Swis Performace
Caching.
From WPRocket to SWIS….
Basically, with a system like WordPress, you should think about effective caching. There are a whole range of plugins available for this. Some are free, while others require a fee or a subscription.
I tested various plugins back then and eventually settled on WP Rocket . As far as features go, there’s really nothing negative to say about this plugin. The only thing that bothered me was the subscription model. Unfortunately, there’s no lifetime license.
Image Optimization.
Since my website is very graphics-heavy—especially because of the galleries—I was looking for an image optimization plugin. I remembered that I had used Imagify before, so I decided to give it another try; it’s from the same company that makes WPRocket.
Unfortunately, the developers decided to take away the user’s ability to choose the compression level for images. This feature is called “Smart Optimization” and, at first glance, seems like a good idea. Unfortunately, however, the other compression levels have been almost completely removed. Only after I’ve compressed an image using Smart can I recompress it using one (!) other level.
For the images converted to the WEBP format, the quality was, unfortunately, anything but satisfactory to me.
Alternatives.
While searching for alternatives, I came across EWWW Image Optimizer, one of the most downloaded plugins for image optimization.
At first, the monthly fee of 7 euros seemed like a deterrent, until I then here that there’s a lifetime license.
In addition to the actual image optimization plugin, you also get another plugin called "SWIS Performance." I'll discuss SWIS further below.
Control.
Unlike Imagify, EWWW gives you full control over compression rates. The premium features are unlocked via an API key.
There are also additional features, such as Lazy Load, which are particularly useful when used in conjunction with the SWIS plugin mentioned above.
Otherwise, the EWWW Image Optimizer does exactly what it’s supposed to—it optimizes images. And it does so at an acceptable speed and, with the right settings, in good quality.
For JPEGs, I use the “Pixel-Accurate Plus” setting, and for WEBP, 85%. The plugin is smart enough to only create a WEBP version if it’s smaller than the corresponding JPEG.
SWIS Performance.
SWIS Performance is simply a caching plugin, but it’s relatively unknown. Which is strange, since SWIS delivers excellent results on my WordPress installation. SWIS really shines when used in conjunction with the EWW Image Optimizer.
Since there aren’t any real performance tests (at least I haven’t found any), I’ve run a few comparison tests with WPRocket over the last few days on my test installation and on the live site.
Results.
SWIS Performance performs surprisingly well here; in my tests, it was just one percentage point behind WPRocket on GTMetrix—but 2 percentage points ahead in terms of structural data.
SWIS focuses on the essentials in its settings—the caching settings. You won’t find any extras like database optimizations here. But there are plenty of specialized plugins for that.
On my own site, I haven’t noticed any issues like a broken layout so far, so I’m going to let the plugin run for a while and then consider whether to replace WPRocket.
Comments
No Comments
Add a comment:
Subscribe to comments