The WordPress Transients API offers a great way to get started caching frequently accessed data in the local database. Generally speaking, this can help improve page load time by caching values rather than having to retrieve them using typical queries each page load.

I recently completed a two-part series for Envato introducing transients in the context of WordPress, how to use them, as well as an example plugin that leverages the API.

In the first part, I cover:

  • An introduction to the Transients API
  • Settings Transients
  • Retrieving Transients
  • Delete Transients

In the final article, I take a look at:

  • Creating a plugin that leverages transients
  • Planning the project
  • Example source code
  • Caching and retrieving data

The WordPress Transients API is a well-documented API, but I’ve rarely found it used as frequently as it could be. The goal of this series is to push awareness and help other developers get started using it in their projects.