Boxzilla 3.1. Performance & unobtrusiveness.

by Danny

We released version 3.1 of the Boxzilla plugin. While the updated version does not come with many new features, it is an important update with lots of behind-the-scenes work paving the way for future updates.

Improved performance

Formerly, the plugin depended on the jQuery library and loaded in an additional CSS file containing some necessary CSS for rendering pop-ups at the right screen position.

In version 3.1, both of these dependencies are gone.

All usages of jQuery were replaced with their modern day equivalents and CSS is applied using JavaScript. This means 2 less HTTP requests, resulting in a faster site for you.

Pingdom performance score

Smoother animations

Previous versions of Boxzilla were mainly using jQuery for the animations that occur when a box is shown or hidden.

Version 3.1 includes a custom lightweight animation engine resulting in much smoother animations.

As an added bonus, you can now do cool stuff like wobble the pop-up box after it appears on the visitor’s screen.

One new feature that did make it into version 3.1 is the ability to set the box cookie right after a box is triggered.

Cookie trigger option

This allows you to prevent boxes from showing up multiple times in a row when your visitor does not explicitly dismiss them.

Get the update

The updated version can be downloaded from the Boxzilla plugin page on WordPress.org. Compatibility with all premium add-on plugins has been thoroughly tested, so there should not be any issues after applying the update.

If you do run into anything, don’t hesitate to let us know.