Slow loading Joomla 1.5 site

[Spiguy]

I am in the same boat...was running fine under 1.5.0 and then upgraded to .3 and now it takes a long time to load. I have tried all the enabling/disabling cache and it doesnt help. It is not the host because I am running several other sites with different CMS that load fine. Hope they figure out that this is an issue soon.

[octavc]

I am using the same host for hosting 2 sites with different joomla versions:

1 with joomla 1.0.1.5 - loads very fast- so not a bad server
1 with joomla 1.5.2 - loads slow.
On the 1.5 site, I did disable gzip page compression and now it loads very fast (actually faster but not as fast as the 1.0.1.5 install).
I must mention, this is a clean install, no legacy, no extra components but the article attachments, not even the seo url enabled.

u can try it

joomla 1.5 http://www.cciatl.ro/camera

joomla 1.0.1.5 - http://ot.cciatl.ro
After I have disabled the gzip page compresion, now it loads faster than before.
maybe this will help you also, you can give it a try for 5 minutes to see.

[ircmaxell]

not even the seo url enabled.

Actually, my testing has shown that SEF URLs actually cause the site to speed up. I don't understand why, but the numbers don't lie (I've run it many many times, in many configurations, with the same general result)

[brendonhatcher]

Hi

Another factor no-one has mentioned here is the site coding causing the browser to switch to quirks mode. I think that this would also cause a performance hit.

Regards
Brendon

[martin_skipsey]

Hi,

I have experienced mixed loading speeds, mostly slow (4-5 seconds) but ocassionally quicker depending on where I am loading from. It definitely seems slower than other pages on the same host (ixwebhosting).

I recently upgraded to 1.5.3 and have had lots of issues with the login and page caching - once logged in it behaved fine, but when not logged I kept getting old versions of pages. I also found that if you tried to login with the wrong password, I didn't get an error message. When I then logged in with the correct password, I was logged in but the "bad password" message appeared!!

Disabling the cache plugin fixed this problem, so I suspect it is the cache plugin that has the bugs in it (or has bugs in it following an upgrade from 1.5.1 to 1.5.3).

I also found that enabling SEF made the site significantly faster (1-2 seconds per page).

NB/ My Joomla is not at the root of my website - I needed to modify the .htaccess file to set the base directory to avoid some odd behaviour...

Cheers

[Spiguy]

Not sure what template you guys are using but I changed to Versatility III and it really sped up.

[PC_Medics]

ok, I think I have this solved

I'm running 1.5.4 on a godaddy CentOS dedicated server.

Step 1: (May be optional, don't know yet)
SSH into your server and open up all the permissions on you virtual host html directories:
(Change as appropriate for your system)

Code: Select all

chmod 777 /var/www/vhosts/yourdomain.com/www/htdocs -R

Step 2: IMPORTANT!
rename the htaccess.txt to htaccess in your joomla root folder.
This can be done via SSH, FTP, even via FTP from inside a program like Dreamweaver.

Step 3: From the administrator interface go to:
SITE --> GLOBAL CONFIGURATION
On the right, set "Use Apache mod_rewrite" to YES

STEP 4: chmod htaccess back to 644 when you are done.

That's all there is to it.
Let me know how it works for you.

[tameronlynn]

I had the same issues with my 1.5 install. I went through the board and tried all suggestions. Then I did this and it helped:

In the admin section, under global configuration, system tab, under system settings there's a setting that says:

Enable Web Services: Yes or No

When you put your mouse over it, it tells you that the default is no. But if you click on the help button, top right, it says the default is yes.

I set this to yes and now my site is loading a lot faster.

Not sure if this will help anyone else but it worked for me...

[blueridge]

I have more than a dozen sites, all running on various flavors of Joomla 1.5
My most recent site uses the same template that I used on 1.5.1 and 1.5.3 sites, but using the latest 1.5.5 release (loaded directly, not upgraded from a previous release), it's extremely slow, despite having very little content.

Tonight I'm going to try running the same site on 1.5.4 to see f it is really the version or something else. I don't think hosting is the issue.

blueridge.

[lumoo]

I've been plagued by slow loading times ever since I converted the site to 1.5.

Even changed hosts to try and find the problem.
Reading through the posts here and tried each solution in turn.

The by far biggest improvement I got was disabling Gzip and enabling caching.

The load times now are very respectable for an image heavy site with SEO and Joomfish...

http://www.optimagest.com/website-desig ... lgium.html

[martin_skipsey]

Does anyone else have a problem with the Login module if they enable caching? I get some quirky behaviour where if you enter incorrect login information, you don't necessarily get the warning banner, but when you then log in correctly you get a warning banner saying you entered the wrong information! This goes away only if I disable the cache plugin.

Cheers,

M

[imspacemancraig]

I am new to these boards, but have been sifting through these posts for an answer to my slow site and the previous post of disabling the GZip and enabling the regular cache did the trick. It was taking 15 seconds to pop up the initial page and now in under a second.

