While our plugin is quite simple because all of the features are already built-in, it’s always nice to have
a better understanding of what each of the options available in the plugin does.
The Settings tab #
Serve stale option – If your pages were already cached in the past, it’s good to have this option enabled as it will
serve your previously cached pages until the new cache is generated.
If this option is not enabled and you purge the cache of your pages or decide to cache them again, the previous
cache will be deleted and the pages will not be displayed as cached until the new cache is generated.
Logged-in users – This option displays the cached pages for logged-in admins as well and not only to the usual visitors.
If this option is disabled, you will see the non-cached versions of the pages instead of the cached ones until you
log out and view the pages as a normal visitor.
Page Exclusions – This option allows you to exclude pages from the caching/optimization process, leaving them
unoptimized while all the other pages will be optimized. It’s mostly useful for cart pages and different dynamic pages.
Example: /blog/, /pricing/, /about-us/ or / for homepage (each being added on a new line)
Parameter Exclusions – This option allows you to exclude pages based on their parameters. If you add a parameter,
each page containing that parameter will be excluded from caching/optimization.
Example: preview, sort, order, order by, day (each being added on a new line)
The Javascript tab* #
Optimization
– Optimize JavaScript – All scripts are optimized and run as on the original page, without being delayed. (The most compatible and balanced optimization)
– Delay non-critical JavaScript – All scripts are optimized and delayed, except necessary scripts like GDPR. (The fastest and most recommended option)
– Do not optimize JavaScript – No JavaScript optimization is performed, the scripts run exactly as on the original page. (Only recommended if you encounter issues when JavaScript is optimized
Exclusions – This option excludes JavaScript scripts/files from caching. It’s useful if you encounter issues with a certain JavaScript script/file being optimized or
you simply do not want to optimize it.
Example: https://fastpixel.io/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js
RegExp Exclusions – This option allows you to exclude JavaScript scripts/files from the optimization based on URLs, keywords or regular expressions that can identify inline or src of JavaScript.
It’s useful if you encounter any issues with your menus, carousels, GA, and GTM scripts being optimized.
Example: fastpixel(\.min)?\.js
GDPR – This option allows the exclusion of GDPR and cookie popups from the optimization/caching process. It’s useful if you encounter any issues with them after they have been optimized.
The Images tab* #
Image Compression Level
– Lossy – It’s the most aggressive compression level but provides the best compression rate. This is the recommended option for most users, producing results that look the same as the original to the human eye.
– Glossy – It’s a balanced compression level that creates images that are almost pixel-perfect identical with the originals. Best option for photographers and other professionals who use very high-quality images on their sites and want the best compression while keeping the quality untouched.
– Lossless – It’s the least aggressive compression level with which the resulting image is pixel-identical with the original image. Make sure not a single pixel looks different in the optimized image compared with the original. In some rare cases, you will need to use this type of compression. Some technical drawings or images from vector graphics are possible situations.
Image Crop – This option crops the images to reduce their size and make them fit better. (Recommended)
For example, if an image is 480px wide and the container is 300px wide, the image will be cropped to fit the container.
Image Sizes – This option adds the missing Width and Height attributes to your image elements, improving your performance scores. (Recommended)
The Fonts tab* #
Soft Reduce – This option adds fallback to the original font. By default, we replace fonts with reduced versions, eliminating the need to fall back to the original font. This approach prevents the loading of the original font, thereby improving page speed. However, our reduced fonts include only the characters visible during the page load. Enable this option if you notice that some characters are missing.
The Diagnostics Tab #
Last on our list is the Diagnostics Tab – Here you will find out if you have any WordPress plugin conflicts, see the debug information and status of FastPixel.
*Enabling/changing features in the JavaScript, Images, and Fonts tabs require a full cache purge for the changes to take effect.
