WP Page Cache Control

Control and modify the page cache for multiple hosting providers.

Installation

You can install the package via Composer:

composer require alleyinteractive/wp-page-cache-control

The plugin supports the following hosting providers and their respective page caching systems:

• Pantheon via their Pantheon Advanced Cache plugin: (Alley\WP\WP_Page_Cache_Control\Providers\Pantheon_Provider)
• WordPress VIP via their mu-plugins repository: (Alley\WP\WP_Page_Cache_Control\Providers\VIP_Provider)

The plugin will attempt to detect the caching system in use and will load the appropriate provider class. It can also be controlled by the wp_page_cache_control_provider hook which should return a provider class string.

The main goal of the plugin is to solve common page cache control needs across multiple hosting providers. It is not meant to be a complete solution for all page cache control needs. If you have a need that is not met by the plugin, please open an issue or pull request.

Usage

The plugin supports back-end page cache control including TTL, bypassing the page cache, user segmentation, and purging from the page cache. It also supports front-end segmentation.

Usage: Back-end

Activate the plugin in WordPress and use the following methods as needed:

Controlling the Time-to-live (TTL) of the Current Request

wp_page_cache_control()->ttl( 3600 );

Disabling the Page Cache for the Current Request

wp_page_cache_control()->disable_cache();

Disabling the Page Cache for the Current User

Disabling the page cache for the current user will cause the user to bypass the page cache for the current and subsequent requests. This is useful for testing or for logged-in users.

wp_page_cache_control()->disable_cache_for_user();

// enabling it again via:
wp_page_cache_control()->enable_cache_for_user();

Segmenting the Page Cache

See Page Cache Segmentation for more information.

wp_page_cache_control()->register_group( 'special-user-group' );

// Add the current user to the group (only needs to be done once).
wp_page_cache_control()->set_group_for_user( 'special-user-group', 'segment' );

Purging a Specific URL

wp_page_cache_control()->purge( home_url( '/example/' );

Purging for a Post or Term

wp_page_cache_control()->purge_post( $post_id );

wp_page_cache_control()->purge_term( $term_id );

Purging the Entire Page Cache

Warning: This will purge the entire page cache. This is a dangerous operation and should be used with caution.

wp_page_cache_control()->flush();

Page Cache Segmentation

Page Cache Segmentation is used when you want to vary or differ the page response to different users. For example, you may want to show a different version of a page to logged-in users than to logged-out users. Or you may want to hide ads for users from a specific country. Segmenting the page cache allows you to do this in a performant way.

Registering a Group

To register a group, use the register_group() method:

wp_page_cache_control()->register_group( 'special-user-group' );

Group names must be unique and must contain alphanumeric characters, dashes, and underscores only.

Adding a User to a Group

To add a user to a group, use the set_group_for_user() method:

wp_page_cache_control()->set_group_for_user( 'special-user-group', 'segment' );

The second parameter allows you to specify a segment within a group. For example, the group could be "logged-in" and the segment could be "digital subscriber". You could also have a different user in the "logged-in" group with the segment "print subscriber" to show a different version of the page to print subscribers.

Note: A user cannot be removed from a group once added at this time. If you need to remove a user from a group, you can add them to a different segment of the same group.

Checking if a User is in a Group or Segment

To check if a user is in a group or segment, use the is_user_in_group() method:

wp_page_cache_control()->is_user_in_group( 'special-user-group' );

wp_page_cache_control()->is_user_in_group( 'special-user-group', 'segment' );

Testing Headers

The plugin supports faking the sending of headers sent through the plugin for testing purposes. To enable this, call the following code:

use Alley\WP\WP_Page_Cache_Control\Header;

Header::fake();

Once enabled, you can use the following methods to test headers being sent with the Alley\WP\WP_Page_Cache_Control\Concerns\Tests_Headers trait:

namespace Alley\WP\My_Plugin\Tests;

use Alley\WP\WP_Page_Cache_Control\Concerns\Tests_Headers;
use Alley\WP\WP_Page_Cache_Control\Header;
use Mantle\Testkit\Test_Case;

class Example_Test extends Test_Case {
	use Tests_Headers;

	protected function setUp(): void {
		parent::setUp();

		Header::fake();
	}

	public function test_example() {
		// Perform some action that should send a header.

		static::assertHeaderSent( 'X-My-Header', 'optional value' );
		static::assertHeaderNotSent( 'X-My-Other-Header', 'optional value' );

		// static::assertAnyHeadersSent() and static::assertNoHeadersSent()
		// are also available to assert that any headers were sent or not sent.
	}
}

Usage: Front-end

The package has a front-end integration to allow for segmenting the page cache in-browser. This is enabled by default but can be disabled by using the wp_page_cache_control_enqueue_script filter.

Cache segmentation groups must be registered on the back end before they can be used on the front end. See Registering a Group for more information.

wpPageCacheControl.setGroupForUser('logged-in-group', 'segment-name');

// To remove a user from a group, you have to set them to a different segment.
wpPageCacheControl.setGroupForUser('logged-in-group', 'different-name');

// To check if a user is in a group or segment, use the following:
wpPageCacheControl.isUserInGroup('logged-in-group');
wpPageCacheControl.isUserInGroupSegment('logged-in-group', 'segment-name');

// You can read the groups and segments from the page cache control object:\
//
//   wpPageCacheControl.groups;

Types are available for TypeScript users:

npm install --save-dev @alleyinteractive/wp-page-cache-control

Testing

Run npm run test to run Jest tests against JavaScript files. Run npm run test:watch to keep the test runner open and watching for changes.

Run npm run lint to run ESLint against all JavaScript files. Linting will also happen when running development or production builds.

Run composer test to run tests against PHPUnit and the PHP code in the plugin.

Changelog

Please see CHANGELOG for more information on what has changed recently.

Credits

This project is actively maintained by Alley Interactive. Like what you see? Come work with us.

• Sean Fisher
• All Contributors

License

The GNU General Public License (GPL) license. Please see License File for more information.