[wp-hackers] compression and caching
Micah
wp at twolanedesign.com
Mon Dec 28 20:34:25 UTC 2009
Bear with me while I attempt to satisfy replys all around. I realize how
complicated this issue is but I don't think it's as black and white as
either include it or not include it.
> With caching and compression there are many solutions, some better than
> others and no one solution will rule all for everyone. It is the reason
> there are plugins that handle this. Not everyone can dig into Apache and
> command it, so plugins are great for dealing with those people.
So this is the root argument against integration into Wordpress. Not
everyone does everything the same way and most people don't need to learn
Apache in order to use compression when plugins are created for this
purpose. I get it but I don't agree.
Compression can't be turned on by default. Bad idea. However, providing the
option to a) include mod_rewrite into .htaccess or b) php compression give
immediate options to those who do need them. While I'm about to make a huge
assumption, I think the majority of Wordpress installations are standard,
shared server installations. Compression *can* be used in these
installations but not always in the same way. While simple blogs rarely need
major compression, the rise of Wordpress as a CMS should put light on
creating a better end user experience out of the box, not just with a lot of
plugins.
> When you add this to core, then well, while it would be better than some
> image editing feature or another bloating feature, it will still require
> maintenance and the people willing to extend and maintain all of the
> different gotchas that come up.
Isn't maintaining the gotchas what already happens to WP Super Cache
support? It seems logical that since the core developers can control all
aspects of the hows and whats about caching a dynamic system, knowing how
brilliant you people are already, I don't think this problem gets much worse
in the core. I agree that adding caching to the core would be better than
more bloat and that's why I'm one man getting attention of many others.
> In particular, what if your server isn't storing the filesystem
> locally? If your filesystem is network mounted (NFS), then it's quite
> possible for a file-based caching solution to be slower to the point
> that it actually bogs down your network.
>
> You can't make any blanket statements about what's "better", because
> that depends entirely on the configuration of your particular system.
Compression will always make a file smaller. Smaller file sizes means less
bandwidth. Less bandwidth means faster page loads. This isn't blanket
statement.
There are always going to be exceptions to the rules for systems that might
not see the benefits of compression and caching.
> Plugins are not automatically slower than non-plugins. It's all just
> code. It doesn't magically get any faster by being in the core.
Plugins are third-party to the core software. Including these techniques
into the core takes away the middle man of having to use a plugin. I'm not
against plugins, I just think root functionality that helps end user
experience shouldn't be dismissed as plugin material.
I know Wordpress is already complicated as it is. Adding tons of plugins
further complicates this CMS and add more requests to slow it dwn. In the
end, the CMS is a more efficient, dynamic way to publish a website and the
end user experience can be improved immediately with core compression and
caching functionality.
While I realize how many compression techniques and caching techniques exist
and knowing that there are best case scenarios for one method versus the
other, support for some of these methods already exist in the widely used WP
Super Cache. Time and time again I see a top 10 list of the must have
plugins for Wordpress and guess what's on there? WP Super Cache.
I realize these are complicated, subjective things to include in Wordpress
since installations vary. I get that. My main argument goes into the fact
that Wordpress is going to fall behind competition by not including these
features in the core as so many others have. I certainly don't believe that
one person's agenda should be the reason why this stuff is included and I'll
bow out of this if it's really too complicated. But the fact that WP Super
Cache gets it right for a huge amount of installations is case study proof
that this can work.
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