TXP Plugin rvm_css

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RVM_CSS information and download link

RVM_CSS is a TXP plugin created by Ruud van Melick, the Textpattern developer, creator of other useful Textpattern plugins and solver of many people's problems on the TXP forum. This interview is with the plugin and not with Ruud.

TXPQ What is life all about?

RVM_CSS Speed, speed, speed. Hurry up, next question!

TXPQ What motivates you or "makes you tick?"

RVM_CSS I like to make fast efficient systems even faster and even more efficient and at the same time improve cache flow :)

TXPQ What's your purpose in life?

RVM_CSS To copy stylesheets stored in the database and store them as static files. Static files can be served many times, even hundreds of times, faster than using PHP to pull them from a database. This is because much less CPU time and memory is needed.

TXPQ Would you like to talk about where you live?

RVM_CSS Well, my home is at Ruud van Melick's TXP Plugins place but if you are talking about after I've been downloaded, I am easily installed just like other Textpattern plugins.

TXPQ Tell us more about what you do.

RVM_CSS I automatically store the static files in a CSS folder. Whenever you make a change to a style sheet in your Textpattern admin and save it, its static version is automatically updated in the CSS folder.

TXPQ And that's it? There's surely more to it than that?

RVM_CSS Well, you should read the help file and replace all occurrences of <txp:css /> with <txp:rvm_css /> but that's it. Just watch your pages download faster than ever :)

TXPQ Have you any brothers or sisters who can copy pages and forms to static files?

RVM_CSS No. Forms and pages are combined with article data that is pulled from the database to create the web page that is sent to the visitor. The technique I use to speed up CSS files only really works with those elements that the browser requests that can be stored entirely as static files.

TXPQ Could your method be used elsewhere?

RVM_CSS Bert Garcia is hoping to improve his Hcg_Templates Plugin for TXP so it uses static files too but there's unlikely to be a similar speed increase.

There is stm_javascript by Stanislav Müller which creates a Javascript tab similar to the Style tab. It allows you an easy way to create a javascript and store it in the database. If it stored the JS as a static file it would have similar speed benefits to rvm_css.

TXP Q OK, rvm_css, you're a great Textpattern plugin! I'll let you get back to work now. Thanks! Thanks also to Stef Dawson for suggesting I should extend my range of interviewees ;)