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Adam Greenwell

Performance Optimization

Tips and strategies for optimizing Lumenare Search performance on your WordPress site.

Current release: 2.1.00

Understanding Performance Impact

Lumenare Search is designed to be fast and efficient, but performance can vary based on:

  • Site size (number of posts)
  • Index size (number of keywords)
  • Server resources
  • Traffic volume
  • Configuration settings
  • Optional document indexing, fuzzy matching, and impression/click tracking

Index Optimization

Reduce Index Size

1. Configure Stop Words

  • More stop words = smaller index
  • Reduces storage and query time
  • Improves relevance by focusing on meaningful words

Example: Adding 20 common stop words can reduce index size by 10-15%

2. Limit Post Types

  • Only index post types users actually search
  • Exclude private/internal post types
  • Reduces index size and improves performance

3. Use Partial Reindex

  • Instead of full reindex, use partial reindex for updates
  • Faster for incremental changes
  • Less server load

4. Schedule New-Content Reindexing

  • Let WP-Cron catch up new published content in smaller runs
  • Review the last run status in Index Management
  • Keep full reindexing for schema, weight, stop-word, and document-indexing changes

5. Tune Document Indexing

  • Enable only the MIME types visitors actually need to search
  • Cache extracted text for faster repeat reindexes
  • Use the Media Library parse test before turning on broad attachment indexing

Index Maintenance

Regular Optimization:

  1. Review index size periodically
  2. Remove unnecessary post types if added
  3. Update stop words to reduce index bloat
  4. Use partial reindex when possible

Query Optimization

Reduce Dropdown Results

Settings:

  • Lower "Dropdown Results" count (default: 10)
  • Fewer results = faster queries
  • Balance between speed and usefulness

Recommendation:

  • Small sites: 10-15 results
  • Medium sites: 8-10 results
  • Large sites: 5-8 results

Limit Search Scope

Post Types:

  • Only include post types users search
  • Exclude private/internal content
  • Reduces query complexity

Date Ranges:

  • Use date filters if applicable
  • Reduces searchable content
  • Faster queries

Server Configuration

PHP Settings

Memory Limit:

  • Recommended: 128MB minimum
  • Large sites: 256MB or higher
  • Check with: phpinfo() or hosting control panel

Execution Time:

  • Indexing may need higher limits
  • Default 30 seconds usually sufficient
  • Increase if indexing times out

Max Input Vars:

  • Should be 1000+ for large sites
  • Affects settings page if too low
  • Check with hosting provider

Database Optimization

Regular Maintenance:

  1. Optimize database tables
  2. Remove old analytics data if not needed
  3. Check table sizes
  4. Monitor query performance

Tools:

  • WordPress database optimization plugins
  • phpMyAdmin optimization
  • Hosting provider tools

Caching Configuration

Page Caching:

  • Works with WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, etc.
  • Search results page can be cached
  • Live search dropdown bypasses cache (AJAX)

Object Caching:

  • Compatible with Redis, Memcached
  • Can cache query results
  • Improves repeated searches

CDN:

  • Static assets can be served from CDN
  • Reduces server load
  • Faster asset delivery

Feature-Specific Optimization

Fuzzy Matching

Performance Impact:

  • More resource-intensive than exact matching
  • Higher threshold = more processing
  • Disable if not needed

Optimization:

  • Use lower threshold (1-2) if possible
  • Only enable if typo tolerance is important
  • Test performance impact

Result Sorting and Facets

Performance Impact:

  • Content type, taxonomy, date, and sort filters share the same result flow
  • Large facet counts can add query work

Optimization:

  • Enable only the taxonomies users actually need
  • Keep facet value caps reasonable
  • Use date sorting for user-facing control, and keep relevance as the default for broad discovery

Synonyms

Performance Impact:

  • Minimal impact
  • Slight query expansion
  • Usually negligible

Optimization:

  • Keep synonym lists reasonable (not hundreds)
  • Focus on important synonyms
  • Test query performance

Performance Impact:

  • Calculated daily (2 AM by default)
  • Minimal impact on search queries
  • Background processing

Optimization:

