Too many plugins = slow WordPress?

  • (I apologize if this is placed in the wrong category– I feel it most has to do with plugins though and that a solution probably involves dealing with my plugins).

    Hey everyone,

    I’ve finally customized my WordPress installation to my match my initial plans! I have accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish with my website. For this, I am very grateful to have found WordPress.

    However, my site just takes forever to load (it takes 7 seconds to load the front page).

    I constantly receive an “A” from Firebug’s YSlow(V2) checks. Basically, I’ve followed every tip out there I can find on forums and blogs on how to “speed up” my WordPress installation or “optimize” it. Despite all this, my installation still is so slow.

    Below is a list of all my plugins (I use them all):
    AJAX Comments WPMUified
    Comment Rating
    DB Cache Reloaded
    Easy Comment Uploads
    Fast and Secure Contact Form
    Optimize DB
    Scripts Gzip
    Search Unleashed
    Sociable
    TDO Mini Forms
    W3 Total Cache
    WP-SpamFree
    WP_Folksonomy

    1. Is that simply too many plugins? I read that a lot of plugins can slow things down.

    2. I use Dreamhost. Is this bad? I’ve read that they don’t host WordPress too well. Should I consider changing hosts?

    3. Anybody ever ditch one of those listed plugins and nabbed something else and found it to really speed things up? I’ve tried about everything though…

    etc. etc.

    Thanks for your thoughts on the matter!

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  • Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    Is that simply too many plugins? I read that a lot of plugins can slow things down.

    It’s possible, but more than likely there’s one plugin that’s causing the bulk of the slowness. Try decativating all plugins. If that improves the load time, reactivate each one individually until you find the cause.

    I use Dreamhost. Is this bad? I’ve read that they don’t host WordPress too well. Should I consider changing hosts?

    Dreamhost isn’t too bad. They tend to overload their servers, which is unfortunately common practice amongst shared hosting providers. Basically, if you’re on a server with several very popular sites, the server will slow down under the load and take your site with it.

    Anybody ever ditch one of those listed plugins and nabbed something else and found it to really speed things up?

    On the contrary, I found that adding W3 Total Cache actually decreased load times.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
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