# Use the Nuvlo plugins for WordPress

Learn what the Nuvlo plugin and Nuvlo SEO do on your WordPress sites, how to install or update them from the dashboard, and where their settings are.

## Before you start

- A running WordPress site in Nuvlo.
- Permission to manage sites.

## What the plugins do

| Plugin | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Nuvlo** | Clears only the cached pages a change affects and loads them back in the background. Makes pages load faster (scripts, images, fonts and CSS). Shows the email account, cleans the database, and adds a **Nuvlo** menu to the admin bar. |
| **Nuvlo SEO** | Titles, descriptions, schema, sitemaps, AI search files and redirects, for WordPress pages and for headless frontends. |
| **Nuvlo Migrator** | Only for moving a site from another host. See [Move a WordPress site to Nuvlo](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/move-a-wordpress-site). |

## Step 1: Install or update the Nuvlo plugin

New WordPress sites get the Nuvlo plugin during setup. To check it, open the site and click the **Caching** tab. The **Nuvlo plugin** card shows its state.

| The card says | Click |
| --- | --- |
| **Not installed** | **Install plugin** |
| **Installed, switched off** | **Switch on** |
| **Version …** with a newer version available | **Update to …** |
| A security update is ready | **Apply security update**. PHP restarts for a few seconds. |

![Caching tab with the Nuvlo plugin card showing its version, Open settings and pages in the cache](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/nuvlo-wordpress-plugin--card.webp)

On Nginx sites, the card also shows **Pages in the cache** and **Waiting to be cached**.

## Step 2: Open its settings

Click **Open settings**. Nuvlo signs you in to WordPress admin and opens the **Nuvlo** page. It has these tabs:

| Tab | What you set there |
| --- | --- |
| **Cache** | Page cache on or off, how long pages are kept (**10 hours (recommended)**), caching pages before visitors ask for them, and pages never to cache. Also shows the object cache and PHP OPcache. |
| **Speed** | Scripts that wait for the visitor, CSS minifying and **Remove unused CSS (beta)**, lazy images and embeds, YouTube previews, WebP uploads, fonts and preloading the next page. |
| **WordPress** | Tweaks such as removing the emoji script, turning off comments, RSS or XML-RPC, and less frequent background check-ins. |
| **Database** | Removes leftovers that only make the database bigger, now or every week or month. |
| **Email** | The connected email account, the From name and From email, and a test email. |

> **Warning:** **Database** cleanup deletes items for good. Take a [backup](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/back-up-a-site) first.

## Step 3: Clear the cache from WordPress

While signed in to WordPress, the **Nuvlo** menu in the admin bar has **Clear page cache**, **Clear this page from the cache** (on the site’s pages), **Clear all caches** and **Settings**.

## Step 4: Install Nuvlo SEO

Nuvlo SEO isn’t installed by default. Open the site’s **WordPress** tab. The **SEO** card shows its state. Click **Install Nuvlo SEO**, **Switch on Nuvlo SEO** or **Update to …**.

If another SEO plugin is active, the card names it. Nuvlo SEO can import its settings, and waits until you turn the other plugin off.

Click **Open SEO settings** to sign in to WordPress and open them. In WordPress, its settings are under **SEO**.

![WordPress tab with the SEO card showing Nuvlo SEO, Open SEO settings and Improve SEO](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/shots/nuvlo-wordpress-plugin--seo.webp)

For **Improve SEO**, where AI writes titles and descriptions for weak pages, see [Improve a site’s SEO](https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/site-seo).

## Good to know

- Without the Nuvlo plugin, pages are still cached, but edits can take up to an hour to show.
- The Nuvlo plugin takes over cache clearing from the Nginx Helper plugin, and hands it back when you deactivate it.
- Deactivating the Nuvlo plugin clears the cached pages it optimized.
- For a headless site, the **Speed** tab is hidden: WordPress shows no pages to visitors.
- If a page looks wrong after changing a **Speed** setting, add `?nuvlo=off` to its address to see it without these optimizations.

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Source: https://app.nuvlo.dev/docs/nuvlo-wordpress-plugin