X-Cart provides a large number of configuration options that can dramatically impact site performance. Following are the most commonly overlooked configuration options that can negatively impact performance if not set properly. The instructions relate specifically to X-Cart version 4.4.2. Other versions may not include all the options described. And the specific location of various options may vary from version to version. If you are uncertain about any settings please submitt a support ticket listing all available details, we will do our best to resond quickly. Remember you must login to your client area before you can submit support tickets.
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Flyout Menus. Operating Flout Menus with cache disabled will dramtaicaly increase page load times for any X-Cart site. Go to the Settings, Modules page. Click on "Configure" for flyout Menus. Select to cache the whole category menu. This will speed up the menu's response time and reduce the load on your MySQL server since the cache will keep the whole category structure and X-Cart won't have to retrieve the same data from the database each time a visitor uses the menu. Remember to disable the cache when making changes to the menu structure and enable the cahce when menu changes are completed.
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Smarty engine mode. The compile_check option tells Smarty whether to check for recompiling or not. Recompiling does not need to happen unless a template or config file is changed. Typically you enable this during development, and disable for production. If your site is live, you should disable this option (do not forget to enable it before making changes to templates, otherwise you won't see the changes unless you clean up templates cache). Also please make sure you set all settings on the Settings, General Settings, General page to "production mode".
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The MD5 check sum verification option. If enabled this option makes Smarty template engine calculate and verify the check sum of compiled templates in case a malefactor added malicious code into a compiled template. When turned on this option provides better security, when it is off it gives better performance. Disable this option on the Settings, General Settings, Security page for faster template rendering.
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The ' Redirect customers from HTTPS to HTTP' option. X-Cart redirects customers to the secure part of your site for sending sensitive data securely, and if this option is on, it stays at HTTPS even when the SSL connection is not required anymore. This option affects the site speed for those customers who decide to continue shopping after checkout. Disable this option on the Settings, General Settings, Security page so customers can return back to HTTP if no encryption is required anymore
Beyond the X-Cart configuration options are numerous server configuration options for Apache, PHP and MySQL that can have a dramatic effect on your site's performance Our servers have been optimized for the typical web site but depending on your site design and traffice different options may result in performance gains. If after verifying the options above are set properly and your site still seems slow, please submitt a support ticket to request a site perfornamce review, we will respond with a price quote for your specific case. Remember you must login to your client area before you can submit support tickets.
