In part one of this article the idea of how to reduce page load speed when using a content management system was introduced. Now let’s dig a little deeper into the process.
You can actually improve the page load time with these simple tips:
(2) As you customize the template, begin disabling the components/modules/plug-ins that have no impact on the design as a whole or the functions of the website. Maintain your Module Manager View in ‘Enabled’ so that you can have an accurate idea of which functions and/or content is in play at any given time.
(3) Do the same thing with the menus and article manager; un-publish menu items and check for any modules that may be attached to them for functions. In the Article Manager, un-publish all the articles that are not being used.
(4) When the design is complete, and everything meets the mark, perform another page load speed test to compare with the speed of the original. Then make another full backup of the website.
(5) Now you can begin deleting the articles, components and modules from the package that were not needed. Check the website to be sure nothing is affected. As far as the core files of Joomla that are not enabled, as far as I know, these should remain. Go to your media manager and get rid of the demo images there and in the template image folder. If you have uploaded multiple copies of images in the process delete them from the server. That goes for zip files that you may have had to upload to install.
Okay for the big payoff:
Clear your cache, empty the trash, check, repair and optimize your database and then run another page load test and compare it to the first two. You should see a huge difference in the page load speeds from the original and your completed design. You can page speed and keep your server file quota lean.