WP Rocket is a cache plugin for WordPress websites. It provides different types of optimization techniques for improving the loading time of your website. Developed by Jonathan Buttigieg and Julio Potier, WP Rocket is one of the best choices for caching your WordPress website.
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How to install WP Rocket automatically
This tutorial will review the process of installing WP Rocket on your WordPress website. The process is easy and we will follow the exact steps for such an installation.
To auto install WP Rocket plugin, you have to :
Step 1: Obtain a License
Step 2: Initiate the Install
Step 3: Activate the Plugin
Obtain a License
WP Rocket is a paid product and you need a valid license for the product, issued for your domain.
Initiate the Install
The easiest way of installing WP Rocket is to complete the process automatically via the administrative area of your Wordpress website. This will save you time and ensure the proper configuration of your plugin.
Once you download the WP Rocket installation package, you can navigate to the Dashboard of your WordPress installation. Click on the Plugins tab and then Add New button.
Click on the Upload Plugin button at the top of the page to proceed with the installation.
Drag-and-drop the WP Rocket installation package and click on the Install Now button to proceed.
The system will complete the installation of the WP Rocket plugin for you. You will be presented with a successful message to confirm that.
Activate the Plugin
To activate the WP Rocket plugin on your website, you need to access the administrative dashboard of your WordPress installation first. Navigate to the Plugins menu and then Installed Plugins.
Locate WP Rocket from the list of installed plugins on your website. Just below the name of the plugin, you will notice an Activate button. Click on it to proceed with the activation.
All done! You will now be able to use the WP Rocket plugin on your website.
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How to install WP Rocket manually
This tutorial will review the manual WP Rocket installation on WordPress websites. We will follow the steps and procedures to achieve that, so you can get a better understanding.
WP Rocket
There is an easier way of installing the plugin on your WordPress website. For more details on that, you can review section on automated WP Rocket installation above.
The Manually Install WP Rocket, you will have to:
Step 1: Get a License
Step 2: Initiate the Manual Installation
Step 3: Activate the Plugin
Get a License
To use WP Rocket, you need to have a valid license for it. The plugin is paid and there is no free version to test.
Initiate the Manual Installation
Once you get a valid license for WP Rocket, you need to download the plugin on your local computer. You can extract the files, which will create a wp-rocket/ folder, which contains all of the files required for the plugin.
Next, you need to upload the wp-rocket/ folder to your account on the server. Simply locate the WordPress installation on your account and navigate to wp-content/plugins/. Upload the wp-rocket/ folder in it and the WordPress will automatically detect and prepare it for you.
Upload Files
There are two ways of uploading your files to the server - using an FTP client, following our FTP tutorial, or uploading directly through your cPanel account ? File Manager, following our cPanel tutorial.
Activate the Plugin
The last step is to activate the plugin on your Wordpress website. For that purpose, access the administrative dashboard of your installation and locate the Plugins menu. Click on the Installed Plugins option to proceed.
From the list of available plugins, you need to locate the WP Rocket. Just below the plugin, you will notice an Installation button. Click on it to proceed.
The activation of WP Rocket is now fully completed. You will be able to use the plugin on your website without further delay.
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How to upgrade WP Rocket
This tutorial will review the process of upgrading the WP Rocket plugin on your WordPress website. We will review both, the automated and the manual upgrade so you can complete that easily on your end.
There are two ways of upgrading WP Rocket to the latest release:
Step 1: Automated Upgrade
Step 2: Manual Upgrade
Automated Upgrade
The automated upgrade is the best way of completing the process. It can be handled through the administrative dashboard of your WordPress website. First, locate the Plugins menu and click on the Installed Plugins button.
Locate the WP Rocket from the list of installed plugins. Just below it's name, you will see a message, informing you that there is a new version of the plugin. Click on the Update Now button to proceed.
That's it! The system will upgrade the plugin automatically for you and then display a successful message, notifying you about the process.
Manual Upgrade
To manually upgrade your plugin, you will have to download the latest release of the product via the official WP Rocket website. Then you need to extract the contents of the archive on your local computer. This will create a wp-rocket/ folder, which contains all of the files you need for the upgrade of your plugin.
Once you complete that, it is time to upload the contents to the server. Simply locate the folder of your WordPress installation and navigate to the wp-content/plugins/ directory. Upload the wp-rocket/ folder from your local computer in it, overwriting all existing files.
Upload Files
There are two ways of uploading your files to the server - using an FTP client, following our FTP tutorial, or uploading directly through your cPanel account > File Manager, following our cPanel tutorial.
All done! The upgrade of the plugin is completed and you can use the latest release normally on your website.
How to manage basic options in WP Rocket
This tutorial will review the configuration of the basic options of WP Rocket on your WordPress website. As a cache plugin, it is vital to configure the plugin properly, in order to get a best performance of your website.
To set the basic options for your WP Rocket plugin, you need to access the administrative dashboard of your website. Click on the WP Rocket button at the top menu and then select Settings.
Select the Basic Options tab and edit the following options:
Lazyload - The lazy loading is a design pattern, which defers the the initialization of an object on your website, until it is actually needed. This is an excellent way of speeding up your website as the components on each page will not be loaded at once, but wait until they are needed.
Files Optimization - This offers a minification and concatenation of JS, CSS, HTML or Google Fonts of your website. A good option that will definitely speed up loading of your website.
Mobile Cache - This option will allow you to enable caching for mobile devices. Be careful, as if you are using one of the mentioned plugins, this may cause troubles for your website when people are accessing them through mobile devices.
Logged in User Cache - Enable cache for logged in users.
SSL Cache - Enable caching for secured https protocol
Clear Cache Lifespan - This option will set the cache clearance. By default, this is set to 24 hours, but you may need to specify a shorter interval if you are making changes regularly.
Don't forget to save the changes before exiting the settings menu.
How to use WP Rocket tools
This tutorial will review the available WP Rocket tools and how to use them. The tools are different from the configuration options that you have with the plugin. They will provide actions that you can actually use in order ot manage the caching of your website.
First and foremost, you will have to log into the administrative dashboard of your WordPress website. Click on the WP Rocket menu at the top of the page and then Settings.
Select the Tools tab from the available options.
Once you access the Tools section of WP Rocket, you will be presented with a list. First, you can choose if you wish to participate in the Beta testing of WP Rocket. This will provide access to earlier releases of the plugin and test it on your website. This option will allow the WP Rocket team to test and improve their product, however, we do not recommend it for large websites in production.
The rest of the options include:
Clear Cache - You can clear the cache of your website directly here.
Preload Cache - The preload cache option will crawl your entire website and preload the cache.
Quick Access
There is a quicker way of clearing or preloading the cache. Simply access the admin dashboard and click on the WP Rocket menu at the top. You will see the Clear Cache and Preload Cache buttons for quick access.
You also have the option to export or import WP Rocket plugin settings.
A good option if you have found the best configuration for the plugin and you would like to distribute it to your other websites.
