infuser

Just solved the problem! Final result: Pingdom score 92 and website loading between 500ms-1.5s Just paste this code to your .htaccess
# BEGIN Compress text files
<ifModule mod_deflate.c>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/plain text/xml application/xml application/xhtml+xml text/css text/javascript application/javascript application/x-javascript
</ifModule>
# END Compress text files

# BEGIN Expire headers
<ifModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresDefault “access plus 5 seconds”
ExpiresByType image/x-icon “access plus 2592000 seconds”
ExpiresByType image/jpeg “access plus 2592000 seconds”
ExpiresByType image/png “access plus 2592000 seconds”
ExpiresByType image/gif “access plus 2592000 seconds”
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash “access plus 2592000 seconds”
ExpiresByType text/css “access plus 604800 seconds”
ExpiresByType text/javascript “access plus 216000 seconds”
ExpiresByType application/javascript “access plus 216000 seconds”
ExpiresByType application/x-javascript “access plus 216000 seconds”
ExpiresByType text/html “access plus 600 seconds”
ExpiresByType application/xhtml+xml “access plus 600 seconds”
</ifModule>
# END Expire headers

# BEGIN Cache-Control Headers
<ifModule mod_headers.c>
<filesMatch “\.(ico|jpe?g|png|gif|swf)$”>
Header set Cache-Control “public”
</filesMatch>
<filesMatch “\.(css)$”>
Header set Cache-Control “public”
</filesMatch>
<filesMatch “\.(js)$”>
Header set Cache-Control “private”
</filesMatch>
<filesMatch “\.(x?html?|php)$”>
Header set Cache-Control “private, must-revalidate”
</filesMatch>
</ifModule>
# END Cache-Control Headers

# BEGIN Turn ETags Off
FileETag None
# END Turn ETags Off

1) Yes, I want users to have access to their profile, but not the Dashboard.
2) I wonder if I should just stick with front-end posting while using CAPTCHA; though there might be a problem with security.

mbrsolution, I really appreciate your suggestion, but most plugins either block the Dashboard completely or add field to profile located in the Admin area. I used a custom template that did just that: instead of Dashboard, when clicking on Profile link, user was redirected to a page where Post Archives (for that particular user) were displayed. Unfortunately, that template did not have the flexibility I need. I hope this makes sense.

This plugin is EXACTLY what I was looking for: simple design and great functionality! But I do have a similar question as MaureenT: The Profile link, when logged in as a regular user, leads to wp-admin/profile.php or Dashboard. I just started using Wordress and have no idea how to edit the Profile link so it will redirect users to a custom page. You did mention Custom Link, but even when I add it the Profile link is still there; can I maybe delete profile.php altogether? If so, how would I do that? I would really appreciate any help. Thank you!