugins so it’s recommended to keep it on. jQuery Migrate was created to simplify the transition from older versions of jQuery. It restores deprecated features and behaviors so that older code will still run properly on jQuery 1.9 and later.

However, there are cases when you might not need jQuery at all on a page. If that’s the case, feel free to unload it. Make sure you properly test the page afterward, including testing it for mobile view.

Yes, the plugin has been tested for WordPress Multisite and all its settings are applied correctly to any of the sites that you will be updating.

The plugin makes AJAX calls to retrieve the data from the front-end page with 100% accuracy. Possible reasons why nothing is shown despite the wait might be:

• Your internet connection cut off after you loaded the edit post/post (before the AJAX calls were triggered). Make sure to check that and refresh the page if it’s back on – it happened to me a few times

• There could be a conflict between plugins or your theme and something is interfering with the script that is retrieving the assets

• You are loading the WordPress Dashboard through HTTPS, but you are forcing the front-end to load via HTTP. Although Asset CleanUp auto-corrects the retrieval URL (e.g. if you’re logged in the Dashboard securely via HTTPS, it will attempt to fetch the assets through HTTPS too), there could be cases where another plugin or .htaccess forces an HTTP connection only for the public view. Due to Same Origin Policy (read more here: https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Same_origin_policy_for_JavaScript), you can’t make plain HTTP AJAX calls from HTTPS connections. If that’s the case, try to enable “WP Remote POST” as a retrieval method in the plugin’s settings if you want to manage the assets in the Dashboard.

• You’re using plugins such as Wordfence that block the AJAX request. At this time, if that’s the case, it’s best to enable managing assets in the front-end view (Settings).

In this case, it’s advisable to enable “Manage in the Front-end?” in “Settings” of “Asset CleanUp”, thus making the list to show at the bottom of the posts, pages, and front-page only for the logged in users with admin privileges.

Although I’ve written the code to ensure maximum compatibility, there are factors which are not up to the quality of the plugin that could interfere with it.
In case the assets are not loading for you, please write to me on the forum and I will be happy to assist you!

With the recently released “Test Mode” feature, you can safely unload assets on your web pages without affecting the pages’ functionality for the regular visitors. It will unload CSS & JavaScript files that you selected ONLY for yourself (logged-in administrator). That’s recommended in case you have any doubts about whether you should applying a specific setting or unload any asset. Once you’ve been through the trial and error and your website is lighter, you can deactivate “Test Mode”, clear cache (if using a caching plugin) and the changes will apply for everyone. Then, test the page speed score of your website 🙂