Some gripes about Prestashop and load speeds....

[AFemaleProdigy]

I have been an avid fan of Prestashop for many years now.  It has come a long way since I first started using it.  The release of the latest control panel is by far the best yet, in my opinion.

 

However, I have some complaints today that maybe I could get some feedback on.  Perhaps it is a user error on my part or some configuration option I overlooked?

 

I have developed several PS sites within the last few months.  The problem I am having is seriously slow page load speeds.  I have set all of the compress and minify options and cache options to those that are optimal.  But when I run Google Page Insights, the results are not good.  I have been going through one site that is particularly bad and trying to optimize it.

 

One complaint Google had was this: "Eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS in above-the-fold content"

 

Upon research, I found that this is a common issue with PS.  So much so that El Patron has created a module to correct this issue.  I am going to try the module, as it has rave reviews, but I am annoyed that I would have to buy a module to do what should already be included by default (in my opinion).  Perhaps PS developers should consider implementing this method automatically.

 

My other concern is that even though I have caching enabled, Google is still saying that I am not leveraging caching.  Am I missing something here?

 

I also discovered that PS is nearly doubling the file size of my images on upload.  I optimize all images for web with Photoshop, prior to upload, but then PS makes them bigger.  I have tried adjusting the image settings in PS with both PNG and JPG, but PS still keeps upping the file sizes.  It is seriously slowing down my websites.  So what is the recommended process and settings for images?  Am I doing something wrong?

 

Besides server upgrades and the items I have mentioned, are there any suggestions for speeding up PS loading?

[El Patron]

Jessica,

 

Thanks for the mention of JavaPro.  This was written with passion for 1.5.  All the while PrestaShop was adding this feature to 1.6.

 

For 1.6--.1.6.0.6  (this forced all javascript bottom, without configuration).  

 

For 1.6.0.7+ it's configurable (RECOMMEND SET TO YES)

 

back office-->advanced parms-->performance

http://screencast.com/t/WQNXQ4Dk

 

Thanks PrestaShop

[AFemaleProdigy]

You are quite welcome!  Well, it seems like a good module then for 1.5 and it clearly was a good idea if they implemented it in 1.6.  Good job!    Thanks for the info, by the way!

[JPresta.com]

My other concern is that even though I have caching enabled, Google is still saying that I am not leveraging caching.  Am I missing something here?

I think it's about HTML caching because Prestashop is configuring the cache of CSS, JS and images in .htaccess file.

Also, Prestashop can cache PHP code but to cache and use the browser's cache you need a module like PageCache which will speed up your site and enable server & browser cache.

[JPresta.com]

I also discovered that PS is nearly doubling the file size of my images on upload.  I optimize all images for web with Photoshop, prior to upload, but then PS makes them bigger.  I have tried adjusting the image settings in PS with both PNG and JPG, but PS still keeps upping the file sizes.  It is seriously slowing down my websites.  So what is the recommended process and settings for images?  Am I doing something wrong?

This is because Prestashop is creating different sizes of your images and the PHP algorithm that is doing this is not as good as Photoshop. Is it a big difference?