Make Your Blog Digg Proof with WP Super Cache
When I set out to update John Chow dot Com to Version 3, one of the main objectives was to speed up page load time while being able to handle a large volume of traffic. The key to doing that is by turning the contents of the blog into a static page. This is where the WP Super Cache comes in.
WP Super Cache is a static caching plugin for WordPress. It generates html files that are served directly by Apache without processing comparatively heavy PHP scripts. The plugin in an improvement to WP-Cache, which delivers pages without accessing the database. However, WP-Cache still loads the PHP engine to serve the cached files.
WP Super Cache gets around that. When it is installed, html files are generated and they are served without ever invoking a single line of PHP. How fast can your site serve graphic files? That’s (almost) as fast it will be able to serve these cached files. If your site is struggling to cope with the daily number of visitors, or if your site appears on Digg.com, Slashdot or any other popular site then this plugin is for you.
Installation and Performance
Installation of the WP Super Cache is more involved than most WordPress plugin but if your blog has ever gone down because of a front page Digg, you’ll follow the extra steps to get this plugin working. If you have installed WP-Cache before this shouldn’t be any more difficult.
WP Super Cache offers a ton of option to increase the performance of your blog. The plugin even inlcudes a Lock Down mode. Lock Down prepares your server for huge spike in traffic (as would happen if you get a front page Digg). When this is enabled, your blog is pure static HTML. New comments on a post will not refresh the cached static files. Commentators may wonder why their comments are not showing up but that’s better than having the blog go down because 10,000 Diggers came knocking.
WP Super Cache is ideal for bloggers on shared hosting. Most share hosts shut down a blog that has been Dugg not because of too much traffic. They shut the blog down because it’s using too much server resources. By turning the contents of the blog into a static file, you keep the server resource low and your web host happy.
- Posted in Blogging, The Net, Wordpress
- 51 comments what's your take?
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Yeah I LOVE super cache and I even switched my server back to linux in order to use it.
Reply to this commentI love this plugin… my visitors appreciate the faster load times too.
The only time I clear the cache is when I make a major update to the design, or something else to assure visitors are seeing everything new.
Reply to this commentI’ve heard of this before. I haven’t used it yet because I haven’t had the time to install it. But its always nice having pages load faster, so maybe I’ll take the time to install it.
Reply to this commentYou ll find the speed difference as soon as you install it on your site
Reply to this commentSpeed difference is amazing I just have to now do this to my other three business blogs and everything will be a lot smoother.
Reply to this commentIm going to install this asap!
Reply to this commentI’ve installed this plug-in, I’m not sure if it’s changed anything yet, but I don’t get massive amounts of traffic anyway.
Reply to this commentCool - thanks for sharing this tip!
Reply to this commentI have used Gzip in past for speeds but Yes it is also using up the server resources a little bit for compressing etc.
Reply to this commentI gave up on Digg a long time ago. I only use this site now for backlinks and for my site to be cached into google. But that is it!
Reply to this commentCool, I will most definitely be downloading this for my blog. I haven’t had a problem with it it going down yet, but might as well be prepared.
Reply to this commentI use shared hosting, and I’ve got multiple websites on one account, so I see some downtime. I think I’ll integrate this plugin right now.
Reply to this commentAmazing plugin….helps faster downloads
Reply to this commentthis is a great plug in and I loved it ever since I use it..helps my blog to load much faster !
Reply to this commentGreat Tip!
Reply to this commentGreat one. Have to get it.
Reply to this commentI look forward to the day I need such a plug-in. Consider this post bookmarked (socially of course!).
Reply to this commentI was planning to install WP Super Cache and this post just reminded me to get my butt in gear
Reply to this commentThanks John, will definately try it out now after seeing the page load time decrease massively on your blog…
Reply to this commentafter saying that, it still takes way too long to submit a comment on your blog, what takes the submit comment so long to add the comment & refresh the page?
Reply to this commentJohn wasn’t lying when he said “Installation of the WP Super Cache is more involved than most WordPress plugin” … I messed it up four x’s already!
But it’s worth it considering how impatient ppl are when it comes to your content coming up.