  • Adjust calculation schedule if needed
  • Monitor calculation time
  • Increase minimum searches threshold to reduce data

Search Intelligence and Click Boosts

Performance Impact:

  • Impression and click tracking add local database writes
  • CTR-aware ranking is most useful after enough traffic has accumulated

Optimization:

  • Use source filters when imported Ajax Search Pro history is present
  • Keep click boost strength conservative until Search ROI shows improvement
  • Periodically clear or archive stale analytics if storage grows too large

Large Site Optimization

Sites with 1000+ Posts

Strategies:

  1. Comprehensive Stop Words: Reduce index size significantly
  2. Limit Post Types: Only index what's needed
  3. Batch Indexing: Let it complete, don't interrupt
  4. Partial Reindex: Use for updates
  5. Reduce Dropdown Results: Lower count (5-8)
  6. Automatic New-Content Reindexing: Let WP-Cron keep up with normal publishing
  7. Disable Unused Features: Fuzzy matching, document indexing, trending, and click boosts if not needed

Sites with 10,000+ Posts

Additional Strategies:

  1. Database Optimization: Regular maintenance essential
  2. Server Resources: Ensure adequate PHP memory and execution time
  3. Indexing Schedule: Consider off-peak hours for full reindex
  4. Monitoring: Track query performance
  5. Caching: Implement object caching if available
  6. CDN: Use for static assets
  7. Document Controls: Limit attachment MIME types and cache extracted text if document indexing is enabled

High-Traffic Optimization

Sites with High Search Volume

Strategies:

  1. Caching: Implement page and object caching
  2. CDN: Serve static assets from CDN
  3. Database Optimization: Regular maintenance
  4. Query Optimization: Reduce dropdown results
  5. Monitoring: Track performance metrics
  6. Load Balancing: If using multiple servers

Monitoring Performance

Key Metrics:

  • Search query response time
  • Index size
  • Database query performance
  • Server resource usage
  • User experience (page load times)
  • Automatic reindex last-run status
  • Search Intelligence actions still collecting enough data

Tools:

  • WordPress performance plugins
  • Server monitoring tools
  • Browser developer tools
  • Database query loggers

Configuration Recommendations

Small Sites (< 500 Posts)

Configuration:

  • Default settings work well
  • Standard stop words
  • Default weights
  • All features can be enabled

Medium Sites (500-5000 Posts)

Configuration:

  • Comprehensive stop words
  • Optimized weights
  • Reduced dropdown results (8-10)
  • Monitor performance

Large Sites (5000+ Posts)

Configuration:

  • Extensive stop words
  • Optimized weights
  • Reduced dropdown results (5-8)
  • Consider disabling unused features
  • Regular database optimization
  • Caching recommended

Troubleshooting Performance Issues

Slow Search Queries

Check:

  1. Index size (too large?)
  2. Dropdown results count (too high?)
  3. Database performance
  4. Server resources
  5. Plugin conflicts

Solutions:

  • Add more stop words
  • Reduce dropdown results
  • Optimize database
  • Check server resources
  • Test with other plugins disabled

Slow Indexing

Check:

  1. PHP memory limit
  2. PHP execution time
  3. Server resources
  4. Database performance
  5. Batch size settings

Solutions:

  • Increase PHP memory limit
  • Increase execution time
  • Optimize database
  • Let indexing complete (don't interrupt)
  • Use partial reindex when possible

High Server Load

Check:

  1. Search query volume
  2. Indexing operations
  3. Other plugins
  4. Server resources
  5. Caching configuration

Solutions:

  • Implement caching
  • Optimize queries
  • Schedule indexing during off-peak hours
  • Review other plugins
  • Consider server upgrade

Best Practices Summary

✅ Do

  • Configure stop words comprehensively
  • Limit post types to what's needed
  • Use partial reindex when possible
  • Optimize database regularly
  • Monitor performance metrics
  • Implement caching for high-traffic sites
  • Test performance after configuration changes

❌ Don't

  • Skip stop words configuration
  • Index unnecessary post types
  • Use full reindex for small updates
  • Ignore database maintenance
  • Enable all features if not needed
  • Skip performance testing
  • Over-configure initially

Getting Help

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