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WordPress: Speed up your Website using W3 Total Cache

How to Install W3 Total Cache

The W3 Total Cache plugin is automatically included in newer versions of WordPress. If you do not have the plugin, you can install it the same way that you would install any other plugin. See WordPress: How to Install a Plugin

How to Activate W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache is active by default for every new WordPress installation. If you do not have W3 Total Cache activated, you can activate it the same way you would any other plugin.

  1. Log into your WordPress Dashboard.
  2. Go to Plugins.
  3. Go to Installed Plugins.
  4. Click Activate for W3 Total Cache.
    Activate W3 Total Cache

How to Configure W3 Total Cache

WP Essential customers already have W3 Total Cache preconfigured using settings recommended by PureHost.  If you do not have a WP Essential account, PureHost still provides an easy way for you to configure W3 Total Cache. Use the following steps to manually configure W3 Total Cache to PureHost's recommended settings:
 

Important: W3 Total Cache cannot be configured on Windows Servers.
  1. Download PureHost's W3 Total Cache configuration file: wordpress_w3.zip
  2. Extract wordpress_w3.json from the zip file using decompression software (7zip, WinRar, or Winzip).
  3. Log into your WordPress Dashboard.
  4. Go to Performance.
  5. Go to General Settings.
  6. Scroll down to Import / Export Settings.
  7. Click Choose File for Important Configuration.
  8. Locate and select the wordpress_w3.json file you had extracted earlier.
  9. Click Upload.

W3 Total Cache will now begin working to make your website load faster. You can further fine-tune the plugin's settings by going to Performance inside of your WordPress Dashboard.

Learn more about W3 Total Cache by visiting the official WordPress plugin site.

Want to learn more about WordPress

WordPress: Tutorial Videos: To help you easily grasp the basics of creating a WordPress website, PureHost has created several free tutorial videos. These videos were designed to be followed in order, but you are welcome to view whichever one best suits your needs.

You can always check out WordPress.org and browse their codex or online help forums.

Why does W3 Total Cache not seem to be speeding up my website

W3 Total Cache is not guaranteed to increase the load time of a website because it is subject to numerous factors. Adding complex contentUser-added image to your site will prevent you from gaining the full benefits of W3 Total Cache. Some examples of complex content include:

  • Calendar plugins (has to calculate date and time)
  • Plugins that randomly suggest posts (has to calculate which posts are suggested)
  • AJAX heavy content (AJAX loads and displays new website content without reloading the page)
  • Code that generates certain MySQL queries that are impossible to cache (such as modifying a customer's profile)

The simpler your website is, the more benefit it will receive from W3 Total Cache.

Important: W3 Total Cache will not work while the default permalink settings are used.

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