PHP Vitals WordPress plugin v1.2 makes comparing hosting performance even easier
After launching earlier this year, WordPress plugin PHP Vitals has raced to hundreds of active installations and seen thousands of PHP performance tests run on servers all around the world. PHP Vitals packages up a series of PHP performance benchmarks, performed directly on the server in a matter of seconds, and lets users submit results to a global leaderboard.
For Webslice, the developers of PHP Vitals, the goal is to make it quick, easy and free to compare hosting hardware. Whatever their budget, PHP developers ought to know what server speed is available. The PHP Vitals leaderboard lets anyone compare grades from hosts in their part of the world, or anywhere else, and see how their servers rank. Overall performance grades, from A+ to F, make it easy to see where different hosting products sit.
Equipped with feedback from early users, and with plenty of plans of their own, Webslice have now released PHP Vitals v1.2 to the WordPress Plugin Directory.
In this new version, the grading system has been tweaked to make it more useful over time. In a separate improvement, the leaderboard will now include user-provided details about the type and cost of hosting as well as its grade.
Test results include the type of hosting and its cost
The original PHP Vitals leaderboard showed a server’s grade from A+ to F, its location, and the company that supplies it. This is all useful, but for a fairer and more useful comparison you need to know more.
Let’s say that your PHP Vitals results are outperformed by another server in the same city. It’s probably no surprise if a $500 dedicated server beats $10 shared hosting, but if the roles—and prices—are reversed then you’re going to have a lot of questions.
So now when you submit benchmarking results PHP Vitals will ask what type of hosting you’re assessing (a shared hosting platform, a VPS or dedicated server, or a self-hosting set-up) and an indicative price. This info will help you, and every other PHP Vitals user, make better use of shared information and evaluate the value offered by different hosts.
Once we have collected enough data, the leaderboard on the PHP Vitals website will be updated.
12 equal-sized grading bands make comparisons easier, and longer-lasting
Grading is dynamic now, and based on percentiles.
The 12 grading bands (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, E, and F) will all be an equal size, each containing a little more than 8% of test results. The top 8% of results are graded A+, the next 8% earn an A, and so on. Taken together, A+, A, and A- will represent the top 25% and D, E and F will represent the bottom 25%.
Every time a new test result comes in, the leaderboard will adjust existing grades to fit these percentiles. In time, PHP Vitals users can expect to see historical tests downgraded as hosting improves. In the race for WordPress performance, standing still is the same as losing ground.
This replaces static thresholds, for example an old rule that saw any total test time faster than 5.7s awarded an A+. These rules were bound to fall out of date as hardware and hosting speed up. Eventually, there’d be more A and A+ results than anything else. If you’d prefer that as a sports metaphor, take the Olympic 100m race. Every single one of 2024’s semi-finalists ran fast enough to win gold…in 1960.
Other smaller changes
The hashing and crypt tests have been tweaked to make them even more useful for differentiating CPUs. Rather than take space in the main menu of your WordPress dashboard, PHP Vitals has moved to the Tools menu.
PHP Vitals v1.2 is available now
Find the new and improved PHP Vitals in the WordPress Plugin Directory today. When you upgrade to v1.2 we’d love to know what you think. Email support@phpvitals.com with feedback or leave a review in the Plugin Directory.