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Performance and Maintenance

Best practices for maintaining optimal performance of the Entityqueue Form Widget and entity queues.

Performance Fundamentals

What Affects Widget Performance

Widget Load Time (most important): - Number of queues displayed - Number of items in each queue - Database queries needed - Module caching effectiveness

Form Rendering: - Browser rendering of checkboxes - JavaScript interactions - Form submission processing

Backend Performance: - Database size - Entityqueue module efficiency - Drupal cache configuration

Optimizing Widget Performance

Limit Number of Queues per Content Type

Problem: Too many queues visible creates performance issues

Poor: 20 queues per content type
  ├─ Long load time
  ├─ Editor confusion
  ├─ Many database queries
  └─ Reduced usability

Good: 5-8 queues per content type
  ├─ Fast load time
  ├─ Clear choices
  ├─ Minimal queries
  └─ Better UX

Implementation: 1. Review all queues 2. Consolidate similar purposes 3. Archive unused queues 4. Target queues to specific bundles

Control Queue Visibility

By Bundle Targeting: 1. Create queues for specific content types only 2. Don't target all bundles unnecessarily 3. Use bundle restrictions to reduce widget size

Example: 

Queue 1: "Blog Featured"
  Target: Article only
  Widget shows on: Article forms only

Queue 2: "Page Featured"
  Target: Page only
  Widget shows on: Page forms only

Benefit: Each content type sees only relevant queues

Optimize Queue Item Count

Monitor Queue Size: 1. Set reasonable max sizes (10-50 items typical) 2. Don't allow unlimited queue growth 3. Regularly remove old items

Queue Size Guidelines:

Queue Type Suggested Max
Homepage Featured 5-10
Category Featured 10-20
Recent Items 20-50
Large Collections 50-200

Database Optimization

Configure Caching

  1. Browser Cache (most important)
  2. Cache form data in browser
  3. Reduces repeated requests

  4. Clear on queue changes

  5. Drupal Cache

  6. Enable page caching
  7. Cache form widget markup

  8. Invalidate when queues change

  9. Database Cache

  10. Use Redis or Memcache if available
  11. Cache queue queries
  12. Reduce database load

Database Maintenance

Regular Cleanup:

# Remove old/orphaned queue entries
drush sqlq "DELETE FROM entityqueue_subqueues_items
  WHERE item_id NOT IN (SELECT nid FROM node);"

# Rebuild database indexes
drush sql:optimize

Monitoring: - Check table sizes - Monitor query performance - Review slow query logs

Monitoring and Maintenance

Performance Monitoring

Key Metrics

  1. Widget Load Time
  2. Target: < 200ms to render
  3. Test: Use browser DevTools

  4. Monitor: Regularly on production

  5. Form Save Time

  6. Target: < 1 second
  7. Test: Save node with queue assignments

  8. Monitor: User feedback

  9. Queue Admin Performance

  10. Target: Queue management page loads < 500ms
  11. Test: Visit /admin/structure/entityqueue/[queue]
  12. Monitor: Admin interface responsiveness

Tools for Monitoring

Built-in Drupal: - Drupal logs: Watch for warnings - Performance module: Track page load times - Watchdog: Monitor module-specific issues

Browser Tools: - DevTools Network: Check request times - DevTools Console: Look for JavaScript errors - Performance tab: Analyze rendering

Server Tools: - New Relic / DataDog: Application performance - Database monitoring: Query analysis - Webserver logs: Request analysis

Regular Maintenance Tasks

Daily: - Monitor error logs - Quick performance check - User feedback review

Weekly: - Verify queue health - Check for stale content - Confirm all queues functioning

Monthly: - Remove obsolete items - Archive unused queues - Update documentation - Database optimization run

Quarterly: - Performance audit - Queue effectiveness review - User feedback analysis - Caching strategy review

Caching Strategy

Drupal Caching

Cache Types

Block Cache (Form Widget): - Cache the form widget markup - Invalidate when queue changes - Significant performance boost

Page Cache: - Cache entire page with widget - Requires unique cache per user - Good for anonymous users

Data Cache: - Cache queue data/queries - Reduce database load - Shorter TTL for accuracy

Enabling Caches

  1. Go to Administration > Configuration > Performance (/admin/config/performance)
  2. Enable caching
  3. Set cache times appropriately
  4. Configure cache backend (Database/Redis)

Cache Invalidation

Caches automatically invalidate when: - Queue is created/edited/deleted - Items added/removed from queue - Queue configuration changes

Manual Cache Clear: 

# Clear all caches
drush cr

# Clear specific cache
drush cache:rebuild entity

Browser Caching

Form widget can be aggressively cached: - Static until queue changes - User-agnostic (same for all editors) - Long TTL (1-24 hours)

Implementation: Use Drupal's cache headers: 

