{"id":24315,"date":"2012-02-09T13:33:34","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T08:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=24315"},"modified":"2026-10-15T14:20:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T08:50:25","slug":"wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Switched from WP Super Cache to Quick Cache (and What to Use Now)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Back in February 2012 we switched our main caching plugin from <strong>WP Super Cache<\/strong> to Quick Cache. This post keeps that story and the setup tips we learned, and adds what happened to Quick Cache since and which WordPress caching plugin makes sense in 2026.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> We left WP Super Cache in 2012 because of server-specific bugs that stopped us clearing the cache, and moved to Quick Cache, which worked out of the box. Quick Cache was later renamed ZenCache and then Comet Cache and is no longer listed on WordPress.org. WP Super Cache is still free and maintained, and remains a simple, safe choice today.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af7c56ea2cc8\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af7c56ea2cc8\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#Why_We_Moved_Away_from_WP_Super_Cache\" >Why We Moved Away from WP Super Cache<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#Why_Every_WordPress_Site_Needs_Caching\" >Why Every WordPress Site Needs Caching<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#Setting_Up_Quick_Cache_2012\" >Setting Up Quick Cache (2012)<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#Gzip_compression_with_Quick_Cache\" >Gzip compression with Quick Cache<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#What_Happened_to_Quick_Cache\" >What Happened to Quick Cache<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#WP_Super_Cache_and_Other_Choices_in_2026\" >WP Super Cache and Other Choices in 2026<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#Is_WP_Super_Cache_still_good_in_2026\" >Is WP Super Cache still good in 2026?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#Can_I_still_download_Quick_Cache\" >Can I still download Quick Cache?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#Should_I_run_two_caching_plugins_together\" >Should I run two caching plugins together?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/#Why_dont_I_see_cached_pages_when_logged_in\" >Why don&#8217;t I see cached pages when logged in?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_We_Moved_Away_from_WP_Super_Cache\"><\/span>Why We Moved Away from WP Super Cache<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We had used WP Super Cache for over five years, and it is one of the best caching plugins around. But after one release we hit bugs on our own server and could not delete the cache. Logging in by FTP to clear it by hand got tedious, and reinstalling the plugin brought strange 403 errors. It was time to try something else.<\/p>\n<p>These were isolated issues on our server. <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-super-cache\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WP Super Cache<\/a> is an excellent plugin, hugely popular and widely recommended.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Every_WordPress_Site_Needs_Caching\"><\/span>Why Every WordPress Site Needs Caching<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A caching plugin is one of the most important plugins for a WordPress blog. It saves PHP-generated pages as static HTML files, which cuts server load, keeps pages loading even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/traffic-with-internal-server-errors\/\">when the server struggles<\/a>, and helps your site survive traffic spikes on shared hosting.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/w3-total-cache\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">W3 Total Cache<\/a> with a CDN such as Amazon CloudFront (which we already used for some static files), but its many options were overwhelming. The forums were full of praise for Quick Cache, so I gave it a try.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Setting_Up_Quick_Cache_2012\"><\/span>Setting Up Quick Cache (2012)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Quick Cache worked out of the box. You simply activated it and turned caching on. Most sites, including ours, did not need to change any other setting.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-24322\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/quick-cache.png\" alt=\"Quick Cache WordPress plugin settings screen\" width=\"437\" height=\"302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/quick-cache.png 437w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/quick-cache-150x103.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/quick-cache-300x207.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 437px) 100vw, 437px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cache expiry:<\/strong> we raised it from the default 3600 seconds (1 hour) to 36000 (10 hours) because our content did not change often.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Logged-in users:<\/strong> pages were not cached for admins and known users, so you had to log out to see caching work.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Smart clearing:<\/strong> editing a post refreshed only that post, and comments refreshed their page. A clear cache button handled the rest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cache files:<\/strong> WP Super Cache mirrors your site structure in its cache folder, while Quick Cache stored pages as MD5 hash files.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gzip_compression_with_Quick_Cache\"><\/span>Gzip compression with Quick Cache<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Unlike WP Super Cache, Quick Cache had no gzip option. Its FAQ suggested two manual methods. The .htaccess mod_deflate method did not work for us, but the second did, because our host had zlib installed. We created a file named <strong>php.ini<\/strong> in the site root containing:<\/p>\n<p><code>zlib.output_compression = on<\/code><\/p>\n<p>Pages were then compressed, which we confirmed with an HTTP compression test tool. Today most hosts compress pages at the server level, so check with yours before adding this.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Happened_to_Quick_Cache\"><\/span>What Happened to Quick Cache<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Quick Cache added a Pro version in 2013 (see our post on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/11\/quick-cache-wordpress-plugin-pro\/\">Quick Cache Pro update<\/a>), then was renamed ZenCache and later Comet Cache. We wrote about moving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/03\/zencache-fix-wordpress-caching-issues\/\">from QuickCache to ZenCache<\/a> at the time. The original plugin is no longer available on WordPress.org, so don&#8217;t install old copies.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"WP_Super_Cache_and_Other_Choices_in_2026\"><\/span>WP Super Cache and Other Choices in 2026<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-super-cache\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WP Super Cache<\/a>: free, simple and maintained by Automattic. A good default on most shared hosts.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/litespeed-cache\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LiteSpeed Cache<\/a>: the best fit if your host runs a LiteSpeed web server. QOT uses it today.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/w3-total-cache\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">W3 Total Cache<\/a>: powerful with many options, better for people who like fine control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Use only one page caching plugin at a time, and check whether your host already provides caching. For more speed tips, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/03\/make-wordpress-faster-safer\/\">how to make WordPress faster and safer<\/a>, and note that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/\">caching can delay RSS feed updates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_WP_Super_Cache_still_good_in_2026\"><\/span>Is WP Super Cache still good in 2026?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. It is free, maintained and easy to set up, which makes it a solid choice for most small and medium blogs.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_still_download_Quick_Cache\"><\/span>Can I still download Quick Cache?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Quick Cache became ZenCache and then Comet Cache, and the original plugin is no longer offered on WordPress.org.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_I_run_two_caching_plugins_together\"><\/span>Should I run two caching plugins together?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Two page caching plugins can conflict. Pick one, and add a CDN separately if you need it.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_dont_I_see_cached_pages_when_logged_in\"><\/span>Why don&#8217;t I see cached pages when logged in?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Most caching plugins skip caching for logged-in users by default. Log out or use a private window to test.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in February 2012 we switched our main caching plugin from WP Super Cache to Quick Cache. This post keeps&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,36],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-24315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","category-about","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67261,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24315\/revisions\/67261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}