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Page Cache

Page caching stores rendered HTML pages on disk so repeat visitors get instant page loads without hitting your database or PHP engine.

How Page Caching Works​

  1. First visitor hits your site → WordPress renders the page normally
  2. Performance Toolkit saves the rendered HTML to disk
  3. Repeat visitor hits the same URL → cached HTML is served instantly (bypassing database queries)
  4. Cache expires after the configured TTL (Time To Live)
  5. Next visitor triggers a fresh render and cache update

This can reduce page load time from 500-2000ms down to 50-200ms, dramatically improving performance.

Enabling Page Caching​

  1. Go to Performance Toolkit → Cache
  2. Check Enable page cache
  3. Configure settings (see below)
  4. Click Save changes

Configuration​

Cache TTL (Time To Live)​

How long cached pages are served before invalidation.

  • Shorter TTL (1-6 hours) — fresher content, but more caching overhead
  • Longer TTL (24+ hours) — better performance, but older content for longer
  • Recommended — 3600 seconds (1 hour) for blogs; 86400 (24 hours) for mostly-static sites

Change this based on how often your content updates.

Max Cache Size (MB)​

Disk space limit for cached files. When exceeded, oldest cached files are deleted.

  • Recommended — 500-2000 MB depending on your disk space and site size
  • Too small — cache becomes ineffective; mostly-static sites need more space
  • Too large — may consume unnecessary disk space

Auto-purge on Content Update​

When enabled, cached pages are automatically purged when:

  • Posts/pages are published or updated
  • Comments are approved
  • Menus or navigation change
  • Theme changes

Recommended — Always enable this to prevent serving stale content.

Cache Excluded URLs​

URLs that should never be cached (one URL per line):

  • /wp-admin/* — admin pages (auto-excluded)
  • /my-account/* — user dashboard/login pages
  • /cart/* — WooCommerce cart pages
  • /checkout/* — checkout process
  • /?s=* — search results

Wildcards (*) are supported. Cache pagination separately if needed.

Cache Management​

Viewing Cache Status​

Go to Performance Toolkit → System Status to see:

  • Total cached pages
  • Cache size in MB
  • Cache hit rate percentage
  • Last purge timestamp

Manual Cache Clearing​

To clear all cached files:

  1. Go to Performance Toolkit → Tools
  2. Click Clear All Cache
  3. Cached files are deleted; fresh pages render on next request

Scheduled Cache Purging​

The plugin automatically purges cache on:

  • Post/page updates — purges that URL only
  • Comment approval — purges the post the comment is on
  • Settings changes — purges all cache

Troubleshooting​

Cache doesn't seem to be working​

  1. Confirm it's enabled — Check Performance Toolkit → Cache, ensure checkbox is checked
  2. Check cache directory permissions — wp-content/cache/performance-toolkit/ must be writable
  3. View a page twice — First load renders, second load should be instant (check browser Network tab)
  4. Check cache size — If at max limit, old cache is deleted

Old content is being served​

  1. Lower the TTL — Page cache interval may be too high
  2. Enable auto-purge — Ensure auto-purge on content update is enabled
  3. Manually purge — Go to Tools and clear cache immediately

Cache is filling up disk space​

  1. Lower max cache size setting — Smaller cache means older files are purged sooner
  2. Increase TTL — Longer intervals mean less cache churn
  3. Check excluded URLs — Make sure you're not accidentally caching too many unique URLs

Best Practices​

  • ✅ Enable auto-purge on content updates
  • ✅ Set TTL to 1-24 hours (not too short, not too long)
  • ✅ Exclude user-specific pages (account, cart, checkout)
  • ✅ Monitor cache hit rate on System Status
  • ✅ Test cache is working after enabling

Combining with Other Features​

Page caching works best with:

  • File Optimization — minify assets to speed up initial load
  • Image Lazy Loading — defer image requests for faster perceived load
  • CDN Integration — serve static content from edge locations
  • Database Optimization — reduce time spent on cache misses

Combine all these for maximum performance improvement.

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