Using caching for module or component independently

Question

Is it true that even if i enable module caching from module setting, module caching not works unless system cache plugin turned on?

I want to use cache per module/component from their settings not via code irrelevant of whether cache plugin or cache in global configuration enabled or not.

Answer 1

Yes, module caching will only work if the module has this option enabled and if the caching option is selected in the Global Configuration. This is of course assuming the module has the caching parameter added to it which all core modules have.

Do bare in mind thought that the caching option in the Global Configuration is different to the caching that the System Cache plugin does. The plugin will cache the whole page including module even if the module has the option disabled.

The only problem with adding a caching field to the XML file of all 3rd party extensions is of course that it is considered a core hack so in my opinion you would be best off using an extension such as JotCache

Hope this helps

Answer 2

as @Lodder said, global caching is different from the cache plugin.

global config caching

• conservative - enable component/module caches if they support it. output is cached per page (essentially same as J 1.5)
• progressive - same as 'conservative', but use a separate cache for each user/session and override any module cache config.

beware: joomla never caches anything for logged-in users at this level.

see this explanation and examples https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/joomla-25/caching/global-module-caching

system cache plugin

• enabled plugin - activate the page-cache - the final output of the page as sent to the browser is saved and re-used until invalidated (requests are served with minimal joomla activity, only sessions/form-tokens are updated)
• using browser cache - add an Expire header for the browser and set a timestamp until when the browser should not even bother asking joomla for an update (no request sent)

Btw, the cache structure actually changed a lot from 1.5 to 2.5/3.x on the inside. Some components and modules still don't come around to employ it (Virtuemart being a major PITA)