After making a change to my client’s website, I prepared an email and included the link so my client could see the change. Fortunately I checked the link before sending the message because the change did not show up. I re-opened the job thinking I had not pressed the all important “Update” command.
Much to my surprise the change was made, but each time I entered the site URL in Chrome, and Safari, the old information displayed. Flummoxed, I emailed my client’s hosting company to ask if they were having server problems.
Within minutes a response came back saying the issue would go away as soon as I hit “empty all cache” on W3 Total Cache.
W3 what?
W3 Total Cache is a plugin, but (1) I never added this plugin and (2) wondered why it was there in the first place.
What I learned after Googling W3 Total Cache was:
- It speeds up website performance.
- My client’s web host highly recommends it…and uses it.
If your host doesn’t automatically add W3 Total Cache to your site, you can do it yourself. Here’s how: Go to…
- Dashboard—> Plugins —> Add New
- Type in W3 Total Cache into the Search Plugins field (see below)
- Press Enter on your keyboard
- Before installing it, check to see if your WordPress theme is compatible with W3 Total Cache. If it is,
- Click Install Now (see below)
- Click Activate Plugin
To Access The Settings Page
- Dashboard —> Performance
- Click Page Cache
- Unless you wish to tinker, you can leave the default settings
Very Basic Use of W3 Total Cache
- At the top of your dashboard look for the word Performance and click on it to open the drop down menu
- Click Empty All Caches
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