§ 08.00 — Insights · WordPress
WordPress
§ 08.01
Ledger
Why your WP site lost 1.2 s to a plugin audit, and how to win it back.
A 9-minute teardown of the plugin tax. Includes the spreadsheet I use to score plugins on weight, render-blocking, and abandonment risk. Numbers from 47 live sites measured in 2026.
9 min read
Plugin diet: 38 → 11 in 14 days
A worked example of cutting an enterprise WordPress install from 38 active plugins to 11, with every removed plugin's behaviour preserved in theme code.
11 min read
WordPress and security: the four checks no plugin gives you
WordPress security plugins fix the surface that's already exposed. The four checks that prevent exposure in the first place.
8 min read
When Classic beats FSE — and when it doesn’t
A frank tour of the design space. Classic themes win for marketing sites with bespoke design; FSE wins for content-heavy sites where editors compose pages.
5 min read