Thanks!! Much better now.

[cybersalt]

My solution to my slow sites turned out to be turning off session handling by the database.

My page loads went down from 20 seconds to 2. I'm still tweaking other settings to see what I can gain.

[thelberg]

My solution to my slow sites turned out to be turning off session handling by the database.

Exactly how did you do that

[cybersalt]

My solution to my slow sites turned out to be turning off session handling by the database.

Exactly how did you do that

global configuration --> system --> session settings . . . . . . change session handler from "database" to "none".

I haven't noticed any problems with my mods or components with that setting changed.

[Div Morbonzi]

I'm in charge of/involved with quite a few joomla sites on a few different servers and every single one of them is (often) slow as mollasses. Unacceptably slow to the point of embarrassement. Both backend and front end. I am going to be experimenting with some of the methods posted here. I think this is a very important subject and hope it gets some attention by those in the know.

DM

[Kaffeman]

My solution to my slow sites turned out to be turning off session handling by the database.

Exactly how did you do that

global configuration --> system --> session settings . . . . . . change session handler from "database" to "none".

I haven't noticed any problems with my mods or components with that setting changed.

What happens when you do that more exactly?
What does it mean?

[cybersalt]

global configuration --> system --> session settings . . . . . . change session handler from "database" to "none".

I haven't noticed any problems with my mods or components with that setting changed.

What happens when you do that more exactly?
What does it mean?

I'm not entirely sure - but it made my site run faster and nothing is broken. I'm trying to spend my time making money through my site instead of understanding how it runs.

[ricrod]

I read with interest all the comments and i think by now we have tried the different changes to settings. I have been playing with about 5 CMS systems and overall like the functionality of JOOMLA. But it is slow to load. I would really like to discover a solution so that I can share it here too.

I still can't get my head around WHY Joomla needs sections, then categories as it makes sense to name them the other way round but if the system was as fast as Zencart and as reliable I really want to use it.
Has anyone found how to get a page to load within 3 secs?

[ircmaxell]

Has anyone found how to get a page to load within 3 secs?

Use a decent host... Simple as that... (Are the joomla.org sites fast for you? Do they load in under 3 seconds?

[HarryB]

Are the Joomla! sites on shared, virtual or dedicated hosts

Another consideration is that many shared host providers also use shared database servers which are quite often not on the same physical server as one's Joomla! installation. So you have contention for both database queries and local network resources.

[Wellcat]

I new at this forum, my site works very slow since 12:00 to 22:00. The first page opening 40-50 sec... Some of articles 1min and more... it's terrible. I have a good hoster and I try to use all solutions on this topic... At morning my site works perfectly. However, site admin works too slowly.

cache --> disable
Session Handler --> None
Enable Web Services -->yes
SEO --> disable all (I'm using sh404SEF component)
GZIP Page Compression --> yes
Joomla 1.5.5
PHP 5.2.1
Anyone, please help me.
Dmitriy.

[ircmaxell]

I have a good hoster and I try to use all solutions on this topic...

Something makes me doubt this...

cache --> disable

You want to enable this

Session Handler --> None

You want this on database for other reasons (we made it default for a reason)

Enable Web Services -->yes

Disable this unless you're using XMLRPC...

SEO --> disable all (I'm using sh404SEF component)

Uninstall sh404, and enable SEF...

Joomla 1.5.5

The latest version is 1.5.6, and I would HIGHLY suggest upgrading NOW (there is a MAJOR security hole in 1.5.5 and below)


And As For:

Are the Joomla! sites on shared, virtual or dedicated hosts

Yes, they are on dedicated boxes... But I've been preaching that if you care for performance OR security, you shouldn't be on a shared host... So...

Another consideration is that many shared host providers also use shared database servers which are quite often not on the same physical server as one's Joomla! installation. So you have contention for both database queries and local network resources.

Actually, there is a gain when you move the db off the primary server. It has to do with CPU context switches, but in all my benchmarking, moving the DB server off localhost (but on same local switch) actually will increase speed about 10%...

[HarryB]

Yes, they are on dedicated boxes... But I've been preaching that if you care for performance OR security, you shouldn't be on a shared host... So...

Couldn't agree more on this...but I suspect the vast majority of Joomla! users are on shared hosts and will remain there unless dedicated hosting becomes cheaper than dirt.

Actually, there is a gain when you move the db off the primary server. It has to do with CPU context switches, but in all my benchmarking, moving the DB server off localhost (but on same local switch) actually will increase speed about 10%...

Probably true in a dedicated environment...but running Joomla! (or any other database-intensive application) with a networked database server one is sharing with a number of other accounts will most likely result in a noticeable decrease in speed.

Thanks for the response...

[cybersalt]

[/quote] You want to enable this

Session Handler --> None

You want this on database for other reasons (we made it default for a reason)

I appreciate that the defaults are the way they are for a reason, but in my case I set session handling to "none" and page generation time went from 20 to 40 seconds to 2.

