gzip works great!

[bigdogglen]

One of the things that LifeType doesn't come with by default is a way to gzip it's pages. If you don't know what gzip is you can google it and find some pretty good docs, etc.

If your server supports it (you'll know right away ), add this code at the very top of each php page:

Code: Select all

<?php ob_start("ob_gzhandler"); ?>

I added this command to admin.php and blog.php to test it, and it has shrunken the page sizes and load times of the blogs at least 50%. I only tried it on those two pages, but I bet it could work on other php pages as well. Admins, is this legit? Will it mess with LifeType's performance in other things?

[phunkphorce]

I don't think this should have any negative effect.

We could add this in the next release, would you mind creating a feature request in bugs.lifetype.net?

[youngmug]

You can also add this line in your .htaccess:

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php_flag zlib.output_compression On

That will turn on gzlip compression for all pages without a need to edit the pages themselves.

[jondaley]

I think it is alright. We want to avoid adding it to the .htaccess file by default, maybe leave it commented or something, so we don't get people saying "how come I get a 500 error when I load LifeType?? Doesn't happen with {insert name of other inferior blog product here}

[poolie]

does anyone have any experience if that uses a lot of serverpower/usage?

edit: i guess i found some answers here: http://www.frontpagewebmaster.com/m-266054/tm.htm

[jondaley]

Looks like a nice forum thread there. I found this link there too:
http://www.seoconsultants.com/articles/ ... ession.asp

Avoid the needless recompression of images as this may actually increase their file size or introduce distortion.

As well as a thingy that will check the potential for compression on your pages. On my lifetype main page, it reports an decreased size of 80%

[jondaley]

In my php.ini. Not totally sure what it means, other than probably some people will have trouble. So, as long as it isn't on by default, I think it should be alright.

; Note: You cannot use both "mb_output_handler" with "ob_iconv_handler"
; and you cannot use both "ob_gzhandler" and "zlib.output_compression".
;output_handler =

; Note: You need to use zlib.output_handler instead of the standard
; output_handler, or otherwise the output will be corrupted.
zlib.output_compression = Off

[jondaley]

Installed it on my blog, and I can't see any noticeable server usage change.

[bigdogglen]

Not trying to compare LifeType to other CMS alternatives but...
many of them have the ability to turn on gzip in the admin page. It's just a simple checkbox or radio button.

[poolie]

yeah i know that of oscommerce which has that option.
hmm with some thousand blogs on a system this sounds interesting, i give it a try.

[jondaley]

Seems like a bit of a scary admin flag to me - particularly if the admin pages are compressed too. We would add a php.ini or append to .htaccess file, and everything comes crashing down when the server doesn't support that option.

[markwu]

Maybe try this:

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if ( !(@ini_get('zlib.output_compression') == '1' || @ini_get('output_handler') == 'ob_gzhandler' || @version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '4.2.0') == -1) ) {
    ob_start('ob_gzhandler');
}

It will activate gzip handler only when server allowed.

Mark

[Guest]

any side effect when using this?

say.

CPU load VS bandwdith trade-off ?

[Guest]

why not use apache mod_gzip ?

[jondaley]

There is a cpu load vs bandwidth tradeoff, but I have not noticed it on my blog. For people who already get in trouble with their hosts about using too much CPU, this is not going to help.

I think mod_gzip (or mod_deflate) are fine options as well. You have to teach it to compress php output, and I imagine some people might not have that module available to them.