Reply to this commentI actually removed super cache from my blog because I guess I just don’t need it at the moment. I’d rather have the comments coming in at this point.
I’ll revisit this plugin definitely if I start to get huge spikes in traffic.
Reply to this commentComments still appear when super-cache is enabled ( with default settings)
Reply to this commentI use Super Cache to speed up my pages on slower web hosts. It really helps a lot.
Reply to this commentI’d heard of this plugin giving people problems before database-wise.
Reply to this commentSo far I haven’t hit the front page of Digg, but my blog could probably load faster.
Reply to this commenttiming is everything, and for me this post came at exactly the right time, as i am just getting ready to upgrade from cache to super-cache, and i do appreciate the helpful hints. my blog is in no danger of crashing from too much traffic — i mean, i *wish* — but perhaps if i continue to prepare for it (and continue reading your blog) that day will come. thanks, john.
Reply to this commentI wish my blog would make the front page of Digg! I’ll deal with the problems later.
Reply to this commentIt is one of the plug ins I installed cause I saw other people using it.
I dont think I’ll need it but it seems cool.
Reply to this commentWP super cache is a great plugin..
Reply to this commentsad that i was not using it before.
I was surprise you don’t know this early and how can your site handle huge traffic.
Reply to this commentWhen I activated Supercache, I was stuck with no cached pages, this article might help you fix that.
Reply to this commentme http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2008/05/fix-wp-super-cache-errors/
Must be a slow news day. . .
Reply to this comment“Requires WordPress Version: 2.2 or higher”
Great
I am very lazy when it comes to upgrading my scripts. So this one will work with the current installation. Lets hope I get lots of traffic so that this plugin can play a little role in saving the resources.
Reply to this commentIm to lazy to add this:(
Reply to this commentI can’t imagine without this plugin, wordpress should build in this function!
Reply to this commentHi John,
I had it installed last month, then one of my readers brought to my attention that if they used my blog url without the www then they were being served only pages posted prior to the installation. If they used my blog url with the www then they were being served all blog posts.
I tried to trouble shoot this by reading your Ebook and noticed that I may need to change some code in my htaccess file, but am not sure how to do this. Can you email me the exact steps on how to fix this issue or better yet publish a more detailed post on how to recode the htaccess file?
I like the WP Super Cache plugin but not if my readers aren’t being served all of my blog pages.
Help!
Reply to this commentI can confirm that plugins works like a magic.
Reply to this commentI just don’t see how the loading page has anything to do with how much traffic you are going to get from digg. I have given up on digg a looooooooooooong time ago! The only people that are making the front page of digg are the big companies such as CNN.com, and NYtimes. I don’t care about digg anymore.
Reply to this commentInteresting article. I’ll have to give this plugin a whirl and see if my blog loads faster. Thanks for sharing.
John
Reply to this commentHuge traffic spikies most likely wouldn’t even effect a site like yours because of the huge servers that are backing you up. This plugin is mainly needed for those smaller sites on shared hosting or VPS.
-Mike
Reply to this commentHmmm sounds a great plugin and yes your page load more faster than before but sometimes when it gives me an error button ” Internet Explorer Can’t Open this page ” with the red x, you know. and it redirect to an error page! What’s that?
Reply to this commentGreat tip…all I need now is traffic to warrant using the plug-in…lol
Reply to this commentI use it and noticed a difference. I do not have the Super Cache compression enabled though. I was not sure if my hosting would like it or not.
Reply to this commentI’ve never hit the front page of Digg before, but one my articles did go pretty crazy on StumbleUpon. And even though I was on shared hosting and wasn’t using this plugin, I didn’t notice a single difference in my blog’s loading time or response.
I guess it ultimately depends on the hosting provider.
Reply to this commentThanks for this information! It will help me in my new blog as well as my other blog that is quite profitable.
Reply to this commentThe problem is - I don’t want to be Digg proof! I vant to be Dugg…
Reply to this commentvaluable info, I need this plug in for another account that does host 6 domains.
Reply to this commentInteresting article. I’ll give this plugin a whirl and see if my blog loads faster. Thanks for sharing John.
Reply to this commenti will give it a try
Reply to this commentSeldom I write comments but resource really cool
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