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Step by Step guide to speed up your VB4 OR VB3
by final kaoss 29 Jul 2011
Rating: (6 votes - 4.17 average)
There are several steps to improve your page loading speed. I will go over a few steps that will improve your site's loading time.

Step 1: Tweak your htaccess.
Open the htaccess file in your forum root and add the following below any url rewrite rules you may have from:
Vbulletin 3 or 4 with VBSEO installed
VB4 Forum Classic
VB4 Suite
VB3 by itself

This covers the following Pagespeed Rules.

Leverage browser caching
Specify a cache validator
Enable gzip compression

Make the following changes in your admincp

Code:
Mod Rewrite Friendly URLs
From: Settings > Options > Friendly Urls: Select Mod Rewrite Friendly Urls
This helps to cache nearly any file type that you may add in your attachment options (if you allow people to upload music files, zip files, rar files etc.. see the list lol)

*some people report login problems, I have posted below what works for me. Be sure to do this step as well to avoid problems!!
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showt...php?t=267588#3

Browse to the bottom of this first post for the .htaccess code.

Step 2: Optimize images
There is no more need to do this for vb4 packages unless you wish to do this on other images such as avatars, custom buttons, attachments, gallery uploads etc.

This covers the following PageSpeed Rules:

Optimize Images

If you have access to Visual Studio 2010 (http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/try which should be compatible with the addon), you can complete this step in just a few clicks using this addon
http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/a56eddd3-d79b-48ac-8c8f-2db06ade77c3?SRC=VSIDE

You can also use http://pnggauntlet.com/ which will compress images as well.

This is great to use on new skins/themes and also non animated gifs for Smileys, Signatures, Photo Album & Group Images and Avatars that your forum stores on your server!

Please note that both of these methods produce lossless images, meaning that even though it uses various methods to decrease file size there is absolutely no visual loss in quality of the image.

For non-windows users, I suggest http://imageoptim.com/ & https://trimage.org/

If you have alot of jpeg images, you can compress 10 per day with this http://www.jpegmini.com/. Your other options with this tool are to upload jpegs to a jpegmini album which will compress the images for free which you can download soon after! Your other option is to buy the tool for $20, which will enable you to compress a unlimited amount of jpegs, although it won't compress images above 28 MegaPixels.

Optional Step 3: Add CSS Sprites.
Not compatible with VB3

This covers the following PageSpeed Rules:

Combine images using CSS sprites

Code:
Install the addon United-Forum CSS Sprites and follow all of the instructions.  Can be found in the sprite_0.6.3a.zip file.
Optional Step 4: Use a CDN
Below are 3 free CDN's. I can vouch for cloudflare but have yet to try incapsula.

1) http://www.incapsula.com/
2) https://www.cloudflare.com/ *Disable the Rocketloader feature to avoid potential issues.
New article on how to setup your forum for HTTPS with cloudflare

(Optional) Step 5: Make a free Server Optimization request

Now that you've done all of the steps above, there is one final thing left to do if you are using a vps or dedi, tweak the Server! You can go here to request a free tuneup:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forum/general/server-configuration

Here's one additional trick to help improve your seo btw:
[SEO Enhancement] Replace "reload this page" to the thread title [v1.00]

Enjoy!

Optional (Recommended) Step 7: Lazy load images.

Lazy Load will delay the loading of images outside of viewpoint to make the page load faster. That is, images in the visible part of the web page are only loaded and remaining images are loaded when visitor scrolls down the page, at some times it can even helps to save bandwidth.

Consider linking to us at http://video-game-chat.com/forum to help show your appreciation, since you'll be saving bandwith, reducing the loading time and thus keeping more visitors who visit your site. And impoving seo as google is now factoring in loading times into it's algorithms.

