.htaccess cache for improved site speed?

[soxophoneplayer]

I added this code, from zc tutorial to my includes/.htaccess to try and improve my loading speed.

## Optional caching improvements
## Requires mod_header and mod_deflate to be enabled within Apache
##################
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
  Header unset Pragma
  FileETag None
  Header unset ETag
  <FilesMatch ".*\.(ico|jpe?g|JPE?G|gif|GIF|webp|png|swf|flv)$">
    Header set Cache-control "max-age=864000, public, must-revalidate"
    Header unset Last-Modified
  </FilesMatch>
  <FilesMatch ".*\.(html|htm|xml|txt|xsl)$">
    Header set Cache-control "max-age=7200, must-revalidate"
  </FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
  <FilesMatch "\.(js|css)$">
    SetOutputFilter DEFLATE
  </FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

##################
## Optional improvements
## Requires mod_expires to be enabled within Apache
##################
<ifmodule mod_expires.c>
  ExpiresActive On
  ExpiresDefault A300
  ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A3600
  ExpiresByType text/css A3600
  ExpiresByType image/gif A604800
  ExpiresByType video/x-flv A604800
  ExpiresByType application/pdf A604800
  ExpiresByType text/html A300
  ExpiresByType image/x-icon A86400
  ExpiresByType image/jpeg A2592000 
  ExpiresByType image/png A2592000 
</ifmodule>

My google site speed test https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ actually dropped my score a few points.

Among the suggestions - optimize images, leverage cache.

I use IH4 (last version in plugins, not the github). So vast majority of images are already optimized, no? Or maybe my originals are too large?

I'm running the speed test on my home page which includes product photos in new and featured tabs and these are re-sized images. But google gods say they lack expiry dates.

IH4 is storing the images in root folder /bmz_cache which has the following .htaccess:

# deny *everything*
<FilesMatch ".*">
  Order Allow,Deny
  Deny from all
</FilesMatch>

# but now allow just *certain* necessary files:
<FilesMatch ".*\.(jpe?g|JPE?G|gif|GIF|png|PNG|swf|SWF)$" >
  Order Allow,Deny
  Allow from all
</FilesMatch>

IndexIgnore */*


## NOTE: If you want even greater security to prevent hackers from running scripts in this folder, uncomment the following line (if your hosting company will allow you to use OPTIONS):
# OPTIONS -Indexes -ExecCGI

Could I/should I add the same code addition from the /includes/.htaccess to the obottom of the bmz_cache/.htaccess?

zc 1.5.5a, Responsive Sheffiled Blue 2.0 adapted to same, IH4, many mods.

[mc12345678]

Couple of things. IH4 compresses the files/images at time of first loading them, so if the "page" hasn't been viewed by someone before you ran the test, then conversion time was factored into your test. That said, yes, because the bmz_cache directory tends to be placed outside of the images directory, any improvement applied to the images directory would be suited to apply to the bmz_cache directory (or "wherever" images are frequently accessed.)

Big thing further though, once that is applied, if you plan to change the image that is stored at the "base" location, it is somewhat "locked in" until the time elapses. The way to overcome that is to reference a different base name such that it is a different file, but then back to the recreating the image(s) on first load "issue"...

[RodG]

I added this code, from zc tutorial to my includes/.htaccess to try and improve my loading speed.

If you need to muss with .htaccess to gain speed you probably have more serious issues at play.

My google site speed test https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ actually dropped my score a few points.

Hardly the best indicator as to what is going on.

Among the suggestions - optimize images
.

That what IH4 does. It is the reason it exists. :)

, leverage cache.

Also handled by IH4, but there is *better*. (see below, re: CDN)

I use IH4 (last version in plugins, not the github). So vast majority of images are already optimized, no?

Correct, but, only after they've been accessed at least once(so IH4 can compress and cache them)

Or maybe my originals are too large?

Super large images will only cause a slowdown on 1st access. After that the users should be receiving the compressed & cached copies.

I'm running the speed test on my home page which includes product photos in new and featured tabs and these are re-sized images. But google gods say they lack expiry dates.

Saddens me how much faith and dependency people place in Google. I've seen many stores go out of business because they let themselves become dependent on Google.

If you *really* want to know why the site is (apparently) slow, try this site:
http://www.webpagetest.org/

When the results come in click on the 'details' view. It should then be *obvious* what is causing the slowdowns. There are many similar site to this one and I'm recommending this for no particular reason other than it is in my bookmarks :)

One thing that will probably stand out as being a problem is the "Effective use of CDN" will have an "X" rather than a tick. If you are *serious* about improving performance (and reducing bandwidth as a 'side effect') it is to use a CDN (Content delivery network). This one thing can easily double the speed of a site - especially if the slowdowns are caused by lots of static content (such as images).

