Installing and configuring RD Performance Toolkit
This guide covers the first 15 minutes with the plugin: installation, the settings you should turn on immediately, and where to go next.
Installation
- Upload the plugin zip via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, or install directly if it's listed on WordPress.org.
- Activate it. You'll find Performance in your wp-admin menu.
- Open the Optimizations tab — safe defaults are already on.
What to enable first
Everything marked with a plain checkbox is safe to turn on immediately. Anything marked with a ⚠ warning (like Defer JavaScript, or the page cache) has real potential to affect how your site behaves — enable those one at a time and click through your site afterward.
Recommended first pass: 1. Optimizations tab → confirm the pre-enabled defaults look right 2. Security tab → review the checklist, enable what applies to you 3. Monitor tab → click "Run Check Now" to get your first real score 4. Advanced tab → check the Diagnostics panel for server-specific notes
Images & performance
WebP conversion only affects new uploads — existing images aren't retroactively converted. If your server doesn't support WebP (checked automatically), the toggle simply won't do anything; the Diagnostics panel will tell you if that's the case.
The Core Web Vitals Monitor
The Monitor tab calls Google's real PageSpeed Insights API. It works without any setup, at a shared rate limit — if you plan to check often, add your own free API key under the Advanced tab.
Compatibility notes
If you're running WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, or a similar caching plugin, this plugin's own page cache automatically disables itself — you don't need to do anything. Elementor and WooCommerce both get dedicated optimization sections once detected.