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Instant Back/Forward

By Weston Ruter

Performance & Optimization / Caching Solutions

Instant Back/Forward Review - In-Depth Analysis

Enables back/forward cache for instant navigation even with 'nocache' headers. Improves user experience by speeding up page loads.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.57/10

User Rating

5/5 (based on 1+ reviews)

Active Installations

10,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin enables instant back/forward navigation via the browser's bfcache. It removes the no-store directive from the Cache-Control response header, which WordPress sends by default when nocache_headers() is called. This primarily occurs when a user is logged in, but some plugins may also send these no-cache headers.

Upon activation, to see the effect, you must log out of WordPress and log back in again, ensuring 'Remember Me' is checked. The removal of no-store will speed up back/forward navigations since pages may then be served from the browser's HTTP cache.

Normally, WordPress sends a Cache-Control header with the no-store directive when a user is logged in. This breaks the browser's bfcache, requiring pages to be re-fetched from the server. This can lead to sluggish navigation experiences. The plugin addresses this issue while maintaining privacy safeguards.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Instant Back/Forward plugin.

back/forward cache

bfcache

instant navigation

Screenshots

FAQ

Please see the Stale Content in Page Caches section of the above blog post.

Pantheon sites have a must-use plugin which includes some Page Cache functionality. When a user is logged in, it is currently sending a Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate response header. This prevents bfcache from working. A pull request has been opened to fix this, but in the meantime you may work around the issue by preventing this header from being sent with the following plugin code:

// Workaround for Pantheon MU plugin sending Cache-Control: no-store which prevents bfcache. // See https://github.com/pantheon-systems/pantheon-mu-plugin/pull/94 add_filter(     'pantheon_skip_cache_control',     static function (): bool {         return is_admin() || is_user_logged_in();     } );