Caching LiteSpeed Cache – WordPress (plugin)

Description LiteSpeed ​​Cache

LiteSpeed ​​Cache is a free caching plugin with some great features that you can use to improve the loading speed of your pages.  Some of these additional features include image, page and database optimization, lazy loading and many more.  LiteSpeed ​​Cache is a plugin available for free without any paid version. However, before taking advantage of the caching features of the plugin, your website must be hosted on the LiteSpeed ​​(or Open LiteSpeed) server or have a QUIC.cloud account which is a paid service. 

What is LiteSpeed ​​Cache? 

LiteSpeed ​​Cache is a free plugin that offers server-level caching functionality. The plugin also offers other handy features (image optimization, lazy loading, etc.) that all work together to improve the loading time of web pages.  LiteSpeed ​​is a WordPress tool, but also exists as an extension for other popular CMS and landing page builders such as Magento, Joomla, XenForo, PrestaShop, MediaWiki, Drupal, Craft CMS, OpenCart, Laravel, etc.  With LiteSpeed ​​Cache, you also have the option to link your website to other plugins to easily import/export your caching settings thanks to its extensive list of integrations. 

LiteSpeed ​​Cache: How to install the plugin from WordPress? 

To install the LiteSpeed ​​Cache plugin on your WordPress site, here are the different steps to follow: 

• Access the dashboard of your WordPress site 
• In the menu bar on the left, click on “Plugins” then on “Add new” 

Source: easywpguide 

• Then enter in the search bar “Litespeed cache” then launch launch the search 
• Among the results that will be sent to you, identify the LiteSpeed ​​Cache and click on “Install now”. 

• Once the installation of the plugin is complete, click on the “Activate” button.

You have just installed LiteSpeed ​​Cache and the functionality of the plugin should now be available on your WordPress site.

LiteSpeed ​​Cache: The main functionalities 

LiteSpeed ​​Cache is designed mainly for two purposes: 

• Automatically activate the complete caching of the pages of your website 
• Provide functionalities for the optimization of your site.

The majority of users download LiteSpeed ​​Cache primarily for its caching functionality and optionally use the other features of the plugin. Upon activating LiteSpeed ​​Cache, you will notice that all settings are disabled. To activate caching: 

• Go to “LiteSpeed ​​Cache” then click on the “Cache” and “Cache” buttons and turn the “Enable cache” switch to ON. 

Source: arnhost  So you just enabled LSCWP caching on your site and can ignore everything else, the plugin will work just fine and your suite will probably be cached fine.  Now, let’s take a general look at the main tabs you’ll find on your LiteSpeed ​​Cache interface: 

1. The “Cache” tab 

This is the first tab you’ll find on your LiteSpeed ​​Cache interface after activating the plugin. This tab basically enables and disables the caching feature of the plugin.  Then, you will find other settings there that allow you to define the types of content that should be taken into account in the caching of your site.  By default, the plugin leaves all these settings on “Enabled”. If you don’t understand a parameter, it would be a good idea to keep its default value. 

2. The “TTL” tab 

The Time to Live (TTL) designates the time during which a page can be stored in the cache before becoming obsolete. Once a page’s TTL limit is reached, it will be removed from the cache.  LiteSpeed ​​Cache has defaulted to TTL values ​​that should work with most websites. However, if these default values ​​do not suit you, you can always change them. 

3. The “Purge” tab 

Under certain conditions, it may be necessary to remove a page from the cache before it reaches its expiration date.  For example, let’s say you’ve produced new content called “Bombers Original” that you post in the “Men” category.  Depending on how your website is set up, this post will make changes to your pages including homepage, categories page, etc.  The consequence is that all these pages involved must be purged from the cache in order to be up to date. In the “Purge” tab of LiteSpeed ​​Cache, you can define these different conditions for your website.  The plugin offers a number of rules defined by default which you can always modify if necessary. 

4. The “Exclude” tab 

There may also be cases where you do not want a page to be cached. LiteSpeed ​​Cache also offers options to specifically exclude certain pages from the caching system.  This feature may not be necessary for all websites, but if you wish, you can exclude some of your pages from the caching system in the “Exclude” tab of LSCWP. 

5. The “Edge Side Include” 

tab The ESI tab of LiteSpeed ​​Cache is used to configure ESI (Edge Side Include) caching.  The term “Edge Side Include” refers to a method of caching that involves telling the server which items can be cached and which should not. This can be useful for things like shopping cart widgets and custom welcome messages.  By default, LiteSpeed ​​Cache leaves the ESI caching settings disabled, you can make changes there if needed. To learn more about Edge Side Include caching, you can check out this official LiteSpeed ​​Cache support. 

