If you’re tired of a slow WordPress site and looking to seriously boost your performance, you’re in the right place. I’ve spent countless hours testing different caching plugins, and I can tell you firsthand that FlyingPress is currently the best option available for WordPress speed optimization. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the exact settings I use to achieve lightning-fast load times and perfect Core Web Vitals scores.

Before we dive into the settings, let me tell you why I switched from WP Rocket to FlyingPress. Unlike other caching plugins, FlyingPress excels at removing bloat, hosting third-party code locally, and optimizing LCP images more effectively. Plus, its developer, Gijo Varghese (who runs the excellent WP Speed Matters Facebook group), is constantly innovating and listening to user feedback.

Let’s get your site optimized with the perfect FlyingPress settings.

Dashboard Overview

When you first open FlyingPress, you’ll see a clean, straightforward dashboard. Don’t let its simplicity fool you – there’s serious power under the hood. The dashboard gives you quick access to cache management with four main options:

Purge pages
Preload cache
Purge pages and preload
Purge everything and preload

I rarely use these buttons since FlyingPress handles cache management automatically, but they’re there if you need them. The preload cache option is particularly useful as it updates cached pages without clearing everything.

Cache Settings

This is where the magic begins. FlyingPress has recently updated its caching system to be “always on,” which is a game-changer. Even if you’re using other caching layers like Nginx, Varnish, or Cloudflare APO, FlyingPress’s cache serves as a reliable fallback, improving your overall cache hit ratio.

Here’s how I recommend configuring your cache settings:

Cache logged in users – I keep this turned off unless I’m running a membership site. There’s no point in using server resources to cache pages for logged-in users if you don’t have many of them.
For “Scheduled preload,” I leave it set to “Never.” Gijo himself recommends only changing this if you’re having specific problems with cache updates. The cache will be overwritten naturally, not purged, so there’s usually no need for scheduled preloads.

When it comes to excluding pages from caching, FlyingPress is smart enough to automatically handle most common scenarios. It already excludes key eCommerce pages, admin pages, and login sections. However, if you have specific pages that shouldn’t be cached (like custom checkout pages), you can add them to the exclusion list.

Query string handling is another area where FlyingPress shines. It comes with a predefined list of query strings to ignore, which is particularly useful for ad campaigns and analytics. If you need to add more, just pop them into the “Ignore Query Strings” box.

Pro tip: To verify your cache is working correctly, test your website in uptrends.com and look for “x-flying-press-cache: HIT” in the headers. This confirms that FlyingPress is serving cached pages as expected.

CSS Optimization

Now let’s move into one of FlyingPress’s strongest features – CSS optimization. This is where you’ll see some significant performance gains, especially in your Core Web Vitals scores.

Minify CSS – I recommend turning this on for most sites, though if you’re running a larger site, you might want to test it first. Johnny from WP Johnny suggests leaving it off on larger sites, and Cloudways recommends enabling it in your cache plugin while disabling it in Cloudflare.
Remove unused CSS – Definitely turn this on. FlyingPress handles unused CSS removal better than WP Rocket, and here’s why: it loads the used CSS in a separate file, which is slightly worse for scores but actually faster for real users. In contrast, WP Rocket loads used CSS inline, which looks better in tests but can slow down actual page loads.
For the “Load unused CSS” setting, I recommend using “remove” for the best performance. However, you’ll need to be prepared to exclude any files that break your site. Check out the common unused CSS exclusions in the Perfmatters documentation if you run into issues, especially if you’re using popular builders like Elementor or Divi.
One of my favorite features is the “Lazy render elements” option. Think of this like lazy loading for any element on your site. I typically add selectors for comments (#comments), footer (#footer), and related posts sections. This delays loading these elements until they’re needed, significantly improving initial page load times.

JavaScript Optimization

JavaScript optimization can make or break your site’s performance, and FlyingPress gives us some powerful tools to handle it properly. Let’s walk through each setting to get the perfect configuration.

Start by enabling “Minify JavaScript” This is generally safe to turn on and will help reduce your JavaScript file sizes. Unlike some other caching plugins, FlyingPress doesn’t offer a “combine JavaScript” option – and that’s actually a good thing. With HTTP/2, combining files is an outdated practice that can hurt performance rather than help it.

