DEV Community: Gulab Bisht

QUICKLINK: Module for faster subsequent pageload

Gulab Bisht — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 03:11:32 +0000

The probability of bounce increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds. - Google

One of the capabilities of modern browsers is Link Prefetching. Link prefetching allows the browser to prefetch documents that the user might visit. And all this is done when the browser is idle.

Quicklink module provides a Drupal implementation of a lightweight javascript library called Quicklink. Quicklink library is developed by GoogleChromeLabs on link prefetching capability of browsers which allows faster subsequent page loads.

How Quicklink library work?

Now let's see how the Quicklink library works through the Quicklink module in Drupal.

Detect links in the viewport: Once the page loads Quicklink library detects links in the viewport with Intersection Observer.
Then it waits for the browser to be ideal using requestIdleCallback. This helps to make sure that other requests are not impacted.
The last check is to make sure the user is not on a slow or data-saver connection.
Now Quicklink library prefetches the links within the viewport using . And once you start scrolling it will start to fetch other links in the viewport.
Now if the user clicks any of the prefetched pages he/she will experience a fast page load with some drawbacks which we will talk about later.

How to Install and configure the Quicklink module

Once the Qucklink module is downloaded and enabled, it will start working out of the box for the anonymous users with default settings.

Quicklink configuration settings can be found on “/admin/config/development/performance/quicklink”.

Quicklink module configuration is divided into the following sections:

Prefetch Ignore Settings
Optimal Overrides
When to Load Library
Throttle Options
Prefetch Paths Only
Extended Browser Support
Debug

Warning

Quicklink might seem like a great solution but it is not for everyone. Quicklink makes your website load faster but it does this by prefetching links which users might never open. And these unwanted page loads can have negative effects on servers with the unnecessary load.

You can find a really good example of why you should not use the quicklink module https://menetray.com/en/blog/improving-performance-drupal-quicklink-20

Conclusion

Quicklink module might not be great for every website because of the negative effect on the server but it can do wonders if configured properly and used to load specific targetted links.

You need to make sure that you have balance between faster user experience with a quick page load for important pages and no negative server load because of prefetching links.

Full Read: https://www.drupixels.com/blog/quicklink-module-faster-subsequent-pageload

Drupal 8 admin themes for next level admin experience

Gulab Bisht — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 04:11:41 +0000

Drupal administrator interface was never considered great in terms of catching up with modern design and standards. And if you are one of those people who always use "Seven" as Drupal administrator theme then this is the right time to switch.

Here are some of my recent favorite theme options for the Drupal 8 administrator interface for the next level admin experience.

1. Adminimal - Responsive Administration Theme

Adminimal is my favorite and the most popular contributed administrator theme for Drupal backend. Adminimal admin theme uses seven themes as a base theme and makes it less prone to bugs.
It is highly recommended to use the “Adminimal Admin Toolbar” which provides minimalist style to Admin Toolbar in Drupal admin.
Project Page: https://www.drupal.org/project/adminimal_theme

2. Mediteran administrator

"Mediteran administrator" is a bluish, clean and modern admin for Drupal 8. It is a responsive theme admin theme that is optimized for mobile, tablet and desktop.
You can also combine the "Mediteran administrator" theme with "Admin Toolbar Mediteran" to get the clean look on the Admin Toolbar as well.
Project Page: https://www.drupal.org/project/mediteran

3. Claro

Claro is an all-new admin theme for Drupal 8 added from 8.8.0 release. Claro theme brings a modern admin design to drupal out of the box.
Claro admin theme is built in compliance with Admin UI & JavaScript Modernisation initiative to produce a re-imagined content authoring and site administration experience.

4. Material Admin

"Material Admin" is based on Google Material Design and modernize Drupal 8 administration UX and design.
This admin theme takes the mobile-first approach and great for people who want to use Drupal 8 backend from mobile.
Project page: https://www.drupal.org/project/material_admin

Let me know in the comment which one is your favorite or you are still not comfortable switching away from the "Seven" theme.

Original Post: https://www.drupixels.com/blog/drupal-8-admin-themes-next-level-admin-experience

First 5 Drupal 8 modules to install to make your life easy

Gulab Bisht — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 12:45:56 +0000

Starting a new Drupal 8 project? And the first thing you might do is to install a module, but which one first. There are a few obvious ones to install and sometimes these have no relation with the functionality of your project but they always help you in the background.

But why do we install them? It's simple, they make our life easy while we are implementing the universe of features into our Drupal website. But then you always miss some of those life-saving modules and only install them when you feel the pain.

Now here is my list of Drupal 8 modules which will make your life smooth and you should install them as soon as you see that welcome message on the home screen.

Admin Toolbar
Environment Indicator
Config Split
Module Filter
Site Settings and Labels

Full read: https://www.drupixels.com/blog/first-5-drupal-8-modules-install-make-your-life-easy