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Item9588: Rename `body` zone to `script`, `{OptimizePageLayout}` becomes `{MergeHeadAndScriptZones}`

Priority: Normal
Current State: Closed
Released In: 1.1.0
Target Release: minor

Applies To: Engine
Component: Zones, ZonePlugin
Branches:

Reported By: PaulHarvey, MichaelDaum
Waiting For:
Last Change By: MichaelDaum

On IRC it seems that MichaelDaum and others have come to a similar conclusion that moving script to the body might be more trouble than it is worth.

The proposal is:

Delete {OptimizePageLayout} functionality
Rename all current usage of body zone to script
Delete (or make configurable?) head + ~~body~~script "merge" functionality This means old plugins will be broken if they add <script> to head with dependencies

Question:

Should there be a dedicated css zone? - Set WaitingFor Michael to answer this

I hope that by 4/5 September we have these changes stabilised.

Why didn't this feature deliver the promise of snappier page loads?

Let's start with a worst-case Foswiki:

Everything in head
JS is loaded in between .css; <script> tags are inter-mixed with <link>
JS does expensive things immediately when the scripts are executed, blocking browser from rendering on each script until they complete
Slow PC on a crappy browser, so JS load/run times are significant.

Now, if you move the script to </body>, yes, the page is much faster! But this has its own problems - "jumping twisties" are only the beginning. Here's a much easier solution that doesn't have the pitfalls of moving script to <body>:

Everything in head this will always be slower than a carefully crafted page that has JS in the =<body>=
JS loaded at the end of <head>, after all .css
JS uses jQuery(document).ready() to defer execution until the page is ready

This approach will consume less developer time with only slight disadvantage to having <script> in the body

-- PaulHarvey - 30 Aug 2010

I think it's worth making the "merge" functionality configurable, there are probably lots of plugins not in svn which will break without that feature. Maybe a {MergeHeadAndScriptZones} option that is disabled by default?

-- PaulHarvey - 30 Aug 2010

Most of this is done; holding off on the commit until non-core plugins and ZonePlugin is cleaned up, hopefully within 24 hrs.

-- PaulHarvey - 02 Sep 2010

Tasks waiting on this (Please document current twisty defects as a result of my changes on Item9515). Tasks waiting on Item9588:

Item9515, Item9576, Item9625

-- PaulHarvey - 05 Sep 2010

Mostly done. Still to-do:

Fix ZonePlugin tests.
Fix any trunk tests that were broken by the changes
Check ADDTOZONE usage in non-core svn extensions
Maybe tidy up documentation if time permits
Release new ZonePlugin, and simultaneously, all affected extensions in svn. They are:

Downgrading to normal

Michael, I added you because many of the plugins are yours. Do you have any additional thoughts to the above plan? I can prepare the extensions that aren't yours, for a new release if you like? Which of us will be uploading the new releases of all these extensions?

-- PaulHarvey - 06 Sep 2010

distro:b074600e9b8e broke ZonePlugin quite heavily: the tag handlers don't take a topicObject. They take a topic and web. ... Fixed in Item9763 by reverting most of the recent checkin.

-- MichaelDaum - 29 Sep 2010

I'm sorry about that, I would have caught that if I got time to fix the tests. I'm not sure why you reverted the whole checkin if only the registerTag call was wrong; I guess this means zones behave differently trunk vs ZonePlugin now.

Anyway, set to closed, this doesn't need to be in 1.1.0 release notes (zone enhancement work was done in another task).

-- PaulHarvey - 30 Sep 2010

I tried fixing the tag handler only. But this change required a subsequent fix of all further methods being called using a topicObject as an argument further down. Fixing that too didn't help either as all of the plugin got stuck into an infinite loop for some reason. So I pulled the emergency stop and reverted to a version that I understand and that works. The only difference to foswiki/trunk is merging zones.

-- MichaelDaum - 30 Sep 2010

ItemTemplate edit

Summary	Rename `body` zone to `script`, `{OptimizePageLayout}` becomes `{MergeHeadAndScriptZones}`
ReportedBy	PaulHarvey, MichaelDaum
Codebase	trunk
SVN Range
AppliesTo	Engine
Component	Zones, ZonePlugin
Priority	Normal
CurrentState	Closed
WaitingFor
Checkins	distro:55029e4c6ec2 distro:0379ab26654a distro:7aecdf61a6f2 distro:b074600e9b8e distro:c898bdd1306a distro:7ece6b8c92b5 DpSyntaxHighlighterPlugin:c2c15ab15266 EditChapterPlugin:20afa7a9ad4d FlotChartPlugin:a472ccda119e HijaxPlugin:480485f268e6 JQGridPlugin:6b930b53ed53 JQuerymbComponentsPlugin:4ac27d2876b3 MetaCommentPlugin:a38052e67fd1 NatSkinPlugin:fadad02540e2 ObjectPlugin:a76b3c760205 ObjectPlugin:9eb8f95d9de7 distro:53a725186d83 distro:23d7a8c073e2
TargetRelease	minor
ReleasedIn	1.1.0