Getting started with WP Rocket
WP Rocket integrates more than 80% of web performance good practices automatically. Even without any of its options activated, the loading time of your website will decrease significantly.
Youâve activated WP Rocketâwhat now?
The first thing youâll want to do once youâve activated WP Rocket is:
đ Run an ON/OFF test with WP Rocketâs default settings, and see how much faster your site has become already!
Youâll be able to see the improvement in loading time WP Rocket has achieved just by running in its default configuration. If you have advanced knowledge about how the rendering of a website works in the browser, you can start to further optimize your setup based on recommendations from performance testing tools like GTmetrix, Pingdom Tools, or Google Developers PageSpeed Insightsâalthough we generally recommend to take those with a grain of salt.
Learn what to expect from PageSpeed and how to improve the score
Did you know you can easily A/B-test WP Rocketâs on/off state by appending a query parameter to a URL from your site?
A regular URL will give you a cached page:
https://example.com/your-page-or-blog-post/
Appending ?nowprocket
to the URL will give you the same page without WP Rocketâno caching, file optimization, Lazyload, or the like, just plain WordPress:
https://example.com/your-page-or-blog-post/?nowprocket
Comparing test results from both of these types of URLs, youâll get a great first impression of how much better your loading times have become, and what you should focus on for further optimization.
Are there any recommended settings for WP Rocket?
There isnât one recommended configuration of WP Rocket that can be used on every site. Themes, plugins, and hosting environments can vary greatly. Therefore, some settings will work differently on different websites.
There are even settingsâlike File optimizationâthat will work perfectly fine on one site, but wonât work at all on another. So sometimes leaving a setting entirely disabled can be your best bet! On the other hand, a number of key featuresâlike page caching, browser caching, and GZIP compressionâare completely automated; they donât even appear on your settings page, but quietly work their magic under the hood and make your site faster without you having to move a finger.
Read our guide and watch the video: How to Find the Best Settings for your Site
Automated features
The following features are fully automated, they are not represented on WP Rocketâs settings page:
- Page caching (static HTML file cache)
- Browser caching (on Apache/LiteSpeed, if available on the server)
- GZIP compression (on Apache/LiteSpeed, if available on the server)
- Cross-Origin support for web fonts (on Apache/LiteSpeed)
- Detection and support of various third-party plugins, themes, and hosting environments
- WooCommerce Refresh Cart Fragments Cache
- Optimize Google Fonts files
- Disable (WordPress) Emoji
Default settings
The following settings are activated by default when you activate WP Rocket for the first time:
- Mobile cache (based on WordPressâ mobile phone detection)
- Cache lifespan (10 hours)
- Cache Preloading
- Preload Links
- Heartbeat Control (set to Reduce Activity)
- Disable all options except the above.
- Or, delete and reinstall WP Rocket.
âïž Note: Depending on your individual WordPress setup and hosting, some other settings may be activated, or disabled by default.
Settings panels
Looking for a specific setting? Hereâs a quick overview of whereâs what in WP Rocket:
Dashboard
- Clear cache and Preload cache buttons
- FAQ and Ask support button
- License status
- Analytics option
Cache settings
- Mobile cache
- User cache
- Cache lifespan
File optimization
đŻ Settings in this pane can improve performance grades when handled with care.
đ„ They can also break a website temporarily!
đ If you notice any issues after activating one of these options, deactivate it again first, then troubleshoot.
- Minify CSS files and Minify JavaScript files
- Combine CSS files and Combine JavaScript files
- Delay JavaScript execution
Options to eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS:
- Optimize CSS delivery: Load CSS Asynchronously and Remove Unused CSS
- Load JavaScript deferred
Media settings
- LazyLoad
- Image Dimensions
Preload settings
- Cache preloading
- DNS prefetching
- Preload font files
- Preload links
Advanced rules
- Cache exclusions based on URL, cookies, user agent strings
- Must-purge URLs
- Cache for query strings in URLs
Database optimization
- Scheduled database cleanup
CDN settings
- Integration of your preferred Content Delivery Network
- File exclusions for CDN
Learn how to set up your CDN in WP Rocket
Heartbeat
- Control settings for the WordPress Heartbeat API
Add-ons
- Sucuri
- Varnish
- Cloudflare Learn how to set up Cloudflare in WP Rocket
Tools
- Export/import WP Rocket settings
- Rollback to previous version Learn how use these features