Core Performance Team

WordPress powers a significant portion of the web. That scale means something important: even small performance improvements can have a massive global impact.

Behind many of those improvements is the Core Performance Team — a group of contributors dedicated to making WordPress faster, more efficient, and more scalable for everyone.

If you care about speed, scalability, metrics, optimization, and the technical foundations of the web — this team may be exactly where you belong.

The Core Performance Team works at the intersection of engineering precision and real-world impact. Their work influences site owners, developers, hosting providers, and millions of users worldwide.

They are always welcoming new contributors.

What Does the Core Performance Team Do?

The Core Performance Team focuses on improving WordPress performance across the stack — from server response times to frontend loading behavior.

But performance work is not only about making things faster. It is also about protecting WordPress from getting slower.

Main Areas of Responsibility

The team works on:

  • Identifying and prioritizing performance bottlenecks
  • Preventing performance regressions when new features are introduced
  • Proposing and shipping performance enhancements to Core
  • Maintaining and evolving the Performance Lab plugin
  • Running experiments through feature projects
  • Improving metrics and benchmarking processes
  • Collaborating with hosting providers and infrastructure experts

The Performance Lab plugin, a collection of performance-focused feature projects that can eventually be merged into WordPress Core. This allows experimentation, iteration, and real-world validation before changes become part of the core software.

GitHub repository:
https://github.com/WordPress/performance

Issues to explore:
https://github.com/WordPress/performance/issues

It is not only about improving what we already have but that WordPress is evolving at a rapid speed and with each release introduces new functionality. Every new feature that is going to WordPress — no matter how exciting — can have performance implications. A solution is not truly complete if it works functionally but introduces inefficiencies. The Performance Team helps ensure that improvements in user experience, editing capabilities, or infrastructure do not come at the cost of speed or scalability.

Performance is not a final polishing step. It is an ongoing responsibility.

Measuring Impact

Performance improvements are often incremental, but their impact can be observed through long-term metrics.

You can explore publicly available data for:

These dashboards reflect trends across recent commits (limited to the most recent set of changes). While they do not show the full historical picture, they help visualize how performance evolves over time and highlight how ongoing optimization efforts contribute to measurable improvements.

Even small optimizations — especially in software that powers a large portion of the web — can have meaningful global impact.

Types of Contributions

Contributors typically work on:

  • Performance-related patches
  • Code reviews
  • Benchmarking and testing
  • Research and analysis
  • Documentation updates
  • Issue triage
  • Bug scrubs
  • Dev notes and communication posts

Some contributors specialize in backend performance, others in frontend metrics, caching strategies, or image optimization. Others focus on identifying potential regressions early — before they reach production releases.

Key Responsibilities of the Core Performance Team

Like most Make teams, the Performance Team operates through ongoing collaboration and structured workflows.

Regular Activities

  • Coding and reviewing pull requests in the Performance Lab repository
  • Triaging GitHub issues
  • Running performance benchmarks
  • Writing Dev Notes and documentation
  • Testing feature plugins
  • Conducting bug scrubs
  • Hosting Performance Office Hours

Meetings are listed here:
https://make.wordpress.org/meetings/#core%20performance

Two especially welcoming entry points for new contributors are:

  • Performance Bug Scrubs
  • Performance Office Hours

These sessions help contributors understand current priorities and find meaningful ways to help.

Collaboration with Other Make Teams

Performance touches almost everything.

The team regularly collaborates with:

  • Core
  • Themes
  • Plugins
  • Hosting
  • Test
  • Accessibility

Performance improvements must integrate smoothly into the broader WordPress ecosystem. That means constant cross-team communication and thoughtful implementation.

Supporting and Mentoring New Contributors

Performance work can seem intimidating — metrics, profiling tools, infrastructure concerns — but newcomers are encouraged to:

  • Start with issue triage
  • Review documentation
  • Help test feature plugins
  • Attend bug scrubs and ask questions

Many contributors grow from their first small issue to becoming trusted reviewers and project leads.

Challenges Faced by the Core Performance Team

Open source work is rewarding — and complex.

The Core Performance Team faces several realistic challenges.

Technical Complexity

Performance optimization often involves:

  • Profiling tools
  • Benchmark interpretation
  • Understanding database behavior
  • Investigating caching layers
  • Deep familiarity with WordPress internals

For newcomers, this can feel like a steep learning curve.

Suggestion:
Start small. Attend Office Hours. Ask for guidance. Observe discussions before diving deep. Every expert began as a beginner.

Global Coordination

Contributors are spread across time zones.

Async communication is essential, but it can slow decision-making and coordination.

Suggestion:
Communicate availability clearly. Leave detailed comments. Summarize progress so others can pick up where you left off.

Maintaining Momentum

Performance work is often incremental. Improvements may be small individually but powerful collectively.

It can be challenging to maintain motivation when results are measured in milliseconds.

Suggestion:
Remember the scale. Even small optimizations can impact millions of websites. That perspective keeps the work meaningful.

Balancing Contribution with Life

Most contributors volunteer their time.

Balancing open source work with professional and personal responsibilities is a real challenge.

Suggestion:
Be clear about your capacity. Take on responsibilities gradually. Sustainable contribution is better than burnout.

Growing with the Core Performance Team

The Performance Team is an excellent place to grow technically and professionally.

Skill Development

Contributors can deepen expertise in:

  • Performance profiling
  • Database optimization
  • Benchmarking methodologies
  • Core Web Vitals
  • Caching strategies
  • Infrastructure scalability
  • Large-scale software engineering

These are highly valuable skills across the tech industry.

Leadership Opportunities

As contributors gain experience, they may:

  • Lead bug scrubs
  • Maintain feature projects
  • Mentor newcomers
  • Coordinate cross-team initiatives
  • Act as table leads during Contributor Days
  • Help shape roadmap priorities

Contributor Days & WordCamps

Contributor Days are an especially strong entry point.

However — preparation matters.

To make a meaningful contribution during Contributor Day:

  • Review the Performance Lab repository in advance
  • Install a local WordPress development environment
  • Install the Performance Lab plugin
  • Familiarize yourself with open issues
  • Read the team handbook:
    https://make.wordpress.org/performance/handbook/

Shared conference Wi-Fi is rarely ideal for large downloads or setup. Preparing ahead of time ensures you can start contributing immediately.

Coming prepared transforms the experience from “installation troubleshooting” into real collaboration.

Why Join the Core Performance Team?

Because performance matters.

Because WordPress scale amplifies impact.

Because improving infrastructure improves the open web.

And because contributing to performance work is not just about code — it’s about stewardship of a global ecosystem.

You don’t have to be an expert.

You do need curiosity, preparation, and willingness to learn.

Ready to Get Involved?

You can:

Your contribution — even a small improvement — can help millions of sites load faster.

And that is an impact worth pursuing.