Hi!
I have an odd, and long, one for you… So I’m doing some development work for a client using a theme called Go Explore which is built on a framework called Runway. I built their site using a child theme which is pretty simple and doesn’t override much in the parent beyond stylistic changes and a few brief edits to some loops. So, essentially the theme is the theme.
Anyway, this client runs monthly sweeps and gets upwards of 25,000 unique visitors per day during the sweep, which usually lasts a week or so. They take the e-mail submissions from a page that then get shuttled to MailChimp using some plugin and API integration. I’m using ACF to build the sweeps page via a template for custom logos and a background image.
They’re on a very robust cloud server and it keeps crashing. After a loooong runaround with the ISP they finally dug deeper and determined that some sort of incompatibility was happening between ACF and the theme (and another plugin, column-shortcodes). Apparently 100s of PHP zombie processes are being opened and they eventually overwhelm the server. Here’s their response:
When we disable the plugins advanced-custom-fields-pro and column-shortcodes/ load on the server drops entirely to under 1. However in order for this page to work that you emailed out about — http://www.bootprints.com/bootprints-taste-sonoma-county-sweepstakes/ requires highly on both of these plugins. These issues are strictly poor coding inside your purchased theme. Let me know if you have any other questions.
I sent the developer this information and he said to come here and tell him what you say. I’m thinking that, since the conflict was not just with this plugin, but also another, that he might just be hoping you have some deeper insight, since two different plugins having the same problem on one theme suggests to me that the problem isn’t the plugins. Also, the ISP points a pretty direct finger at the theme.
In the spirit of being a good sport, I’m asking mostly to see if anyone here has any experience with high-traffic environments on the runway framework causing issues with server load, specifically in relation to ACF. I’d love to know what the issue is, because ACF is a critical plugin for me and if there are certain things it’s allergic to in high traffic situations, I’d like to know.
Thanks in advance.
