When it comes to the characteristics of WordPress, people tend to pay attention to the visible parts such as "plugins" and "themes", but in reality, the design of WordPress itself is very characteristic. It's a bit technical, but today I'd like to explain how WordPress works as easily and easily as possible. I hope it will be helpful for those who are going to use WordPress from now on, those who are interested in technical talk, those who need to pretend to be WordPress professionals when using it for business, etc.
This article starts with the technical design of WordPress, and finally I would like to explain how cache plugins work and why they are beneficial so that you can understand them.
WordPress dynamically creates pages
The words "dynamic" and "static" often appear in this story. However, it may be a little difficult to understand as it is, so I will briefly explain here first.
Roughly speaking, "dynamic" and "static" have the following meanings.
Dynamic ≒ moving ≒ real time
Static ≒ stopped ≒ already completed
In other words, "WordPress creates pages dynamically" means "WordPress creates pages in real time". Dynamic pages create a page for each access "Dynamic page" (dynamic site) simply means creating a page in real time (dynamic) every time it is accessed. My blog is also written in WordPress. In other words, the article you are reading now was created when you accessed this article. WordPress takes three steps to display the page each time it is accessed.
Receipt of access request
Load a MySQL database and create content
Displaying the page on your computer
It is a flow
Static pages display pages that have already been created
In the previous section, we explained that dynamic pages create a page for each access. So what does a "static page" (static site) look like?
If I tell you the conclusion first, the existing thing will be displayed as it is for access. This is the image of a "static page".
The most common form of static page is the type of website or home page that creates HTML and uploads it to a server.
A long time ago, the so-called "Web site" of 1 was created by typing HTML, CSS, etc., creating all the sentences, images, Flash, etc., and then uploading them to the server.
These create a page-by-page HTML file in advance, and then display the HTML file as it is each time it is accessed.
Unlike a dynamic system like WordPress, you are displaying content directly in response to a request.
If you compare it to a food shop ... If you don't get the image of dynamic and static pages, think of a food store, for example. A dynamic page creates a page for each access. In other words, it is a type of restaurant where the chef starts cooking every time an order is placed. It's a little expensive type. On the contrary, a static page displays a page that has already been created. For example, it's a fast food restaurant such as a gyudon restaurant. It is an image of making things regardless of the order and putting them out when people come. Since it is just an image, there is no difference between "dynamic" and "static" as much as cooking on the Web. Pages with the same content, whether dynamically created or statically created, will have the same quality.
A WordPress site is MySQL itself
By now, I hope you have somehow understood the difference between "dynamic pages" and "static pages".
Strictly speaking, there are various parts that have bad words, characteristics of each type, advantages and disadvantages, but let's put them aside. Today, I would like to keep it simple.
Now, let's break down the "WordPress site" a little.
There are "texts" that occupy most of the web pages.
This is also a very big feature of "static" and "dynamic", but unlike "static site" where the content of "text" is stored in each HTML file, "dynamic site" In the case of WordPress, it is stored in the MySQL database you know.
Not only sentences, but all information such as permalinks, link information with images, author information, settings, etc. are packed in MySQL, and WordPress creates pages and contents by reading it according to the situation. ..
In other words, what we call a "WordPress site" is data that is read from MySQL and built.
Summary so far
This is the basic WordPress technical structure.
After this, I would like to explain the functions of cache plugins such as WP Super Cache and Quick Cache, and what kind of benefits they have.
Before that, it has become a little long, so let's organize the contents once.
WordPress points
It is a "dynamic" system
All information is stored in the MySQL database
Dynamic page features
Create a page by reading data from MySQL for each access
Follow the 3 steps of "Request / Page Creation / Display"
Features of static pages
Display already created data for access
Take two steps of "request / display"
how is it? Isn't it easy?
There are some parts that are cut off for convenience with an emphasis on comprehensibility, so there are parts that are "strictly different", but let's leave that to someone who likes to say it strictly. Strictly speaking, I can write one book.
Role of WordPress cache plugin
Finally, I would like to explain the role of WordPress cache plugins.
First of all, please see the image below.
This is the flow when displaying the dynamic page that was posted first.
A major feature of dynamic sites is that they spend time and power on the "creation" step in the image above. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the display is slower than the static site.
It is a cache plugin that solves this problem.
Cache plugins change dynamics statically
WordPress cache plugins, such as WP Super Cache, Quick Cache, and W3 Total Cache, read data from MySQL in advance and create static files before users access WordPress. ..
As you can see by looking at the files on the server after installing the cache plugin, many familiar files called "◯◯◯ .html" have been created.
In other words, the page of the WordPress site (dynamic site) that is originally "created" and "displayed" when accessed is already "created (cached)" when accessed. By displaying it as a static page (cache), it works to increase the display speed of the entire WordPress site.
Cache plugins are increasing the display speed of WordPress sites in various other ways, but as mentioned above, the basic function is to create a static page (cache) in advance for access. It is to cut the time to create a page at that time.
This summary
Thank you for reading this far. Thank you for your hard work.
The above is the "dynamic site" that is the feature of WordPress, and the functions and introduction merits of cache plugins from a technical point of view.
In addition, although I have declined on the way, this time I emphasize the ease of understanding because it is the foundation of the foundation. If you want to explain it accurately, you can put in as many small thrusts as you like, but I think that it will be confusing if the story becomes too wide, so there are quite a few parts that I dare to break.
However, I think that it is enough for a basic understanding, so I hope it will be helpful for you.
Explanation of the basic mechanism of WordPress "static site and dynamic site" and the role of cache plugin is a post from: room402.biz
Notes:
It is an expression for convenience. Many static sites are still created and managed. ↩