Just my 2cents worth.

RodG

[soxophoneplayer]

If you need to muss with .htaccess to gain speed you probably have more serious issues at play.

As a perennial noob I rely on others for guidance, particularly the forum, tutorials.

If you *really* want to know why the site is (apparently) slow, try this site:
http://www.webpagetest.org/

Thanks for link. Results on two tests were - even worse on my ipad, and about same from desktop.

The worst culprit on time sucking is 'time to first byte loaded'. Google and Webpagetest both say about 5 seconds for desktop. It was 15 seconds on ipad.

I have a hard time to know if the slow first byte is my server issue or my site host issue. I think its the latter as the test showed the site connect in less than a second. And 15 seconds to the server connect but I am not savy enough to know if that could mean it took my server 15 seconds to make the connect or if it took my host 15 seconds to answer and respond with first byte. (I'm on rural highspeed - slow by most I'm sure - about 5-6 mb download, 1mg upload)

My image files all show up as cached, but my js, css, and other template files do not. Part of the .htaccess thing was to leverage those as well but requires deflate mod enabled on host apache. I enquired about this on host support ticket, which they didn't answer and closed.

One thing that will probably stand out as being a problem is the "Effective use of CDN" will have an "X" rather than a tick. If you are *serious* about improving performance (and reducing bandwidth as a 'side effect') it is to use a CDN (Content delivery network). This one thing can easily double the speed of a site - especially if the slowdowns are caused by lots of static content (such as images).

Oh my. I've had this message on tests before. I thought it meant I should be using a Canadian server! (me being in Canada but using a US server). Oy.

Just my 2cents worth.
RodG

Worth much more than 2 cents. In Canada we no longer have pennies, so it would be rounded to a nickel ;o)

[VDecalS]

If you *really* want to know why the site is (apparently) slow, try this site:
http://www.webpagetest.org/
When the results come in click on the 'details' view. It should then be *obvious* what is causing the slowdowns. There are many similar site to this one and I'm recommending this for no particular reason other than it is in my bookmarks :)
RodG

I like this one too https://gtmetrix.com especially for image optimization because it will optimize your thumbnail images for you to download from the results page. You'll want to make sure you have your large size images already in place - see: https://www.zen-cart.com/content.php...aration-how-to. Another big help for me was this photoshop tutorial.

Results page does ask you to "Specify a cache validator" - if I'm understanding the way Zen-cart is rotating images for a fresh look upon viewing home page, this isn't possible.
I'm still trying to determine the best way to handle results: "Optimize the order of styles and scripts" and "Leverage browser caching"
Good luck!

[DrByte]

I added this code, from zc tutorial to my includes/.htaccess to try and improve my loading speed.

## Optional caching improvements
## Requires mod_header and mod_deflate to be enabled within Apache
##################
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
  Header unset Pragma
  FileETag None
  Header unset ETag
  <FilesMatch ".*\.(ico|jpe?g|JPE?G|gif|GIF|webp|png|swf|flv)$">
    Header set Cache-control "max-age=864000, public, must-revalidate"
    Header unset Last-Modified
  </FilesMatch>
  <FilesMatch ".*\.(html|htm|xml|txt|xsl)$">
    Header set Cache-control "max-age=7200, must-revalidate"
  </FilesMatch>
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
  <FilesMatch "\.(js|css)$">
    SetOutputFilter DEFLATE
  </FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

##################
## Optional improvements
## Requires mod_expires to be enabled within Apache
##################
<ifmodule mod_expires.c>
  ExpiresActive On
  ExpiresDefault A300
  ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A3600
  ExpiresByType text/css A3600
  ExpiresByType image/gif A604800
  ExpiresByType video/x-flv A604800
  ExpiresByType application/pdf A604800
  ExpiresByType text/html A300
  ExpiresByType image/x-icon A86400
  ExpiresByType image/jpeg A2592000 
  ExpiresByType image/png A2592000 
</ifmodule>

You said you're using v1.5.5, and that you applied changes to /includes/.htaccess
It's important to note that v1.5.5 ALREADY has these changes (and actually some improvements upon them) in /includes/.htaccess. So no changes were necessary to that file.

[soxophoneplayer]

You said you're using v1.5.5, and that you applied changes to /includes/.htaccess
It's important to note that v1.5.5 ALREADY has these changes (and actually some improvements upon them) in /includes/.htaccess. So no changes were necessary to that file.

Oh for cripes sake, I must have thought I already merged it when I saved and uploaded. Another seniors moment.

[RodG]

Thanks for link. Results on two tests were - even worse on my ipad, and about same from desktop.)

This really doesn't make any sense. The testing site performs the tests on/from its own servers and has no bearing on why device you are using.

