Page caching
- Applies to:
- All MindTouch Versions
- Role required:
- N/A
What is anonymous page caching?
Expert uses page caching for anonymous users to reduce the amount of time it takes for a page to load. Anonymous users (users who are not logged in) on your Expert site can view pages faster and thus enjoy faster access to your help content.
How does anonymous page caching work?
When anonymous users visit a page, Expert stores the content of the page in a server-side cache, making high-speed retrieval of pages possible. The page's cache remains cached for 6 hours. And so anonymous users who previously visited a page and then revisit the (now cached) page do not have to wait for the page to load from scratch. The time it takes for Expert servers to collect information for cached pages drops on average to 50 ms.
This feature is by design not enabled for Pro Members, in order to allow immediate visibility to any changes made to page contents.
The load time saved on each cached page varies depending on the amount of content on the page. Each browser has tools that allow you to view various page elements. In the Google Chrome's Developer Tool, for example, select the Timeline tab to check the page load time.
In a browser tab, signed in as the page author, clear the page cache. In a private or incognito browser tab, not signed in and with the browser timeline visible, reload the page to see the cached response time.
Why is anonymous page caching important?
Anonymous page caching allows faster page loading for anonymous viewers. Site performance is improved because storing a page's data in the web browser's cache reduces workload and makes high-speed retrieval of visited pages possible. A page's cache remains in the user's browser cache for six (6) hours, so any repeat visits to that page allow the browser to load the page in no time. With anonymous page caching, the time it takes for Expert to respond to a web browser request and for the web browser to begin displaying the page drops to 50 ms on average.
How are anonymous page caches refreshed?
Anonymous page caches are refreshed after a page has been edited (and saved) or once the cache is manually refreshed via the ?nocache parameter (see below).
Some changes made to a page will not trigger a refresh. For example, a classification change or tag addition will not appear on cached pages until they are refreshed manually or until the page is saved in Edit mode.
Why would I manually force a page to be re-cached?
If you update a page and want to make sure anonymous viewers see the latest version of the page, you can force the page to be re-cached by using the ?nocache parameter. How? In your web browser's address bar, add ?nocache to the end of the page URL.
This parameter can only be triggered by users who have EDIT permission on the page.