JetPack 5.6 Update Adds Lazy Loading & Google Analytics Support For WooCommerce

JetPack has launched its latest update version 5.6 which adds the ability to Lazy Load images and expands its Google Analytics support for WooCommerce. The update also includes several new enhancements to other modules in the plugin. If you would like to learn more about what Lazy Loading is, please check out this article on what it is and why it matters.

Testing JetPack 5.6

In testing, I found out a few things:

• The new integrated Lazy Load option was very similar to the "Lazy Load" plugin on the WordPress.org directory.
• The filters and the images affected were nearly identical.

The biggest issue I found was in the Lazy Load functionality. There is no way to activate this new functionality. Unless you activate Photon, but there is no reason to do this. I did find a workaround which is to revert back to the old JetPack UI. This can be found on the following URL: wp-admin/admin.php?page=jetpack_modules.  I then managed to find the Lazy Load option in the list. After activating it, I found it to be identical in performance to other Lazy Load plugins. There are some issues on the GitHub page regarding reflows on sites with a large number of images. I recommend going to the GitHub page to give your input if you wish to contribute to the plugin. SERT Media has also made a pull request to further expand the images that are lazy loaded to include images that are found in text widgets and other locations on your website.

Google Analytics Support for WooCommerce

While JetPack has integrated Google Analytics support in a previous release, this update adds Google Analytics support for WooCommerce. There are already additional issues raised to enhance the feature which can also be read on the JetPack Github page. Some notable issues, I have pictured below. Overall, I am happy to see JetPack is expanding on content related features instead of features that improve performance. I'm looking forward to see what new features they add next. What are your thoughts on the update and what features do you want to see come out in future updates of the plugin?