Cache is the memory that is closest to the CPU and all the recent instructions are stored. A website is understood as cached when the images, pages of the website, files, web objects are all stored on the local hard drive of the user.
It is basically a temporary area and whenever a user goes back to the same page the browser can easily locate the read files and gets it from the cache instead of connecting to the original server to retreat it. This not only saves time but also the additional weight of extra traffic on the network.
The process of caching helps in loading a page faster which also means lesser bounce rates. Customers will never stay on your website if it takes too much time to load. Caching plugins also offer the same features in WordPress. The dynamically generated HTML files are saved in the cache and whenever a user sends a request it serves them these saved files instead of re-loading all the PHP scripts. Here are some top plugins that will help you in caching in WordPress.
- W3 Total Cache:
The W3 Total Cache has been designed to improve the load time and better the user experience. The plugin has also been developed to improve the SEO of the website. The performance of the server is augmented and with this plugin around the server can withstand high traffic also. You could save upto 80% bandwidth through compression of CSS, JavaScript, HTML and feeds. Once the user experience improves you also benefit by getting a better ranking in the Search Engine Results Pages.
Some Key features of the Plugin:
- Offers support for Accelerated Mobile Pages
- Caches pages and posts, JavaScript and CSS, feeds, database objects, fragments and search result pages. The caching for the mentioned are done both on disk or memory.
- It also minifies inline, 3rd party JavaScript, pages, feed and posts.
- With this plugin post attachments can be imported straight away into the CDN and Media Library.
- Browser caching can be done with cache-busting with future expire headers, cache-control and entity tags.
- You also have support for query string update and cache purging.
- W3 Total Cache is compatible with shared hosting, clusters and virtual private dedicated servers.
- WP Fastest Cache:
Available in 15 languages the WP Fastest Cache uses Mod_Rewrite method for caching which happens to be one of the fastest procedures. It creates static HTML files and the users reach to these static html file page and then view their content. The .htaccess file doesn’t need any modification for its set up. It also enables Gzip Compression so the files sent from the server are reduced in size which helps in increasing the speed while being transferred to the browser. Multiple CSS resources into one can be combined to decrease the HTTP round-trips. The WP Fastest Cache plugin doesn’t support WordPress Multisite as of now.
Some Key features of the Plugin:
- The cache timeout feature deleted all the files at the set time. You can also set up the cache timeout facility for specific pages.
- SSL and CDN support
- The cached files and minified css and js files from options page can be deleted by the Admin
- When a page or post is published all the cache files are deleted
- Cache option can be both enabled or disabled for the mobile devices and logged-in users.
- You can create the cache of the entire website automatically with the Preload Cache feature.
- Comet Cache:
Website visitors have truly become quite demanding and they simply deny to stay back on your website even if the delay is for a couple of seconds. Comet Cache is also one of the caching tools for WordPress that offers wonderful service to its users. There are over 1.6 million downloads that have already happened and the numbers increases as this article is being written. The plugin offers single/unlmited website license (only in the pro version which is paid), updates for lifetime along with a 3 year support. However, the Lite version of the plugin offers the same core features to the free subscribers. It is quite easy to install and takes just about a couple of minutes to set up.
Some Key features of the Plugin:
- The client side browser caching allows a double cache. Here the browser caches the cache to boost the speed.
- The 404 error requests are cached so the negative impact like the misbehaving bots or spiders on your server is reduced.
- When the visitors are referred to your website by domains it can evade the cache.
- In the ‘View Source’ mode you can actually see the debugging take place in HTML.
- The POT file has been provided in the plugin so you have the freedom to translate it to other languages.
- Cache Enabler:
Although the plugin is quite new but the reviews for it are quite satisfactory. The lightweight plugin saves the WebP images without Javascript. WebP is a format which is new and seems to be getting popular quickly as a web optimized image which offers lossless and lossy compression. Lossy is a term used in compression to define if the original data in a compressed file would be recovered or not when it is uncompressed. The plugin delivers the images that have WebP equivalent and then go back to PNG or JPG format. The plugin is pretty simple to install and once done the benefits can be reaped instantly.
It supports WordPress Multisite and Custom Post Type
- It also displays the actual size of cache on your dashboard.
- You can also purge the cache of certain pages manually.
- Inline JavaScript and HTML minification is supported.
- Manual and automated settings to clear the cache.
- Responsive pages are also supported through the scrset.
- Also features the expiry directive and it is HTTP/2 focused.
There are other WordPress plugins that offer the same features however, the ones mentioned above happen to be the best in their category.