Before you begin
The plugin requires WordPress 6.0 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer. Ask your host to use a currently supported PHP release that works with your theme and plugins. You need an administrator account and your OptiWave license key.
Take a backup and use a staging copy for your first setup. Choose one plugin to manage page caching and avoid enabling the same CSS or JavaScript optimization in several plugins.
Install and activate
Upload the plugin
Open Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. Choose
optiwave.zip, select Install Now, then activate it.Activate your license
Open OptiWave in the WordPress sidebar and use Activate License. Wait for confirmation before configuring optimization features.
Check your server
Open the Server guide. Apache and LiteSpeed use managed rules; Nginx requires your host to install the generated configuration.
Start with the defaults
| Control | Initial default | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| Cache lifespan | 10 hours | Keep the rebuild interval while testing. |
| Separate cache for mobile | Off | Enable only if the server sends different HTML to phones. |
| Bypass for logged-in users | On | Test optimized pages in a private browser window. |
| JavaScript delay / Critical CSS | Disabled | Try each strategy separately after caching works. |
| Lazy loading / Missing dimensions | On | Check your hero image and images farther down the page. |
| Modern image format / CDN | Disabled | Choose only after checking server support and your CDN account. |
Settings save automatically. Wait for the save confirmation before leaving the screen. Existing installations keep their saved choices, so their settings may differ from these defaults.
Prepare your pages for visitors
On the Dashboard, choose Start Preloading to generate page caches without clearing existing pages. Watch the preload queue and completion or failure information. Large sites take longer, and background work depends on working WordPress cron and loopback requests.
Check your site after each change
- Visit your homepage, an article, and a category page while logged out.
- Test the mobile menu, search, forms, cookie consent, and any shop checkout.
- Reload a public page and check its
X-OptiWave-Cacheresponse header in your browser's Network panel. See the cache checks. - Compare repeated speed tests under the same conditions. Hosting, theme, page content, and visitor network all affect results.
If something stops working
Undo the most recent setting, wait for it to save, then use Purge & Preload All on the Dashboard. If a script or stylesheet needs to load normally, add a focused exclusion in File Optimization. Re-test as a logged-out visitor before changing another setting.