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WordPress plugin: HTTP Requests Manager – Prevent WordPress Admin from Slowing Down

Limit, disable, block, log all WP HTTP requests. Limit by request count, page load time or lower timeout for each request. Speed up WordPress login and admin pages with free plugin HTTP Requests Manager.

Page performance recorded with time and memory usage when each WP_HTTP request happens. Check points recorded with information containing list of loaded plugins and common WordPress action hook calls.

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WP_HTTP requests manager plugin for WordPress

Prevent WP HTTP requests to slow down your WordPress website and admin interface

WP_HTTP requests manager plugin iconDo you have a slow WordPress admin that takes longer than usual to load? Sometime longer than 5 seconds to load admin or login pages. In rare occasions WordPress may even timeout and show 504 page.

Reason may be slow external HP HTTP requests. This plugin will log all WP HTTP requests with time taken to complete each request. If there are multiple request per page they will be color grouped.

Plugin helps to prevent website slowdown by:

  • Sets request timeout period to 1 second. Where default is 5.
  • Limit number of request per page by 3. Default is unlimited.
  • Limit WP HTTP request if page load time is longer than 3 seconds. Default is unlimited.
  • Option to block all external requests or allow only requests to wordpress.org for plugin, theme and core updates.

HTTP Requests Manager WordPress plugin to block or limit external requests that slows down admin pages. Plugin logs all requests performed using WP_HTTP class in WordPress.

Screenshot shows latest HTTP requests and reason why they are blocked. Also summary show at the top with total percentage of blocked requests (24% in current view). Hosts card shows that there are 7 different hosts were requests sent. When you hover over card tooltip will show breakdown of hosts in percentage. We can see that 73% or requests were made to api.wordpress.org website. Also we can see that plugins actively using external requests to load data and some promotions from their servers.

Log summary populated for visible logs in selected page. Summary has following information cards:

  • Blocked requests percentage. When hovered it will show request breakdown by core, plugins or theme.
  • Number of requests per page. When hovered shows breakdown by page type: Frontend, admin, login, cron, ajax, rest_api.
  • Request time / Page time percentage.
  • Average page time.
  • Average request time.
  • Number of domains. On hover shows request breakdown by domain.

Check this video overview of plugin in mobile browser.

What is detected with HTTP Requests Manager?

Plugin only detects and manages requests made using WP_Http class. Which is default method used and advised by WordPress for getting remode data and updates.

Plugin will not detect any requests made by other WordPress classes like WP_Http_Curl or PHP functions like curl_exec, fsockopen, file_get_contents etc.

Do not confuse it with asset (css, js, image) requests done by HTML page. WP_Http requests are performed only inside PHP files and not visible in web browser.

WP_Http requests HTML page requests
✔️ Managed by this plugin ❌ NOT managed by this plugin
Requests performed in your web server inside PHP files while generating web page. Performed in client browser after page generated and loaded to web browser.
Load data from Web API; WordPress core, plugin, theme updates; plugin news, plugin addons, stats etc. Loads page asset files to the browser: JavaScript, CSS, images, fonts, videos etc.
Effects Time To First Byte (TTFB) Effects: First Contentful Paint (FCP), Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) & Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Check this tutorial if you are interested in reducing HTML page requests.

Operation mode

Plugin has operation mode in “Settings” to manage WP_HTTP requests.

Operation mode setting to only log or block WP_HTTP requests. Blocking will speed up WordPress admin area by preventing some requests.

Here is what each mode does:

  • Only log HTTP requests — logs all non cron requests. No blocking done.
  • Only log HTTP requests (+ cron requests) — logs all requests including cron. No blocking done.
  • Smart block — logs non cron HTTP requests and blocks request using following rules.
    1. Page processing time exceeded 3 seconds.
    2. Number of request for single page reached 3.
    3. Sets timeout for each request (except file downloads) to 1 second.
    4. Sets number of redirects for request to 1.
    5. Apply custom rules for “Smart block” defined in settings.
    6. Prevent some built in requests: happy browser, maybe update, self pings.
    7. Skip limitations listed above for: file downloads (plugin, theme, other), requests inside cron jobs.
  • Block external requests — all requests not matching your current domain will be blocked. No updates for WordPress core, plugins and themes. + Smart block features.
  • Block external requests (allow WordPress.org only) — all requests not matching your current domain and wordpress.org will be blocked. Allows updates for WordPress core, plugins and themes coming from wordpress.org website. + Smart block features.

