[frank tredici]

We continue to experience severe performance issues and slow page load times with our BuddyPress install. We run a number of sites and installed apps on our server and none of them perform as poorly as BuddyPress does.

So I am starting this thread to solicit feedback, ideas and real-world examples of techniques, tweaks, plug-ins, etc. that others have implemented to help their BuddyPress perform at top speed.

Please share your comments and suggestions with the community. Thanks!

[frank tredici]

We have done the following to help our BuddyPress along:

(1) Added this code to wp-config.php
`/**
* source: http://wpdude.com/wordpress-performance-tuning-tips
*/

define(‘ENABLE_CACHE’, true);`

(2) Followed Michael Eisenwasser’s suggestions located at http://www.buddyboss.com/buddypress-speed-and-performance/

(3) installed and run “Optimize Database” plugin

(4) installed and run “Hyper Cache” plugin

(5) installed and run “Better Delete Revision” plugin

[frank tredici]

We have slightly over 200 members.

[frank tredici]

18 Active Plugins Network Wide in WP 3.4.1
`Akismet
Better Delete Revision
BP Group Documents
BP Profile Search
BuddyPress
BuddyPress Docs
BuddyPress Global Unified search
Buddypress Sitewide activity widget
Email Users
[Homegrown] Authenticated Users
[Homegrown] New User Notification
[Homegrown] Remove Menu Items From Groups & Discussions Pages
[Homegrown] Remove Username Character Limit
Quick Page/Post Redirect DEV
Shortcode Exec PHP
TDLC Birthdays
WP DB Optimizer
WP Smush.it`
have 14 In-active Plugins in WordPress

8 Active Plugins in BuddyPress 1.5.6
`All-in-One Event Calendar by Timely
bbPress
Breadcrumbs Everywhere
BuddyPress Group Email Subscription
BuddyPress Template Pack
Dynamic Widgets
Hyper Cache
NextGEN Gallery`
have 6 In-active Plugins in BuddyPress

[frank tredici]

I am viewing page requests and following the headers as they come back to my local machine. I can see where the page request goes out to the server, lightning fast. Then the process works in the background from anywhere between 2 to 5 clock seconds before bringing the page back.

So there is some page construction issues that I need to dig deeper into.

If anyone has gone down this path and knows of solution(s) please post here for other Buddies to benefit from.

[Paul Wong-Gibbs]

How many activity items and groups do you have?

Are you using an object cache?

[frank tredici]

Ok @PaulGibbs — where or how do I get:
a) activity item count?
b) group count?
c) whether I am using group cache?

Sorry…I just explored my WP Dashboards and could not find a place that documents that.

[frank tredici]

@PaulGibbs:

9 Groups: I looked at the number of rows in the bp_groups MySQL Table and there are 9 rows. That happens to match the Groups counter value when I go to the Groups page in my BP site.

1,157 Activities: I looked at the number of rows in the bp_activity MySQL Table and there are 1157 rows. Not sure where else to get the number of activities.

As for object caching, I am still waiting on community feedback as to how I can determine if I am using object caching.

[frank tredici]

Hi @PaulGibbs — any thoughts or insights based on the answers I provided to your questions?

[meg@info]

Hi, in my site i have more than 11000 members

i use zlib compression extension (it must be enabled in your php server config) in header.php

ini_set(‘zlib.output_compression’, ‘On’);
ini_set(‘zlib.output_compression_level’, ‘1’);

try it and see the difference.

else try this ways :
http://wpmu.org/11-ways-to-make-your-wordpress-site-faster-and-leaner/

[Paul Wong-Gibbs]

Frank, if you don’t know if you’re using an object cache, then you’re probably not You should see decent performance improvements from adding one, assuming your server has sufficient spare RAM, etc. There are lots of articles in Google about different ways of enabling object caches in WordPress, so take a look.

The simplest approach is to use https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/apc/ or W3 Total Cache https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/

[frank tredici]

Thanks @PaulGibbs

I will look into object cache shortly.

In meantime, I want to install W3 Total Cache. I have read where too many plugins can drag down a WP/BP Site (not sure if that is just active plugins or the presence of both activated and deactivated plugins). If I have `W3 Total Cache` running, do you think I also need the following plugins?

