Measurement (profiling vs benchmarking)
Backend-only measurement options:
- WP-CLI profiling (
wp profile): best for pinpointing slow hooks/stages without a browser. - WP-CLI doctor (
wp doctor): best for quick diagnostics (autoload bloat, debug constants, updates). - Query Monitor via REST: use authenticated REST requests and inspect
x-qm-*headers /qmenvelope data. - Server-Timing (Performance Lab): inspect
Server-Timingheaders viacurl -I(when enabled). - APM/profilers: New Relic, Datadog, Blackfire, Tideways, XHProf/Xdebug (requires server support).
Best practices:
- Always capture a baseline first.
- Keep the test scenario fixed (same URL/route, same user state, same data).
- Prefer multiple samples and medians over single runs.
References:
- Measuring performance handbook: https://make.wordpress.org/performance/handbook/measuring-performance/
- Benchmarking with Server-Timing: https://make.wordpress.org/performance/handbook/measuring-performance/benchmarking-server-timing/