CDN

Start
Prev
1
Next
End

Reincidente
Topic Author
Offline

Posts: 435
Thank you received: 19
Hikashop Business

3 days 9 hours ago #370929

Hi Nicolas.

We would like to ask for your recommendation regarding the use of a CDN with HikaShop.

Our website is built with Joomla + HikaShop and hosted on SiteGround. We are currently considering enabling the free SiteGround CDN, mainly to improve loading speed and stability on heavier pages.

Our main concern is about pages that contain a lot of content, especially:
• product or category pages with many variants
• pages with a significant amount of text
• pages with many product images
• pages where HikaShop generates dynamic product-related content

SiteGround explains that their free CDN mainly caches static resources such as images, CSS and JavaScript, while dynamic caching is part of their premium plan. Before enabling the free CDN, we would like to know whether HikaShop generally considers this a good practice for improving front-end performance.

More specifically, we would like to understand the following:
1. Does HikaShop recommend using a CDN to improve performance and loading speed on Joomla websites, especially for heavy product/category pages?
2. In your experience, is there any known issue or important precaution when using a CDN with HikaShop on pages that include many variants, a lot of text, and many images?
3. If only the free SiteGround CDN is enabled, and it mainly caches static assets, do you see any risk of conflicts with HikaShop pages or product rendering?
4. Are there any recommendations regarding cache management when product-related content is updated, for example:
• product images
• product descriptions
• meta data
• prices
• stock / availability
• variant-related information
5. If Joomla system cache is also enabled, is there any specific advice on how to combine Joomla cache with a CDN when using HikaShop?
6. Are there any parts of HikaShop pages that you would especially recommend not to cache aggressively, or any configuration that should be avoided?

Our objective is not only to improve user-side loading performance, but also to keep the site stable and avoid problems with outdated content or inconsistent product information after updates.

So, in short, we would really appreciate your opinion on this:
Would you recommend using the free SiteGround CDN with HikaShop in a store like ours, and if so, are there any best practices, limitations or precautions we should keep in mind?

Thank you very much for your help.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

nicolas
Away

Posts: 85323
Thank you received: 13937
MODERATOR

2 days 15 hours ago #370933

Hi,

Using a CDN for static assets is a good idea and works well with HikaShop. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. Does HikaShop recommend CDN usage?
Yes, caching static resources (CSS, JS, images) through a CDN like SiteGround's will improve loading times, especially on pages with many product images and variants. Product images stored in the `images/com_hikashop/upload/` folder are static files that benefit greatly from CDN caching.

2. Known issues or precautions with variants?
A CDN configured to only cache static assets will not interfere with variant behavior.

3. Risks with static asset caching only?
With static asset caching only, there is essentially no risk. CSS, JS, and image files do not change unless you update HikaShop or upload new product images. After an update, you can simply purge the CDN cache from your SiteGround dashboard to pick up the new files.

4. How to manage cache when product data updates?
Product descriptions, prices, stock levels, and variant data are all served dynamically by PHP, not from static files. A CDN caching only static assets will not cache this data, so changes are always reflected immediately. The only thing you might need to purge after a change is product images if you replace an existing image with a new one using the same filename.

5. Joomla system cache and CDN?
These are two separate layers. The Joomla system cache (System > Cache plugin) caches the HTML output of pages on the server side. The CDN caches static files on edge servers. You can use both together. However, if you enable the Joomla system cache, be aware that HikaShop modules (cart module, etc.) and pages with user specific content might show stale data. HikaShop is compatible with the Joomla "Conservative caching" mode. Avoid "Progressive caching" as it can cause issues with dynamic content.

6. Which page elements should avoid aggressive caching?
Do not cache these URL patterns at the CDN level (they should already be excluded if the CDN respects cache headers):
- Any URL with `task=cart` or `ctrl=checkout` (cart and checkout operations)
- Any URL with `tmpl=raw` or `tmpl=json` (AJAX responses)
- Any URL with `ctrl=order` (order management)
- POST requests in general

SiteGround's CDN should handle all of this automatically since it respects the `Cache-Control` headers that HikaShop sends on dynamic responses.

In summary: enable the CDN for static assets, keep Joomla cache on "Conservative" mode if you use it, and you should see a nice performance improvement without any issues.