APC Object Cache Backend vs BlinkSpeed

APC Object Cache provides a persistent memory-based backend for the WordPress object cache. APC must be available on your PHP install. An object cache is a place for WordPress and WordPress extensions to store the results of complex operations. On subsequent loads, this data can be fetched from the cache, which will be must faster than dynamically generating it on every page load. The APC Object Cache backend is also compatible with Batcache, the powerful full page caching engine that runs on WordPress.com Be sure to read the installation instructions, as this is not a traditional plugin, and needs to be installed in a specific location.

Boost your WordPress site speed with advanced AI optimization techniques. Improve Core Web Vitals, achieve higher scores on Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix, and deliver a faster, smoother browsing experience for your visitors. Features CSS Optimization – Minification, combination, and critical CSS loading JavaScript Optimization – Minification, combination, and deferred loading HTML Caching – Page-level caching for improved performance Image Optimization – WebP conversion and lazy loading CDN Support – Content Delivery Network integration Lazy Loading – Images, iframes, and videos Asset Preloading – Preload critical assets like images and fonts for faster rendering Admin Bar Integration – Quick cache purge from admin bar Multisite Support – Network-wide and individual site management Web Vitals Monitoring – Core Web Vitals tracking and logging Change Logging – Track all settings changes Free vs Premium Features BlinkSpeed offers a powerful free version with essential performance optimizations. A premium license unlocks advanced AI-powered optimization features for the entire website. Free Version (Included with Plugin) The following features are available for free and work on all pages: HTML page caching CSS minification JavaScript minification JavaScript lazy loading Image lazy loading Browser caching GZIP compression Cache management tools Multisite compatibility Critical CSS generation (Home Page Only) Advanced image optimization and WebP conversion (Home Page Only) These optimizations help significantly improve page load speed and overall performance without requiring a license key. Premium Version (Requires License Key) The premium version unlocks advanced AI-powered optimization features for all pages: HTML page caching CSS minification JavaScript minification JavaScript lazy loading Image lazy loading Browser caching GZIP compression Cache management tools Multisite compatibility Critical CSS generation (All Pages) Advanced image optimization and WebP conversion (All Pages) Without a license key, critical CSS and advanced image optimization are available only for the homepage. Why Premium Features Require a License Some advanced optimizations rely on BlinkSpeed cloud services to process CSS, images, and performance data. These services require additional server resources, so a license key is required to enable them for the entire website. You can activate your license key from: BlinkSpeed → General Settings → License Key Requirements WordPress 5.0 or higher PHP 7.4 or higher PHP XML extension PHP GD extension Plugin Architecture The plugin follows WordPress coding standards and modular architecture. Main Files blinkspeed.php – Main plugin file with header and initialization includes/Plugin.php – Main plugin class orchestrating functionality includes/Core.php – Core functionality and settings management includes/Frontend.php – Frontend optimization handling includes/Database.php – Database operations and table management Admin Structure admin/Admin.php – Main admin class handling menu and settings admin/Admin_Bar.php – Admin bar cache purge functionality admin/admin-page.php – Admin page template Configuration General Settings Enable Optimization – Turn on/off optimization features License Key – Enter your BlinkSpeed license key CSS Optimization CSS Optimization – Enable CSS minification and combination Load Critical CSS – Inline critical CSS for above-the-fold content JavaScript Optimization JavaScript Optimization – Enable JS minification and combination Load Combined JS – Choose when to load combined JavaScript files HTML Caching HTML Caching – Enable page-level caching Cache Expiry Time – Set cache expiration time in seconds Image Optimization Convert JPG to WebP – Automatically convert JPG images to WebP Convert PNG to WebP – Automatically convert PNG images to WebP Lazy Loading – Enable lazy loading for images Usage Basic Setup Activate the plugin. Go to BlinkSpeed settings. Configure optimization preferences. Save settings. Cache Management Purge cache directly from the WordPress admin bar. CSS/JS cache can be purged globally or per page. HTML cache can be purged globally or per page. Critical CSS cache can be purged per page. Monitoring View Web Vitals logs for performance insights. Review change logs for settings updates. Monitor cache sizes and performance. Hooks Actions blinkspeed_init – Plugin initialization blinkspeed_settings_saved – Settings saved blinkspeed_cache_cleared – Cache cleared Filters blinkspeed_settings – Modify plugin settings blinkspeed_cache_path – Customize cache paths blinkspeed_exclude_urls – Exclude URLs from optimization Database Tables The plugin creates the following tables: wp_blinkspeed_core_web_vitals – Stores Web Vitals performance data wp_blinkspeed_change_logs – Stores settings change logs wp_blinkspeed_site_urls – Stores site URL management data Cache Structure wp-content/cache/ ├── critical-css/ └── bs-cache/ Performance Impact CSS/JS Optimization – Reduces file sizes by 20-40% HTML Caching – Improves page load times by 50-80% Image Optimization – Reduces image sizes by 25-50% Lazy Loading – Improves initial page load performance Common Issues Permission errors – Ensure cache directory permissions are correct. Cache not working – Verify optimization settings are enabled. Images not converting – Confirm the GD extension is installed. Admin bar missing – Check user capability settings. Security Input sanitization for all settings Nonce verification for forms Capability checks for admin actions Secure file operations Multisite Support Network-wide settings management Individual site overrides Centralized cache control Site-specific optimization rules External Services This plugin connects to the BlinkSpeed API service: https://rest.blinkspeed.ai These services provide CSS optimization, image optimization, and license verification. Data Sent CSS file URLs and content for optimization Image URLs for WebP conversion License key for verification Service Information Service Provider: https://blinkspeed.ai Support Policy: https://blinkspeed.ai/support-policy/ Terms of Service: https://blinkspeed.ai/term-of-service/ All communication happens over secure HTTPS connections. Minified Assets Some JavaScript files are distributed in minified form for performance. Third-party libraries: assets/js/web-vitals.iife.js – https://github.com/GoogleChrome/web-vitals assets/js/diff.min.js – https://github.com/kpdecker/jsdiff Plugin-specific scripts: assets/js/img-lazyload.js – https://blinkspeed.ai/resources/js/img-lazyload.js assets/js/script-load.min.js – https://blinkspeed.ai/resources/js/script-load.js