`Better Delete Revision
Hyper Cache
WP DB Optimizer`

Also, do you have any comments on where bets to install the plugins? Some of my plugins are installed at the Network Admin site and then “Network Activated”, while other plugins are installed on the BuddyPress site.

And finally, do you know if you are running object cache and/or W3 Total Cache on this BP Support Site? It is just as slow as the site I am running.

[frank tredici]

`W3 Total Cache` caused my site to performance more poorly than `Hyper Cache` did.

Backing out W3TC and re-installing HC.

Ughh… this is so frustrating because we have put a lot of work and effort into our system and all that our user community can share with us is “it is too slow”..

[Asynaptic]

@frank13 W3 total cache is very powerful but it requires an expert to configure it properly – if you are new to caching, get someone who knows W3 inside out to set it up for you

there are many blogs who snapped the plugin in place without properly configuring and they not only received no improvement but screwed up their blogs – so do not take it lightly, it is a plugin like no other

[frank tredici]

UPDATE On Latest Attempt To Speed-up “Painfully Slow” BuddyPress:

Activated MySQL Query Cache — no performance improvement experienced.

BP still running very slow.

Continuing to search for solutions…

[frank tredici]

@megainfo

Tried your 2 ini_set commands for zlib compression. That did not do it.

Moving on to the next set of suggestions by Sarah Gooding.

[frank tredici]

Here is log file dump from the HTTP Live Headers add-on to Firefox:

the following header response comes back immediately when I hit the BP Home Page
`#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/`

