How to speed up your website with the Quicklink module for Drupal 8
Wondering if you need the Quicklink module for the Drupal 8 website? Wonder no more — you need this module, and we will explain why.
To attract and keep the attention of users on the Internet, you need to apply a lot of effort and ingenuity. One of the key user expectations is that your site loads quickly.
We are sure that you, like any other person, leaves a page if it takes a long time to load. This is natural, because we live in a world of speed (ultra-fast Internet, fast delivery of goods, emails that are sent in a fraction of a second). Users simply forgot how to wait.
To win their attention and wallet then you need to speed up your site performance.
Don't just rely on the Quicklink module to solve all your problems. The issues that slow down your site can be more serious.
Installing this module is just one of the possible solutions to this problem. That is why our web development agency created this blog.
In today's blog, you will find answers to the questions:
- What is this module?
- What does the Quicklink module do?
- How can I set up and configure it?
What is the Quicklink Drupal 8 module?
The Quicklink module is used to increase the loading speed of a website.
Drupal Quicklink module is a JavaScript library that allows you to preload pages by storing their content in the cache.
Version to work with: 7,8,9
How does the Quicklink speed optimization module work in Drupal 8?
While the user is viewing the page, the module detects links (which the user may theoretically want to click on) in the active screen, and preloads information from them, saving it to the cache.
The module performs all this only when the user is inactive, and when nothing is loaded on the page.
Due to the fact that the content from the links on the page was stored in the cache, when you go to one of the pages, it loads almost instantly.
The module also monitors the speed of the user's Internet connection — in case of a slow connection, it will not cache the content of the link.
How to install and configure the Quicklink module on the Drupal 8 site?
In order to install the Quicklink module, you need to download it from the official site.
Next, you need to customize this module to suit your needs.
On the module settings page, there are the following tabs:
- Prefetch Ignore Settings
- Optional overrides
- When to Load Library
- Extended Browser Support
- Debug
1. Prefetch Ignore Settings
On this tab, you can specify the types of links that will be ignored by the module.
There are 4 default settings that are automatically activated:
- Do not prefetch admin paths - ignore administrative type links.
- Do not prefetch AJAX links - ignore AJAX links.
- Ignore paths with hashtags (#) in them - ignore links with hashtags
- Ignore paths with file extensions - ignore links that have file extensions, that is, links to files.
There is also a field "URL patterns to ignore (optional)" in which you can specify your own link patterns that will be ignored by the module.
2. Optional Overrides
This tab has 3 fields for customization:
- Override parent selector - here you can specify a CSS selector in which the module will look for links for preloading. By default, the module searches for them throughout the document.
- Override allowed domains - here you can specify a list of domains for which preloading will be used. By default, the module works only with the original domain of our site (where the user is currently located).
- Prefetch these paths only - here you can set specific paths for which prefetching can be applied.
3. When to Load Library
On this tab, you can specify when the Quicklink library will be loaded.
There are 2 default settings that are immediately activated:
- Prefetch for anonymous users only - the library will be loaded only for anonymous users.
- Do not prefetch during sessions - do not use the library during sessions. This option is useful for modules that use sessions (for example, the shopping cart in a Drupal Commerce module).
There is also an option "Do not load library on these content types" in which you can select content types for which the library will not be used.
4. Extended Browser Support
On this tab, you can specify whether you want to load polyfills for the module to work in Internet Explorer browsers or not. This option is enabled by default.
5. Debug
This is the last tab. On this tab, you can activate the debug mode for the module. When this option is activated, you will be able to see the logs through the developer console in the browser.
Speed up the loading of your Drupal site by installing the QuickLink module!
Your site's quick response to user manipulation and subsequent page loads only contribute to positive user experience. Quite simply, this module will be useful for those who care about their site visitors, site performance and loading speed.
However, keep in mind that this is just one way to improve your website's loading speed. To eliminate the problem, you need to conduct a full audit of the site. Just installing this module will not solve all problems.
Now we have described how to install and configure it. You need to play with it a little to set it up properly, but it definitely won't bother you. Feeling overwhelmed by the Quicklink module setup yourself? Get help from web developers at the Drudesk web development agency.