Overview
This article describes some steps you can take to address issues that commonly lead to slow or inefficient websites running on DreamPress.
General
This section lists general troubleshooting steps to take first.
Common issues for poor performance
There are many reasons why a site may run slower than expected. See this article for further information on troubleshooting issues such as CSS, JavaScript, and other online issues. Please note that not all items listed will pertain to DreamPress websites.
Determine which pages receive the most visitors
Every DreamHost website stores access.log information about the site. This information can identify the top pages receiving the most traffic and help to identify what to research further. See this article for more information.
Check for a missing favicon file
Missing certain key files (such as favicon.ico) can result in 404 errors and considerably slower load times as the server attempts to locate the file. DreamHost automatically generates a blank favicon for all domains by default, but if you notice it's missing, you can easily create a new one.
FTP
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You can add one using an FTP client to create the file in your website's directory.
SSH
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- Log into your server via SSH.
- Change into your website's directory.
- Run the following commands to create a blank file. You can always add an official favicon file later, but this prevents the server from searching for it in the meantime.
[server]$ cd /home/username/example.com [server]$ touch favicon.ico
Search for missing files
Use a tool like Pingdom Tools to check for missing files or files causing your site to load slowly.
Using online tools to troubleshoot your website
Site load analysis tools
There are various online tools you can use to analyze your website. These types of tools can provide insights into how your website is performing, identify issues that causing your site to load slower than expected, and even recommend solutions to help you troubleshoot further.
See this article for a list of tools you can use to troubleshoot your site.
Browser tools
The following browser tools can help you troubleshoot performance issues with your WordPress site:
Themes and Plugins
Check your plugins
Certain plugins might be written in a way that interferes with properly caching your site's pages and content. See this article for information on managing your plugins.
Caching plugins
DreamPress has built-in server caching, creating a static version of your site. This helps your server use fewer resources, allowing your site to load faster while managing larger traffic.
Many guides recommend caching plugins such as WP Super Cache on WordPress sites. However, since DreamPress comes with built-in caching, third-party caching plugins are unnecessary and could even conflict with the built-in DreamPress cache.
Check your theme
A quick way to check if your theme is causing problems with your site is to revert to the default theme (such as Twenty Twenty-Five) and see if that resolves any issues.
To change the default theme:
- Log into your WordPress site's panel.
- In the left pane, click Appearance > Themes.
- Install or select the Twenty Twenty-Five theme.
- Click the Activate button.
- Use a tool to check if this improves your site's performance.
Checking your database
Use the WP-DBManager plugin to optimize your database
You should routinely optimize your site's database to avoid a "fragmentation" effect. The simplest way to do this is to use the WP-DBManager plugin, which includes a function to optimize your database and schedule this optimization to run at a desired time (recommended once per month at least).
- View the Managing WordPress plugins article for instructions on how to install a plugin.
- Click Database in the left pane:
- Then, click Database > Optimize DB in the left pane. In the center pane, you'll see a list of your database tables.
- Click the Optimize button at the bottom.
Use wp-cli to optimize your database
You can also use wp-cli to optimize your database.
- Log into your server via SSH.
- Make sure you're in your WordPress site's directory. Change username to your Shell user.
[server]$ cd /home/username/example.com
- Run the following command to view all database command options:
[server]$ wp help db
- Run the following:
[server]$ wp db optimize
Use SSH or phpMyadmin to optimize your database
- See this article for information on how to optimize your database via SSH.
- See this article for details on how to optimize your database via phpMyAdmin.
Check the size and contents of your wp_options table
In addition to optimizing your database, it's useful to check the size of your wp_options table. Typically, this table should be under 1 MB, but plugins and other customizations can make this much larger. You will typically notice some slowness on your site if this table is over 3 MB.
Optimizing
Optimizing image sizes
The size of your images can often cause a site to load slowly, as the larger an image, the longer it takes to download on the visitor's end. Ensure your images are as small as possible while preserving their quality.
You can use a plugin to compress and optimize your images or a free site like tinyjpg.com.
Minifying your scripts
Minifying your HTML/CSS/JavaScript code helps reduce the time it takes to load your site. You can install various plugins to help you minify this code.
Autoptimize is a popular choice. When using this plugin, start with as few options as possible, as some may cause errors on your site. For example, start with just minifying CSS and JavaScript only.