Chart Notes: The Key to Evaluating Web Speed Changes

Chart notes make it easier to evaluate the impact of the changes you’ve made on your website.

Our speed monitoring PLUS even adds some notes automatically.

In this text, you’ll learn not only how to add and edit notes, but also our recommendations on how to approach them.

Why Keep a Change Log for Your Website?#

Throughout the development of a website, numerous changes occur that can affect speed.

The chart notes in our speed monitoring allow you to record these pivotal moments, making it easier to trace the causes of any improvements or deteriorations in metrics.

These could include events such as:

• Deploying a redesigned version of the website or a routine release.
• Making significant changes to the backend.
• Implementing specific speed optimizations.
• Adding a third-party component to the website (analytics, A/B testing, chat).

Other important events include changes in measurement practices, such as altering the measured URLs. However, the PLUS monitoring handles this automatically, as you’ll learn below.

Adding Notes to Charts#

You can add a note in the PLUS monitoring to any day in any chart:

Notes can be added by hovering over the dates on the timeline of all charts.

Clicking under the chart itself opens a modal window where you can add (or edit an existing) note for that day.

Launched a new version of the website? Put a note in the chart.

In the charts, these crucial changes will be visible, providing you with context for further work and evaluation of adjustments.

You’ll see the notes in all charts, so you won’t miss any potential impact on any of the speed metrics.

Automatically Added Notes#

PageSpeed.ONE PLUS monitoring aims to solve as much as possible for you. In some cases, we automatically insert notes:

1. Change in Synthetic Measurement Settings When you change URLs in Settings, we add a note to the charts saying “Change of measured URLs.”
2. Change in Testing Technology For instance, when we upgrade to a new version of the Lighthouse tool, we add a note such as “Lighthouse 12.1.” We also inform about this in our changelog.

These notes are global for all PLUS monitoring clients.

You can recognize them by the [Auto] label in the name or by the Automat flag in the list of notes.

The “Notes” Page#

You can view all notes on the Notes page, accessible from the main navigation of each test:

The “Notes” page is home to all changes on the website or in the measurement.

What do you see in the picture?

1. The “Notes” page in the test navigation.
2. Option to add a note.
3. User notes with the author of the last change.
4. Automatic notes added by PLUS monitoring.

Here you can again add, remove, or edit existing notes—except for those added automatically, of course.

A Few Tips for Working with Notes#

Finally, here are a few recommendations on how to work with notes:

• Only include crucial changes that impact speed If you publish a new version of the website several times a week, it’s unnecessary to add a note every time. You’d soon lose track of the data in the charts. Only add those that may affect speed.
• Don’t forget changes outside the technical development of the website Design changes often affect the CLS metric, while implementing third-party components or conducting A/B testing can impact the INP metric. Similar incidents may occur more frequently. Always add significant changes to the Notes.
• Don’t hesitate to add notes retroactively Notes best explain the impact of each change and teach you to evaluate the effects of future adjustments. Therefore, don’t hesitate to add notes retroactively if a change was discovered some time after it occurred.

We are also considering the possibility of automatic note addition via a planned API in the future.

Notes, along with the charts themselves, are a relatively inconspicuous but very useful tool for anyone who cares about the development of their website’s speed.