Caching a simple yet effective tool. It’s main purpose is to speed up your site by reducing the amount of information that comes from the server delivered to the browser.
How WordPress Caching Works:
Caching refers to a temporary static file that is stored in order to speed up the retrieval of it’s data. This is helpful in cases where content is displayed as HTML but has scripts like PHP gathering information from the database.
Having cached versions of html files being delivered speeds up the time that it takes for the server to display a page.
Why To Use A Caching Tool:
The main reason to use a website caching tool is for speed. Because the dynamic elements are turned to static elements, web pages load much quicker.
Caching and WordPress
WordPress uses a lot of PHP functions to call HTML code from different parts of the site. Depending on the template and other factors, this code can get pretty intensive. It is almost always better to use a website caching tool with WordPress so that the pages display quicker.
Caching WordPress Plugins:
- W3 Total Cache (Recommended)
- WP Super Cache
When NOT To Use WordPress Caching:
Just over a month ago, WP Engine, a WordPress specific hosting company that this website uses, said that because of their new infrastructure, Caching actually slowed down their website performance. Read their post about No Caching Plugins
- Learn more about WP Engine
David writes for a couple different websites that work with hosting and consumer reviews. He brings real-world application to harder to understand concepts in order to help people learn about specific subject matter. He also knows HTML, CSS and PHP to help out with building and configuring sites.
