WordPress file permissions
After disabling php-cgiwrap, I got in the bad habit of chmod’ing files and directories to 777. Bad idea. A helpful reminder about WordPress file permissions and security got me back in line with 755 for directories, 644 for plugins and core WP PHP files, and 666 for my active theme files.
In so doing, I’ve had to disable WP-Cache, but since the site seems to be peachy since I switched back to using the PHP Apache module (default), I think the performance/availability will be fine.
Related security tidbit: Using require() with an external file to increase security on wp-config.php’s database password storage.
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Wordpress, Pair.com hosting, and php-cgiwrap
My site is hosted with Pair. Recently, I had been having lots of problems with PHP exceeding the allocated 16 megs of memory and being killed by Pair’s monitoring scripts — sometimes 3 or 4 times an hour.
I fixed the problem and thought I’d share for anyone else in my situation.
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Register to comment
I’m having some problems with uptime — WordPress is using too much memory and its process is being killed by my host — and I think it may be to comment/trackback spam. So for now, comments are limited to registered users. Bear with me as I work on this.
p.s. I’m glad to have a host now who actually watches these kind of things. I wouldn’t want another user on a shared hosting box draining my memory.
UPDATE: Nevermind. That shit ain’t work.
UPDATE2: Still playing with this. Bye bye to all plugins. Let’s see if that helps.
Consolidate CSS and JavaScript in WordPress
If you’re on WordPress and are using a lot of plugins, chances are that your blog is slower. No, not because of the plugins’ functions — that’s easily mitigated by WP-Cache — but because each of the plugins is inserting its own JavaScript and CSS into your blog. This causes users to have bigger page downloads and more HTTP requests, slowing everything down.
Note: This tutorial is for advanced users. Be careful! I screwed my blog’s commenting up for a while after posting this. :) I do not recommend messing with scriptaculous stuff — just leave it be. If you’re a novice, you probably don’t care about your site being a little bit slower, so this isn’t worth the effort.
Background
The best thing to do is to consolidate your CSS and JavaScript into singular files. This isn’t always possible — sometimes, the contents of included CSS and JavaScript depend on variables set in the plugins — but usually the included JavaScript and CSS are static.
Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. And WordPress plugins.
I’ve got to admit, I’ve got a real weakness for WordPress plugins. I just keep adding ‘em and adding ‘em. They’re a helluva lot easier to add than Movable Type plugins (there’s a surprise) and capable of doing more interesting things. I compare my obsession to that of a wannabe streetracer continually adding decals to his ricer. Decals in a Japanese for a car in Birmingham.
My favorites:
- AJAX Comments and AJAX Comment Preview - make your WordPress commenting the envy of every Web 2.0 hyping asshole out there.
- Adsense Injection (modified) - earn money from the hordes of unwashed Googlers visiting your site.
- AuthImage - a CAPTCHA to annoy your visitors and spammers alike.
- Paged Comments - useful when 13 year-old girls clog up your blog.
- CG-FlashyTitles - express your font snobbery (ahem) with sIFR.
- WP-Cache - speed up your WP by caching to disk. Should probably be packaged with WordPress.
Also see the full list of plugins in use at this website.