6. The “Object” 

tab The “Object” tab presents settings that give you the possibility to control an external object cache such as Memcached, LSMCD or Redis.  However, to use this functionality of the plugin, it will be necessary to activate the server administrator beforehand and proceed to the configuration of the external cache before being able to use this functionality of LiteSpeed ​​Cache. 

7. The “Browser” tab Browser 

cache refers to the cache at the client (browser) level to store static files.  Concretely, the caching of the browser makes it possible to temporarily store statistics such as images for example on the machine of the user when he asks to see these files for a next time.  Thus, during his next visits, these files will be faster when he tries to access them again.  The “Browser” tab of the LiteSpeed ​​Cache plugin offers settings that allow you to control browser caching for your website. 

8. The “Advanced” tab

As its name already indicates, the “Advanced” tab includes advanced features and is intended more for experienced users.  Generally, in most cases, you won’t need to use this tab unless LiteSpeed ​​Cache conflicts with other cache plugins installed on your site. 

9. “WooCommerce” tab

LiteSpeed ​​Cache is a caching plugin that works great with WooCommerce.  If you use WooCommerce, this tab offers you all the settings you need for configuring caching on your e-commerce store.

LiteSpeed ​​Cache: Other sections to discover 

In addition to the tabs previously presented, you will also find on your LiteSpeed ​​Cache interface other sections that we will review in this chapter. 

1. Dashboard 

The “Dashboard” section allows you to have an overview of all your LSCache and QUIC.cloud services including Image Optimization, Critical CSS Generation, Cache Crawler and many others.  Source: LiteSpeed ​​Cache  In the “Dashboard” section, you also have information that allows you to check the loading time of your pages as well as the speed score they obtain. 

2. General

Here you have the necessary settings to control the use of QUIC.cloud services on your site. Source: LiteSpeed ​​Cache  The “General” section of LiteSpeed ​​Cache also allows you to activate the automatic update of the plugin with the possibility of customizing a welcome message on your dashboard. 

3. CDN 

The “CDN” section of LSCWP allows you to set up a content delivery network for your WordPress site.  Source: LiteSpeed ​​Cache For those who don’t use a CDN, don’t worry about this section, by default CDN support settings are disabled on LiteSpeed ​​Cache. 

4.Image Optimization 

LiteSpeed ​​Cache is also a plugin that you can use to optimize your images by reducing their size for faster loading. Source: LiteSpeed ​​Cache   This is actually a QUIC.cloud feature that you can control directly from the “Image Optimization” section of your LiteSpeed ​​Cache interface. 

5. Page Optimization

Apart from caching, there are several other measures that can be taken to improve the loading speed of your WordPress site.  LiteSpeed ​​Cache brings together in the “Page Optimization” section many of these measures, including: 

• Minification and combination of CSS and JavaScript codes
• HTTP/2 push 
• Lazy Loading 
• And many more. 

Again, if you are not particularly familiar with any of these measures, you can skip them. They are by default disabled on LiteSpeed ​​Cache. 

6. Database 

In the “Database” section, you have interesting features for managing and optimizing your WordPress site. Database optimization is also an important factor to consider when it comes to improving the loading speed of a site.  Source: LiteSpeed ​​Cache  With the “Database” tab, LiteSpeed ​​Cache brings together the essential features you need to optimize your database for a faster website. 

7. Crawler 

LSCWP’s “Crawler” feature allows the plugin to crawl your site and refresh any pages that have potentially expired caching time. Source: LiteSpeed ​​Cache   However, it should be remembered that this is a process that can suck quite a lot of resources, which is why crawling is not always allowed by all providers.  If accepted by your provider, LSCWP’s Crawler feature can be a great way to keep your caching system up to date. 

8. ToolBox 

As its name suggests, this is a toolbox provided by LiteSpeed ​​Cache that you can use to perform several tasks, including: 

• Manually purging your caches
• Exporting your settings
• Debugging an error  
• Etc. 

Source: LiteSpeed ​​Cache  Another interesting feature of the “Toolbox” section is the report that the LiteSpeed ​​support service delivers on your site.  If you have encountered difficulties and are submitting a request for assistance, this is the section where you will obtain the report number. 

LiteSpeed ​​Cache: Who is the tool for? 

Although LiteSpeed ​​Cache’s interface is ergonomic and modern, the plugin is much more suitable for advanced users than for beginners. 

LiteSpeed ​​Cache: Pricing 

LiteSpeed ​​Cache is a plugin available for free without any paid version. However, before taking advantage of the caching features of the plugin, your website must be hosted on the LiteSpeed ​​(or Open LiteSpeed) server or have a QUIC.cloud account which is a paid service.