Overview
WordPress is a very convenient web application, but there are a few drawbacks, such as slow display speed and high server load.
Therefore, we will introduce how to speed up and optimize mixhost and use it more comfortably.
Installing a cache plugin
The simplest way to speed up WordPress is to introduce caching.
In general, when a user accesses WordPress, it processes PHP and MySQL databases and dynamically generates pages, but this process takes some time.
Therefore, by introducing a cache, it is possible to bypass these processes for the second and subsequent accesses and display them at high speed.
At mixhost, you can choose to install LiteSpeed Cache for your cache or install a general cache plugin.
LiteSpeed Cache
Mixhost uses the LiteSpeed web server for its server software, and LiteSpeed Cache is a very fast and highly functional cache that works in conjunction with the web server.
There is also a plugin for WordPress, and it is very easy to install, so mixhost recommends installing LiteSpeed Cache.
Please refer to the following for how to install LiteSpeed Cache.
How to speed up with LiteSpeed Cache in WordPress
Common cache plugin
Some of the most popular cache plugins for WordPress are:
If LiteSpeed Cache isn't working for you for some reason, consider a general caching plugin.
WP Super Cache
W3 Total Cache
WP Fastest Cache
Comet Cache
PHP version upgrade
You can use PHP7 and PHP8 on mixhost, which works much faster than traditional PHP5.
Please refer to the following for the setting method.
If the management screen or website is blank or a 500 error occurs after changing the PHP version, it is possible that you are using a theme or plugin that does not support the set PHP version.
Please use the latest PHP-compatible themes and plugins as much as possible.
Stopping expensive plugins
Some WordPress plugins have a very high load.
Using these plugins may slow down WordPress or increase the load on the server.
An example of a high-load plug-in for inquiries to our company is described below, so please check whether these plug-ins are being used.
In addition, if you are using the relevant plug-in and it is causing a load that affects other users, we may ask you to stop using the plug-in.
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WordPress Popular Posts
It is a plugin that displays popular articles, but it is famous for its high server load. In particular, a high load is generated when the number of accesses increases. An alternative plugin with a low load is Simple GA Ranking, which generates rankings based on Google Analytics data. -
SlimStat Analytics
Although it is an access analysis plug-in, it may generate a very high load as the number of accesses increases. Also, it is necessary to pay attention to the bloated database capacity. We recommend using Google Analytics or Jetpack site statistics instead. -
FeedWordPress
This is a plugin that allows you to automatically post RSS from other sites as articles on your own site. It seems that it is often used for building antenna sites. This plugin has a very high load at the time of posting, and it is difficult to use it on a shared server if there are many posted articles. -
Crayon Syntax Highlighter
*This plug-in has been discontinued on December 13, 2022.
It is a plugin that can display the source code neatly on the article, but depending on the situation, the load may be very high. If you are having problems posting articles, please consider disabling the plugin. -
WP External Links
It is a plugin that can automatically set the behavior of external links within the site, but it seems to generate a high load when access increases. Please consider disabling the plugin by editing the direct link. -
BackWPup
It is a popular plug-in that automatically acquires backups, but it seems that it sometimes causes a high load when creating backups. In addition, it seems that the backup capacity tends to become heavy. Mixhost automatically backs up for 14 days, so please use Mixhost's backup or consider an alternative plugin. -
Post Views Counter
This is an access analysis plug-in that counts the number of articles viewed and enables the creation of article rankings, etc. However, as the number of accesses increases, an extremely high load may be generated. An alternative plugin with a low load is Simple GA Ranking, which generates rankings based on Google Analytics data. - Count per day
*This plugin has been discontinued on October 27, 2019.
Although it is an access analysis plug-in that displays the number of visitors to the site, etc., it causes a large load on the DB. An alternative plugin with a low load is Simple GA Ranking, which generates rankings based on Google Analytics data.
Stopping functions with high load
Luxeritas theme
Related article display function
This is a function that displays a list of related articles for the displayed article, but it may cause a high load on the DB (database) when the page is displayed.
If you want to use the related post function, we recommend using Related Posts for WordPress.
Please refer to the following article for how to stop.
How to stop the related articles function of the Luxeritas theme and reduce the load
Cocoon theme
Access count function
This is a function that aggregates the number of accesses for creating popular article rankings, etc. However, when the access aggregation function operates, it may cause a high load on the DB (database).
Please refer to the following article for how to stop.
How to stop the access counting function of the Cocoon theme and reduce the loading
widget
When using the widget function, the load may increase due to an increase in the number of articles and the number of category tags registered.
Also, depending on the theme, there are widgets that increase CPU/DB load such as article ranking and related article display. It may be possible to reduce the load by stopping the use of these widgets.
Please refer to the following article for how to stop the widget.
How to Stop WordPress Widgets and Reduce Load
- Category list
When the number of registered categories is very large, the category list widget will increase the DB load. - Tag cloud
When the number of registered tags is very large, the tag cloud widget will increase the DB load. - Popular article ranking
The load soars due to access analysis being performed in order to use the popular article ranking function. - Related article display function
The DB load will skyrocket as DB queries are issued to display related articles. - Twitter-related
The load may increase due to embedding tweets in widgets.
Twitter-related functions
Twitter-related functions may place a heavy load on the server. The load may be reduced by disabling Twitter data linkage functions used by embedding Twitter in articles or themes.
auto post
The load may increase due to the posting frequency/number of posts for automatic posting.
If the load increases during the time of automatic posting, stop automatic posting and check if the load decreases.
Cron jobs
It is possible to set up cron jobs in cPanel.
If the load increases during the time period when the cron job is set, stop the cron job and check if the load decreases.
Please refer to the following article for how to set up a cron job.
Article count reduction
When the number of articles exceeds tens of thousands, the load on related article functions and widgets of WordPress will also increase. If the load does not decrease due to WordPress's Related Articles function or the suspension of widgets, etc., please consider reducing the number of articles that cause the load to rise.
Restrict access from overseas IP
There is a possibility that the load caused by unauthorized access from overseas IPs is soaring.
As a countermeasure, plug-ins such as IP Geo Block and Easy IP Blocker can be used to reduce the load by restricting access to IP addresses that are performing unauthorized access.