the following header responses take about 5 clock seconds to compile and come back prior to rendering the BP Home Page
`GET /insider/
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-core/css/buddybar.css?ver=20110723
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/style.css?ver=1.8.2-6
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/css/event.css?ver=1.8.2-6
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/css/nggallery.css?ver=1.0.0
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/shutter/shutter-reloaded.css?ver=1.3.4
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/bbpress/bbp-theme-compat/css/bbpress.css?ver=2.1.2
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/css/default.css?ver=20120110
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes/my-theme/style.css?ver=20120110
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/css/responsive.css?ver=20120110
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-sitewide-activity-widget/swa.css?ver=3.4.1
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.7.2
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/js/event.min.js?ver=1.8.2-6
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/shutter/shutter-reloaded.js?ver=1.3.3
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/js/jquery.cycle.all.min.js?ver=2.9995
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/js/ngg.slideshow.min.js?ver=1.06
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-includes/js/comment-reply.js?ver=3.4.1
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/global.js?ver=20120110
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-sitewide-activity-widget/swa.js?ver=3.4.1
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/js/general.min.js?ver=3.4.1
GET /insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/css/event.css?ver=1.8.2-6
GET /insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/style.css?ver=1.8.2-6
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/css/nggallery.css?ver=1.0.0
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/shutter/shutter-reloaded.css?ver=1.3.4
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/css/default.css?ver=20120110
GET /insider/wp-content/themes/my-theme/style.css?ver=20120110
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/css/responsive.css?ver=20120110
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-sitewide-activity-widget/swa.css?ver=3.4.1
GET /insider/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.7.2
GET /insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/js/event.min.js?ver=1.8.2-6
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/shutter/shutter-reloaded.js?ver=1.3.3
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/js/jquery.cycle.all.min.js?ver=2.9995
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/js/ngg.slideshow.min.js?ver=1.06
GET /insider/wp-includes/js/comment-reply.js?ver=3.4.1
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/global.js?ver=20120110
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-sitewide-activity-widget/swa.js?ver=3.4.1
GET /insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/js/general.min.js?ver=3.4.1
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-core/css/buddybar.css?ver=20110723
GET /insider/wp-content/plugins/bbpress/bbp-theme-compat/css/bbpress.css?ver=2.1.2
#request# GET http://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/
#request# GET http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmwv=5.3.5&utms=29&utmn=1265154557&utmhn=my.domain.com&utmcs=UTF-8&utmsr=1280×800&utmvp=1263×700&utmsc=24-bit&utmul=en-us&utmje=1&utmfl=11.4%20r402&utmdt=Insider&utmhid=839616288&utmr=0&utmp=%2Finsider%2F&utmac=UA-33894838-1&utmcc=__utma%3D4033783.1564170897.1323362212.1345719185.1345723065.111%3B%2B__utmz%3D4033783.1334666053.51.2.utmcsr%3Dmy.domain.com%7Cutmccn%3D(referral)%7Cutmcmd%3Dreferral%7Cutmcct%3D%2Fdev%2Fblog%2Fabout-us%2F%3B&utmu=q~
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-core/css/buddybar.css?ver=20110723
GET /__utm.gif?utmwv=5.3.5&utms=29&utmn=1265154557&utmhn=my.domain.com&utmcs=UTF-8&utmsr=1280×800&utmvp=1263×700&utmsc=24-bit&utmul=en-us&utmje=1&utmfl=11.4%20r402&utmdt=Insider&utmhid=839616288&utmr=0&utmp=%2Finsider%2F&utmac=UA-33894838-1&utmcc=__utma%3D4033783.1564170897.1323362212.1345719185.1345723065.111%3B%2B__utmz%3D4033783.1334666053.51.2.utmcsr%3Dmy.domain.com%7Cutmccn%3D(referral)%7Cutmcmd%3Dreferral%7Cutmcct%3D%2Fdev%2Fblog%2Fabout-us%2F%3B&utmu=q~
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/style.css?ver=1.8.2-6
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/css/event.css?ver=1.8.2-6
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/css/nggallery.css?ver=1.0.0
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/shutter/shutter-reloaded.css?ver=1.3.4
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/bbpress/bbp-theme-compat/css/bbpress.css?ver=2.1.2
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/css/default.css?ver=20120110
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes/my-theme/style.css?ver=20120110
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/css/responsive.css?ver=20120110
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-sitewide-activity-widget/swa.css?ver=3.4.1
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.7.2
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/js/event.min.js?ver=1.8.2-6
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/shutter/shutter-reloaded.js?ver=1.3.3
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/js/jquery.cycle.all.min.js?ver=2.9995
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/js/ngg.slideshow.min.js?ver=1.06
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-includes/js/comment-reply.js?ver=3.4.1
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/global.js?ver=20120110
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-sitewide-activity-widget/swa.js?ver=3.4.1
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes-ai1ec/vortex/js/general.min.js?ver=3.4.1
#request# GET http://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes/my-theme/bg-body.gif
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes/my-theme/logo.png
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/_inc/images/60pc_black.png
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-group-documents/images/icons/page_white_acrobat.png
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-core/images/admin-menu-arrow.gif
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/1/f92527bfdbc2c908f05319315beccc97-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-core/images/mystery-man.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/8/2376a70360ea90862328b5145f60e1b0-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/211/047c3149835126e0fd951c20644d8642-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/15/c4bf6ef1ace368628002573d5fec845b-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/201/c38bee7c846c6d31ee1b9c5f748771aa-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/70/2370531312fbe8d9f305acba204e0aa6-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/160/f77493475b78419437e6c3d0942a0b76-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/232/11e4ab1c22244e42f1d9533a71057e3f-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/41/b93c4db828f99cc02cb37242fcce903e-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/200/6368568e6bd72723a989116a8f63edba-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/42/de833684484713243add0776725e5c9a-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/12/7879fff38f31bed31fed1d4bdb7731a4-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/23/9f891af41f52da1cf0c056c4c9662e3b-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/89/c86fbe0b2068951757927283c8656ec3-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/239/310e82358507a4455c67aa411a9b2904-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/14/b73f47f905a0beb0cd94ad00b5eb70d5-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/uploads/avatars/16/b25cafa8cbb4afc8074855fc0493ad89-bpthumb.jpg
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/wp-content/themes/my-theme/favicon.ico
#request# GET http://my.domain.com/insider/links/
GET /insider/links/`

[Austin Nichols]

That’s a ton of scripts. My bet just by looking at it is the Nexgen is slowing things. Check these out….

Only loads Nextgen on pages where it is used:
http://www.markstechnologynews.com/2012/02/nextgen-gallery-optimizer-wordpress-plugin-helps-boost-your-sites-page-load-speed.html

Optimizes images:
http://shanebishop.net/ewww-image-optimizer/

I would limit the number of images in your slider and other basic steps. You should also limit the number of widgets you use. It’s hard to tell just by looking at what you posted. Not sure what type of theme you are using, but unless you built it yourself or are using the default theme I would bet it extremely bloated like almost all premium themes sold today.

