2013-03-10T17:19:20-07:00 http://javascriptrules.com/tag/google Marcel Duran marcelduran@gmail.com 2010-08-25T00:00:00-07:00 /2010/08/25/web-metrics-framework <p>Recently <a href='http://code.google.com/speed/articles/web-metrics.html'>Google Web Metrics</a> report came across and inspired by my co-worker Stoyan Stefanov&#8217;s <a href='http://www.phpied.com/wtf/'>WTF - Web Testing Framework</a> I decided to build my own ruleset for <a href='http://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/'>YSlow</a> using these metrics to check how good or bad pages are compared to Top and All Sites averages.</p> <p>Last edition of <a href='http://en.oreilly.com/velocity2010'>O&#8217;Reilly Velocity Conference</a>, Stoyan demonstrated <a href='http://en.oreilly.com/velocity2010/public/schedule/detail/15306'>how easy is to build your own YSlow ruleset</a> and following his <a href='http://www.phpied.com/wtf/'>post</a> and <a href='http://github.com/stoyan/Web-Testing-Framework/'>source code</a> I was able to make it. This first release of this <a href='http://labs.javascriptrules.com/wmf/'>extension</a> of <a href='http://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/'>extension</a> of <a href='http://getfirebug.com/'>extension</a> features:</p> <ul> <li>Google Web Metrics from 2010-05-26</li> <li>Top and All Sites metrics rulesets</li> <li>Use percentile to score when available</li> <li>Use SSH metrics for HTTPS pages</li> </ul> <p><img src='http://javascriptrules.com/images/wmf.png' alt='Screenshot: Web Metrics Framework for YSlow for Firebug for Firefox' /></p> <h3 id='gimme'>Gimme!</h3> <ul> <li>The code is <a href='http://github.com/marcelduran/Web-Metrics-Framework'>in GitHub</a></li> <li>Install it from <a href='https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/221495/'>Mozilla Addon Page</a> or <a href='http://labs.javascriptrules.com/wmf/download/'>Download Page</a></li> </ul> <h3 id='usage'>Usage</h3> <p>After installing this extension you will see 2 new rulesets in the YSlow rulesets drop down list:</p> <ol> <li>Web Metrics Framework - Top Sites</li> <li>Web Metrics Framework - All Sites</li> </ol> <p>Choose one of these rulesets and click <strong>Run Test</strong> button. The current page will be evaluated using the Google web metrics data.</p> <h3 id='metrics'>Metrics</h3> <p>The metrics provided by Google on its article are mainly averages with some percentiles and SSL data. YSlow rules need a lint function that evaluates an input returning a score from 0 to 100 which is later used to give the F to A score system using weights.<br />Since not all metrics have percentiles I had to compare the page metrics with the average multiplied by a magic number (4) to create a range from 0 to 4 * average (if any statistic savvy here has comments on it please help me out to find a better way to evaluate) which is good enough to have an outcome where being in the average deserves a C. Perhaps Google releases new reports in future updates with all metrics percentiles, this extension could benefit from those numbers and become more accurate.<br />If the page being checked is secure (HTTPS), the SSL data available on the report is used instead. The weighting distribution was given by:</p> <ol> <li>Every metric starts with 1</li> <li>Metrics with percentile get 1 more</li> <li>Metrics directly related to wire traffic payload or number of requests also get 1 more</li> </ol> <p><em>Again: statistics savvy, help me improving this extension with your valuable feedback</em></p> <h3 id='conclusion'>Conclusion</h3> <p>Although these metrics aren&#8217;t 100% accurate (see <a href='http://code.google.com/speed/articles/web-metrics.html'><strong>Caveats section</strong></a> on Google&#8217;s article) it&#8217;s a good resource to compare your site with a sample of several billion pages crawled by Googlebot. Have fun!</p> <p>WARNING: Like <a href='http://jslint.com/'>JSLint</a>, Web Metrics Framework might hurt your feelings :-)</p> <p>DISCLAIMER: This extension is not related with Google Inc. or Yahoo! Inc.</p>