$form['#cache'] = [
  'max-age' => 3600, // 1 hour
  'tags' => ['entity_queue'],
];

Database Performance

Query Optimization

Indexes

Entityqueue module should create indexes on: - queue_id (queue lookup) - item_id (item lookup) - weight (ordering)

Verify Indexes: 

# List table structure
drush sqlq "DESCRIBE entityqueue_queue_item;"

# Look for indexes in output

Query Analysis

Slow Query Log:

  1. Enable MySQL slow query log
  2. Set threshold (e.g., 1 second)
  3. Review logs weekly
  4. Identify and optimize slow queries

Example Optimization:

-- Slow: Multiple joins
SELECT * FROM entityqueue_queue_item
WHERE queue_id IN (SELECT queue_id FROM entityqueue_queue WHERE target_bundle = 'article');

-- Fast: Direct query with index
SELECT * FROM entityqueue_queue_item
WHERE queue_id = 5;

Database Size Management

Monitor Table Size

# Check Entityqueue table sizes
drush sqlq "SELECT
  table_name,
  ROUND((data_length + index_length) / 1024 / 1024, 2) as 'Size in MB'
FROM information_schema.tables
WHERE table_schema = 'drupal'
AND table_name LIKE 'entityqueue%';"

Cleanup Large Tables

# Remove orphaned subqueue items (items for deleted content)
drush sqlq "DELETE FROM entityqueue_subqueues_items
  WHERE item_id NOT IN (SELECT nid FROM node);"

# Rebuild indexes
drush sql:optimize

Troubleshooting Performance Issues

Slow Widget Load

Diagnosis: - Widget takes > 1 second to appear - Form feels sluggish - Admin notices delays

Investigation Steps:

  1. Check Queue Count
  2. Count active queues for content type

  3. Reduce if > 10

  4. Check Queue Item Count

  5. Review items in each queue

  6. Remove unnecessary items

  7. Check Caching

  8. Verify Drupal cache enabled
  9. Check cache hit rate

  10. Review cache configuration

  11. Database Performance

  12. Run slow query log
  13. Check table sizes
  14. Verify indexes exist

Solutions: - Consolidate queues - Archive unused queues - Reduce queue sizes - Enable better caching - Upgrade database hardware

Slow Queue Admin Page

Diagnosis: - Queue administration pages sluggish - Reordering slow - List view slow

Solutions: 1. Reduce items in queue 2. Improve database indexes 3. Upgrade server resources 4. Enable query caching 5. Consider alternative reordering UI

Out of Memory Errors

Diagnosis: - PHP out of memory errors - Form doesn't load - Save fails with error

Causes: - Too many items in queue - Too many queues displayed - Database query memory leak

Solutions: 

# Increase PHP memory limit in php.ini
memory_limit = 256M

# Or in wp-config.php (if applicable)
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');

Also address root cause (reduce queue size).

Scaling Considerations

Small Site (1-5 queues, < 50 items each)

Recommended Setup: - Default Drupal caching - Standard database - No special optimization needed

Monitoring: - Basic logging - Monthly reviews

Medium Site (5-15 queues, 50-200 items each)

Recommended Setup: - Enable aggressive caching - Database indexes optimized - Redis/Memcache recommended - Regular maintenance schedule

Monitoring: - Weekly performance checks - Database cleanup monthly - Query optimization as needed

Large Site (15+ queues, 200+ items per queue)

Recommended Setup: - Advanced caching (Redis) - Database replication - Separate read/write databases - Queue optimization critical - Custom handlers for performance

Monitoring: - Daily performance monitoring - Real-time alerts - Dedicated DBA support - Quarterly audits

Load Testing

Simulating Load

Test Before Production Changes:

  1. Form Load Testing
  2. Simulate 100s of concurrent form loads
  3. Measure response time

  4. Identify bottlenecks

  5. Queue Access Testing

  6. Many users viewing/editing queues
  7. Monitor database load
  8. Check for timeouts

Tools: - Apache JMeter - Siege - LoadRunner - Custom scripts

Expected Performance Targets

Widget load: < 200ms
Form save: < 1 second
Queue admin: < 500ms
Database query: < 100ms

Disaster Recovery

Backup Strategy

Backup Queue Data:

# Export queue configuration
drush config:export --destination=/backups/entityqueue-config

# Export queue data (if module supports it)
# Or use database backup

Recovery: 

# Restore configuration
drush config:import --source=/backups/entityqueue-config

# Restore database from backup
mysql drupal < backup.sql

Data Integrity

Verify Queue Integrity:

# Check for orphaned items
drush sqlq "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM entityqueue_subqueues_items
  WHERE item_id NOT IN (SELECT nid FROM node);"

# If > 0, clean up orphaned items

Next Steps