Performance Optimization Guide

Overview

While Attributes User Access is optimized for performance, high-traffic sites and large user databases can benefit from additional configuration. This guide covers caching strategies, database optimization, and load reduction techniques.

Performance Metrics

What to Monitor

Key indicators:

✓ Page load time (target: < 2 seconds)
✓ Database queries per page (target: < 50)
✓ Memory usage (target: < 64MB per request)
✓ Login page response time (target: < 1 second)
✓ CPU usage during peak traffic

Tools for monitoring:

• Query Monitor plugin

• New Relic

• GTmetrix

• Google PageSpeed Insights

• Server logs

Database Optimization

Issue: Slow Queries on Large User Base

For sites with 10,000+ users: Add database indexes:

-- Speed up user meta lookups
ALTER TABLE wp_usermeta ADD INDEX idx_meta_key_value (meta_key, meta_value(50));

-- Speed up audit log queries
ALTER TABLE wp_attrua_audit_log ADD INDEX idx_timestamp (timestamp);
ALTER TABLE wp_attrua_audit_log ADD INDEX idx_user_id_timestamp (user_id, timestamp);
ALTER TABLE wp_attrua_audit_log ADD INDEX idx_event_type (event_type);

Clean Up Old Audit Logs

Automatically purge old logs:

Users → Audit Log → Settings

Auto-Cleanup:

☑ Enable automatic log cleanup

Retain logs for: [90] days

Run cleanup: [Daily] at [2:00 AM]

For compliance: Keep 1 year minimum

For performance: 90 days sufficient

Manual cleanup:

-- Delete logs older than 90 days
DELETE FROM wp_attrua_audit_log 
WHERE timestamp < DATE_SUB(NOW(), INTERVAL 90 DAY);

-- Optimize table after deletion
OPTIMIZE TABLE wp_attrua_audit_log;

Optimize User Meta Storage

Remove orphaned metadata:

-- Find usermeta rows for deleted users
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM wp_usermeta um
LEFT JOIN wp_users u ON um.user_id = u.ID
WHERE u.ID IS NULL;

-- Delete orphaned meta (be careful!)
DELETE um FROM wp_usermeta um
LEFT JOIN wp_users u ON um.user_id = u.ID
WHERE u.ID IS NULL;

Caching Strategies

Object Caching

Enable persistent object cache: Install Redis or Memcached:

<h1>Check if available on your server</h1>
php -m | findstr redis
php -m | findstr memcached

Install object cache plugin:

• Redis Object Cache (recommended)

• Memcached Object Cache

• W3 Total Cache (includes object caching)

Configure for Attributes:

// wp-config.php
define('WP_CACHE', true);
define('WP_CACHE_KEY_SALT', 'yoursite.com');

Benefits:

Before: Database query for each user meta lookup

After: Cached in memory, 10-100x faster

Page Caching Exclusions

Never cache these pages:

Pages to exclude:

/login/

/my-account/

/dashboard/

/user-profile/

Any page with [attrua_login]

Any page with [attrua_register]

/wp-admin/

/wp-login.php

WP Rocket configuration:

Settings → Advanced Rules → Never Cache URL(s)

Add:

/login(.*)

/my-account(.*)

/dashboard(.*)

W3 Total Cache:

Performance → Page Cache → Advanced

Never cache the following pages:

/login/

/my-account/

/dashboard/

Login Page Specific Optimizations

Disable caching via code:

// Add to login page template or functions.php
if (is_page('login')) {
    define('DONOTCACHEPAGE', true);
    header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate');
    header('Pragma: no-cache');
    header('Expires: 0');
}

Reduce Query Load

Lazy Load User Data

Don’t load unnecessary user meta:

// In custom themes/plugins
// Instead of get_userdata() which loads ALL meta:
$user = get_user_by('id', $user_id);

// Get only what you need:
$specific_meta = get_user_meta($user_id, 'specific_key', true);

Disable Unused Features

Turn off features you don’t use:

Users → Login Settings → Features

Disable if not needed:

☐ Audit logging (significant performance impact)

☐ IP geolocation (requires external API calls)

