Is this the safe way to use WP Super Cache?

  • Resolved elevated420

    (@elevated420)


    1 year, 6 months ago

    So, I install this plugin, then activate it so it makes a cache of all my dynamic pages. Now, let’s say I want to update my site pages, plugins, code, whatever… am I supposed to disable this plugin first so it resets everything to dynamic? Also, if I forget to disable the plugin before I update my site, will that mess up or damage my site? Please let me know. Thanks.

Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • Plugin Support Tamirat B. (a11n)

    (@tamirat22)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Hi @elevated420 ,

    am I supposed to disable this plugin first so it resets everything to dynamic?

    Also, if I forget to disable the plugin before I update my site, will that mess up or damage my site? 

    You don’t need to disable WP Super Cache before updating your site. The plugin will automatically regenerate the cache for updated pages.

    However, if you notice any issues after updates, you can manually clear or delete the cache from the Settings -> WP Super Cache page.

    Hope this was helpful! Please let me know if you need further assistance or if you have additional questions.

    Thread Starter elevated420

    (@elevated420)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Hey Tamirat.

    Thanks for your reply.

    I don’t mean to challenge you, but my WordPress theme, PORTO, specifically states the following:

    “Note: You should disable below plugins while development. They may affect your changes not applied.”

    View post on imgur.com

    This is my reason for asking. It might sound like a stupid question, but I have spent the past year working on my website, and do not want to mess it up. Currently, I have WordPress and all my plugins set so that they auto update. If your WP Super Cache is enabled, and WordPress does an auto update, I do not want there to be any problems. I am about to start my first paid ad campaign with Google, and I do not want to be sending traffic to my site if an auto update breaks my site and my site visitors can’t place any orders.

    That being said, why do you think my WP theme is telling me to deactivate your plugin before doing any development / work / updates to my site? You are a software developer and obviously a lot smarter than me. I am interested in what your response is.

    I have already tested your plugin, and according to gtmetrix.com, it greatly improves loading time. Just to be safe, I will turn off WP auto updates, and I will also disable your WP Super Cache plugin when working on my site. I am still very interested in your response as to why PORTO is telling me to deactivate your plugin while in development.

    I look forward to your response. Keep up the good work!

    -el

    Plugin Author Donncha O Caoimh (a11n)

    (@donncha)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Hi @elevated420,

    There’s a good reason why the theme says caching should be turned off “while developing”. It’s because you’re probably changing PHP files in a text editor. There’s no way for a caching plugin to know that the file was updated. With caching disabled, you’ll see any changes immediately.

    However, when you’ve finished the main work on your site, then enable caching. If you need to tinker with your theme by editing PHP files, then clear the cache, or “disable caching for logged in users” on the settings page. You’ll see changes immediately, and you can clear the cache when you’re finished, so other visitors to the site then see the changes.

    Thread Starter elevated420

    (@elevated420)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Thanks Donncha. I wish I was as smart as you guys.

    I think I feel safe using your plugin now. I will reply back here if I have another question in the future.

    Thanks for the help.

    -el

    Plugin Support Stef (a11n)

    (@erania-pinnera)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Hi @elevated420,

    Thanks for the kind words – it means the world to is knowing that you feel safe using WP Super Cache. ⭐

    I’m going to mark this thread as solved. If you have any further questions or need more help, you’re welcome to open another thread here. Cheers!

    Thread Starter elevated420

    (@elevated420)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Ok, I think I got it. I have been playing with your plugin for a few hours on and off…

    1.) So, it is perfectly 100% safe to work on my website with caching turned on, but it is preferred to keep it off during development. Is that correct?

    2.) And then, if I forget to turn off caching while working or updating my site and plugins, I just delete the cache, and that fixes everything. Does that sound right?

    3.) And also, I assume if WordPress or a plugin does an auto-update, everything will be fine, but if not, just delete the cache. Is that correct?

    4.) Also, if there is any type of plugin auto-update or WordPress does an auto-update, will WP Super Cache automatically clear the cache after the update?

    5.) Last, does WP Super Cache auto delete the cache? If so, how often?