Disable logging

HTTP requests manager settings page. Disable logging if you do not want to log new requests.

After using the plugin for some time and knowing which requests are performed you can disable logging. Operation mode will remain unchanged. Request blocking will remain in tact. No new logs will be recorded. You can analyze old logs, they will not be deleted.

Custom rules for “Smart Block” mode

Custom rules (conditional logic) to block or allow certain requests. Rule can use plugin, domain to control related request.

Allow or block some requests based on domain, plugin or all. Choose on which page type rule will be applied. For example you can block requests in the frontend while allowing in other pages.

Finally you can define action as block or allow for custom rules. For example you can make sure that some plugin will always be allowed to send WP_HTTP requests. This can be an SEO or mail plugin that uses remote API for functioning.

 

HTTP Requests Manager Features

  • View blocked requests by this plugin. Show reason why it was blocked.
  • View failed requests with error message.
  • View what initiated HTTP request: WordPress core, plugin or theme.
  • View on which page request was made. Also view page type is frontend, admin, login, cron, ajax or rest_api.
  • View list of other requests made on same page view.
  • View sent and received data.
  • How long it took to get response in seconds.
  • Check Point with page time and memory usage for most common hooks like plugins_loaded, init, wp_loaded, setup_theme, after_setup_theme, shutdown. This will give some idea about cause of slow pages.
  • Log data of the last 1000 requests stored in the database.
  • Group requests by URL, domain, initiator, plugin, page, response status etc.
  • Add custom rules (conditional logic) to block or allow certain requests.

View request details and remote server response data. Check what information sent from your WordPress website.

Check what is sent to remote server and which response received. Use this information when choosing or configuring plugins for your website. Avoid using plugins and features that regularly performs unnecessary remote API requests.

Request time and memory usage recorded along with loaded plugin information. You can see which actions slowed down page generation significantly.

Request time and memory usage recorded along with loaded plugin information. You can see which actions slowed down page generation significantly. Ideal page generation time for front end pages should always be below 1 second.

Cron pages can take as long as needed because they are run in background and not visible to site visitors.

Group view HTTP requests

Group HTTP requests by URL, domain, plugin, page, page type, response status. Color coded bars by response status. Makes easy to view logged records.

Group requests to simplify report. You can group by request domain, page type, initiator, response status etc. Bar colors will visually indicate requests by response status as blocked orange, success green, error red.

Number of requests and average time for each request is also shown in each group.

Click on group row to view related requests. Shown requests grouped by initiator: core, plugin, theme.

Click on the request group to view related requests.

Use cases

Case 1:  Check if your website slow because of WP HTTP requests. Average page load time, average request time and average number of requests per page shown as summary at the top of reports.

Case 2: Block all external request on development or localhost website. All updates will be blocked. You switch off blocking when you want to perform Core, Plugin, Theme updates. No need to use define('WP_HTTP_BLOCK_EXTERNAL', true); in your wp-config.php. Plugin will prevent requests automatically when you choose “Block external requests” or “Block external requests (allow WordPress.org only)” operation mode.

Case 3: Block non WordPress request. No data will be sent to third parties. They are usually loading other website news, plugin/theme promotions, advertisements, sending usage statistics etc.

Case 4: Prevent your website from timeout. By blocking all requests if page generation time exceeds 3 seconds. Kill slow HTTP request with small timeout of 1 second. Slow request can be because of temporary network problem or remove website can be too busy to respond on time. Slow request is not your fault so your website should not suffer from it.

WP_HTTP request blocked because of page generation time exceeded 3 seconds.

