WebProNews

A Firefox add-on called YSlow from Yahoo works with the Firebug plugin to show webmasters the causes of problems with their website's performance. By using the YSlow for Firebug addition to the Firefox browser, webmasters can review several views of their website. These views will help in diagnosing why a website responds slower than sites considered to be "high-performance."

The Yahoo Developer Network release YSlow, which requires the Firebug add-on for Firefox. Once in place, YSlow looks at a site's performance and stats to determine where troubleshooting should take place.

In the Performance View, YSlow recommends where changes can be made if they are needed. A site that makes a lot of HTTP requests, or doesn't use a content delivery network for eligible content, would have those sections of the report flagged for review.

Under the YSlow Stats View, the add-on calculates the size of a page for both empty and primed caches. Also, YSlow shows information about cookies the server places on the browser for the page.

A Components View lists all page components by type and other details. Webmasters can view the HTTP response headers for any of those components.

Those who plan to attend The Ajax Experience in San Francisco this week can learn more about YSlow there. A session presented by Yahoo's Exceptional Performance Team will cover the use of YSlow for performance analysis.