5 Steps to a Lean Mean WordPress Machine
WordPress has unique resource requirements and as with any database driven site, your database also needs to be paid a bit of regular attention to ensure everything is running at optimum efficiency. It’s not uncommon to find WordPress sites that are not being watched after properly choking due to becoming CPU hogs.
The first mistake made is that just because you can install WordPress on a Web hosting server or because your Web host offers WordPress installs through their control panel that then means WordPress will be happy on that host’s environment. Not necessarily so.
I ran into this exact issue with my last host. My sites would have resource issues and then be go off-line without notice (and a blame WordPress “not our problem” attitude from tech support). That’s why I now host all of my sites and recommend my clients also host with HostGator. 20 sites, several with crazy traffic levels and not a resource issue to be had! Same WordPress sites; entirely different host.
If you are having or care to avoid CPU resource issues with your WordPress site (not fun) there are several things you need to do on a regular basis to make sure your WordPress site is lean and mean.
- When you see the pale yellow nag bar telling you to upgrade — upgrade. Same for plugins; keep them updated as well. Being on the most recent versions allows you to use the latest and greatest that the developers have determined will make WordPress run best.
- Install the following plugins:
- WP-DBManager: “Allows you to optimize database, repair database, backup database, restore database, delete backup database, drop/empty tables and run selected queries. Supports automatic scheduling of backing up and optimizing of database.” This plugin is a must have!
- WP-Super-Cache: “This plugin generates static HTML files from your dynamic WordPress blog. After a HTML file is generated your Web server will serve that file instead of processing the comparatively heavier and more expensive WordPress PHP scripts.” Take the time to learn all the options to know what will work best for your unique site.
- Speaking of Plugins — only install those plugins that serve a serious purpose. Plugins use resources so review what plugins are must haves and try deactivating the rest to see if things improve. If no noticeable improvement is evident, start deactivating the remaining plugins one by one. You can also look at your server stats and actually see what plugins are using the most resources.
- Keep your theme updated. Purchase themes only from reliable sources that keep their themes current with each updated version of WordPress. Outdated or poorly coded themes can also be a contributing factor to resource usage.
- Sidebar Widgets. Widgets created by plugins can become unnecessary if you put the code provided to you into a text widget or a post while in “code mode” in your editor. A good example of this are all the AdSense display plugins. Copy-n-paste the code Google provides to you into a text Widget yourself and save the resources of a having a plugin do that for you. Same as with plugins, frivolous Widgets should be removed.
When you want to make anything lean and mean, you have to keep updated and trim things down to the necessary. Same goes for your WordPress site.
At your service,
Your WordPress Consultant
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Yikes — per your suggestion wpdatabasemanager and get the following in admin:
Your backup folder MIGHT be visible to the public
To correct this issue, move the .htaccess file—
have you seen this before?
Hey, Bill:
Yep — that happens every time you install and isn’t a concern as long as we address this for you. All you have to do is move the htaccess.txt file in the wp-dbmanager folder to the /backup-db folder in /wpcontent. Then once you move the file, rename it to .htaccess and the warning message will go away! ;-)
HTH!
Yep — worked like a charm.
Thanks so much.
Signing up for the MUSE alerts now!
.-= Bill´s last blog … Jim and Nick’s BBQ Worth a Stop =-.