WordPress specific functionality

If you install New Relic for WordPress websites, the PHP agent receives additional metrics. A WordPress page appears in the New Relic user interface: Go to one.newrelic.com > All capabilities > APM & services > (select a WordPress app).

Configuration

You can control which WordPress-specific metrics your app sends to New Relic by using the PHP agent's ini setting newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks. This is enabled by default in versions 5.3 or higher, and it can be disabled with:

newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks = false

Although this setting uses the word .hooks, it controls capturing all WordPress-specific metrics.

New Relic PHP Agent version 10.16 adds newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks.options ini setting that allows to fine tune which WordPress-specific metricsand what data is sent in those metrics. This setting accepts following values: "all_callbacks" (New Relic PHP Agent version 10.16 default), "plugin_callbacks" (New Relic PHP Agent version 10.20 default), and "threshold". "all_callbacks" option causes all hook callback functions to be instrumented. "plugin_callbacks" and "threshold" settings allow to reduce agent's overhead by fine tuning data collected by the agent. Setting newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks.options to "plugin_callbacks" limits the instrumentation to only plugin/theme callbacks. Setting newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks.options to "threshold" disables plugins/themes monitoring and in this mode of operation New Relic PHP agent only records execution of hooks that exceed newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks.threshold (1ms is the default threshold).

Metrics

The PHP agent receives metrics for the following:

• Hooks: These metrics indicate time spent within each WordPress hook. Time is calculated from the hook dispatch functions apply_filters, apply_filters_ref_array, do_action, and do_action_ref_array. When newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks.options="all_callbacks" this includes WordPress core callbacks. When newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks.options="plugin_callbacks" this includes only plugins/themes callbacks. In both cases the metric count indicates the number of callbacks called. However when newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks.options="threshold", the metric count indicates the number of times a hook was executed.
• Plugins and themes: These metrics indicate time spent within each WordPress plugin and theme. Time is calculated from the dispatch functions for hooks. This metric is only generated when newrelic.framework.wordpress.hooks.options is either "all_callbacks" or "plugins_only".

Integration with New Relic partners

By integrating your WordPress application with APM, you can view performance directly from your WordPress app's Administration page. For example, W3 Total Cache is one of New Relic's partners that specializes in WordPress apps.