Theme causing CPU Usage issue

I have been running the Newspaper theme on my website for a while now and although I like it, every time I post an article, update or get a surge of hits my CPUsage goes through the roof where my page crashes.

I am now debating moving away from this theme but I’m wondering if there’s something I should be looking for when looking for a new theme?

Or should I be thinking of a new host instead of a new theme?

Very often it is not the theme that causes problems when it comes to WordPress but the plugins you might have installed. Have you tried disabling your plugins and see if the CPU suddenly falls in line with performance? If you do see it improve, then you can diagnose which plugin might be causing the issue by turning on each plugin again (one-by-one) and testing to see if the problem returns.

Another approach is to install a plugin like Debug bar which can show you some metrics about what queries are taking a long time and what other functions might be slowing your site down.

But I am willing to bet that it is a plugin that is giving you an issue and not the theme. Changing the theme may not solve the problem if it is a plugin.

If you really think it is the theme, just switch temporarily to the WordPress default theme and see if that fixes things. If it is a plugin, it will most likely still have an issue.

:slight_smile:

Thanks for the response. You are not wrong when it comes to the plug-in.

I have had to resort to disabling a plug-in via my cPanel every time I publish a new article - tagDIV Composer.

The issue is, the creator of both the plug-in and theme insist it’s not them. I have worked with my host to meet all the recommendations and I still have the issue. It’s got to the point where it’s become a chore to do anything on the website, hence me debating a fresh design but the last thing I want is to buy a new theme and end up in the same boat.

Well do you see the performance problem when tagDIV composer is turned off? If everything is working fine with that turned off, perhaps it is just the plugin being a problem.

I have found that a lot of devs don’t like taking the time to dig into a complaint and insist that their stuff just works for all situations. That is usually a red flag that the plugin may not be for you. Especially if you paid for it (I am not sure if you did or not).

As for changing themes, you know you can find plenty of great free themes out there these days. They may not have all the bells and whistles but there may be a few that just work for your needs.

No issues at all when it’s turned off but the theme is dependant on it.

I don’t might paying for a good theme as long as it works well.

Any website recommendations? I’ve always used ThemeForest.