Falcon includes various optimization tweaks that improve your website's performance by cleaning up code, reducing file sizes, and optimizing asset loading. These tweaks are small improvements that add up to significant performance gains.
Search only posts
By default, WordPress search includes all post types (posts, pages, custom post types). If you only want to search blog posts, this feature limits search results to posts only, making searches faster and more focused while reducing database query complexity. This is useful for sites where pages aren't meant to be searchable or when you want more targeted search results.
However, if you need to search through other post types, such as in a e-commerce website where you need to search for products, you might want to disable this feature.
This feature is available in the General tab.
Enable maintenance mode
When performing updates, redesigns, or major changes, maintenance mode shows a message to non-admin visitors while allowing administrators to access the site normally. This temporarily hides your site from visitors and prevents them from seeing incomplete work. Remember to disable it when your site is live and accessible.
This feature is available in the General tab.
Remove query string for JavaScript and CSS files
WordPress adds version query strings (like ?ver=6.4) to JavaScript and CSS files for cache busting. However, some proxy servers and CDNs don't cache files with query strings properly. Removing these query strings allows browsers and CDNs to cache your assets more effectively, reducing bandwidth usage and improving load times for returning visitors.
This feature is available in the Media tab.
Set scheme-less URLs for JavaScript and CSS files
This feature removes http: and https: from JavaScript and CSS file URLs, making them protocol-relative. This means the browser will use the same protocol (HTTP or HTTPS) as the page itself. This reduces URL length slightly and can help with mixed content issues.
This feature is available in the Media tab.
Remove styles of the recent comments widget
WordPress outputs inline styles for the recent comments widget when using classic widgets. These inline styles add unnecessary code to your HTML. If you use classic widgets and have the recent comments widget, removing these styles reduces HTML bloat. This only affects classic widgets, not block-based widgets. So, if you already disable the block editor, you might not need this feature (enabling it doesn't harm, though).
This feature is available in the Media tab.
Cleanup nav menu item IDs & classes
WordPress adds many CSS classes and IDs to menu items, which can bloat your HTML. This feature removes most of these, keeping only essential classes like:
menu-itemcurrent-menu-itemcurrent-menu-ancestor, andmenu-item-has-children
This significantly reduces HTML size, especially for large menus, while maintaining functionality for styling and JavaScript that relies on these core classes.
Warning: If your theme or plugins require specific menu item classes or IDs to perform special actions or add styling, disabling this feature may break styling or functionality. Test your menus after enabling this to ensure everything still works correctly.
This feature is available in the Media tab.
Asynchronous load CSS
CSS files normally block page rendering, meaning the browser waits for CSS to load before displaying content. This feature allows you to load specific CSS files asynchronously, preventing them from blocking rendering and improving perceived page load speed.
How it works: You specify CSS handles or keywords (one per line), and those CSS files are loaded asynchronously using a technique that loads them as print media first, then switches to all once loaded.
Important: Only use this for non-critical CSS files. Critical CSS (styles needed for above-the-fold content) should load normally to prevent layout shifts and visual glitches. This feature is best for:
- CSS files that style below-the-fold content
- Third-party plugin CSS that isn't immediately needed
- Non-essential styling that can load later
This feature is available in the Media tab.