[buddypress-trac] [BuddyPress Trac] #5328: Use of the WordPress HeartBeat API to check for newest activities and to let user load them

[buddypress-trac]

#5328: Use of the WordPress HeartBeat API to check for newest activities and to
let user load them
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 Reporter:  imath                                |       Owner:  imath
     Type:  enhancement                          |      Status:  closed
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  2.0
Component:  Activity                             |     Version:  1.9.1
 Severity:  normal                               |  Resolution:  fixed
 Keywords:  has-patch 2nd-opinion needs-testing  |
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Comment (by aaclayton):

 I'd like to chime in on this issue as a potential detractor. I think the
 spirit behind this addition to BuddyPress is great, but I really don't
 think the Heartbeat API is yet to a state where it should be enabled on
 the frontend. Heartbeat (by default) calls admin-ajax every 15 seconds for
 every active user. On top of normal page requests and normal one-time ajax
 calls, this can be a massive blow for large sites.

 Here's a short blog post I saw related to this point:
 http://www.markomedia.com.au/admin-ajax-php-high-cpu-problem-solved/
 And some more evidence: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/admin-ajaxphp-
 being-called-from-admin-pages-causing-db-connection-issues

 On my site (for example) I often have upward of 200 concurrent logged-in
 users, I don't want heartbeat coming anywhere near my frontend. In fact,
 admin-ajax is already pretty inefficient. So much so, that for an ajax
 heavy theme (which every BP theme would be if heartbeat is integrated) you
 are much better off routing theme-side ajax calls through a separate
 custom frontend AJAX handler which uses almost 50% less memory.

 The heartbeat API is great for the WordPress backend, but let's face it,
 WP is not by nature a membership site platform. Heartbeat was designed to
 allow a team of authors to avoid stepping on each other's toes.

 Ultimately, an option to disable this would be sufficient, but I can't
 really be excited about this even as an optional feature.

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Ticket URL: <https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5328#comment:24>
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