Test your page speed & yslow score's
If you would like to test your website and see what changes need to be made while you follow any part of this guide you can do so at several sites:

https://gtmetrix.com/
https://www.webpagetest.org/
http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/

Here's a new htaccess that I've been testing, it's pretty solid so far. Simply throw in your url rewrite rules (for friendly urls).... this part may confuse people... they are usually located near the top of an existing htaccess file. Example of what rewrite rules look like...

Code:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
# Forum
RewriteRule ^threads/.* showthread.php [QSA]
RewriteRule ^forums/.* forumdisplay.php [QSA]
RewriteRule ^members/.* member.php [QSA]
Throw that in between the #add your friendly url rewrite rules below. lines and your set! Another identifier is to look to see if the threads, forums, members etc are being affected by any rules in the old .htaccess... if so.. throw that in and you should have no problems.

Code:
# Author: Final Kaoss (aka: Extreme-Gaming)
# Version 3.2
# Special Thanks Goes to W3Total Cache for much of the htaccess rules
RewriteEngine on
# This file is only needed if you have set the Forum Component URL in your admincp and you are
# using the mod_rewrite option for friendly urls.  If this is the case, copy this file
# to your forum component stub directory.
# If you are having problems or are using VirtualDocumentRoot, uncomment this line and set it to your forum component directory.  
#If your site is located at site.com/forum, then go down one line uncomment (remove the #) and replace /vbtest/ with /forum/
# RewriteBase /vbtest/
# If you are having problems with the rewrite from content/ to content.php, uncomment this line to turn MultiViews off.
 Options -MultiViews
#add your friendly url rewrite rules below.
#stop adding your friendly url rewrite rules here.
#Deny attempts to view the Htaccess file.
<Files .htaccess>
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
</Files>
# BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache
<IfModule mod_mime.c>
    AddType text/css .css
    AddType application/javascript .js
    AddType application/x-javascript .js
    AddType text/html .html .htm
    AddType text/richtext .rtf .rtx
    AddType image/svg+xml .svg .svgz
    AddType text/plain .txt
    AddType text/xsd .xsd
    AddType text/xsl .xsl
    AddType text/xml .xml
    AddType video/asf .asf .asx .wax .wmv .wmx
    AddType video/avi .avi
    AddType image/bmp .bmp
    AddType application/java .class
    AddType video/divx .divx
    AddType application/msword .doc .docx
    AddType application/x-msdownload .exe
    AddType image/gif .gif
    AddType application/x-gzip .gz .gzip
    AddType image/x-icon .ico
    AddType image/jpeg .jpg .jpeg .jpe
    AddType application/vnd.ms-access .mdb
    AddType audio/midi .mid .midi
    AddType video/quicktime .mov .qt
    AddType audio/mpeg .mp3 .m4a
    AddType video/mp4 .mp4 .m4v
    AddType video/mpeg .mpeg .mpg .mpe
    AddType application/vnd.ms-project .mpp
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database .odb
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart .odc
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula .odf
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics .odg
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation .odp
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet .ods
    AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text .odt
    AddType audio/ogg .ogg
    AddType application/pdf .pdf
    AddType image/png .png
    AddType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint .pot .pps .ppt .pptx
    AddType audio/x-realaudio .ra .ram
    AddType application/x-shockwave-flash .swf
    AddType application/x-tar .tar
    AddType image/tiff .tif .tiff
    AddType audio/wav .wav
    AddType audio/wma .wma
    AddType application/vnd.ms-write .wri
    AddType application/vnd.ms-excel .xla .xls .xlsx .xlt .xlw
    AddType application/zip .zip
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
    ExpiresActive On
    ExpiresByType text/css A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A31536000
    ExpiresByType text/html A3600
    ExpiresByType text/richtext A3600
    ExpiresByType image/svg+xml A3600
    ExpiresByType text/plain A3600
    ExpiresByType text/xsd A3600
    ExpiresByType text/xsl A3600
    ExpiresByType text/xml A3600
    ExpiresByType video/asf A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/avi A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/bmp A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/java A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/divx A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/msword A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-msdownload A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/gif A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-gzip A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/x-icon A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/jpeg A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-access A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/midi A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/quicktime A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/mpeg A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/mp4 A31536000
