Overview
This guide provides information about the Redis Object Cache and how you can use it on your DreamPress site.
Background
REmote DIctionary Server (Redis) is an open-source data structure server used as a database, cache, streaming engine, and message broker. It allows data to be stored in memory rather than on disk, delivering high performance and scalability and is often used to cache web pages.
Redis at DreamHost
Redis Object Cache is available on all DreamPress Pro plans, complementing DreamPress’s built-in server caching. It improves WordPress performance by storing WordPress objects in memory to reduce the number of database queries. DreamPress Pro’s Redis integration activates the WordPress plugin Redis Object Cache to enable caching for every possible object.
Make sure to deactivate any other caching plugins as they will conflict with the Redis Object Cache plugin's performance.
How to manage Redis
The following options are available to manage Redis cache.
Using the Redis Object Cache plugin
To test your WordPress site's cache status, log in to your DreamPress website and then select Object Cache > Settings in the top toolbar. The following appear:
- The Overview tab — displays if the plugin is connected, the system is writeable, and Redis is reachable.
- The Metrics tab — presents a graphic displaying the metrics recorded over time with information about the Bytes consumption, the Hits vs. Miss ratio percentage, and the number of calls to visually compare how much faster the site performs as a result of object caching.
Purging the cache
The following sections provide information on purging your WordPress cache.
Why you should purge your cache
See this article for an overview of cache and why you may need to purge it in certain circumstances.
Manually purging the object cache via the plugin
To manually purge the object cache, log in to your DreamPress website and then select Object Cache > Flush Cache in the top toolbar.
Temporarily disabling Redis
The following instructions explain how to temporarily disable Redis. If you need to permanently disable Redis, please contact support.
- Open the WP-Admin page for your DreamPress site (e.g., example.com/wp-admin).
- Click the Object Cache button at the top of the WP-Admin toolbar.
- Select the Settings option from the sub-menu.
- Click the Disable Object Cache button at the bottom and confirm the status changes from Connected to Not Enabled in the Overview tab.