☐ Advanced rate limiting

☐ Automatic IP blocking

☐ Email notifications for every login

Performance impact:

Feature disabled → Performance gain

Audit logging → 20-30% faster

IP geolocation → 10-15% faster

Rate limiting → 5-10% faster

Optimize Audit Logging

Reduce events logged:

Users → Audit Log → Settings

Log these events only:

☑ Failed login attempts

☑ Successful admin logins

☑ Security setting changes

☑ User role changes

Don’t log:

☐ Every successful login

☐ Every page view

☐ Every logout

☐ Profile updates

Server Configuration

PHP Configuration

Optimal PHP settings:

; php.ini or .user.ini

memory_limit = 256M
max_execution_time = 60
max_input_time = 60
post_max_size = 64M
upload_max_filesize = 64M

; OPcache (significant performance boost)
opcache.enable=1
opcache.memory_consumption=128
opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000
opcache.revalidate_freq=60

Enable OPcache

Verify OPcache enabled:

<?php // Create info.php in site root
phpinfo();
// Visit: https://yoursite.com/info.php
// Search for "opcache"
// Delete file after checking!

If OPcache not enabled:

• Contact hosting provider

• Or enable in php.ini (if you have access)

• Performance improvement: 30-70% faster

Database Server Optimization

MySQL/MariaDB tuning:

; my.cnf or my.ini

innodb_buffer_pool_size = 1G  ; Increase for more RAM
query_cache_size = 64M
query_cache_type = 1
max_connections = 200
thread_cache_size = 8
table_cache = 64

Load Balancing

For High-Traffic Sites

Multiple server considerations: Session handling:

// Use database sessions for load balancing
// wp-config.php
define('WP_CACHE_KEY_SALT', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']);

// Or use Redis for sessions
ini_set('session.save_handler', 'redis');
ini_set('session.save_path', 'tcp://127.0.0.1:6379');

Centralized user database:

All servers must connect to same database

Use master-slave replication for reads

Keep audit logs in separate database

CDN Configuration

Content Delivery Network Setup

Cloudflare configuration:

Page Rules for login pages:

Rule 1: yoursite.com/login

• Cache Level: Bypass

• Disable Security

• Disable Apps

Rule 2: yoursite.com/my-account

• Cache Level: Bypass

Rule 3: yoursite.com/wp-admin

• Cache Level: Bypass

Why bypass CDN for auth pages:

✗ CDN caching login forms = users see cached content

✗ HTTPS via CDN may break form submissions

✗ Security headers may conflict

✓ Direct connection faster for auth anyway

Code-Level Optimizations

Reduce HTTP Requests

Combine assets:

// functions.php
add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', function() {
    // Only load plugin CSS/JS on pages that need it
    if (!is_page('login')) {
        wp_dequeue_style('attrua-login-styles');
        wp_dequeue_script('attrua-login-script');
    }
});

Lazy Load Non-Critical Resources

Defer JavaScript:

// Defer non-critical scripts
add_filter('script_loader_tag', function($tag, $handle) {
    if ('attrua-dashboard' === $handle) {
        return str_replace(' src', ' defer src', $tag);
    }
    return $tag;
}, 10, 2);

Monitoring Performance

Query Monitor Setup

Install Query Monitor plugin:

• Install “Query Monitor” from WordPress.org

• Activate plugin

• Visit login page

• Check toolbar for query count and time

What to look for:

✓ Total queries: < 50 per page

✓ Slow queries: < 0.05 seconds each

✓ Duplicate queries: None

✓ Memory usage: < 64MB

Performance Benchmarks

Target metrics by site size: Small site (< 1,000 users):

Login page load: < 1 second

Database queries: < 30

Memory: < 32MB

Medium site (1,000-10,000 users):

Login page load: < 2 seconds

Database queries: < 50

Memory: < 64MB

Object caching: Recommended

Large site (10,000+ users):

Login page load: < 2 seconds

Database queries: < 50

Memory: < 128MB

Object caching: Required

Database indexes: Required

CDN: Recommended

Troubleshooting Slow Performance

Diagnostic Checklist

Best Practices