Issue Description

The Performance Lab plugin, part of the work of the WP Performance Team, includes a health check for autoloaded options (see WordPress/performance#92). We'd like to add a new section to the Optimization article to link to directly from the health check report, so that users have a better idea of next steps for resolving the warning for too many autoloaded options.

URL of the Page with the Issue

https://wordpress.org/support/article/optimization/

Section of Page with the issue

Add new section to https://wordpress.org/support/article/optimization/#Improve_WordPress_Performance for "Autoloaded options" with an anchor of #autoload

Why is this a problem?

There currently is not any documentation regarding autoloaded options.

Suggested Fix

Add the following text in the new Autoloaded options section:

Autoloaded options are configuration settings for plugins and themes that are automatically loaded with every page load in WordPress. Each plugin and theme defines their own options and which options are autoloaded. Having too many autoloaded options can slow down your site. Generally, you should try to keep your site’s autoloaded options under 800kb.

By default, autoloaded options are saved in the wp_options table. Autoload can be turned off on an option-by-option basis within this table. For step-by-step instructions on viewing and changing autoloaded options, check with your hosting provider and see the guides below for examples as the solution for your provider may be similar.

Further reading

Kinsta: How to Clean up Your wp_options Table and Autoloaded Data
WP Engine: WordPress Database Optimization: Autoloaded Data
Pantheon: Optimize Your wp-options Table and Autoloaded Data
Servebolt: Clean up autoloaded options in WordPress