Plugin "Super Cache" uses the most powerful caching technology for site pages currently available, making page loading almost instantaneous (average 30ms). Increasing the loading speed of the site will improve SEO, usability and conversion of the site, and the main part of the load will be removed from the server, which will allow even a weak server to withstand periods of high traffic.
In the cache itself, you can load some of the content from the original version of the site to keep the information on the page up-to-date where it is required.
This plugin belongs to our “SPEED” plugin series, if you want to speed up your site, check out other plugins in the same series: Lazy load, PRO Responsive Images, Critical CSS
How does this happen:
- When visiting a website page, the plugin saves an exact copy of the page in HTML format on the server.
- Next, minifies HTML and inline JS and CSS, reducing page weight by about 20%.
- Then it archives the file in GZIP format, which further reduces the page weight by about 10 times.
- When the page is visited again, the server gives the user a saved copy (cache) instead of generating the page using php and mysql, which significantly reduces the load on the server's CPU and RAM.
Dynamic cache blocks:
Dynamic blocks - allow you to load part of the site content into the cache from the original version of the site.
For example, delivery information may depend on the city of the user, and you can cache the delivery information from the original version of the site for the desired city.
Content is updated in the background (AJAX). It is also possible to load dynamic blocks after the page is loaded (asynchronously), this can significantly increase the page loading speed.
The use of dynamic blocks allows you to achieve compatibility with almost all plugins and website templates.
Instructions and video instructions for setting up dynamic blocks can be found in the plugin settings.
Why do you need this plugin:
- Since May 2021, google has been taking into account the loading speed to rank the site in the search results, which means by improving the speed you improve the SEO of the site.
- Sites that load quickly are more convenient for your users, and this affects the conversion of the site, the number of pages viewed and, in general, the behavioral factor.
- Improves Core Web Vitals Metrics.
For which sites "Super Cache" will be most effective:
- Website pages take more than 2 seconds to load.
- Large page sizes (a lot of inline, non-minified CSS and JS code, whitespace characters, line breaks).
- It takes a long time to generate pages using PHP.
- There are a lot of plugins installed that load the site.
- The server crashes when there is a lot of traffic.
Plugin features:
- Configure scheduled cache deletion (via CRON).
- Remove the cache manually.
- Minifying HTML and inline JS and CSS.
- GZIP archiving.
- Using server worker client caching (modern browsers only). Fonts, images, JS and CSS files are additionally cached on the client side in the browser using Server Worker (based on Google's Workbox library).
- 4 caching strategies for different types of devices (for desktop, for mobile, separate cache for mobile and desktop devices, shared cache).
- Works with multiple domains.
Caching rules:
- Pages are cached only for non-authorized users, the standard version of the site is shown for authorized users (optional).
- For admin users, pages are not cached.
- When adding a product to the cart, users will be shown a non-cached version of the site (for the duration of the session).
- If the user has added items to the cart, the cache will not be saved.
- When editing a product in the control panel, the cache of product pages and its category is deleted.
- When adding a review/comment, the product cache page is deleted.
- When placing an order, the pages of ordered products and their categories are removed from the cache.
- Pages are cached only in the language specified in the plugin settings (if not specified, then in any language).
- If you make any bulk changes to the content on the site, you need to clear the cache.
Compatibility with design themes:
To work with the design themes "MegaShop 2.0" and "Ahead", you need to enable the option in the plugin settings "Disable cache on page refresh". There were no problems with other themes.
Integration with plugins:
- Critical CSS
- Responsive Images PRO
- Auto detection and city selection
Note:
Plugin "Critical CSS" is a great addition to the plugin "Super Cache". If we conditionally divide the page loading speed of the site into two stages:
- Getting the page from the server.
- Page rendering.
"Super Cache" - works at the first stage, making the page instantaneous for users. And "Critical CSS" works in the second stage by speeding up rendering, that is, the visual rendering of the page.
It is also worth considering that the number of Pagespeed Insights points is added up based on the pages already received, that is, the second stage of loading speed, rendering speed, is analyzed. The faster the page of your site is visually rendered, the higher the scores.
And often, many sites have high Pagespeed Insights scores, but pages load slowly for users, have a delay before loading, or vice versa sites have low Pagespeed Insights scores, but pages load quickly for users.
Plugin bundle "Super Cache" + "Critical CSS" speeds up the site at the same time in two stages of loading, which allows you to get high scores on the Pagespeed Insights service and instantly load pages for users even on a weak server or during periods of high traffic. And also both plugins improve Core Web Vitals, which has a positive effect on SEO.
Installing and activating caching:
In the plugin settings, click "Enable caching" and "Configure Server Rules".
For the Apache and Apache+Nginx: web server, after saving the settings, the configured rules will be displayed in the plugin settings, they must be set independently in the topmost .htaccess file located in the root of your site (Mod_rewrite module and .htaccess support must be enabled on the server).
For the Nginx: web server, after saving the settings, the configured rules will be displayed in the plugin settings, they must be installed in the server configuration file yourself. Instructions and video instructions are in the plugin settings. (Requires access to the server config file and the ability to restart the server after making changes.)
On other web servers: enable the "Connect cache via routing" option, but in this mode the cache will connect more slowly.
How to check the work:
You must go to any of the pages of the "Store" application as an unauthorized user (it is best to use a different browser). The page counter in the plugin settings should increase. So the plugin is working.
To accurately measure the performance of a plugin, you need to measure the page load speed manually, through the browser console, and not using speed measurement sites, because they give erratic and inaccurate results with every request.
To manually measure the page loading speed. Visit the cached page as an unauthorized user. Open the browser console, go to the "Network" tab, select the "Document"/"HTML" type, the console will display the name of the page you are on with the download data (type, size, speed, etc.). Then clear the cache and disable caching, do it all over again and compare the results.
After enabling and configuring the plugin, go to the site from another browser and check the correctness of the site (from mobile and desktop devices). If something is wrong, write to technical support.
Technical support:
- Technical support is provided at: startwebsite@mail.ru
- Working hours (Moscow time): 10:00 - 18:00
- Technical support includes: setup advice, answers to questions about the plugin, plugin customization according to your instructions
- We will be glad to hear your: wishes, ideas, comments on the plugin
