gzip compression

[Mersey]

Is it possible to speed up my site load times using gzip compression

I tried adding this to htaccess
<ifmodule mod_deflate.c>
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/text text/html text/plain text/xml text/css application/x-javascript application/javascript
</ifmodule>
but without success

(Bolton)

[Ben Stones]

Hi Mersey,

Maybe this will help: How To Optimize Your Site With GZIP Compression | BetterExplained. We also have a post on it via our Web Hosting Blog: gZIP compression | Website Load Time Optimization | gZIP Questions | Official Web Hosting Blog by eUKhost Ltd.

Let me know how it goes.

Regards,
Ben.

[Mersey]

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the link. I'll have a look at that.

[Mersey]

No luck with the suggested htaccess code I'm afraid.

I decided to use a Wordpress plugin instead. Seems to work well.

[Ben Stones]

Hi Mersey,

Ah, awesome. Glad it's fixed. There is a WordPress plugin that I use on my personal blog that caches most of the files which can greatly save bandwidth; and you can delete cache files within WordPress Administration Panel at any time, too. Is that what you are using or something else?

Regards,
Ben.

[Mersey]

I wanted the htaccess solution because I thought it would be simpler and more reliable.

When you add a plugin it means there is one more thing to keep an eye on with respect to updates and compatibility problems as Wordpress gets upgraded. Also the owner might just stop supporting it.

I chose Force gzip for now. It seems quite simple. I might try out some others though. I'll see how it goes.

It's difficult to test things like this as different browsers handle things differently I believe.