Latency Tracker: PHP/mySQL tracking for WordPress

Overview

I’ve had some online friends complain lately that the speed of their WordPress install seems fast one day, slow the next, and mediocre the next. To give them some concrete data, I created the LatencyTracker plugin for WordPress. This really simple plugin hooks into your wp_footer function (so make sure that your theme uses it) to count the number of queries, how long they took, how much memory was use, and when it all occurred. That way, they can show some solid data to the host so that they are able to compare numbers and know for sure that their load times are faster or slower when compared.

Install

  1. Download the zip at the bottom of this post and extract somewhere memorable on your storage device.
  2. Upload the latency-tracker folder to your wp-content/plugins/ folder.
  3. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to the plugins page.
  4. Activate the plugin

Uninstall

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to the plugins page.
  2. Deactivate the plugin. This will remove the table storing your data and remove the option info from your wp_options table.
  3. Delete the latency-tracker folder in your wp-content/plugins/ folder

FAQ

  • Which versions of WordPress have you tested it with?
    WordPress 2.6+, 2.7+, 2.8+, 2.9+, 3.0+
  • Will it work with my theme?
    It should. Make sure that you footer.php in your theme folder includes a call to wp_footer(); or it won’t work.
  • This is stupid, it just stores data to a table and causes my site to slow down!
    Sorry, it is my first WP plugin, and I’m trying to fill a very specific need, track PHP/mySQL response times.
  • My friends site is faster/slower then mine!
    Each host is different. Mirror your site on another server for apples to apples comparison of the data.

Admin panel screen shots

Averages

Graph

Recent requests

Download

Get the latest version from the WordPress Plugins directory.

WordPress 2.6 Rocks!

I installed WordPress 2.6 to my test bed tonight. First impression: wow! Gears makes admin tasks much faster, previewing a theme is very handy, and the small tweaks in the plugins and media managers are great. I’ll wait a few days to install it here and over at SKFoxy, but if first impressions are any measurement, 2.6 will be a great milestone.