Portal Performance Tuning Checklist

Optimizing the performance of your Power Pages is essential to provide users with a seamless and fast experience. Here’s a comprehensive checklist for portal performance tuning:

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1. Optimize Static Resources

• Minify JavaScript & CSS Files: Minify your JavaScript and CSS files to reduce file size and load times. Use tools like UglifyJS for JavaScript and CSSNano for CSS.
• Compress Images: Use tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim to compress images without sacrificing quality.
• Use Modern Image Formats: Opt for WebP format for images for better compression, or choose responsive images (e.g., using srcset).
• Leverage CDN for Static Assets: Host static resources like images, JavaScript, and CSS files on a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to reduce latency by delivering them from edge locations near the user.

2. Enable Browser Caching

• Set Cache-Control Headers: Define proper cache-control headers to ensure that static files are cached in the user’s browser. Set a long expiration time for static files that rarely change. Example: arduinoCopyEditCache-Control: public, max-age=2592000
• Use Versioning for Static Assets: Append version numbers or hashes to file names (e.g., styles.v1.css) to ensure users get the latest version when changes are made.

3. Optimize Form Performance

• Lazy Load Form Fields: Load form fields only when they are needed, such as when the user interacts with a dropdown or field.
• Use Auto-Complete/Auto-Suggest: For fields like addresses or emails, use auto-complete or auto-suggest to reduce user input and improve form submission speed.
• Avoid Excessive Validation: Minimize the use of excessive real-time validation in forms as it can slow down the experience. Validate only after user interaction or on form submission.

4. Optimize Queries and Data Retrieval

• Use FetchXML Wisely: FetchXML is powerful, but ensure you’re using it efficiently. Avoid unnecessary joins, limit the number of records retrieved, and use paging when possible.
• Use Dataverse View Filters: Pre-filter data in views to limit the amount of data that needs to be fetched. Consider using views and filters to ensure you’re only retrieving relevant data.
• Limit Data in Forms: Display only the essential data in forms and lists. Paginate large datasets in Entity Lists to prevent the page from being overloaded with data.
• Use Server-Side Logic for Complex Queries: Offload complex queries and calculations to the server-side (via Power Automate or plugins) to prevent blocking the client-side rendering.

5. Optimize Liquid Templates

• Avoid Complex Loops: Minimize the use of loops or complex logic in Liquid templates, as they can cause slow page rendering times.
• Cache Liquid Content: Use Liquid Caching for static or rarely changing content to reduce the need for re-processing the Liquid code on every page load.
• Leverage Output Caching: Cache rendered content for static parts of the page (e.g., headers, footers) to avoid re-rendering them every time.

6. Database and Storage Optimization

• Optimize Dataverse Tables: Regularly perform maintenance tasks like indexing and optimization on Dataverse tables to ensure efficient data retrieval.
• Limit the Use of Custom Columns: Use only necessary custom columns in Dataverse and remove unused ones to reduce overhead.

7. Improve Client-Side Rendering

• Minimize JavaScript Execution: Only include necessary JavaScript for the page. Minimize the use of libraries, and consider using vanilla JavaScript instead of large libraries.
• Use Asynchronous Loading: Load non-essential JavaScript and resources asynchronously so that the page can load faster.
• Lazy Load Images and Videos: Implement lazy loading for images, videos, and other media files so they are only loaded when they come into the viewport.

8. Reduce Server Requests

• Combine Multiple Files: If possible, combine your CSS and JavaScript files into fewer requests to reduce the overhead of multiple HTTP requests.
• Defer Non-Essential Scripts: Defer the loading of scripts that are not essential for immediate page load (e.g., analytics, ads) to avoid blocking the rendering of the page.

9. Content Delivery Optimization

• Use Azure Front Door or Application Gateway: Use Azure Front Door or Application Gateway to deliver content from the closest edge location for better performance and availability.
• Enable HTTP/2: Ensure that your portal supports HTTP/2 for faster multiplexing of requests over a single connection.

10. Monitoring and Diagnostics

• Leverage Browser DevTools: Use browser development tools (Chrome DevTools, Firefox DevTools) to measure the page load time, check for large resources, and identify bottlenecks.
• Enable Telemetry and Application Insights: Use Application Insights to gather performance data and pinpoint slow sections of the portal.
• Review Portal Telemetry Logs: Enable telemetry logging and use the portal’s error logs to review slow operations or errors.

11. Improve User Experience

• Implement Progressive Loading: For large data sets, implement progressive or incremental loading techniques, such as infinite scrolling or pagination.
• Prioritize Visible Content: Use techniques like critical CSS and above-the-fold content to render the most important content first and delay the loading of non-essential content.

12. Optimize for Mobile and Responsiveness

• Mobile First Design: Ensure your portal is designed with mobile users in mind. Optimize images, form fields, and layout for mobile devices.
• Test Mobile Performance: Use tools like Lighthouse to test mobile performance specifically, and apply recommendations accordingly.