What’s the difference between browser caching and server-side caching?

Browser caching stores website assets (images, CSS, JavaScript) on the visitor’s device, while server-side caching stores rendered page content on your web server.

Browser caching can be configured through the W3 Total Cache plugin by:

  • Setting appropriate cache expiration headers
  • Enabling leverage browser caching
  • Configuring Entity tags (ETags)

Server-side caching typically involves:

  • Object caching (database queries)
  • Page caching (full HTML pages)
  • Opcode caching (PHP code compilation)

Both types work together to provide the best possible performance for your WordPress site.

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