I think sometimes it is too easy to solve a problem by saying the host is the problem. I have no doubt there are lots of bad hosts out there making joomla installs run slow, but the host i am with is a great host. They don't have accounts on individual servers, but rather have all accounts running off a web cluster using a RAID5. OK, so that's shared hosting but I do web development for them and know that their system usually runs under 5% load. Running on the cluster means nobody is sharing one box with a pig of a site while others are lucky to be on another box that has no big sites and therefore running faster.

On top of the above, my host has moved sql off of localhost to a dedicated box (there are actually three sql servers we can choose from). I have other php run sites running off of huge SQL databases and they serve things up quick like a bunny.

Don't get me wrong, I think Joomla is great and I make all my clients' sites in Joomla. I recommend Joomla all over the place when talking web stuff and pitching sites to businesses and friends alike. I also don't want to come across as ungrateful to all the devs and team members developing the core of Joomla. Those guys and gals are putting a lot of hours into something that is giving tons of people enjoyment as a hobby and in many cases spare or main income to live on.

But, most of us need help configuring Joomla to run on non-Utopic server set-ups and if our requests for help are just met with an ultimate list of what we should have an important opportunity to discover how Joomla can be sped up on both imperfect and perfect hosts might be missed.

[ircmaxell]

I appreciate that the defaults are the way they are for a reason, but in my case I set session handling to "none" and page generation time went from 20 to 40 seconds to 2.

I suggest getting your database server tuned, because if those session queries are taking 20 to 40 seconds, you have other issues to worry about...

I think sometimes it is too easy to solve a problem by saying the host is the problem.

I don't. The simple point, is that it comes down to configuration. I know of SEVERAL sites, running on custom tuned boxes, which do incredable traffic with little load. What that tells me, is that it's server side, not Joomla side (since the common denominator between slow host and fast host is Joomla).

I have no doubt there are lots of bad hosts out there making joomla installs run slow, but the host i am with is a great host. They don't have accounts on individual servers, but rather have all accounts running off a web cluster using a RAID5.

Cluster + Raid5 does NOT == good UNLESS setup properly. You can have all the hardware in the world, and if it's not setup will, it will NEVER perform decently

OK, so that's shared hosting but I do web development for them and know that their system usually runs under 5% load. Running on the cluster means nobody is sharing one box with a pig of a site while others are lucky to be on another box that has no big sites and therefore running faster.

Not really true. With a cluster, other variables come into play. Things like network latency and disk seek time, which used to play a small part, now are huge concerns. Setting up a cluster is NOT trivial..

On top of the above, my host has moved sql off of localhost to a dedicated box (there are actually three sql servers we can choose from). I have other php run sites running off of huge SQL databases and they serve things up quick like a bunny.

Serving data from a database is not trivial either. MySQL has MANY tuning parameters, and needs to be configured for the application it's using. To say it runs great with the program, and not another isn't giving MySQL its fair due...

Don't get me wrong, I think Joomla is great and I make all my clients' sites in Joomla. I recommend Joomla all over the place when talking web stuff and pitching sites to businesses and friends alike. I also don't want to come across as ungrateful to all the devs and team members developing the core of Joomla. Those guys and gals are putting a lot of hours into something that is giving tons of people enjoyment as a hobby and in many cases spare or main income to live on.

Thank you!

But, most of us need help configuring Joomla to run on non-Utopic server set-ups and if our requests for help are just met with an ultimate list of what we should have an important opportunity to discover how Joomla can be sped up on both imperfect and perfect hosts might be missed.

The point here, is that performance is a one off thing. There is no "recipy" for a fast website. It's something that needs to be tuned and optimized for each site. The reason I (personally) won't support shared servers is simple... Performance is a tradeoff... And I'll give you the perfect example. .htaccess files. For a shared environment, they are great!!! But they come at a HUGE performance penalty (it's an extra disk seek for every single directory in the tree)...

[cybersalt]

Then Joomla should be presented as the open source solution for people with with their own server.

[ircmaxell]

Then Joomla should be presented as the open source solution for people with with their own server.

Let me clarify... Joomla will run reasonably on 75% of shared hosts out there... It's not our fault that a lot of them don't know how to run their servers...

[cybersalt]

Is there a list somewhere (or forum) where hosts can refer to (or people can refer their hosts to) for what the optimum server settings are for running Joomla?

[dizzi]

cache --> disable

You want to enable this

SEO --> disable all (I'm using sh404SEF component)

Uninstall sh404, and enable SEF...

Hi, very interesting and informative thread although some of the information seem a bit conflicting . Anyway I pretty much retain the default settings for those items which are under scrutiny here - namely Cache, s
Session Handler, Web Services, SEF and GZip Compression. While my 1.5 sites, both on my local machine and live servers (shared) are noticeably less responsive than Joomla 1.0.x, they are by no means sluggish.

I have a question for ircmaxell though, his recommendations for the two settings quoted above are opposite to the Joomla default values. Are there reasons why these have not been set as default ?

Cheers