I'm working on a programming project as the sole developer of a browser-based software application. I've dubbed it "PHPText Blogger" as a working name because it's only using PHP and text files formatted specifically for this application.
In order to use this browser-based application on Windows or Linux, I only need to have a web server installed which includes the PHP software. I'm using XAMPP for Windows right now.
Although using a plugin that caches WordPress is the best overall solution, I can't use any of them with the way I run this blog. I did the research, tried the hacks, and ended up falling flat on my nose. I'll explain what I finally ended up doing after I list the options.
I had to hold off on doing some optimizations until I had a stable connection for at least an hour or so. I think the wait was worth it.
Optimization #1: Removing the last of the social widgets from the footer and any advertising widgets from the sidebars. I'm still making money in other ways, so phooey on sidebar and footer slowdowns.
Optimization #2: Replacing WP-Cache 2 with WP Super Cache. Those who are logged in or leave a comment get the benefit of the WP-Cache 2 that's included with WP Super Cache, but with code optimizations (Donncha picked up where the other developer stopped). Those who are not logged in and don't leave comments (99 percent of the Internet) get the benefit of WP Super Cache, which serves static pages that aren't processed by PHP like WP-Cache 2.
Although there's a noticeable speed improvement, even on my lousy connection, there are more optimizations that need to be done:
I've been trying to incorporate something like Minify for PHP4 (since that's what my host uses) which is based on Minify for PHP5. Although I'm familiar with both PHP and CSS (and even a little JavaScript), I couldn't get it to work for me. My main CSS would stop working completely.
I took a look at Combine, but it appears to be written for Apache 2 and my host uses Apache 1.3. I also took a look at JSmart. It didn't work for me either.
I'm not sure what I need to do to get one of these options working, and I'm all eyes if anyone can help.
Search Engine Rankings: I saw a note somewhere (sorry, but I don't remember where) that Google did away with their supplemental index (Google Hell). I don't know if that, or the recent Google PageRank slapfest, had anything to do with the improvement of this blog's search engine rankings. I do know that, even with a PageRank of 0, I'm getting more traffic than some people with a PageRank of 4 and 5.
It's a known fact that the more often one of your links appears on Google's search results, the faster it climbs to the top of the index (I hesitate to use an acronym like SERPS because I really don't know what it means and what factors are in control). It's not a known fact that there are ways to have your links come up more often, without being searched for. One of those ways is a plugin called AskApache Google 404. I have it installed on both of my blogs. Go ahead; click this link to test it: Google at Untwisted Vortex. You'll see what I mean almost instantly.
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