Hello everyone,
I'm currently testing out the 2.x environment to prepare an upgrade path for my live forum, which is running on Flarum 1.8.16.
My live site is hosted on a free hosting plan with 500 MB disk limit. On 1.x, the whole setup safely uses only 359 MB total (with storage/less sitting at a tiny 33.6 MB).
To test the 2.x upgrade path, I did a completely clean install of rc3 locally on Windows via XAMPP and added my target extensions to check compatibility. However, the size has completely exploded:
- Total Local 2.x Size (Fresh Install + Extensions): 1.66 GB
- Local 2.x storage/less Folder: 1.47 GB
This has me a bit worried about whether budget or free web hosts will still be viable once Flarum 2.x goes stable. If a fresh setup testing these extensions crosses 1.5 GB in the LESS folder alone, it will immediately trigger account suspensions on a 500MB host.
Here are my local environment details and the extension stack I am testing:
PHP version: CLI: 8.3.31, Web: unable to detect
PHP memory limit: CLI: 512M, Web: unable to detect
MariaDB version: 10.4.32
Loaded extensions: Core, bcmath, calendar, ctype, date, filter, hash, iconv, json, SPL, pcre, random, readline, Reflection, session, standard, mysqlnd, tokenizer, zlib, libxml, dom, PDO, bz2, SimpleXML, xml, xmlreader, xmlwriter, apache2handler, openssl, fileinfo, gd, gettext, mbstring, exif, mysqli, pdo_mysql, pdo_sqlite, zip, Phar, ftp
+-------------------------------------+---------------+--------+-------+
| Flarum Extensions | | | |
+-------------------------------------+---------------+--------+-------+
| ID | Version | Commit | Notes |
+-------------------------------------+---------------+--------+-------+
| flarum-flags | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-tags | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-approval | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-suspend | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-gdpr | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-mentions | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-subscriptions | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| fof-user-directory | 2.0.0-beta.5 | | |
| fof-follow-tags | 2.0.0-beta.6 | | |
| fof-pages | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-forum-widgets-core | 2.0.0-beta.3 | | |
| flarum-nicknames | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| fof-discussion-views | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-best-answer | 2.0.0-beta.5 | | |
| fof-sitemap | 3.0.0-beta.6 | | |
| flarum-markdown | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-bbcode | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-lock | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| fof-ban-ips | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-default-user-preferences | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| walsgit-recycle-bin | 2.0.4 | | |
| walsgit-external-links-in-new-tab | 2.1.0 | | |
| tryhackx-magnet-link | 2.5.0 | | |
| sycho-advanced-extension-categories | v0.2.1 | | |
| resofire-mobile-search | v0.1.9 | | |
| ramon-verified | v2.1.21 | | |
| ralkage-profile-messages | v2.0.0-rc.1 | | |
| ralkage-account-lockout | v2.0.0-beta.8 | | |
| linkrobins-shoutbox | v1.3.4 | | |
| linkrobins-referral | v1.2.1 | | |
| linkrobins-clipboard | v1.1.2 | | |
| ianm-syndication | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| ianm-log-viewer | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| ianm-follow-users | 2.0.0-beta.7 | | |
| huseyinfiliz-leaderboard | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| huseyinfiliz-diff | 2.0.0-beta.4 | | |
| glowingblue-password-strength | 5.0.0-beta.3 | | |
| forumaker-profile-cover | 2.4.0 | | |
| forumaker-magicread | 2.4.0 | | |
| forumaker-magicbb | 2.4.4 | | |
| forumaker-bento | 2.5.5 | | |
| fof-username-request | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-usercard-stats | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-user-bio | 2.0.0-beta.3 | | |
| fof-top-posters-widget | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-terms | 2.0.0-beta.6 | | |
| fof-synopsis | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-subscribed | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-split | 2.0.0-beta.3 | | |
| fof-socialprofile | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-signature | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-share-social | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-seo | 4.0.0-beta.5 | | |
| fof-pwned-passwords | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-profile-image-crop | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-prevent-necrobumping | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-polls | 3.0.0-beta.4 | | |
| fof-photoswipe | v2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-online-users-widget | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-news-widget | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-move-posts | v2.0.0-beta.4 | | |
| fof-moderator-warnings | 2.0.0-beta.4 | | |
| fof-moderator-notes | 2.0.0-beta.4 | | |
| fof-merge-discussions | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-links | 2.0.0-beta.3 | | |
| fof-ignore-users | 2.0.0-beta.3 | | |
| fof-geoip | 2.0.0-beta.9 | | |
| fof-forum-stats-widget | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-formatting | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| fof-drafts | 2.0.0-beta.7 | | |
| fof-disposable-emails | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-discussion-thumbnail | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-discussion-templates | 2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| fof-anti-spam | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| flectar-turnstile | 2.0.0-beta.2 | | |
| flarum-sticky | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-statistics | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-messages | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-likes | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-lang-english | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-extension-manager | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-emoji | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| flarum-akismet | v2.0.0-rc.3 | | |
| ernestdefoe-cross-references | 3.0.0 | | |
| datlechin-title-length | v1.0.0-beta.1 | | |
| datlechin-silent-edit | v2.0.0-beta.1 | | |
+-------------------------------------+---------------+--------+-------+
Base URL: http://localhost/v2
Installation path: C:\xampp\htdocs\v2
Queue driver: sync
Session driver: file
Scheduler status: Never run
Mail driver: mail
Debug mode: off
I'd love to get some insight on a few things from the community or core team:
- Why does Flarum 2.0 generate such a massive LESS cache locally when installing these extensions? Is it keeping old compilation fragments or creating extra source maps?
- Will this behavior translate over to a production Linux server, or is it just an issue with how Windows/XAMPP handles the file structure?
- Is there a built-in way to automatically purge or cap this folder so shared hosting users don't hit their storage ceilings?
Thanks so much for any guidance or advice!
