LeanVisit – Lite Mode for Slow Connections

Descripción

Not every visitor has fast, unlimited internet. In many parts of the world, mobile data is expensive and connections are unreliable. A heavy page with autoplay video, large images, embeds and web fonts can cost those visitors real money, or make them leave before the page loads.

LeanVisit detects visitors who are likely to benefit from a lighter page and serves them a leaner version automatically. Everyone else sees your normal site, unchanged.

How detection works

LeanVisit uses these signals:

• Save-Data header: sent by browsers when the visitor has turned on Data Saver / Lite Mode.
• Connection type: a tiny script reads the browser’s Network Information API (where supported) and flags 2G and slow-3G connections.
• Manual switch: adding ?leanvisit=lite to any address turns lite mode on for that visitor, and ?leanvisit=full switches back. The [leanvisit_switch] shortcode outputs ready-made switch links.

What lite mode does

• Videos: stops autoplay and prevents preloading, so video data is only downloaded when the visitor presses play.
• Images: limits the responsive image sizes offered to browsers (srcset) to 768 px wide or smaller.
• Embeds: YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion and Google Maps embeds become click-to-load placeholders.
• Fonts: skips Google Fonts, Bunny Fonts and Adobe Fonts stylesheets loaded through WordPress, so visitors see system fonts.
• Scripts: lets you choose scripts and styles (chat widgets, sliders and similar) to skip in lite mode.

A clear settings page

The settings screen explains everything in plain language:

• How it works in three steps.
• Before and after for every feature, so you know exactly what changes for a lite mode visitor.
• Who gets lite mode and who keeps the normal site.
• Test your site: LeanVisit loads one of your pages as a normal visitor and as a lite mode visitor, then shows a side-by-side result (autoplay videos, embeds, web fonts, scripts, largest image offered).
• Caching notes to help you set up your cache correctly.

Safe by design

• Exclude list: list pages (for example /checkout/ or /my-account/*) that must always show the normal site, even to visitors on slow connections.
• Shop pages protected: WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads cart, checkout and account pages are never changed (can be turned off).
• Admin bar indicator: administrators see «LeanVisit: Lite» or «LeanVisit: Full» in the admin bar, with the reason and one-click links to view the page either way.

Why LeanVisit?

• Zero configuration needed to get started: activate it and choose what lite mode should change.
• Normal visitors are never affected.
• Small footprint: the front-end script is only a few kilobytes.
• No external services, no tracking, no account required.

Important notes and limitations

• The Network Information API is not supported by all browsers (for example, Safari does not support it). Visitors on those browsers are detected through the Save-Data header or the manual switch only.
• For connection-type detection, the first page view is served in normal mode and lite mode applies from the next request.
• If you use a page caching plugin or CDN, lite and normal pages must be cached separately. LeanVisit sends a Vary: Save-Data header and uses a cookie to help with this. See the FAQ for setup guidance.
• Some page builders and themes load fonts or embeds in their own way, and those are not changed.
• Removing scripts and styles can affect page layout or features. Use the exclusion list carefully and test your site in lite mode.

Privacy

LeanVisit does not collect, store or transmit personal data, and it makes no requests to external services.

It sets one first-party session cookie, lvisit_mode, which stores the value lite or full so that the chosen or detected mode is remembered until the browser is closed. It contains no personal information. Depending on your local laws and how you classify functional cookies, you may want to mention this in your cookie or privacy policy.