Chapter 5: Configurations for Optimum Performance and Security
- Exploring the configuration file
- Caching data to increase speed and performance
- Using text editors and browsers to edit and test your site
In Chapter 3 of this minibook, I show you the basics of PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), the programming language that WordPress is built on, as well as the MySQL database system that stores the data for your Web site. These two programs, PHP and MySQL, combined with JavaScript, images, Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), and other scripts can create a slow load time for your Web site, especially if your Web site is on a mediocre Web host or if your Web site experiences high traffic volumes. Additionally, WordPress is somewhat vulnerable to hacking attempts; however, you can take a few steps to make it much more difficult (if not impossible) for hackers to exploit the files on your Web server and improve the overall security of your WordPress Web site.
In this chapter, I introduce you to a very important file in your WordPress installation: wp-config.php. This configuration file contains important system information needed for WordPress to function correctly on your Web site. We also show you some tweaks you can include in the configuration file to change or remove certain features of WordPress to improve your visitors' experience on your Web site.
Later in this chapter, we recommend some tools, such as text editors to make your file-editing experiences easier, and various browsers you can choose from. We also cover cross-browser compatibility and development tools you can use to view different aspects of your Web site or to test your site for performance.