Introduction

In this video we'll take a look at the Pro version of Cache Cleaner.

In the previous video we looked at the asics of the Free version.

We have already seen how easy it can be to clear the cache with just one click.

And we looked at some of the additional things that can be emptied with Cache Cleaner.

The Pro Version extends the possibilities even more.
So, let's take a closer look at the exciting features that the Pro version has to offer!

After installing Cache Cleaner, we can find the plugin and its settings here in the plugin manager.

In this video we will be working with the latest version of Cache Cleaner, which at the moment is version 7.0.0.
And what you see here is a Joomla 3.9.5 setup.
If you are using newer versions, things might look a bit different.

What you can clean

In the Cache Cleaner system plugin settings, we find the full list of things we can clear, in the "What to Clean" tab. And we can enable or disable each of them.

The Free version allows us to clear the Joomla Cache... do a Global Check-In... and empty the Temp Folder.

The Pro version of Cache Cleaner gives us the ability to clear a lot more stuff!

Custom Folders

The first additional option we see here, is "Custom Folders". This allows us to automatically delete the files inside certain folders when we clean the cache.

We can enter one path per line, and the path should be relative to the root of the site.

Now, please use this with care. If you enter a folder that has important files, you will lose them when cache is cleaned. So only use this for folders where you want to frequently empty the content.

Another perk of the Pro version is the ability to set a minimum age of the files to delete. This means that files that were modified after the set amount of minutes, will not be deleted. Only files older than the specified time will be deleted.

The Minimum Age can also be set for files in the Cache folders, and in the Temp folders.

We can also choose to protect certain files. In the "Advanced" tab, we have an "Ignore Files/Folders" setting. This can be used to specify any files or folders that we never want to be removed.
As before, we can enter one path per line, and the path should be relative to the root of the site.

Database Tables

We can also set Cache Cleaner to empty certain Database Tables.

Here we can enter a list of names of database tables that we want to empty. We can separate them with a comma, or enter one per line.

Again, please use this with care too. If you enter tables that have important data, you will lose it when cache is cleaned. So only use this for tables where you want to frequently empty the content.

Server Cache

Now, Cache Cleaner doesn't stop at Joomla Cache.

If you're using server caching, it's also possible to magically clear that as well!
Depending on which server your site is running, Cache Cleaner can flush the LiteSpeed Cache, OPCache, and the SiteGround Cache.

So no more need to log into different panels to clear server cache or manually delete files. It can all be done with Cache Cleaner, with the easy single click!

CDN Cache

And same goes for Content Delivery Networks.

If you use CloudFlare or any of these CDN services for your site, you will also be able to purge their cache.

You will, of course, need to enter your account information for the CDN in order to use this feature.

Each CDN comes with its own settings and quick instructions on how to obtain the info you need. All settings have a description that you can see when hovering over the title.

3rd Party Cache

Cache Clean er also supports a 3rd party extension. If you have JotCache installed on your site, you can also select to clear the cache generated by this extension.

Query URL

And finally, we have the "Query URL" feature. With this, you can optionally enter a custom url that gets requested after cleaning all the other caches.

This url will be queried in the background as the last step in the cleaning process.

So, for example, you could use this to trigger a url that re-generates cache, or run a custom external script.

Automatic cleaning by Interval

In the previous video, we have seen how Cache Cleaner can also be executed automatically.

The Free version allows us to to clear the cache whenever we save an article or apply something.

With the Pro version of Cache Cleaner, we can even set to trigger the cleaning process at preset intervals.

We can choose to enable this feature on the administrator... and in the frontend.

And here we can enter the time interval in seconds. The default is set to 3600 seconds, meaning 1 hour. So in this case, enabling this setting would make Cache Cleaner run automatically every hour.

With the "Show message" setting we can decide whether we want a success message to show when the cache is cleaned.

It's important to note that the automatic process will clean everything that we've set up as "Yes" in the "What to clean" tab.

If we want certain things to not be cleaned automatically, we should set them up with the "Only via button" option. This will make sure they're cleaned only when we click the "Clean Cache" button manually.

Log Path

The last setting exclusive to the Pro version is found in the "Advanced" tab.

If you wish, you can customise the the path of the log file used by Cache Cleaner. This file stores the time of the last clean. Make sure your Joomla setup is able to write to this folder.

And this is everything you need to know about the Pro version of Cache Cleaner.

Recap

So just to recap.

We have seen how we can empty custom folders, database tables, server cache, and more, all with just 1 click.

And we learned how we can even set to clear the cache automatically at preset intervals.

You can find a list of all the features and settings, including their descriptions, in the Cache Cleaner tutorial.

Stay tuned for other videos that look more in depth at specific functionalities.