A slow dashboard usually waits on plugins contacting their makers' servers, boxes fetching outside feeds and editing screens checking in constantly. Time the screens, disable plugins in turn on a copy, and keep fewer of them.

Waiting to change the specials

At four in the afternoon, a restaurant's floor manager logs in to change the daily specials. The dashboard takes most of a minute to appear, and every screen after it is as slow.

The public site, meanwhile, opens quickly for anyone. The owner tries the home page, finds nothing wrong and suggests a faster computer.

The two halves of a WordPress site do different amounts of work, and the half behind the login is usually doing far more than it needs to.

Why the public pages seem quick

Many sites keep ready-made copies of their public pages and hand them out without running WordPress at all. Browsers also keep images and styles from earlier visits.

Logged-in staff skip those copies. Every admin screen is assembled on the server when it is requested, and every active plugin gets its turn to run.

So testing the home page says nothing about the dashboard. The people who keep the site current use a slower site than the one customers see.

What happens when an admin screen opens

Behind the wait, several kinds of work pile up at once:

The first is usually the longest wait, because the server sits idle until somebody else's server answers.

Plugins that call their makers

Many plugins contact their makers from inside the admin area: to check a licence, advertise a paid version or show a notice across the top of the screen.

Each request must finish, or give up, before the screen is sent. If the maker's server is slow or gone, the screen waits several seconds for every plugin that asks.

Abandoned plugins are the worst case. They keep calling a server that no longer answers, and every admin screen waits out the full delay.

A notice asking staff to rate a plugin is a small annoyance. The request behind it, repeated on every screen, all day, is the real cost.

Dashboard boxes and outside feeds

The dashboard shows boxes of WordPress news, visit counts and recent activity, plus whatever plugins add. Several fetch feeds from other sites or run long counts in the database.

Screen Options at the top of the dashboard hides boxes nobody reads. A hidden box may still do some work in the background, so removing the plugin behind it properly belongs with the person who maintains the site.

The fifteen-second check-in

An open editing screen checks in with the server every fifteen seconds. That is part of how WordPress keeps drafts safe and warns when a colleague opens the same page.

Each check-in runs WordPress and its plugins on the server, much like a small page load. A dozen editing tabs left open across the office keep a modest shared server busy.

Closing editing screens once the change is saved costs nothing. If the server is still strained, a developer can slow the check-in without losing the drafts it protects.

A worked example

A jazz club with a small kitchen posts each night's lineup, set times and specials on its WordPress site every afternoon. Three staff share the job, on the bar computer and the manager's laptop.

The dashboard had become so slow that staff posted the specials on Facebook only, and by the weekend the website was a day behind.

The site had gathered thirty plugins over six years, several installed for a festival weekend and never removed. Two called their makers on every admin screen, and one maker's server no longer existed.

The developer copied the site, timed each admin screen there, then disabled the plugins in turn, timing the screens after each.

Unused plugins were removed, the abandoned one was replaced, and three dashboard boxes nobody read were taken out. WordPress itself was updated to 3.9, released on April 16.

The admin screens now do their own work and little else, so the lineup goes on the website before it goes anywhere else.

Finding the slow parts

Start with a stopwatch. Time the dashboard, the page list and the editing screen, and note which are slow; the pattern points somewhere.

The browser's developer tools show how long the first response took. A long wait before anything arrives means the server was busy building the screen, often while waiting on another server.

The surest test is to disable plugins in turn and time the screens after each, working on a copy, since some plugins lose settings when disabled.

A shorter plugin list

Every plugin adds code to the admin area and needs updating. Plugins nobody uses still load, still call home and still need security fixes.

A short list of maintained plugins, each doing something the business needs, makes the site quicker for staff and easier to keep up to date.

The counter-case

Sometimes the plugins are not the problem. A crowded shared server slows every request, and the public site hides it only because its pages are prepared in advance.

Old office computers matter too. A machine still on Windows XP and Internet Explorer 8 runs the current admin screens slowly however lean the site is.

In those cases the fix is better hosting or a newer computer rather than fewer plugins, and measuring first shows which applies.

Clearing the way to the specials

  1. Time the admin screens staff use every day.
  2. List every plugin and what it does for the business.
  3. Remove plugins nobody can explain.
  4. Test the rest in turn on a copy of the site.
  5. Replace abandoned plugins that call dead servers.
  6. Hide or remove dashboard boxes nobody reads.
  7. Close editing screens once the change is saved.

Step four is where the answer usually appears. Timing each plugin's effect on a copy shows which ones cost staff their waiting, without guessing or breaking the live site.

A page that keeps the server busy for as long as it stays open is not only an admin problem, as a webcam page that reloads itself every minute shows.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the WordPress dashboard slow when the site is fast?

Public pages are often served from ready-made copies, while every admin screen is built fresh for logged-in staff, with every plugin running its code and some calling outside servers.

What do plugins do on admin screens?

Many check licences, fetch news or show notices from their makers' servers. Each request must finish or give up before the screen appears, so a slow or vanished server delays everything.

What is the fifteen-second check-in?

An open editing screen contacts the server every fifteen seconds to save drafts and warn about colleagues editing the same page. Many open tabs keep a small server busy.

Should I hide dashboard boxes?

Hide the ones nobody reads using Screen Options. A hidden box may still work in the background, so the plugin behind it may need proper removal by the person who maintains the site.

How do I find which plugin is slow?

Time the admin screens, then disable plugins in turn on a copy of the site, timing the screens after each. Whichever change ends the waiting points to the cause.

Could the hosting be the problem instead?

Yes. A crowded shared server slows every request, and the public site may hide it behind ready-made pages. Measure first, then decide between fewer plugins and better hosting.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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