    I have some other questions so please keep this thread open. Thanks so much guys! My homepage went from a “C” to an “A” on gtmetrix.com! I am learning a lot!

    Plugin Support Stef (a11n)

    (@erania-pinnera)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Hi there, @elevated420,

    I have re-opened the thread 🙂 It’s great to hear that your site has already benefitted a lot from the usage of the WP Super Cache plugin! ⭐

    I’m going to answer your questions one by one as follows 🙂

    1.) So, it is perfectly 100% safe to work on my website with caching turned on, but it is preferred to keep it off during development. Is that correct?

    That is correct. Disabling caching for logged-in users is an easier way to handle it, so you may want to go with this instead.

    2.) And then, if I forget to turn off caching while working or updating my site and plugins, I just delete the cache, and that fixes everything. Does that sound right?

    That is correct as well. You might have pages cached from before you updated your plugins or some PHP code.

     3.) And also, I assume if WordPress or a plugin does an auto-update, everything will be fine, but if not, just delete the cache. Is that correct?

    Are you saying that you’re worried that an an auto-update will change how something is displayed but the cached version will still be shown? If an autoupdate wont’ go through, deleting the cache won’t help fixing the issue – that would depend on the nature of the auto-update fails. Caching won’t break auto-updates 🙂

    4.) Also, if there is any type of plugin auto-update or WordPress does an auto-update, will WP Super Cache automatically clear the cache after the update?

    A plugin could clear the cache, but it probably won’t. WP SuperCache won’t auto-clear the cache after an update, mostly because there’s usually no need to.

    5.) Last, does WP Super Cache auto delete the cache? If so, how often?

    Yes, you can do it via the Advanced settings. The cash deletion happens periodically set in the advanced settings page, so if you set it too long and you have a large site, you might have a huge cache directory to flush.  If your site is “fast enough” already, as you said, you can set the Garbage Collection to 3600 seconds (1 hour), with a schedule of 600 seconds (10 minutes). That should ensure a smooth cache cycling.

    ****
    Hope that answers your questions!

    Thread Starter elevated420

    (@elevated420)

    1 year, 5 months ago

    Thanks for the replies.

    Please keep this thread open. I will get back to you guys in a few days. I have other projects I am working on.

    -el

    Thread Starter elevated420

    (@elevated420)

    1 year, 4 months ago

    Ok, here are a few more questions. This is all very new and interesting to me, but it is also way over my head. It is slowly all beginning to make sense. Sorry for all the questions…

    1.) Is JetPack Boost a product of yours? What is the benefit of installing it? I mean, I assume it will make my site faster, so why is it not installed by default?

    2.) If I enable CDN support, won’t that cost me money? This I need to know for the future once I have a lot of products listed on my site.

    3.) Under “contents” it says, “WP-Super-Cache” –> “2 cached pages”. I have about 12 pages on my site. I thought when I enable caching, the plugin will turn all my dynamic WordPress pages into simple static html pages. What am I missing?

    4.) Preload: “This will cache every published post and page on your site. It will create supercache static files so unknown visitors (including bots) will hit a cached page. This will probably help your Google ranking as they are using speed as a metric when judging websites now”… Ok, so this is totally confusing. I guess I just don’t understand, what is the difference between caching and preloading? I thought preloading was when a user hovers their cursor over a link, and the web browser loads up that page into memory so if the user clicks on the link, the page loads up instantly. Your definition of preload is it will make a “supercache static file.” I am lost. Hope you can simplify this for me.

    5.) Do you think my site of only 12 pages should have preload enabled? If so, I assume I just check off the two boxes and click the “preload cache now” button?

    I think that should do it for now. I have spent a lot of time playing with this plugin and thinking about it. Thanks for all your support and keep up the good work!

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by elevated420.
    Plugin Support lastsplash (a11n)

    (@lastsplash)

    1 year, 4 months ago

    Hi @elevated420 –

    1.) Is JetPack Boost a product of yours? What is the benefit of installing it? I mean, I assume it will make my site faster, so why is it not installed by default?

