How to use element caching to speed up page loading

Reducing page load time can increase visitor retention and improve your SEO score. Site performance can be significantly improved by using element caching. When widgets are rendered on the server, the HTML output is stored in a database. This way, the next time the element appears, it will be pulled from the database instead of being re-rendered. This can significantly reduce server memory usage and first byte time for visitors (TTFB).

caveat

The element cache cannot be used to containdynamic labelingmaybeElements that display customized data(e.g. shortcode), such as a widget that displays the visitor's name. To ensure that element caching is used only when needed, this feature is deactivated by default. Activate caching only on static elements.

note

Element caching is an experimental feature. To learn how to activate experimental features.

How to activate the experiment function

Step 1: Enter the function settings

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Elementor > Settings > Features tabThe

Step 2: Select experiment function

1. In the Functions tab, select the experiment you want to activate from the drop-down menu.
2. It is also possible to use "Full activation"or"Deactivate all" button to quickly apply changes.

Step 3: Save Changes

1. Under the list of functions, click "Save Changes"Button.

Types of experimental functions

1. Ongoing experiments

• Alpha: Functionality is in its early stages and may be subject to significant change.
• Beta: Feature is relatively stable, but still needs to be checked. Usually enabled by default on new sites.
• Release Candidate: Functionality is largely stable, with minor changes possible.
• Dev: Development version only, functionality may change and evolve.

2. Stabilization functions

These features have been marked as stable by the developers, but can be activated/deactivated at any time if problems are found or they are not needed.

Activity instructions

• greener: The function is active (even if the "Default" value is selected).
• grizzly: The function is disabled (even if the "Default" value is selected).

caveat

• Some features are activated by default for new sites only.
• Activating element caching on elements that use elements containing dynamic tags may cause problems.
• Element caching is an experimental feature and is deactivated by default.

How to activate element caching

Under the Cache Settings section of the Advanced tab, you can override the default widget caching status and set it to Active or Inactive".

Steps:

1. Click an element on the canvasThe

2. Viewing the element options in the panelThe
3. Click on the Advanced tabThe

4. Select the new activation state in the Cache Settings drop-down menuThe

Clearing the Element Cache

You may need to clear the element cache periodically for the following reasons:

• Content freshness: Ensure that frequently updated content (such as news or promotions) is always current for visitors.
• performance balancing: Maintain a balance between improved load times and up-to-date content by regularly refreshing the cache.
• Testing and Updates: Allows to test changes or updates on a website and see the results without waiting for the cache to clear naturally.

Clearing the cache is done at the site level, and the cache is cleared at the same interval for all elements.

Set cache clearing:

1. Go from WP Admin to Elementor > SettingsThe

2. click (using a mouse or other pointing device) performances Tab.

3. exist Element cache expiration field, use the drop-down menu to select how often to clear the element cache.

Automatically cached elements

The following elements are automatically cached and their state cannot be changed:

• containers
• Grid Container
• off-canvas
• portion
• column
• internal part

Summary:

Using element caching can significantly reduce page load times, which in turn improves visitor retention and SEO Score. Reduce server memory usage and first byte time by storing the widget's HTML output in the database and fetching it directly on the next load instead of re-rendering it (TTFB). Note, however, that element caching does not apply to widgets that contain dynamic tags or custom data.