One of the most frustrating things about using Word Press is that it comes with a ton of default JavaScript and CSS files that take up a lot of space. If you’re looking to slim down your site’s file size without resorting to third-party plugins, there are a few easy methods you can use.
If you’re like most Word Press users, you’re probably familiar with the popular plugin “WP Minify” which can minify your JavaScript and CSS files for you. Minification is the process of reducing the size of code without losing functionality or improving readability. It’s important to do this when loading your website on a user’s browser, as it can improve page speed.
Most people start out by minifying their JavaScript files (or CSS) for performance purposes; however, this action isn’t required for most sites; however there are cases where minifying your JS or CSS can prove beneficial for the overall user experience, especially if you’re building a static website or wanting your site to load faster on mobile devices (e.g., smartphones). With that said, there are several proven ways you can do it without having your website slow down too much while also not having to install any plugins.
How to minify JavaScript and CSS in WordPress without Plugin? [Easy Methods]
If you’re like most WordPress users, your website is loaded with a ton of JavaScript and CSS. Unfortunately, loading all that code can take up a lot of space and slow down your website. In this article, we’ll show you how to minify your JavaScript and CSS without using a plugin.
What is the meaning of Minify CSS and JavaScript Files?
Minifying CSS and JavaScript files is a popular way to reduce the size of web page files. They can be used in development or production environments. Minifying can make changes more visible to the user and can speed up the download time of a page. While the files do not lose their functionality, optimizing them can make them smaller and faster to load. Minifying also lets you reuse code between pages or apps and makes things more organized.
Avoid potential file minifying conflicts. If two files have the same name but are compressed differently, browsers will try to load the first file they find. If there are multiple files with the same name but different compression levels, browsers will choose the highest level of compression file. This can cause confusion and potentially lead to errors when trying to use resources from a minified file.
CSS and JavaScript files minifying decrease the size of the file, which in turn reduces the amount of data that is transferred across the network. Additionally, minifying CSS and JavaScript files can improve the browser’s performance. Minifying these files also eliminates any potential security issues.
What is the difference between Minification and Compression?
Minification is the process of removing unnecessary code from a document to make it smaller. It removes unneeded information, such as whitespace and comments, while retaining the structure and meaning of the code. On the other hand, compression is the use of algorithms to reduce file size. The two techniques can be used together, but usually only one is necessary. They both have benefits and drawbacks.
Minification and compression are similar, but there is one key difference: compression can be used to save files without altering their contents, while minification can be used to alter the content of a file in order to reduce its size.
Compression mainly follows:
- A compression method is used to cut the size of files.
- The compressed version of a file is asked for.
- Then The server sends the compressed file to the client.
- When the client opens the file, the information can be read.
Why Minify Your WordPress Site?
Minifying your WordPress site not only makes it easier to load, but can also save you a lot of bandwidth and storage space. By reducing the size of your files, your website will load faster and consume less bandwidth. Also, smaller files take up less space on your server, so you’ll have more room to store more content or add new features to make the user experience better.
Removing unnecessary spaces, lines, and characters from the files actually makes these files smaller, which in turn speeds up loading times. Also, because less data is sent over the internet, minifying your WordPress site can make it safer.
Files that are minified include HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. By reducing the size of these files, you help to conserve bandwidth on your server.
Make sure that you’re treating your WordPress files like PHP files. This means that you should use the functions Contains (), GetParentClass (), and GetModule () as needed.
Minifying your WordPress site can make it faster and more responsive for users. It can also save you kilobytes on your website’s files. However, minifying your site is not a quick or easy task. Here are Five reasons why minifying your WordPress site is worth the effort:
- Minifying your WordPress site can reduce the load time for users.
- Minified files are smaller and faster to download.
- Minified files use less bandwidth and storage space, which can help your website host account save resources.
- Improved performance can lead to increased user engagement and loyalty among visitors to your website.
- Minified files are easier to read and maintain, making them a more appealing option for webmasters advertising their websites.
How do you minify JavaScript and CSS in WordPress?
Online tools are an essential part of any developer’s arsenal. They allow you to quickly and easily reduce the size of your JavaScript and CSS files. Here are a few of our favorite online tools:
Online Tools for CSS:
To minify CSS, we can use some online platforms to minify CSS files.
Minify – JavaScript and CSS minifier
Online CSS Minifier Tool and Compressor -Toptal
An example of a CSS Minifier
Minifi without CSS:
Minifi with CSS:
Here we used CSS Minifier, a popular online tool that can minify your code.
- It has a variety of features,
- Compress colors
- Compress font-weight
- Remove unnecessary backslashes
- Remove last semi-colons
Online Tools for JS:
To minify JS, we can use some online platforms to minify JS files.
Minify – JavaScript and CSS minifier
Minify – JavaScript and CSS minifier
An example of JS Minifier
Minifi without JS:
Minifi with JS:
Here we used a javascript-minifier.com which can be used to reduce the size of code by breaking it down into smaller chunks. With an option to minify individual files or all of the files in a folder. It has an option to minify individual files or all of the files in a folder. It also has an option to show warnings as well as errors.
The user interface for these tools makes them simple to use for everyone. Simply paste your code into the CSS minifier or JS minifier tabs. Then select “minify” or “compress” from the drop-down menu. You’ll obtain the “minified” version of your CSS or JS file after a few seconds. Simply copy and paste it into the file you wish to modify.
Special Note:
We highly recommend that you do not forget to back up the entire website before starting the minification and compression process. You can also make a backup of individual files, but it will take a long time. So, before making any changes to your live site, you can minify your files on a staging site.
Note down the score of your site’s speed with the Google PageSpeed Insights test before and after. This definitely helps you can compare the scores after the minification process.
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WARM UP
By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard that there are plenty of plugins that can be used to compress files in WordPress. If you’re like me, you probably have dozens of them installed, and maybe even thousands. We have all downloaded them and installed them with the intention of using them, but when it comes to dealing with a website that is built on WordPress (and hence has a large number of JS and CSS files), we often need to know how to minify our JS and CSS in order to speed up the loading times on our site.
By reducing the number of bytes transmitted over the network, you’ll help ensure that everyone with a browser can access your site without difficulty. Make sure that you have the right tools installed. However, whichever method you choose, be sure to keep your WordPress website speedy and responsive by optimizing your code for performance.