Quickfire Cache & Speed Booster

Requirements

Installation

Free Version (from WordPress.org)

1. Go to Plugins → Add New in your WordPress admin
2. Search for Quickfire Cache and Speed Booster
3. Click Install Now then Activate

Pro Version

1. Download the Pro ZIP from your account
2. Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
3. Upload the ZIP and click Install Now
4. Activate the plugin and enter your license key

Quick Start

The fastest way to optimize your site:

1. Go to Quickfire Cache in your WordPress admin sidebar
2. On the Dashboard tab, click Enable All Free Features
3. Done — page caching, minification, lazy loading, and all cleanup optimizations are now active

For more control, visit the Caching and Optimization tabs to toggle individual features.

Free vs Pro

The free version covers the essentials. Pro unlocks advanced optimizations for maximum performance.

Free Features

Pro-Only Features

Dashboard & Optimization Score

The Dashboard tab gives you a bird's-eye view of your optimization status.

Optimization Score

A score ring from 0–100 shows how optimized your site is based on which features are enabled. Each feature contributes a weighted point value — page caching is worth the most (20 points), while smaller cleanup items are worth 1–2 points each.

Below the score, every feature is listed with a checkmark or X showing whether it's active, along with its point value.

Quick Actions

• Enable All Free Features — Turns on every free feature in one click
• Disable All Features — Turns everything off
• Run Speed Test — Jump to the Speed Test tab
• Clear Cache — Purge all cached pages and minified files

Caching

The Caching tab controls server-level performance optimizations.

Page Cache

When enabled, the plugin saves a full HTML copy of each page to disk. On subsequent visits, the cached file is served instantly without running PHP or database queries.

The Caching tab also shows live cache stats: number of cached pages, total cache size, and counts of minified CSS/JS files.

GZIP Compression

Compresses text-based resources (HTML, CSS, JS, XML, JSON, SVG) before sending them to the browser. Typically reduces transfer size by 60–80%. Requires Apache mod_deflate.

Browser Caching

Sets expiration headers so browsers cache static assets (images, CSS, JS, fonts) locally. Return visitors load your site much faster because assets come from their local cache. Requires Apache mod_expires.

Optimization Tab Overview

The Optimization tab contains all frontend optimizations grouped into cards: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Lazy Loading, Cleanup, Header Cleanup, and more. Each feature is a simple on/off toggle.

Settings are saved per-tab — clicking Save on the Optimization tab only saves optimization settings, not caching settings.

Minification

HTML Minification

Removes HTML comments, excess whitespace, and blank lines from your page output. Reduces page size without affecting how the page looks or works.

CSS Minification

JavaScript Minification

JavaScript Controls

Defer JavaScript

Adds the defer attribute to script tags. Deferred scripts load in parallel with HTML parsing and execute after the page is parsed, preventing render-blocking. jQuery core is automatically excluded to prevent dependency issues.

Delay JavaScript

Converts script tags into inert <template> elements that only load when the user interacts with the page (mouse move, touch, scroll, keypress, or click). This is the most aggressive JavaScript optimization and delivers the biggest improvement to initial page load metrics.

Remove jQuery Migrate

Removes the jQuery Migrate compatibility script. Modern plugins don't need it. Saves ~10KB. Only applies on the frontend; the admin area is not affected.

Lazy Loading

Defers loading of media until the user scrolls near it, reducing initial page weight.

WordPress Cleanup

Resource Removal

Header Cleanup

Speed Test

A built-in speed testing tool that loads your homepage in a hidden iframe and measures real performance metrics.

Metrics Measured

Test History

Results are saved to a database table and displayed in a history table so you can track improvements over time. Up to 20 recent tests are shown. Use Clear to wipe test history.

Aggressive Minification Modes PRO

Pro unlocks an aggressive mode for each minification type that goes beyond safe compression.

Combine CSS & JS PRO

Merges multiple CSS files into a single file and multiple JS files into a single file, reducing the total number of HTTP requests your site makes.

Critical & Async CSS PRO

Critical CSS

Inlines your above-the-fold CSS directly into the HTML <head> so the browser can render visible content immediately without waiting for external stylesheets to download. You provide the critical CSS code in a textarea in the Caching tab.

Async CSS Loading

Loads external stylesheets asynchronously (non-blocking) so they don't delay page rendering. Works best in combination with Critical CSS — the critical styles handle the initial render while the full stylesheets load in the background.

Heartbeat Control PRO

WordPress Heartbeat sends AJAX requests every 15–60 seconds for things like auto-save, login timeout, and real-time notifications. On shared hosting, this can strain server resources.

Resource Hints PRO

Tell the browser to start connecting to external domains before they're needed, cutting load times for third-party resources.

Force No-Cache PRO

Sends no-cache, no-store, and must-revalidate headers on every response, telling browsers, CDNs, and proxies to never cache anything. Useful during active development or when debugging caching issues.

How It Works

Page Caching Flow

1. A visitor requests a page
2. The plugin checks for a cached HTML file at /wp-content/cache/ssbc/page/{hash}.html
3. If the file exists and hasn't expired, it's served immediately with an X-SSBC-Cache: HIT header — PHP and database are barely touched
4. If no cache exists, WordPress renders the page normally, and the plugin saves the output to disk with X-SSBC-Cache: MISS

Minification Flow

1. For file minification: when WordPress enqueues a CSS/JS file, the plugin intercepts the URL, creates a minified copy in the cache directory, and serves the minified URL instead
2. For inline minification: the plugin captures the full HTML output using ob_start(), processes all inline <style> and <script> blocks, then outputs the minified result
3. Pre/textarea/code blocks and JSON script blocks are preserved untouched

Cache Directories

Cache Behavior

What Gets Cached

Only GET requests to the frontend from non-logged-in visitors with no query string parameters.

What Is Never Cached

• Admin pages and AJAX requests
• Logged-in users (every logged-in visitor gets fresh content)
• Pages with query strings (e.g. ?s=search)
• Search results and 404 pages
• WooCommerce cart, checkout, and account pages
• POST requests
• Cron and WP-CLI requests

Automatic Cache Clearing

The page cache is automatically purged when:

• A post is saved or updated
• A new comment is posted
• The theme is switched
• Settings are saved in the plugin

Manual Cache Clearing

Clear cache from the Dashboard tab, or use the Clear Cache button in the WordPress admin bar (appears when page caching is active).

.htaccess Rules

When GZIP Compression or Browser Caching is enabled, the plugin writes rules into your .htaccess file wrapped in:

# BEGIN Quickfire Cache Speed Booster ... # END Quickfire Cache Speed Booster

These rules are automatically added on activation/settings save and removed on deactivation. The plugin only modifies content within its own markers and never touches other .htaccess rules.

Troubleshooting