The worst culprit on time sucking is 'time to first byte loaded'. Google and Webpagetest both say about 5 seconds for desktop. It was 15 seconds on ipad.

I have a hard time to know if the slow first byte is my server issue or my site host issue.

Your server and your host are one and the same.

I think its the latter as the test showed the site connect in less than a second. And 15 seconds to the server connect

Clearly we have a terminology issue here.

but I am not savy enough to know if that could mean it took my server 15 seconds to make the connect or if it took my host 15 seconds to answer and respond with first byte. (I'm on rural highspeed - slow by most I'm sure - about 5-6 mb download, 1mg upload)

The websire page site test measures performance as *it* sees the site. It really wouldn't matter if you were using 2400bps dialup connection, offhand I think the sitetest uses a 100mbps link.

My image files all show up as cached

Compression is as important as caching... perhaps moreso (depends on the image sizes)

, but my js, css,

These are typically so small that they are insiginificant. Personally I find it better to not have these cached, especially while a site is under development.

and other template files do not.

Almost all the template files are PHP. These will *never* be cached. They are 'dynamic' (output changes depending on the input). Only 'static' (non changing) data/pages can be cached.

Part of the .htaccess thing was to leverage those as well but requires deflate mod enabled on host apache. I enquired about this on host support ticket, which they didn't answer and closed.

I haven't seen an apache server where mod_deflate hasn't been included by default for many years.

Oh my. I've had this message on tests before. I thought it meant I should be using a Canadian server! (me being in Canada but using a US server). Oy.

LOL. Yeah, I can see where you got that idea from.

Cheers
RodG

[mesnitu]

I was doing the same mistake with zc155. So I clear the root .htaccess , just had the CEON stuff there.

But without adding to the root .htaccess file the bmz_cache folder images are not cached.
So I add this to the root .htaccess , but I'm not sure if it's ok to do it

##################
## Optional caching improvements
## Requires mod_headers to be enabled within Apache
##################
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header unset Pragma
FileETag None
Header unset ETag
<FilesMatch ".*\.(jpe?g|gif|webp|png|swf)$">
Header set Cache-control "max-age=864000, public, must-revalidate"
Header unset Last-Modified
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>


However , I still don't understand why the js and css files are not being cache.
tested this on webpagetest.org

Leverage browser caching of static assets: 88/100
FAILED - (5.0 minutes) - http://example.net/includes/templates/tpl/jscript/tpl.js
FAILED - (5.0 minutes) - http://example.net/includes/templates/tpl/fonts/material-iconfont/MaterialIcons-Regular.woff
FAILED - (5.0 minutes) - http://example.net/includes/templates/tpl/fonts/roboto/roboto-medium-webfont.woff
FAILED - (5.0 minutes) - http://example.net/includes/templates/tpl/fonts/lora/lora-regular-webfont.woff
WARNING - (60.0 minutes) - http://example.net/includes/templates/tpl/css/stylesheet.css
WARNING - (24.0 hours) - http://example.net/includes/templates/tpl/images/icons/favicon.ico

For the woff fonts, etc , I add this to the includes/.htaccess

# Web fonts

    # Embedded OpenType (EOT)
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-fontobject         "access plus 1 month"
    ExpiresByType font/eot                              "access plus 1 month"

    # OpenType
    ExpiresByType font/opentype                         "access plus 1 month"

    # TrueType
    ExpiresByType application/x-font-ttf                "access plus 1 month"

    # Web Open Font Format (WOFF) 1.0
    ExpiresByType application/font-woff                 "access plus 1 month"
    ExpiresByType application/x-font-woff               "access plus 1 month"
    ExpiresByType font/woff                             "access plus 1 month"

    # Web Open Font Format (WOFF) 2.0
    ExpiresByType application/font-woff2                "access plus 1 month"

Yet, for js and css

Leverage browser caching of static assets: 96/100
FAILED - (5.0 minutes) - http://example.net/includes/templates/tpl/jscript/tpl.js
WARNING - (60.0 minutes) - http://example.net/includes/templates/tpl/css/stylesheet.css

Don't know what to do .....

[barco57]

@soxophoneplayer

Part of the .htaccess thing was to leverage those as well but requires deflate mod enabled on host apache. I enquired about this on host support ticket, which they didn't answer and closed.

Note the gzip in the following response header for your site....mod_deflate is enabled already
Date: Sat, 08 Oct 2016 12:57:53 GMT
Server: Apache
X-Powered-By: PHP/5.4.45
Expires: Thu, 19 Nov 1981 08:52:00 GMT
Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0
Pragma: no-cache
Content-Encoding: gzip
Vary: Accept-Encoding
Content-Length: 10534
Keep-Alive: timeout=5, max=100
Connection: Keep-Alive
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8