Impact of Each Plugin on Performance

  • I’ve learned the hard way that more plugins = sluggish performance and sometimes dodgy behavior.

    Is there any rule of thumb as to how many plugins are acceptable to have on the site? Secondly, is there any way to gauge just hoe much impact any given plugin will have? ie are Simple plugins less impactful than complicated ones on memory and server load in general?

    Third – is disabling plugins as effective as deleting them?

    Thanks!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

  • It depends on plugins, the worst are very intensive and add several database queries per page load. Others only operate on specific actions and some only operate when using the admin section. The way to find out is by adding <!-- <?php echo get_num_queries(); ?> queries. <?php timer_stop(1); ?> seconds. --> to the botttom of your theme to see how well your blog is performing. Disabling is same as deleting in so far as users visiting your site.

    Thread Starter nickaster

    (@nickaster)

    Gotcha, thanks! Right now I see:

    <!– 75 queries. 2.146 seconds. –>

    So I dunno what the queries are. Is it just a matter of process of elimination by enabling and disabling? What’s a good target number not to exceed?

    Well 75 queries and 2 seconds is fairly sluggish, under 30 queries and 0.2 seconds is a good achievable target. And yes it is just a process of enabling and disabling plugins. Themes can also make a difference too.

    Thread Starter nickaster

    (@nickaster)

    Excellent. I think I have my weekend goal. Here’s question number one.

    After tinkering I put things back the way they were before. Still 74 queries but suddenly the time is crazy faster:

    <!– 74 queries. 0.432 seconds. –>

    Nothing at all is different from before. Could this just be a matter of the time of day and the general traffic load?

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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