The “Preload Links” setting is fascinating. When enabled, FlyingPress will start fetching pages as soon as a user hovers over a link, making the subsequent page load feel instantaneous. I recommend enabling this if you’re on VPS hosting, but you might want to leave it off on shared hosting since it can increase server load, especially on WooCommerce sites with lots of product links.

For “Defer JavaScript” I recommend turning it on along with “Defer Inline.” These settings help fix render-blocking errors by loading JS asynchronously. However, some scripts might not play nice with deferred loading. If you notice issues in your browser’s Console tab, you can exclude problematic scripts using the “Exclude scripts from defer” option. Common exclusions include “hooks.min.js” and “i18n.min.js.”

Now for one of FlyingPress’s most powerful features: “Delay JavaScript” Set this to “Delay selected” and you’ll see impressive improvements in your Core Web Vitals scores. FlyingPress is smart about this – it automatically delays many third-party scripts like Google Analytics and reCAPTCHA, but you can add more to the list. Consider delaying scripts from services like:

Social media widgets
Chat widgets
Analytics tools
Advertisement scripts
Marketing tools

Just be careful with ad scripts – if you’re running AdSense, consider testing thoroughly as delaying these scripts could affect your revenue.

Font Optimization

Font loading can significantly impact your site’s performance, and FlyingPress handles it beautifully. If you’re using Google Fonts, turn on “Optimize Google Fonts” This feature hosts your fonts locally instead of loading them from Google’s servers, reducing external requests and improving load times.
The “Display fallback fonts” option is also worth enabling. It adds font-display: swap to your CSS, which helps prevent the dreaded “ensure text remains visible during webfont load” warning in PageSpeed Insights. Your text will show immediately using a system font while your custom fonts load in the background.

For “Preload fonts” I recommend being selective. Check your Waterfall chart in GTmetrix and only preload fonts that appear above the fold. Gijo suggests preloading only fonts mentioned in your CSS file that load above the fold. Remember to verify your preloading setup in Chrome Dev Tools – preloading fonts that aren’t being used is worse than not preloading at all.

Image Optimization

Images often make up the bulk of a page’s weight, but FlyingPress has some clever features to handle them efficiently.

Enable “Lazy load images” – FlyingPress uses native lazy loading, which is more efficient than JavaScript-based solutions.
The “Exclude above the fold images” setting is crucial for good Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores. Take a look at your pages and count how many images typically appear above the fold. For most of my posts, I set this to 3 – usually accounting for my logo and a couple of featured images. These images will be prioritized and load immediately, while others wait their turn.

If you’re using FlyingCDN (which I highly recommend), turn on “Add responsive images” This feature is amazing – it automatically serves appropriately sized images to different devices. No more manually creating multiple image sizes or using additional image optimization plugins.

Enable “Add missing width and height” and “Preload critical images” These settings help prevent layout shifts and improve LCP scores respectively. FlyingPress will automatically detect and preload your important above-the-fold images, making this much easier than the manual process required by other plugins.
For those using Gravatar images in comments, the “Host Gravatar images locally” option is a nice touch. It prevents those external requests to Gravatar’s servers that can slow down comment sections.

CDN Configuration and FlyingCDN

When it comes to CDN options, FlyingCDN is where FlyingPress really shines. It’s powered by Cloudflare Enterprise, which in my opinion, is currently the fastest CDN solution available. Let me walk you through setting it up.

First, you’ll need to add funds to your FlyingCDN account. The service costs just $3 per month per 100GB, which is incredibly reasonable considering the features you get. Head to your Account → FlyingCDN tab and click the Recharge Account button. I usually add $30 at a time, which gives me plenty of bandwidth for several months.

To set up your CDN, follow these three simple steps:

Create a new CDN instance from your FlyingCDN dashboard
Copy your new CDN URL (it’ll look something like flyingcdn-abc123.b-cdn.net)
Paste this URL into the CDN URL field in FlyingPress settings

But here’s a pro tip: instead of using the default CDN URL, set up a custom domain. It looks more professional and gives you better control. To do this:

Add a CNAME record in your DNS settings pointing to your FlyingCDN URL
Set up something like cdn.yoursite.com
Configure this custom domain in your FlyingCDN settings
Update your FlyingPress CDN URL to use your custom domain

What makes FlyingCDN special? It’s specifically optimized for dynamic sites and WooCommerce stores. The Enterprise-level firewall and Argo Smart Routing can reduce your Time to First Byte (TTFB) by up to 33%. Plus, it uses Cloudflare Mirage and Polish for image optimization, eliminating the need for separate image optimization plugins.

