MachStyle helps your pages feel faster by loading critical styles first and delaying selected non-critical CSS.
You decide where this happens using simple rules. For many sites, this can improve Core Web Vitals.
- Open MachStyle and go to Test Flight.
- Add one rule for one page group (home page, a post type, or a URL pattern).
- Add the style handles you want to defer. Use Audit Panel to find style handles.
- Check the page on desktop and mobile.
- If it looks good, keep it. If not, edit or remove the rule.
- Run PageSpeed on the Test Flight URL and compare results with your live baseline.
- When stable, copy rules to Live Settings and enable live optimization.
Audit Panel is a tool that helps you find style handles to defer.
- Open the frontend of your website and open Audit Panel from MachStyle menu in admin bar.
- Click on any stylesheet to temporarily remove its styling. This shows you what the page looks like for a fraction of second during load.
- Look at the top of your site. If it still looks readable and organized without that style, it's a great candidate to stay deferred.
- If the page looks messy or the header breaks, that style is important for the first impression. Click it again to turn it back on.
- Once finished, click Copy Handles button to get your optimized list and add it to your MachStyle settings.
- Run PageSpeed on your normal live URL and save the baseline score.
- Open the same page in Test Flight mode from the admin bar.
- Run PageSpeed on that Test Flight URL.
- Compare scores and metrics (especially LCP, INP, and CLS).
- Keep only rules that improve speed without breaking layout.
- Move final rules to Live Settings.
Start with styles that are useful but not needed immediately:
- footer styles
- slider and carousel styles
- form styles on pages that do not show forms right away
- social/share widget styles below the fold
- extra builder/block styles not needed at first paint
Avoid deferring styles that control first-view layout:
- main theme layout styles
- header, menu, and hero section styles
- checkout/cart critical styles
- any style that causes layout jumps when delayed
- Turn off the live toggle (instant rollback).
- Check which rule was added last.
- Remove or narrow that rule.
- Retest in Test Flight.
- Faster first render can improve LCP.
- Smoother loading can reduce layout shifts (CLS).
- Cleaner early rendering can support better overall perceived speed.
MachStyle is best used in small steps: test, measure, then roll out.
See DEVELOPMENT.md.
- Name: Utsav Ladani
- WordPress.org: https://profile.wordpress.org/utsavladani