How To Clear TYPO3 Cache? [With Useful Plugins]

When it comes to web performance, the TYPO3 cache is just one of those things that every site owner has to deal with at one point or another. Recently, one of our readers asked us how to clear cache in TYPO3? And we thought of writing this article on TYPO3 caching.

Basically, TYPO3 Cache is a technique to speed the delivery of web pages by saving portions of pages as they are generated. Then those "cached" portions are reused later when the page is requested again. 

Let’s understand it, 

• Someone encounters a link to your website.
• They click on the link to be redirected to the TYPO3 site.
• The ensuing HTTPS request is sent to your web server.
• The server detects that there have been no changes to the content since the last time someone visited the website.
• The server grabs a static copy of the website, and quickly sends it to the person’s browser window.
• This will happen with all subsequent visits until the content on the page has changed or the cache has expired and is automatically purged.
• In essence, caching provides a more efficient way to deliver content to website visitors.

This ability to speed up loading times is essential if you hope to capture more leads and generate more business with your website. No one wants to wait for more than a couple of seconds for a web page to load and TYPO3 caching is one of the mechanisms that enable you to meet those visitors’ expectations.

That said, there are times when you will need to clear the cache on TYPO3 websites.

Normally, a new post or change in your content would trigger the caching system to delete outdated cached versions.

Yet, sometimes, your caching system may not realize that changes have been made and still show you the old, static, cached version. The conflict between the cached version and the updates may cause your site to break. Here are a few common situations where this may happen.

• Updated your template or extension
• You’ve made changes to your content
• Made changes to your TYPO3 website design elements
• You’ve migrated your site to a new host
• You’ve started using an extension to optimize site and images
• You’ve moved the TYPO3 site to root

TYPO3 is known for its powerful and flexible caching mechanism. Follow these steps to learn how to clear TYPO3 caching,

Way: 1 Clear Cache for Individual page

It is possible to clear the TYPO3 cache* page by page, using the lightning icon in the right-hand corner of each page, when in the 'Page'-module. Please see the location for the icon in the image below.

StaticFileCache

Transparent StaticFileCache solution using mod_rewrite and mod_expires. Increase performance for static pages by a factor of 230!! 

This extension generates static Html files from static pages. If a static page exists, mod_rewrite will redirect the visitor to the static page. This means that TYPO3 will not be loaded at all. Your server will have less work to do and will use less power.

Varnish Connector

Make your TYPO3 website blazing fast and stable for loads of simultaneous visitors. Seamless integration of TYPO3 cached pages into Varnish. 

This extension tells Varnish about TYPO3 insights of a page to allow Varnish to make proper caching decisions based on that information. Furthermore, it informs Varnish to invalidate its cache as soon as a content is changed through the TYPO3 backend.

Plugin cache engine

This extension is intended for developers who need a caching solution in TYPO3 for dynamic high traffic sites. This manual focuses on implementing enetcache in your own extensions. Hints are given about proper tagging and identifier building that need to be taken into consideration to receive a working implementation.

Cache optimizer

This Extension improves the cache clearing process of TYPO3. It uses an enhanced tag handling to clear the cache by optimizing automatic cache clearing.

Cache Management Extension

Gives an overview of cached instances of page ids from the page tree and thus allows you to analyze if the size of your cache_page is within expected limits. This can reveal poor usages of &cHash links and non-optimal usage of TypoScript template conditions.

Fluid Page Cache

The Fluid Page Cache extension for TYPO3 CMS, allows you to create highly precise page cache tags, with zero configuration. Once installed, all entities you use in your Fluid templates will automatically create a new cache tag for the current page cache variation.

Fluid Page Cache also provides an Info module, which visualizes the page cache. 

Nginx Cache Manager

This TYPO3 extension adds the required bits to use NGINX's fastcgi_cache for TYPO3 pages. It adds appropriate cache control headers, documents the required NGINX configuration, and flushes the Nginx cache when content changes.

It is important to have caching enabled for your site and also regularly clear cache manually. Using popular TYPO3 Cache Plugins can optimize your website performance and get the most out of your site!

However, you need to take care of dealing with Cache in TYPO3. A small mistake can break your site or you could delete some important files. In such a case, it is always better to have your TYPO3 site backed up. 

How do you cache your TYPO3 site? Which is your favorite TYPO3 cache extension? Drop your answers in the comment box below! I'm waiting!

Happy TYPO3 Caching!