Is W3 Total Cache Dead?

  • There is something definitely wrong with W3 Total Cache on WP 4.4. It stopped purging some cache like the CSS and in some instances has completely broken some sites. I’ve had to disable it from every site I maintain.

    The dev hasn’t had any activity for 4 months now and with the latests WP version you’d think he’d already launch a new compatible version.

    It’ll be a real shame if it is. I so much prefer this over any other caching plugin. At this point I’d just like to see a message from the dev saying he working on it.

    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/w3-total-cache/

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 39 total)

  • Looks like im not alone… I came to support page just to see what is going since there is no updates for the past 4 months.

    My site so far no any issues as what i know, but i still prefer to use active plugin. If there is no updates for this plugin on next WP release, i guess i will move to WP Super Cache as i find this as good replacement.

    Ramanan

    (@superpoincare)

    Yeah I hope someone takes it from Frederick Townes and develops the plugin further.

    For example check this plugin https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wp-minify-fix/. The author fixed the original and later the original author also became a co-author of the new plugin!

    Sad that this great plugin has seemed to loose support.

    So what’s great subtitute for this one? I like this because I can create minify js on 3 different places, is WP Super Cache able to do this too?

    My site went down. I wanted to know which plugin caused the issue because I had updated few plugins. After deactivating W3 total cache, now I am unable to activate it. Says some fatal error but does not mention what. I am clueless at this point. I have already paid for maxcdn too as w3 total cache includes that. ??

    There are definitely some issues with 4.4.*. and W3TC. I had to revert back to the previous version of WP until I can figure out what’s wrong with it.

    Have someone here tested WP-Rocket?

    https://wpdevshed.com/best-wordpress-cache-plugin/

    There’s deprecated code on wp 4.4, you have to update it on w3tc with newer code

    @zorbiz
    Very rarely heard them, maybe this is 2nd time I heard it. Looking at their feature seems pretty good, but there are free cache plugins that offer the same feature. Or you can split its minify and cache feature onto 2 different plugins. Cache speed basicly the same if they’re using mod_rewrite, it is the fastest possible of caching, and a lot of caching plugins here also using mod_rewrite. And their claim about 60k plugin bought, I doubt it, very rarely people referencing to that plugin.

    Ramanan

    (@superpoincare)

    Agree with muchmuch11.

    After a page is cached and static files are made, it is simply a matter of host speed. One can’t compare plugins at that stage. Any difference is merely statistical. W3TC even makes static gzip files. I am not sure of others. So all claims about some plugin being faster than W3TC is for HTML loading is bunk.

    Useful benchmarking data here for around 20 of the most popular WordPress caching plugins: https://wpdevshed.com/best-wordpress-cache-plugin/

    Ramanan

    (@superpoincare)

    No man. You cannot compare like that.

    WP Rocket has this feature of lazy loading images which gives it an edge. But I don’t want lazy load image.

    Also the test crucially left out Autoptimize since it’s not a cache plugin. But the real question is which plugin to use and how useful it is. IMO Autoptimize is one of the most underrated plugins. It has 100K+ downloads but deserves much more. It can significantly improve page speed.

    Also load time is not a useful measure. Check Google Page Speed docs on “Speed Index” which measures how the user starts interacting with the page etc.

    I’d say W3TC + Autoptimize or WPSC + Autoptimize are better than anything else.

    On wpdevshed, most top cache plugin have close speed score. W3TC maybe a little bit behind among the top because it’s a complex plugin, have tons of option. You can tweak it to get highest score on GT Metrix and Google Page Speed Insight. With W3TC alone I can get 97/98 on Google PSI, and 90/94 on GT Metrix, and still can be increased, but I have it enough. That’s how a good plugin can do. Is WP Rocket provide lots of option like W3TC? On minify alone, W3TC providing a lot of options, you can choose the best one suited for your web characteristic. Don’t trust on wpdevshed page grade test result, I’m sure it’s poorly optimised.

    Ramanan

    (@superpoincare)

    Excellent point muchmuch11.

    I can even get my site to 100/100 on both desktop and mobile by just using W3TC and loading inline css from functions.php and delaying the css using W3TC. And 100/100 in other places as well.

    Right now us lost souls are wondering what Frederick Townes is doing and whether he is interested in developing the plugin more. But otherwise it’s simply the best.

    Probably I agree with you guys about W3TC : it’s the best…

    but what is really bad about no news about his devlopper is that it means no more support…and that’s why we have to find alternative.

    so the question is now: which alternative bring you efficient plugin and good support for free ? or almost free ? say under 30$ ? (why under 30$ ? because adding all “almost free” plugin cost, make a high total cost for each site each year ! )

    Ramanan

    (@superpoincare)

    Just try WP Super Cache + Autoptimize. Both are free.

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 39 total)
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