#WordPress - Support - Are Kitchen Sink Themes CPU Hogs?

[resolved] Are Kitchen Sink Themes CPU Hogs? (2 posts)

Posted 3 years ago #

Hello. I am wondering if I should upgrade to one of the premium WordPress themes such as Thesis Theme, which famously seem to have just about every imaginable functionality. And there are many similarly impressive themes found here under "Commercially Supported GPL Themes ."

But do these "kitchen sink" themes have a downside of high CPU usage?

I have several multisite installation. I am hoping to run dozens of sites per installation. And I want to specialize in one or two good themes that have head insert or custom CSS capabilities. Dozens of added admin buttons would be nice, but not if this causes high CPU usage.

I am not asking "What is a good theme." I am simply asking:

1. Do more complex themes INTRINSICALLY tend to have substantially high CPU usage?

Usually, I am just providing basic blogsites for friends and local businesses. I probably don't need advanced design functions. But if it is not a problem to "network enable" a super-powered theme, it would be nice to have that available. And if such themes do not necessarily cause high CPU usage, I just as soon use it for all the sites to simplify matters.

I have spent several hours surfing about CPU usage. Lots of tips about caching, minimizing plugins, minimizing RSS, etc. But I found no specific implication to avoid complex themes. I also failed to find any "high efficiency" themes advertised. So hopefully CPU usage by complex Themes is not a problem? But if it is, I would prefer to know sooner rather than later. Thank you anyone.