IFrame Settings

Don’t overlook the IFrame settings – they can make a big difference, especially if you embed videos or maps on your site. Enable both “Lazy load iFrames” and “Use placeholder image for YouTube videos“

The YouTube placeholder feature is particularly clever. Instead of loading the entire YouTube player immediately, FlyingPress replaces it with a lightweight preview image. When someone clicks to play the video, only then does it load the full player. Even better, FlyingPress hosts these preview images locally and serves them through your CDN, further reducing external requests.

Bloat Removal

These options help you eliminate unnecessary code that WordPress and various plugins might be loading on your site. While some of these settings might overlap with other optimization plugins like Perfmatters, you’ll want to enable them in just one place to avoid conflicts.

Remove Google Fonts – I recommend leaving this off unless you’re specifically planning to switch to system fonts or custom fonts. If you enable it without a plan, it’ll remove all Google Fonts from your site, which might not be what you want.
The “Disable XML-RPC” setting is one I always enable. XML-RPC is an older feature used for publishing from mobile apps, but it’s also a common target for security attacks. Unless you’re specifically using an application that requires it, turning this off is good for both speed and security.
For the “Disable RSS feed” option, I keep it off since my site has a blog. However, if you’re running a simple business website without any blog or news section, feel free to turn this on to remove unnecessary RSS-related code.
The “Disable Block editor CSS” setting depends on your setup. If you’re using Gutenberg, leave this off. However, if you’re exclusively using a page builder like Elementor or Divi, enable it to prevent unnecessary Gutenberg CSS from loading across your site.
I always enable “Disable oEmbeds” since I don’t need the fancy preview when pasting URLs into posts – I prefer to control how my embedded content looks. Similarly, “Disable Emojis” gets turned on because it removes a JavaScript file that’s not needed (modern browsers handle emojis just fine without it).
The “Disable WP Cron” setting requires some thought. I typically leave it off, but if you’re comfortable setting up a real cron job through your hosting (which can reduce CPU usage), then you might want to enable this and configure a proper cron job instead.
For “Disable jQuery Migrate” I recommend leaving it off if you’re using a page builder. However, if you’re using a lightweight theme without a page builder, you can probably enable this safely. Just test thoroughly after enabling it.
“Disable Dashicons” is another setting I enable since it prevents admin icons from loading unnecessary CSS on the frontend of your site.

Finally, for “Control Post Revisions” I set this to either 5 or 10 revisions. This gives me enough backup versions of my content while preventing the database from getting bloated with too many old revisions.

The “Control Heartbeat” setting is particularly important if you use page builders. I set it to “Enable only while editing posts for 60s” which helps reduce the server load while still maintaining functionality when you need it.

Database Optimization

While you might be tempted to skip database optimization, it’s worth setting up properly. FlyingPress makes this easy with automated cleaning options. Here’s how I recommend configuring it:

Set “Automatic Cleaning” to weekly – this keeps your database lean without requiring manual intervention. For specific cleanups, enable:

Spam Comments cleanup
Trashed Comments removal
Expired Transients cleanup
Table Optimization

I personally leave “Post Revisions” and “Post Auto Drafts” disabled because I use them frequently when writing content. However, if you don’t need these features, feel free to enable their cleanup.

One important tip: keep around 5-10 post revisions in your bloat settings. This gives you enough backup versions if needed, without letting them pile up too much.

Final Thoughts and Best Practices

After setting up FlyingPress with these configurations, your site should be significantly faster. However, remember to:

Test your site thoroughly after making changes
Monitor your Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console
Keep an eye on your cache hit ratio
Regularly check PageSpeed Insights scores

I’ve been using FlyingPress for over a year now, and it’s consistently outperformed other caching plugins I’ve tried. The developer, Gijo, regularly updates the plugin with new features and optimizations based on community feedback, which means it keeps getting better.

Remember, while these settings work great for most sites, you might need to adjust them based on your specific needs. Don’t be afraid to experiment, but always keep a backup and test thoroughly after making changes.

If you run into any issues, the FlyingPress Facebook community is incredibly helpful, and Gijo himself often chimes in with solutions. The support team is also one of the most responsive I’ve encountered in the WordPress space.

With these settings in place, you should see significant improvements in your site’s performance metrics, including better Core Web Vitals scores and faster load times. Your visitors will enjoy a smoother, faster experience, and search engines will love your optimized site.