How To Optimize Speed By Choosing The Right Plugins

[brightlaunch]

Hi,
I've been going back and forth with the awesome tech guys at Studiopress, and we had some discussions about how the choice of the right plugin has a major impact on pagespeed. Given several possible plugins for every feature at hand, how do you pick the one that has (1) the lowest PHP resource requirements, (2) best written code, (3) least amount of required javascripts?

So, I am writing to ask for your suggestions on the best plugins for
• site search (WP's built-in chronological ordering of results is truly crappy!) - I am currently using Relevanssi (http://www.relevanssi.com/) but it's a memory hog.

• social media widgets (that show number of fans AND allow for direct liking/following/adding to G+ circles without sending visitors to social media channel first) - I am currently using "New Google Plus Badge Widget" plugin (http://bit.ly/1bsx9bA) and the FB Likebox code (straight from FB developers)

• social media sharing (don't mind hard-coding if that's the answer) - I am currently using "WordPress Social Share Buttons" plugin (http://bit.ly/1dA18D7)

• HTML5 audioplayer (that works across browsers and OS) - I am currently using "mb.miniAudioPlayer" (http://bit.ly/1dA1eKZ)

• Slideshows - I am currently using the "Slidedeck 2" plugin (http://www.slidedeck.com/). This one is also a memory hog, clocking in around 4 MB (20-25% of my entire PHP memory load).... there must be a better drop-in slideshow that can be activated for select pages (rather than being loaded everywhere).

http://skinnychef.com/

[David Chu]

Hi,
Excellent questions, and a refreshing break from the omnipresent "why does my header look like crap?" variety. 🙂 I won't tackle them all, you've brought up big universal WP issues!

WP Search is crud, and you've chosen the popular alternative. A random thought, which may be bunk: I wonder if outsourcing search to a paid Google scenario helps any? I assume nobody considers it because they'd have to pay money. 😉 Speaking of that, I'm guessing that this is why many people get the worst hosting ever, install caches and everything else, and wonder why their performance is still awful.

I assume that anything connecting to a social network for sharing is going to drag like mollasses, so no answer for that.

For slideshows, Portfolio Slideshow is a joy to use, I've used it on loads of sites. I don't know its exact memory footprint, but it's reliable, will simply grab any photos uploaded to a Post or Page, is responsive, and has a nice clean look. It has plenty of options, but not too many, as some sliders have. I use it via functions, or you can just plop it onto any Page or Post with a shortcode.

Dave

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Dave Chu · Custom WordPress Developer – likes collaborating with Designers

[khushalrao454]

Which plugin should i used to optimize my site, i am using Digital Ocean hosting... my site link is below

Friendship Day 2014 Quotes

[kevinariel]

Hi,
I used Slidedeck 2 in the past and it caused loading speed problem. I have no speed problem after changed to Soliloquy.

[Author]

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