Cache Manager
Manage caching for a selected website and check whether it is working.
Where to find it: Open the account and choose Cache Manager.
Available to: The account owner, their reseller or the server administrator. Availability depends on the hosting plan and installed services.
What this page does
Use it to enable or disable caching, review inherited and domain-specific policy, manage exclusions, inspect cache statistics, clear stored responses, and run a live test that reports results such as MISS, HIT, BYPASS, or STALE.
Before you start
Start with a working uncached website and a current backup or recovery path. Test login, account, cart, checkout, API, form, and other personalized flows before leaving cache enabled. Cache makes a healthy public page faster; it cannot negotiate peace with a broken application.
Automatic safety
When caching is enabled, SHM checks which responses can be safely reused. Private pages, signed-in sessions and other excluded requests should bypass the shared cache. Use Test Cache to check the selected website.
Main controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automatic Server Cache | Turns caching on or off for the selected domain. |
| TTL and inherited defaults | Controls how long eligible public responses remain reusable; a domain override wins over the root default. |
| Exclusions | Adds exact supported paths or patterns that must bypass cache. |
| Clear cache | Invalidates stored responses for the selected scope after a deploy or content problem. |
| Live test | Sends controlled requests and reports the observed cache state for each tested URL. |
| Statistics | Shows cache activity and outcomes available for the selected domain. |
Understanding test results
| Result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| MISS | The request was eligible, but no reusable response existed yet; the response may populate cache. |
| HIT | A reusable cached response served the request. |
| BYPASS | Safety or policy deliberately sent the request to the application. |
| STALE | An older cached response participated in the supported stale/revalidation behavior. |
How to use it
- Select one domain and record an uncached application baseline.
- Enable Automatic Server Cache and save.
- Run the live test twice on representative public URLs.
- Confirm expected MISS then HIT behavior and deliberate BYPASS on private flows.
- Add only necessary exclusions, retest, and monitor application behavior.
Target selection, cache settings, and live testing
Choose the exact Main, Addon, or Subdomain row. Settings, exclusions, statistics, tests, and cache clearing belong to that selected virtual host. A child domain does not borrow the main domain’s SHMCache state; parked aliases are not separate cache targets.
Dynamic page caching and static-asset caching have separate controls and TTLs. A blank domain override inherits the corresponding server default. The current static policy caches eligible CSS, JavaScript, and fonts on disk; image responses can receive browser freshness headers without being stored in the server-side disk cache.
Exclude from Cache supports starts-with, ends-with, contains, exact, and wildcard patterns, with a reason for each rule. Keep personalized pages and authentication flows excluded. Additional safe-cookie names are only for harmless analytics, attribution, or non-personal test cookies; do not treat language, consent, login, session, or personalization cookies as harmless.
Test Cache runs a limited set of document, cookie, and static-asset checks against the selected domain on this server. It verifies HTTPS and does not follow redirects. A certificate problem, redirect, intentional bypass, or unsupported web server setup can therefore explain a result other than HIT. Read each probe result before changing a policy, and use Clear cache after changing content or exclusions.
Result and next check
Eligible public requests show repeatable cache behavior, private or unsafe traffic remains bypassed, and the site still works for anonymous and authenticated customers. If those conditions are not met, disable the domain cache while investigating.
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