W3 Total Cache is one of the most popular wordpress plugin with 1,837,445 downloads so far. W3 total cache is a free wordpress plugin which is kind of ‘must have’ for wordpress bloggers. It helps in caching and integrating CDN or Content delivery networks in your blog.
There are other wordpress plugins for caching and integrating CDN in wordpress, but none is so comprehensive and powerful.
W3 total cache plugin help your blog by improving page speed thus reducing the page load time.
Integrating CDN is tough but not very easy either, especially for those bloggers who don’t prefer to handle the admin part of their hosting accounts which include updating IP or nameserver details.
It would be extremely hard for a regular blogger to enable caching of any kind forget about doing it comprehensively with W3 Total Cache.
W3 Total Cache Features
W3 total cache has been recently updated with few upgrades. This plugin provide variety of features like;
Page cache – it reduces the response time of your blog.
Minify – This feature automatically remove unnecessary data from CSS, JS, feed, page and post HTML which results in faster page speed and hence, better load time.
Database cache – it caches the database queries which results in faster creation of page, post and other stuff.
Object cache – object caching is technically saving an application locally and serving it for future requests without retrieving it from server. It significantly enhances the page speed.
Browser cache – w3 total cache reduces the server load and response time by utilizing the browser cache of your visitors. It has a positive impact on your response time and page load speed.
Enable CDN– you can enable and integrate CDN directly from w3 total cache admin dashboard within your wordpress blog. You can enable it for variety of CDN service providers which include some of the biggest names like;
- MaxCDN
- Amazon cloudfront
- Amazon simple storage service (S3)
- Micrsoft azure storage
- Rack space cloudfiles
Cloudflare integration into WordPress
Relic Integration into wordpress
These are some of the most sought features offered by W3 Total Cache.
If you have to do these things without it, it will take ages and I am not sure how many of us will be able to do that successfully.
In fact, every feature mentioned above is just the tip of the iceberg, there are many subsets involved. For example, page cache includes details like feed cache, front page cache, 404 page caching and many more sections within that. We will see those sections in W3 Total Cache Settings.
W3 Total Cache Settings for Optimum Performance
As mentioned earlier that W3 Total cache offers whole lot of features. Sometime, it becomes the primary cause of confusion. There are many settings which are set by default and you can change it if you want.
Similarly, there are many settings which are disabled and you have to enable them if you want to use them.
I am using pictures to show these settings so that you don’t face any more confusion.
These settings are pretty standard and should work for most of the bloggers but you should look at your blog and contact your host support in case if you have a question regarding your requirements.
Because there are few features which are influenced by your host’s server configuration and settings for example, minify and database cache sometime cause your site to crash. So better get a confirmation from your host before you use them.
w3 total cache General Settings
minify and database settings
object cache, browser cache
page cache settings
browser cache settings
I have shown only those settings which I am currently using. I haven’t those which are set by default or those which I am not using. So if you have questions feel free to leave your comment.
Over To You
These are the W3 Total Cache settings which I am using and are fit for most of the bloggers. These settings may vary slightly for you so don’t forget to review them.
I am using Maxcdn as my CDN provider which is used most widely among bloggers and small businesses. If you want 25% discount then leave your comment, I will get you the coupon.
MaxCDN 25% Discount Coupon = akhilendramaxcdn
W3 Total Cache plugin with MaxCDN significantly improves your page load time. Page speed is critical for SEO and high rankings on Google & Bing in current world and also, it significantly improves your user experience, reduces bounce rate and improve conversion.
Therefore it is imperative for you to implement CDN in your site also.
Please share your feedback and comments on w3 Total Cache and it’s settings.
About akhilendra
I am new in the WordPress platform, and this will definitely help me get the best plugins available. Thanks for sharing, I will definitey be using this post as my reference.
I took notes on your w3 cache features, because I never knew about these features before I read about your blog. Thank you, it’s been a great help. I’m not a web master but I blog a lot and I earn from my blogs and I think this will really help so much on my business.
Before I read about the article, I thought I was just seeing jargons because I really don’t understand what configuration means to webmasters and bloggers. I’ll get a more in-depth further reading on W3 total cache settings to fully understand the subject. I think it will help a lot with my blog.
You’re being very helpful, thank you very much. I still haven’t figured out even half of all the configurations that I need to know for my site. But I’ll be taking notes from your post.
Great article with very useful Screen shots.I use W3Total cache on my VPS server and for blogs hosted in shared hosting I simply use WPSuper cache.