    ExpiresByType video/mpeg A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-project A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/ogg A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/pdf A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/png A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/x-realaudio A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/x-tar A31536000
    ExpiresByType image/tiff A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/wav A31536000
    ExpiresByType audio/wma A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-write A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-excel A31536000
    ExpiresByType application/zip A31536000
</IfModule>
# BEGIN Compress text files
<ifModule mod_deflate.c>
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/xml text/css text/plain
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml application/xhtml+xml application/xml
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rdf+xml application/rss+xml application/atom+xml
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript application/javascript application/x-javascript application/json
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf application/x-font-otf
  AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/truetype font/opentype
  BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
</ifModule>
# END Compress text files
# BEGIN Cache-Control Headers
<ifModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Connection keep-alive 
  <filesMatch "\.(ico|jpe?g|png|gif|swf)$">
    Header set Cache-Control "public"
  </filesMatch>
  <filesMatch "\.(css)$">
    Header set Cache-Control "public"
  </filesMatch>
  <filesMatch "\.(js)$">
    Header set Cache-Control "private"
  </filesMatch>
  <filesMatch "\.(x?html?|php)$">
    Header set Cache-Control "private, must-revalidate"
  </filesMatch>
</ifModule>
# END Cache-Control Headers
# BEGIN Turn ETags Off
FileETag None
# END Turn ETags Off
# proc/self/environ? no way!
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} proc/self/environ [OR]
# Block out any script trying to set a mosConfig value through the URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|\%3D) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*(.*) [OR]
# Block out any script that includes a <script> tag in URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (<|%3C).*script.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
# Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
##
##&nbsp; Commented version of Rewrite rules attributed to Ronald van den Heetkamp
##&nbsp; Comments by http://bodvoc.com
#
# Prevent use of specified methods in HTTP Request
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} ^(HEAD|TRACE|DELETE|TRACK) [NC,OR]
# Block out use of illegal or unsafe characters in the HTTP Request
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*(\\r|\\n|%0A|%0D).* [NC,OR]
# Block out use of illegal or unsafe characters in the Referer Variable of the HTTP Request
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^(.*)(<|>|'|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).* [NC,OR]
# Block out use of illegal or unsafe characters in any cookie associated with the HTTP Request
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} ^.*(<|>|'|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).* [NC,OR]
# Block out use of illegal characters in URI or use of malformed URI
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/(,|;|:|<|>|">|"<|/|\\\.\.\\).{0,9999}.* [NC,OR]
# NOTE - disable this rule if your site is integrated with Payment Gateways such as PayPal 
# Block out  use of empty User Agent Strings
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^$ [OR]
# Block out  use of User Agent Strings beginning with java, curl or wget
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^(java|curl|wget).* [NC,OR]
# Block out  use of User Agent Strings containing specific robot (crawler) identifiers
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(winhttp|HTTrack|clshttp|archiver|loader|email|harvest|extract|grab|miner).* [NC,OR]
# Block out  use of User Agent Strings containing references to specific crawler libraries
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(libwww-perl|curl|wget|python|nikto|scan).* [NC,OR]
# Block out  use of illegal or unsafe characters in the User Agent variable
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*(<|>|'|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).* [NC,OR]
# Measures to block out  SQL injection attacks
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(;|<|>|'|"|\)|%0A|%0D|%22|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).*(/\*|union|select|insert|cast|set|declare|drop|update|md5|benchmark).* [NC,OR]
# Block out  reference to localhost/loopback/127.0.0.1 in the Query String
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(localhost|loopback|127\.0\.0\.1).* [NC,OR]
# Block out  use of illegal or unsafe characters in the Query String variable
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(<|>|'|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).* [NC]
#
## End of commented Rewrite directives
#

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