event calendars Archives

The Web Developer for People of All Races

Posted on June 30, 2023August 21, 2023

Another performance-optimized website rebuild from a ThemeForest template Theme to an open source WordPress Theme.

El Centro de la Raza provides 43 programs and services in 9 different service areas for children, youth, families and seniors around King County. The website features a new events calendar, language translation, and more dynamic program content in a more accessible Theme. The Gutenberg Block Editor provides more streamlined editing, with a plethora of layout and design options for content contributors.

Scope of Work

Accessibility Consulting
Branding & Visual Design
Content Migration
Performance Optimization
Search Engine Optimization
Security Hardening
WordPress Theme Development
WordPress Training & Consulting

Performance

Page load speed significantly improved since 2022. By reducing overall page size 88%, from 11.5 Mb to 1.4 Mb, and reducing web server requests 19% from 64 to 52, average mobile page loads have improved from ~11 to ~3 seconds.

Before & After Performance Comparison

Performance Metric	Old Website	New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	88/100	98/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	92/100	92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	39/100	87/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	54/100	99/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	79/100	77/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	10.729	3.024
Total Homepage File Size	11.5 Mb (10.1 Mb Images + 853 Kb Scripts + 136 Kb CSS + 31 Kb Other + 42 Kb Fonts + 42 Kb HTML)	1.366 Mb (1 Mb Images + 239 Kb Scripts + 123 Kb CSS + 22 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	64 (18 Images + 18 Scripts + 14 CSS + 10 Other + 4 HTML)	52 (13 Images + 14 Scripts + 22 CSS + 1 Other + 2 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~11 seconds	~3 seconds

WebPageTest Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2022, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Site Credits

Visual Design: Pixel Lighthouse
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow

Regular Website Check-ups = Better Performance

Posted on May 17, 2023June 23, 2023

A modern refresh for Arcora Foundation’s SmileMobile van, a 3-chair mobile dental office that brings oral health services to babies, children, youth, pregnant/postpartum people and adults in Washington State who have limited options for dental care. The new site features a mobile-friendly event calendar, as well as translation tool for under-served communities.

Mobile performance was significantly improved by reducing web server requests 63% and overall page size 77%.

Accessibility improvements included skip-to-content links, keyboard-navigable navigation, semantic HTML, and a higher contrast color palette.

Scope of Work

Accessibility Remediation
Performance Optimization
Search Engine Optimization
Visual Design & Layout

Performance Analysis

Performance Metric	Old Website	New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	95/100	98/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	92/100	92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	31/100	84/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	81/100	95/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	80/100	91/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	7.309	2.879
Total Homepage File Size	2.2 Mb ( 1.36 Mb Images + 574 Kb Scripts + 156 Kb CSS + Kb HTML)	509 Kb (153 Kb Images + 128 Kb Scripts + 77 Kb CSS + 150 Kb Fonts + 12 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	84 (25 Images + 32 Scripts + 16 CSS + 11 Other + 1 HTML)	31 (6 Images + 11 Scripts + 11 CSS + 1 Font + 2 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~7.3 seconds	~2.9 seconds

WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2022, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Developing Outstanding WordPress Websites for 12 years

Posted on September 14, 2022June 23, 2023

Presenting my latest website overhaul for Early Music Seattle, a nonprofit presenting classic concerts at venues around the city – including Benaroya Hall, Bastyr University Chapel, Federal Way Community Performing Arts Center, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, and Town Hall.

This project involved converting a custom-built WordPress Theme and migrating content into a new performance-optimized Theme (_Underscores). The Block Editor was integrated for more robust layout and styling. Accessibility improvements included higher contrast colors, navigation skip links, keyboard accessible menus, and mobile-clickable phone numbers. A new branded event calendar was also integrated, with the ability for community organizations to submit third-party events. By reducing server requests 45% and reducing page size 85%, page load speed now ranks in the upper 10^th percentile of sites.

Scope of Work

Accessibility consulting
Content migration
Performance optimization
Security hardening
WordPress training & consulting

Site Statistics

Performance Metric	Old Website	New Website (September 2022)
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	79/100	100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	67/100	92/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	62/100	90/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	89/100	95/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	83/100	100/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	4.426	2.804
Total Homepage File Size	2.1 Mb ( 1.36 Mb Images + 574 Kb Scripts + 156 Kb CSS + Kb HTML)	323 Kb (169 Kb Images + 57 Kb Scripts + 45 Kb CSS + 43 Kb Fonts + 18 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	64 (22 Images + 29 Scripts + 11 CSS + 5 Other + 2 HTML)	35 (7 Images + 11 Scripts + 13 CSS + 3 Font + 1 HTML)
Total Homepage Load Time	~4.4 seconds	~2.8 seconds

WebPage Test Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2021, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Photography: EMS staff, volunteers and Scribe Music
Videography: Markdavin Obenza: Scribe Music
Visual Design: Amy Tullis
WordPress Theme Development: Scott Marlow

What Would WordPress Do?

Posted on February 1, 2021June 23, 2023

WordPress is the most popular Content Management System in the world. WordPress powers 42% of all websites; and 62% of CMS-powered sites.

But not all WordPress sites are created equal.

One of my favorite tasks is showing clients the benefits of open source technology. In particular, I enjoy demonstrating Core Web Vitals for open source WordPress Themes vs. cheap, popular paid commercial themes from vendors like ThemeForest. I primarily use Google Lighthouse to evaluate sites, but I also rely on Pingdom, WebPageTest and other benchmarking tools.

This latest nonprofit project for PenMet Parks in Gig Harbor involved rebuilding a commercial theme-powered WordPress site with my favorite Theme, _Underscores.

The client’s previous page load speed was atrocious, and the website crashed on a regular basis. Worse, content contributors could not even use the CMS to make the most basic content edits due to bloated Theme and Plugin features.

By following better WordPress and web standards, web server requests were reduced 69% and page size was reduced 73%. As a result of better web development practices, page load speed improved 78%. And the parks organization can now easily, intuitively edit all of their site content.

Scope of Work

accessibility testing
brand discovery
project management
content migration
copywriting
creative strategy
art direction
color palette development
front-end web development
performance optimization
security hardening
search engine optimization
visual design
WordPress training and consulting

Site Statistics

Performance Metric	Old Website	New Website
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Performance	3/100	67/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Performance	12/100	92/100
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility		97/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices		93/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	7.176	1.831
Total Homepage File Size (In 2020, average page size was ~2.4 Mb; median size was ~2.1 Mb)	4.5 Mb	1.2 Mb
Total Web Server Requests	194	61
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~7 seconds	~1.8 seconds

Team

Photography by Chrisy Dorsey
Visual Design by Heidi Grace
WordPress Theme Development by Scott Marlow

Inclusive Websites for Inclusive Communities

Posted on April 13, 2019June 23, 2023

Visual Design by Peg Ogle
WordPress Theme Development by Scott Marlow

A bright mobile-first website refresh for Silver Glen – the only cooperative community for senior independent living in King County.

The new site features a video of facility stills; an image gallery; and a community events calendar. System operating fonts were chosen to optimize site performance, with a minimum font-size of 18 pixels to improve readability for older audiences. A sitewide sidebar can promote units for sale, as needed.