Clearing the Cache

January 10, 2022

Hey WDS, we’re back with episode 4 of Designer’s Desk. Today we will be discussing caching and how to clear or flush the cache on WDS builds. 

The Video

The Why

What the heck is caching anyway?

Well caching is meant to help speed up site load times for websites. It works by storing a copy of the site, either on a local server or in a browser, and loading the copy for any future requests for a faster load time. 

This has become problematic because the cached version of the site often does not hold any changes that were recently made. This is where flushing the cache comes into play. 

But wait, what does flushing the cache mean?

Don’t panic! This simply means that we are telling the server, or the browser, to save a new copy of the site. It does not mean that anything will be deleted or removed from the website.

You keep saying server or browser, does that mean there are multiple ways of caching a site?

Yes, There are multiple systems in place that will cache a website. Here are some that we in WDS see on a regular basis:

  • Managed WordPress or Site Cache
  • Content Delivery Network or CDN
  • Sucuri Firewall or any other firewall
  • The WP Rocket Plugin
  • The Hummingbird Plugin
  • Or Browser Caching

The How

Now let’s talk about how to flush all the different kinds of caches.

Managed WordPress or Site Cache

This should be one of the first places you go to clear the cache on a website because it is most likely the server that is holding on to old information. Here is how you flush the MWP cache:

  1. Log in to the WordPress dashboard
  2. On the top black menu bar hover over GD cORe
  3. Click on the option “Clear Site Cache” 
  4. Wait a moment until you see the notification in the upper right indicating the cache has been cleared.

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

  1. Go to the customer’s account and find the Managed WordPress Hosting, click Manage.
  2. Click on the Overview button for the site in question.
    1. If there are 3 or more MWP sites in the account you will have to click on the three dots on the right of site in question.
  3. At the top of the page click on Settings.
  4. Now you should see the CDN toggle below, turn the toggle off, then flush the site cache, then once the changes are displaying again, toggle the CDN back on.
  5. If the CDN was already toggled Off, you can skip this.

 

Firewall (Sucuri)

If the customer has Sucuri with a firewall, chances are the firewall is also caching the site. Here’s how to flush the firewall cache.

  1. In the customer’s account, find the Sucuri product. Typically it is called Website Security on the products page.
  2. Click on the Manage button.
  3. On the top green bar click the option for “Firewall”
  4. In the box of the website in question click the 3rd option “Clear Cache”
  5. On the top right you should see the notification saying it has been cleared and that it can take up to 2 minutes to clear. Once you see this please instruct your customer that they need to do a hard refresh which is CTRL + F5 for windows and CMD + Shift + R for macs.

If the customer has a 3rd party firewall, they will need to discuss how to flush their firewall cache with their provider.

WP Rocket

With the addition of WP Rocket, we have noticed additional site caching through the plugin. Here’s how to flush the WP rocket cache:

  1. Log in to the WordPress Dashboard
  2. In the top black menu bar, hover over WP Rocket
  3. Click on the “Clear cache” option
  4. The dashboard should refresh once the cache has been successfully cleared. 

Hummingbird

While Hummingbird is not currently an approved plugin, it is possible that it was installed through Smush Pro in an attempt to increase site speed. Here are the instructions on how to flush the Cache within Hummingbird.

  1. In the WP Dashboard, hover over Hummingbird and click on “Caching”
  2. Under the Page Caching section click the button in the upper right corner that says “Clear Cache”

Browser

To clear your own desktop’s browser cache:

  • Chrome, Firefox, Edge: Ctrl + Shift + Delete – Choose your timeframe, and check all appropriate boxes
  • Safari: Option + Command + E

Click here for more in depth information about clearing browser cache.

You can also look at an non-cached version of the site by adding the following text to the end of the site URL:

?nocache=1

Don’t forget about using a Private or Incognito window as well:

  • Chrome: Ctrl + Shit + N
  • Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
  • Edge: Ctrl + Shit + N
  • Safari: Command + Shift + N

 

It is important to note, that W+M does not cache the way our Managed WordPress sites do. If you notice any issues with a W+M site where changes are not displaying, try flushing the browser cache.

Thanks for watching, stay tuned for the next episode of Designer’s Desk!

 

Resource Links

http://wdsdesigns.com/help-guide/caching/ 

https://www.godaddy.com/help/clear-cache-for-your-web-application-firewall-waf-27383

https://help.godaddy.com/help/what-is-a-cdn-32168 

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