WP_HTTP request blocked by HTTP Requests Manager plugin because page generation time exceeded 3 seconds defined by “Smart Block” operation mode. Blocking further requests should prevent increasing page generation time.

Credits

More info about “HTTP Requests Manager” plugin

Changelog

1.2.4 – 12 February 2024

  • Fixed: prevent calling is_user_logged_in() function when it is not declared.

1.2.3 – 30 November 2023

  • Fixed: Domain select box population when adding new Custom Rule.

1.2.2 – 29 November 2023

  • Fixed: Variable name typo inside get_arr_val function.

1.2.1 – 29 November 2023

  • Fixed: Incorrect links in options page.

1.2.0 – 28 November 2023

  • Added: Separate tabs for log, settings, more tools
  • Added: Group request logs by URL, domain, page, page type, plugin, response status etc. Better for viewing important information.
  • Added: Custom rules to block/allow by all/domain/plugin in everywhere/admin/frontend/ajax/cron/rest_api/login. Maximum 10 custom rules (conditional logic) can be added. Custom rules apply only in smart block mode.
  • Added: Option to disable logging. Old logs can be viewed. Plugin will work a bit faster when logging disabled.
  • Added: Disable self ping (only when blocking in “smart block+” mode). Self ping sends pings to images and links on the same domain. Post with 20+ links and images will take 10+ seconds to send self pings.
  • Added: Disable auto update check on admin page in “smart block+” mode. _maybe_update_core, _maybe_update_themes, _maybe_update_plugins slows down admin pages up to 5+ seconds on first visit after 12 hours and can even timeout. Update checks via cron are not affected.
  • Fixed: Undefined array key “file” error.
  • Update: Store last 1k records.

1.1.0 – 12 June 2023

  • Added: Separate table to log page info like check point with time and memory usage.
  • Added: New tab to show Check Points for page with time and memory usage in request details popup window.
  • Fixed: Remove plugin tables on uninstall.
  • Update: Reduced response body before sending to view in admin panel. This will reduce loaded json data size.
  • Update: Clear log button now recreates tables which will eliminate table inconsistency with new versions of plugin in future.

1.0.7 – 5 June 2023

  • Initial release. Log HTTP Requests (version 1.4) used as base.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long are logs stored in the database?

There is no time limit to store logs. Last 1000 logs will be stored. On average it is about 10 days of logs.

Is it possible to pause the plugin and only view recorded logs?

Yes, set operation mode to “Only log HTTP requests” and check the “disable logging” checkbox in the “Settings” tab. With these settings new logs will not be added and you can review already existing old logs.

Does the plugin remove logs and options on uninstall?

Yes it removes logs and options stored in the database when you uninstall this plugin.

Which pages are recorded?

All pages with WP_HTTP requests are recorded. Slow pages without any WP_HTTP requests are not recorded.

How to make sure that important requests are not blocked?

Follow these steps to prevent unintentional blocking of some important API requests.

  1. Run the plugin in only log mode for a couple days to record many requests.
  2. Check logs and identify important requests by domain or plugin.
  3. Create a custom rule in “Settings” to allow important requests by domain or plugin.
  4. Switch “Operation mode” to smart block.

Conclusion

With HTTP Requests Manager plugin you can view all requests and optimize WordPress to remain fast in frontend and backend. If you have experienced timeouts on WordPress login page or inside admin panel then check WP_HTTP requests.

External HTTP requests can be used to check for updates, loading promotional materials by some plugins, loading information from remote servers or sending statistics without your permission to other third party websites? Learn what is happening in your WordPress with HTTP requests. Prevent any page generation slowdowns or disable external HTTP requests completely using this plugin.

Alternatively reduce number of used plugins to prevent additional server load.

Recorded log records and summary cards will show you whole picture regarding requests within you WordPress website. Choose what to do using simple operation mode switch.

When you find any unexpected external calls to third party servers then you can communicate with related plugin author and ask for adding control to disable those requests or asking permission before sending those requests.

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