The Setup Wizard
The first time you activate xSpeed Cache, it opens a short setup wizard. It checks your environment, lets you choose which optimizations to turn on, and applies everything in one step so your site is never left half-configured.
What this does
The wizard is a guided first-run flow. It reads your server and WordPress environment, shows you the results, collects your choices, and then applies them all at once through a single request. Your cache is enabled (if you choose to) and your settings are saved together.
You reach the wizard automatically right after activation. You can also re-run it any time from xSpeed Cache → Setup Wizard in your admin sidebar.
When the wizard opens
xSpeed Cache flags a one-time redirect when you activate it. The next admin page you load sends you to the wizard, as long as:
- You are the user who activated the plugin and can manage options.
- It is a normal admin page load (not an AJAX, REST, or cron request).
- You didn’t activate the plugin in bulk across several sites.
- You haven’t already completed the wizard.
If any of those don’t apply, the redirect is skipped and you can open the wizard manually.
The wizard steps
The wizard runs as a single guided flow that moves through these parts:
- Welcome. A short start screen introduces the wizard. Click Get Started (or Continue) to begin.
- Environment check. The wizard shows a set of health rows describing your environment. This is a read-only snapshot of your server and WordPress setup. It never writes to disk and never makes outbound requests at this stage.
- Choose your optimizations. You pick which features to turn on. The wizard can enable page caching, set your cache lifetime, turn on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript minification, defer JavaScript, enable GZIP compression, turn on image lazy loading, and turn on browser caching. This step also includes the usage analytics consent control described below.
- Apply and finish. When you confirm, xSpeed Cache saves all your chosen settings and turns the cache on if you asked for it, in one step. When the cache is enabled, the final step shows you the server config snippet for the configuration you just applied.
Note: The exact wording of the on-screen buttons and headings may differ slightly from the labels above, but the order of the flow and the settings each step controls are accurate.
Settings the wizard can apply
The wizard collects these choices and saves them when you confirm.
| Setting | What it does | Default in the wizard |
|---|---|---|
| Page caching | Turns the page cache on and installs the cache drop-in | Off until you choose it |
| Cache lifetime (hours) | How long a cached page lives before it is rebuilt | 24 |
| Minify HTML | Removes extra whitespace and comments from HTML | Off until you choose it |
| Minify CSS | Shrinks your CSS files | Off until you choose it |
| Minify JavaScript | Shrinks your JavaScript files | Off until you choose it |
| Defer JavaScript | Loads JavaScript so it doesn’t block the page from rendering | Off until you choose it |
| GZIP compression | Compresses files before the server sends them | Off until you choose it |
| Lazy load images | Loads images only as a visitor scrolls to them | Off until you choose it |
| Browser cache | Tells browsers to remember static files | Off until you choose it |
| Usage analytics | Sends anonymous, non-sensitive diagnostics | See note below |
Note: The consent control defaults so that nothing is sent until you confirm your choices in the wizard. If you leave usage analytics off, the tracker stays dormant and makes no outbound requests. You can turn it on or off later from the dashboard.
What “apply” does
When you finish the wizard, xSpeed Cache makes a single request that:
- Saves your minify, GZIP, cache lifetime, lazy load, and browser cache choices.
- Sets your usage analytics consent (only if the control was present in your choices).
- Turns the cache on or off based on your choice, installing the drop-in when you enable it.
- Recalculates the server config snippet so the final step reflects exactly what you applied.
Because all of this happens in one request, the wizard never leaves your site in a half-applied state.
Re-running the wizard
The Setup Wizard item stays in the xSpeed Cache menu even after you finish. You can run it again any time. Re-running it marks the onboarding as incomplete until you complete it again, so the flow behaves like a fresh first run.
Best practices
- Read the environment check before applying. If something looks off there, fix it first.
- Start with page caching and GZIP, then add minification. If a page looks wrong after minifying, you can toggle individual options off later.
- On WooCommerce or membership sites, plan to exclude pages like
/cartand/checkoutfrom caching after the wizard, in the Cache panel.
Related
- Installing and Activating xSpeed Cache
- A Tour of the xSpeed Cache Dashboard
- What is xSpeed Cache?