Lazy Widget Loader
Lazy Widget Loader provides lazy loading for widgets to improve page loading. Use on slow widgets with content from Facebook, Twitter, AdSense ...
The facts
- Rating
- 5★ from 2
- Active installs
- 100+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 3 Aug 2013
- Added
- Sep 2011
- Requires WP
- 3.0
- Tested up to
- WP 3.6.1
- Downloads
- 18,520
Our analysis
AI-assistedLazy Widget Loader is a WordPress plugin designed to improve page loading times by implementing lazy loading for widgets. It allows you to postpone the loading of selected widgets, particularly those that pull in external data from sources like Facebook, Twitter, or AdSense, ensuring that the main content of your page loads first.
This plugin is suitable for users looking to enhance their site's speed and performance by optimising how widgets load. You have control over which widgets are affected, and there is an option to display a loading indicator while content is being fetched.
Best for: This plugin suits website owners who want to enhance performance by optimising widget loading.
What it does well
- ✓Improves page loading times
- ✓Allows selection of specific widgets for lazy loading
- ✓Can display a loading indicator while content loads
- ✓Supports advanced asynchronous loading features
Where it falls short
- •Last updated in August 2013
- •Tested only up to WordPress 3.6.1
- •Limited user feedback with only two ratings
Verdict
Lazy Widget Loader offers a straightforward solution for improving site speed through lazy loading of widgets, but its age and limited compatibility may be a concern for some users.
From the developer
itthinx's own description of Lazy Widget Loader, lightly tidied.
The Lazy Widget Loader plugin provides lazy loading for widgets to improve page loading.
Use it on slow widgets, especially those where external data is loaded, like widgets from Facebook, Twitter, AdSense, …
What this plugin basically does is to postpone loading the content of those widgets you choose, so that their content is loaded after the main content of the page that is displayed.
You can choose which widgets should be loaded like that, by default the plugin does not “impose” itself on any widget. You may also choose to display a throbber while the content of a widget is loaded.
Feedback is welcome!
If you need help, have problems, want to leave feedback or want to provide constructive criticism, please do so here at the Lazy Widget Loader plugin page.
Please try to solve problems there before you rate this plugin or say it doesn’t work.
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Translations
- Lithuanian translation provided by Vincent G from Host1Free – Thanks for your help!
Advanced lazy loading integration
The Lazy Widget Loader can take advantage of the advanced asynchronous loading mechanism provided by the Itthinx LazyLoader for content and widgets.
This plugin helps to optimize site speed by greatly improving page load time and bandwidth usage.
Instead of deferred loading in the footer, it provides advanced options that allow to load any content only when needed.
These include shortcodes that allow to lazy-load content anywhere on a page, the option to load content on sight and an automatic noscript feature that helps to provide alternative content for visitors that have disabled JavaScript.
You can see a demo of the Itthinx LazyLoader here.