[wp-hackers] WP Site Performance, Database Setup, Opinions Wanted

[Christopher J. Hradil]

 In addition to my "production" projects which use WP, I've also set up a
bunch of test or demo installs, including a number of them for
readers/posters of these forums. I have noticed a couple of issues, and so
would like to pose the following two questions for the group/readers to
consider based on their own experiences. 

1) Site performance. I know there are a number of factors to consider,
ranging from server and hardware to plugins, etc, but recently I set up a
demo site for someone who had an existing blog using another platform, the
old blog had around 3000 posts, with an average of 15-20 comments each.
After importing all of that into WP AND optimizing the DB (MySQL), using
MySQL optimization tools/scripts, etc, the site was barely useable, pages
typically took 6-10 seconds to load based on the WP queries/time output. I'd
like to compile some statistics from users based on real world use, in terms
of how WP sites are performing in terms of page load times, how many
posts/comments site wide, average hits per day, etc. 

2) Database configuration - there is a ton of material written by several
individuals, available concerning sites/servers with more than one WP
install (and I'm not talking about WP MU), and several opinions as to
whether it's better to use a single MySQL database with different table
prefixes for each blog or if it's better to create a  single database for
each blog. Again, the focus is on performance, page load times, average site
traffic per day (visits/hits), total number of posts/comments per site/blog,
etc. 

Why do I care ?

Simple, I've written some material for the WP codex (documentation area of
this site) on a number of topics which I've already posted there. I'm
currently working on some updates for the documentation there which includes
some "best practice" suggestions/alternatives/information on the areas noted
above. Before I make the final updates and additions to the codex, I'd like
to gather as much "real world" user opinion/feedback on the topics as
possible, so that I'm not basing what I've written on only  what I've done
both personally, and for clients, using WP. 

thanks...chris


/**************************************
Christopher J. Hradil
chradil at comcast.net
http://www.hradil.us
973-809-4606
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