[frank tredici]

Thanks @FIQ

NextGen was only installed last week because we wanted to publish a photo gallery. The install and activation of NextGen really had little to no impact on the site — it was already trudging along prior to NextGen.

But I’ll see if I can have it load only on the photo galley page.

Images are optimized using “WP Smush.it”

Not sure what the “slider” is.

As for the widgets, we eliminated a number of them during initial setup. We need the 3-4 widgets we are currently using.

As for the theme, we developed it our self. We have on staff, a pro designer/theme-developer that develops themes for all our WordPress sites. The theme for our BP site is identical to the theme for our complementary public facing site. The public facing site runs a WP blog and it is lightning fast (on the same sever as well)

[Austin Nichols]

These 3 scripts control the slider or image slideshow. Hard to tell without seeing how you have it setup. If you are just using thumbs and not the slide show you can turn this feature off in the Nextgen settings (I believe it’s under the Galleries tab).

nextgen-gallery/shutter/shutter-reloaded.js?ver=1.3.3
nextgen-gallery/js/jquery.cycle.all.min.js?ver=2.9995
nextgen-gallery/js/ngg.slideshow.min.js?ver=1.06

[jocke_gbg]

I had lots of members complaining with poor performance, and combining W3TC page cache, CDN, and Minfiy and WP internal cache it’s now running lighting fast.

To minify your scripts and stylesheets is essential to get your page speed up, also moving all assets to CDN, I’m using CloudWatch was a big performance boost. It’s so cheap its worth paying for a good CDN service, quarter dollar for 10TB traffic or something.

Dont forget to add <?php define('ENABLE_CACHE', true); ?> in your wp-config.php file, made a huge difference for me as well, small things that your members will thanks you for.

Hope that helps.

[Rachel Biel]

Mine was also super slow and we moved from Blue Host to MDD Hosting and that took care of most of it. I also installed W3 Total Cache because I was told to… It’s much better! http://www.tafaforum.com

[BackpackersUnion]

This is all great info. One additional sugestion is using the plugin “Use Google Libraries”

https://wordpress.org/plugins/use-google-libraries/

I’m still in the developmental stages of my site, so I have no other speed optimization plugins active, but this one by itself sped up page load times by double.

Another (That I think may be a feature in some of the cacheing plugging mentioned here…) is “Scripts To Footer”.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/scripts-to-footerphp/

I’ve had a little trouble with this one because some of my scripts need to be loaded inline with the page, but it speed up visual page load time significantly. But make sure you check your site for functionality after (Google Map Plugins, ‘Fancy Box’ animation, etc.).

[BuddyBoss]

Here’s a tutorial I wrote about how to enable Object Caching on BuddyPress:

Caching BuddyPress

Briefly:

If you are hosting with a VPS or other setup where you have server admin access, you can contact your web host and request that they install APC on your server (it’s free) and then it will be available to you as a very fast method for Object Caching. Generally you cannot install APC on a shared hosting environment. APC stores the cached values in RAM, which is why I recommend at least 2GB of RAM for ideal server performance.

Once your web host has confirmed that APC is installed and working, you will then need to enable it for WordPress with a plugin. My recommended method is with the APC Object Cache Backend plugin (as Paul Gibbs suggested). This is not a true plugin, but rather a “drop-in” file. As such, you do not actually activate the plugin. You just need to copy the object-cache.php file into your /wp-content/ directory. You don’t even need to upload the actual plugin. That’s it! As long as you have APC installed on your server and have placed the file correctly, APC-powered Object Caching should now be enabled and you should begin seeing performance improvements. To confirm that it’s working, you can type this into your browser while logged in as an admin: http://www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin/plugins.php?plugin_status=dropins (change yourdomain.com!). It should show APC Object Cache as a drop-in, and if so, you now have a good caching method enabled.

[BuddyBoss]

And here’s a tutorial for setting up a CDN with WordPress/BuddyPress. This makes such a big difference and is really easy and cheap to set up. A no brainer.

Content Delivery Network