    Jetpack Boost is a product from our parent company, Automattic. Installing it will make several optimizations to how CSS and JavaScript are load, which should help increase the speed of your site. It isn’t installed by default with WordPress because WordPress plugins need to be installed by the user.

    2.) If I enable CDN support, won’t that cost me money? This I need to know for the future once I have a lot of products listed on my site.

    The Site Accelerator CDN included with Jetpack is free.

    3.) Under “contents” it says, “WP-Super-Cache” –> “2 cached pages”. I have about 12 pages on my site. I thought when I enable caching, the plugin will turn all my dynamic WordPress pages into simple static html pages. What am I missing?

    Without knowing the particulars of your site and traffic, my hypothesis is that the other pages haven’t been visited. WP Super Cache will generate cached pages when a page is visited for the first time.

    4.) Preload: “This will cache every published post and page on your site. It will create supercache static files so unknown visitors (including bots) will hit a cached page. This will probably help your Google ranking as they are using speed as a metric when judging websites now”… Ok, so this is totally confusing. I guess I just don’t understand, what is the difference between caching and preloading? I thought preloading was when a user hovers their cursor over a link, and the web browser loads up that page into memory so if the user clicks on the link, the page loads up instantly. Your definition of preload is it will make a “supercache static file.” I am lost. Hope you can simplify this for me.

    I can understand your confusion here. You are referring to a different type of preloading. The preloading in WP Super Cache means pre-generating pages so that they are already cached on the server rather than waiting for a visitor to visit the page and then generating the cached version.

    5.) Do you think my site of only 12 pages should have preload enabled? If so, I assume I just check off the two boxes and click the “preload cache now” button?

    The answer is going to be dependent on the particulars of your site. I’d recommend experimenting and seeing which of the two yields better results for you.

    Thread Starter elevated420

    (@elevated420)

    1 year, 4 months ago

    Ok, thanks again for the replies. It is all starting to make sense now. I still have a lot to learn. Keep this thread open please. I have a lot to think about and might want to post again. I still need to re-read everything one more time and tinker with the settings. I will do some testing later when I have more time.

    I am still confused as to why WP Super Cache waits for a visitor to hit a page before it generates a static file by default vs the Preload option being set to default which generates the pages up front. I assume Preload is an alternative option and not set to the default option because it will bog down the server if a website has millions of pages? Does that sound correct? Sorry if I am over complicating things. I am just really interested in this kind of stuff.

    My last question is this, “The Site Accelerator CDN included with Jetpack is free.” So, can I just install Jetpack Boost or do I need a different Jetpack plugin?

    Thanks a million!

    Plugin Support Stef (a11n)

    (@erania-pinnera)

    1 year, 4 months ago

    Hi there, @elevated420,

    I’m going to answer your questions one by one as follows 🙂

    Keep this thread open please. I have a lot to think about and might want to post again. I still need to re-read everything one more time and tinker with the settings. I will do some testing later when I have more time.

    We usually close threads after seven days of inactivity, but you can open a new thread if you have more questions.

    I am still confused as to why WP Super Cache waits for a visitor to hit a page before it generates a static file by default vs the Preload option being set to default which generates the pages up front. I assume Preload is an alternative option and not set to the default option because it will bog down the server if a website has millions of pages? Does that sound correct? 

    Yes, your assumption is correct. The Preload feature is an option provided to generate static files for all posts in advance. While this approach ensures that even the first visitor gets a fast cached version of the page, it can be very resource-intensive when preloading the entire site, as you mentioned, that’s why it’s not a default setting.

    My last question is this, “The Site Accelerator CDN included with Jetpack is free.” So, can I just install Jetpack Boost or do I need a different Jetpack plugin?

    Jetpack Boost (also in this free plan) includes the same CDN feature of the Jetpack core plugin. If you want to keep using WP Super Cache and the CDN feature, I recommend installing the Jetpack core plugin instead of Boost.

    If you choose Boost instead, you can either use the Boost’s cache feature, and deactivate WP Super Cache, or keep WP Super Cache enabled and turn off Boost’s cache (from its settings).

    Hope that answers your questions!

Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

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