Here are some simple tips to get your pages loading quickly and to save server resources. There are many features that can be turned off to save resources and I would keep most of these off if you have a larger forum.
Here are some basics:
# – Never use the no cache option. Using this means the header will be reloaded every time someone visits your site even if they are a member refreshing the page.
# – Keep GZip on and set to 1. Never compress more than the number 1 setting.
# – Keep your cache time set very high for static images, etc. Mine are set to 2500. An image that does not change does not to be reloaded often.
# – Keep whos online off and set to random display. Disable spider display and guest display.
# – Turn off who read a post, whos been online in the last 24 hours, thread checks, reputation, subscription, etc – Basically just go through the options and disable features that will add queries unless it is a feature vital to your site.
Incorporate the following into your htaccess. This will help with static images and even security.
# BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache
AddType text/css .css
AddType application/javascript .js
AddType application/x-javascript .js
AddType text/html .html .htm
AddType text/richtext .rtf .rtx
AddType image/svg+xml .svg .svgz
AddType text/plain .txt
AddType text/xsd .xsd
AddType text/xsl .xsl
AddType text/xml .xml
AddType video/asf .asf .asx .wax .wmv .wmx
AddType video/avi .avi
AddType image/bmp .bmp
AddType application/java .class
AddType video/divx .divx
AddType application/msword .doc .docx
AddType application/x-msdownload .exe
AddType image/gif .gif
AddType application/x-gzip .gz .gzip
AddType image/x-icon .ico
AddType image/jpeg .jpg .jpeg .jpe
AddType application/vnd.ms-access .mdb
AddType audio/midi .mid .midi
AddType video/quicktime .mov .qt
AddType audio/mpeg .mp3 .m4a
AddType video/mp4 .mp4 .m4v
AddType video/mpeg .mpeg .mpg .mpe
AddType application/vnd.ms-project .mpp
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database .odb
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart .odc
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula .odf
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics .odg
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation .odp
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet .ods
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text .odt
AddType audio/ogg .ogg
AddType application/pdf .pdf
AddType image/png .png
AddType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint .pot .pps .ppt .pptx
AddType audio/x-realaudio .ra .ram
AddType application/x-shockwave-flash .swf
AddType application/x-tar .tar
AddType image/tiff .tif .tiff
AddType audio/wav .wav
AddType audio/wma .wma
AddType application/vnd.ms-write .wri
AddType application/vnd.ms-excel .xla .xls .xlsx .xlt .xlw
AddType application/zip .zip
# END W3TC Browser Cache
# START E-Tag
Header unset ETag
FileETag None
# END E-Tag
# START Deny attempts to view the Htaccess file.
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
# END Deny attempts to view the Htaccess file.
# Start Deny attempts to view the config file.
Order allow,deny
Deny from all
# End Deny attempts to view the config file.
# START Mime-Type
AddType text/css .css
AddType text/richtext .rtf .rtx
AddType image/svg+xml .svg .svgz
AddType text/plain .txt
AddType text/xsd .xsd
AddType text/xsl .xsl
AddType video/asf .asf .asx .wax .wmv .wmx
AddType video/avi .avi
AddType image/bmp .bmp
AddType application/java .class
AddType video/divx .divx
AddType application/msword .doc .docx
AddType application/x-msdownload .exe
AddType image/gif .gif
AddType application/x-gzip .gz .gzip
AddType image/x-icon .ico
AddType image/jpeg .jpg .jpeg .jpe
AddType application/vnd.ms-access .mdb
AddType audio/midi .mid .midi
AddType video/quicktime .mov .qt
AddType audio/mpeg .mp3 .m4a
AddType video/mp4 .mp4 .m4v
AddType video/mpeg .mpeg .mpg .mpe
AddType application/vnd.ms-project .mpp
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database .odb
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart .odc
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula .odf
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics .odg
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation .odp
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet .ods
AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text .odt
AddType audio/ogg .ogg
AddType application/pdf .pdf
AddType image/png .png
AddType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint .pot .pps .ppt .pptx
AddType audio/x-realaudio .ra .ram
AddType application/x-shockwave-flash .swf
AddType application/x-tar .tar
AddType image/tiff .tif .tiff
AddType audio/wav .wav
AddType audio/wma .wma
AddType application/vnd.ms-write .wri
AddType application/vnd.ms-excel .xla .xls .xlsx .xlt .xlw
AddType application/zip .zip
# END Mime-Type
# START Expires Headers
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresDefault "access plus 1 seconds"
ExpiresByType text/html "access plus 1 seconds"
ExpiresByType text/css A2628000
ExpiresByType text/richtext A3600
ExpiresByType image/svg+xml A3600
ExpiresByType text/plain A3600
ExpiresByType text/xsd A3600
ExpiresByType text/xsl A3600
ExpiresByType video/asf A2628000
ExpiresByType video/avi A2628000
ExpiresByType image/bmp A2628000
ExpiresByType application/java A2628000
ExpiresByType video/divx A2628000
ExpiresByType application/msword A2628000
ExpiresByType application/x-msdownload A2628000
ExpiresByType image/gif A2628000
ExpiresByType application/x-gzip A2628000
ExpiresByType image/x-icon A2628000
ExpiresByType image/jpeg A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-access A2628000
ExpiresByType audio/midi A2628000
ExpiresByType video/quicktime A2628000
ExpiresByType audio/mpeg A2628000
ExpiresByType video/mp4 A2628000
ExpiresByType video/mpeg A2628000
ExpiresByType application/javascript A2628000
ExpiresByType application/x-javascript A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-project A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text A2628000
ExpiresByType audio/ogg A2628000
ExpiresByType application/pdf A2628000
ExpiresByType image/png A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint A2628000
ExpiresByType audio/x-realaudio A2628000
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash A2628000
ExpiresByType application/x-tar A2628000
ExpiresByType image/tiff A2628000
ExpiresByType audio/wav A2628000
ExpiresByType audio/wma A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-write A2628000
ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-excel A2628000
ExpiresByType application/zip A2628000
# END Expires Headers
# BEGIN Compress text files
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/xml text/css text/plain
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml application/xhtml+xml application/xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rdf+xml application/rss+xml application/atom+xml
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript application/javascript application/x-javascript application/json
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf application/x-font-otf
AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/truetype font/opentype
# remove browser bugs
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4.0[678] no-gzip
BrowserMatch bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
# END Compress text files
# BEGIN Cache-Control Headers
Header set Cache-Control "max-age=29030400, public"
Header set Cache-Control "public"
Header set Cache-Control "private"
Header set Cache-Control "private, must-revalidate"
# END Cache-Control Headers
# Block User-agent Libwww-perl
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} libwww-perl.*
RewriteRule .* – [F,L]
# proc/self/environ? no way!
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} proc/self/environ [OR]
# Block out any script trying to set a mosConfig value through the URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|%3D) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*(.*) [OR]
# Block out any script that includes a -script- tag in URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (< |%3C).*script.*(>|%3E) [NC,OR]
# Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
# Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|[|%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
# Measures to block out SQL injection attacks
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(;|< |>|'|"|\)|%0A|%0D|%22|%27|%3C|%3E|%00).*(/\*|union|select|insert|cast|set|declare|drop|update|md5|benchmark).* [NC,OR]
