# Delay Third-Party Scripts Until the Visitor Interacts

> Holds back the scripts you list (chat widgets, heatmaps, social widgets) until the visitor first scrolls, taps, clicks or presses a key, or after a timeout, so they no longer slow down the initial page load.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Frontend only
- Category: [Performance](https://wpide.com/library/category/performance/)
- Tags: javascript, delay, core-web-vitals
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/perf-delay-third-party-scripts/

## Code

```php
// Script handles, or fragments of their URL, to delay.
$wpide_delay_scripts = array( 'hotjar', 'tawk', 'intercom', 'crisp', 'facebook', 'connect.facebook.net', 'static.hotjar.com' );
// Seconds after which delayed scripts load anyway (0 = only on interaction).
$wpide_delay_timeout = 8;

add_filter( 'script_loader_tag', function ( $tag, $handle, $src ) use ( $wpide_delay_scripts ) {
    $match = false;

    foreach ( $wpide_delay_scripts as $needle ) {
        if ( $handle === $needle || ( $src && false !== strpos( $src, $needle ) ) ) {
            $match = true;
            break;
        }
    }

    if ( ! $match || ! class_exists( 'WP_HTML_Tag_Processor' ) ) {
        return $tag;
    }

    $tags = new WP_HTML_Tag_Processor( $tag );

    while ( $tags->next_tag( 'script' ) ) {
        $tags->set_attribute( 'type', 'text/wpide-delay' );
    }

    return $tags->get_updated_html();
}, 30, 3 );

add_action( 'wp_footer', function () use ( $wpide_delay_timeout ) {
    ?>
<script>
(function () {
    var done = false, events = ['scroll', 'pointerdown', 'keydown', 'touchstart', 'mousemove'];
    function run() {
        if (done) { return; }
        done = true;
        events.forEach(function (e) { window.removeEventListener(e, run, { passive: true }); });
        var list = Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('script[type="text/wpide-delay"]'));
        (function next() {
            var old = list.shift();
            if (!old) { return; }
            var s = document.createElement('script');
            Array.prototype.forEach.call(old.attributes, function (a) { if (a.name !== 'type') { s.setAttribute(a.name, a.value); } });
            if (old.src) { s.onload = s.onerror = next; s.async = false; } else { s.text = old.text; }
            old.parentNode.replaceChild(s, old);
            if (!old.src) { next(); }
        })();
    }
    events.forEach(function (e) { window.addEventListener(e, run, { passive: true }); });
    <?php if ( $wpide_delay_timeout > 0 ) : ?>
    setTimeout(run, <?php echo (int) $wpide_delay_timeout * 1000; ?>);
    <?php endif; ?>
})();
</script>
    <?php
}, 999 );
```

## Notes

List handles or parts of script URLs; never delay scripts that render content above the fold or that other scripts depend on.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Delay Third-Party Scripts Until the Visitor Interacts" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/