Speed Up Your WordPress: Mastering Yahoo!’s Thirteen Performance Rules

All right guys, I know there are already countless articles about speeding up WordPress all over the Google. We've all vied for speed when it comes to preventing our fatass blogs from choking our readers' browsers. The problem is that while the info is definitely out there, it's not all in one place (at least as far as I've browsed). Moreover, there are a couple of specific applications of the speed tricks that haven't been clearly laid out before (particularly, applying cache-control headers to dynamic images generated by the WordPress Facelift plugin, or the ideal .htaccess settings if your host is MediaTemple). In the interest of time (and laziness, our one true virtue), I've compiled an easy-to-apply series on YSlow that will get your WordPress sped up in no time.

First thing's first:

Download YSlow for Firebug if you haven't already, then skim over Yahoo!'s article about the thirteen best practices for speeding up your website:

1. Minimize HTTP Requests - (Don't make me download a lot of crap.)
2. Use a Content Delivery Network (Have someone else serve your shit.)
3. Add an Expires or Cache-Control Header (Stale bread is best for french toast. Really.)
4. GZip Components (Zip it up!)
5. Put Stylesheets at the Top (I need to see your site before I click on stuff, dumbass.)
6. Put Scripts at the Bottom (See above.)
7. Avoid CSS Expressions (Who uses them anyway?)
8. Make Javascript and CSS External (Duh.)
9. Reduce DNS Lookups (Don't be a social media slut.)
10. Minify Javascript and CSS (Nobody wants to see your whitespace.)
11. Avoid Redirects (I came to your site, not theirs.)
12. Remove Duplicate Scripts (Duh.)
13. Configure ETags (Yeah, I didn't know what these were either.)

I also recommend setting up WP Super Cache after all is said and done. So here we go:

• The Unavoidables: Don't Make Me Download a Lot of Crap; or, Sometimes You Just Deserve an F From YSlow, You Shameless Self-Promoter
• Three Sexy Performance Rules for .htaccess on WordPress: Configure ETags, Gzip Compression, and Expires Headers
• Nobody Wants to See Your Whitespace: Minify CSS and Javascript using Yahoo!’s UI Compressor

* Full disclosure: Where do I stand? My front page gets a big fat B (88%) for making you download a lot of crap:

YSlow Score: DQuinn.net Home Page

YSlow gleefully reports that 32 CSS background images is downright sinful.

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