Getting started
Permo starts measuring as soon as you activate it. Without any setup, it checks how your server is doing and how quickly it answers for your homepage. A free key from Google adds PageSpeed tests for phones and desktop computers. This page walks through the first few minutes.
Permo only measures. It doesn’t change your site, your settings or your content.
1. Find Permo in WordPress
Section titled “1. Find Permo in WordPress”After activation, Permo appears in the WordPress menu as Performance Monitor. The screens you use first are PageSpeed, with the results of Google’s test, and Settings, where you set up everything on this page.
2. The first check runs on its own
Section titled “2. The first check runs on its own”Right after activation, Permo measures your homepage once. This first check covers what Permo can see from your own server:
- Server values, such as how busy the server is, how much memory PHP may use, and how quickly the database answers.
- The page itself: Permo requests your homepage from your own server, past the page cache, and measures how long the server takes to answer.
None of this needs a Google account, and Permo sends nothing to Google at this point.
3. Add a Google API key
Section titled “3. Add a Google API key”PageSpeed tests run at Google, and Permo starts them with a key that belongs to you. The key is free. Until you add one, Permo shows the hint Add a PageSpeed Insights API key on its screens.
- Create the key at Google. Creating a PageSpeed API key explains each step, including the one setting that most often goes wrong.
- In WordPress, open Performance Monitor → Settings, tab General, and paste the key into PageSpeed Insights API key.
- Select Save key. Permo tests the key with Google and then measures your homepage again, this time with PageSpeed Insights for mobile and desktop.
The PageSpeed test takes a moment: Google loads your page twice, once as a phone and once as a desktop computer. The results then appear on the PageSpeed screen.
4. Choose the pages to monitor
Section titled “4. Choose the pages to monitor”Your homepage is always included. To add more, open Settings, tab URLs, and search for a published page or post by its title. Add and measure adds it and starts its first check.
You can monitor up to ten pages, including the homepage. Pages with a password aren’t offered. A switch on each row pauses a page; its data stays. Deleting a page removes all of its checks.
A good start is a few pages that matter to your visitors and look different: the homepage, a typical article, a page with many images, a contact or shop page.
5. Check the schedule
Section titled “5. Check the schedule”Automatic checks are on from the start. In Settings, tab General, under Automatic checks, you choose how often Permo measures all pages: hourly, daily, every 7 days or every 30 days, at a time in your site’s time zone. The default is daily at 03:00.
WordPress starts scheduled tasks when someone visits the site. On a quiet site, a check can therefore start later than planned. The Status tab in the settings shows when the last check ran, whether it was late, and whether your site uses the WordPress scheduler or a server cron job.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Your first results: The PageSpeed screen shows the scores, the metrics and what slowed the page down. Most values have a tooltip that links to their page in this documentation.
- No need to wait for the schedule: Check all pages at the top of the settings measures every active page in turn. Measure now on the PageSpeed screen measures the page you’re looking at.