WordPress performance: baseline the bottleneck, fix what matters first

Problem

The site felt slow in real use, but the bottleneck was not obvious—cache layers, plugin interactions, theme delivery, and database work all competed for blame. The goal was to stop guessing and prioritize fixes that still hold after the next plugin update.

Approach

Establish a baseline, narrow the bottleneck across cache, runtime, database, plugins, and front-end delivery, then ship fixes in a safe order with rollback thinking. Verify under realistic conditions rather than a single clean-room test.

Outcomes

• The Bottleneck identified and addressed in priority order instead of a vague “speed sweep”
• Fewer conflicting layers left fighting each other after the highest-impact changes
• A clear path to re-check when new plugins or releases ship

Notes

Represents diagnostic WordPress performance work; outcomes are qualitative by design in this draft.