Understanding Cache Refresh Rules in Encited

Cache Refresh Rules control how often Encited automatically generates a new prerendered snapshot of your pages.

By configuring these rules, you can decide which sections of your website should refresh frequently and which can remain unchanged for longer periods. This helps balance content freshness with prerender resource usage.

You can find Cache Refresh Rules by navigating to:

Site Settings → Cache & Rendering → Cache Refresh Rules

How Cache Refresh Rules Work#

Each rule consists of:

• A path pattern that identifies which URLs the rule applies to

• A refresh interval that determines how often Encited generates a new snapshot

For example:

When multiple rules could apply to the same URL, the most specific path pattern takes priority.

For example:

A page such as /blog/new-feature would use the Every day rule because it is more specific than the catch-all pattern.

Available Refresh Intervals#

Every Day#

Encited generates a fresh snapshot approximately every 24 hours after the previous render.

Best for:

• Homepages

• Category pages

• Frequently updated landing pages

• News and announcement sections

Use this option when content changes regularly and search engines should see updates quickly.

Every Week (Default)#

Encited generates a new snapshot every 7 days.

Best for:

• Blog posts

• Product pages

• Marketing pages

• Most business websites

This is the recommended default setting for the majority of websites.

Every Month#

Encited generates a fresh snapshot approximately every 30 days.

Best for:

• About pages

• Legal pages

• Documentation

• Evergreen content that rarely changes

Using a monthly refresh reduces unnecessary rendering for content that stays largely the same.

Disabled#

Automatic snapshot refreshes are completely disabled.

Snapshots will only update when they are manually invalidated through the API.

Best for:

• Highly controlled environments

• Content managed through custom workflows

• Sites that require explicit snapshot updates

Do Not Cache#

Encited does not store a snapshot for matching URLs.

Instead, every crawler request triggers a fresh render.

Best for:

• Small sets of highly dynamic pages

• Content that changes constantly

• Special use cases requiring real-time rendering

Important#

Do not apply this setting to broad path patterns such as /**.

Because every request requires a new render, it can consume prerender quota very quickly.

Use it only for narrow, targeted paths.

Plan Limitations#

Cache Refresh Rule availability depends on your subscription plan.

Basic and Legacy Starter Plans#

Basic plans support a single catch-all rule:

• /**

You can modify the refresh interval, but you cannot create additional path-specific rules.

Essential, Pro, Agency, and Enterprise Plans#

These plans include unlimited custom Cache Refresh Rules.

You can create different refresh schedules for different sections of your website.

For example:

• Homepage → Every day

• Blog → Every week

• Legal pages → Every month

If you need different refresh intervals for different paths, upgrading to Essential or above is required.

Cache Refresh Rules and On-Demand Render#

Cache Refresh Rules interact directly with On-Demand Render.

When any rule is configured as Do Not Cache:

• On-Demand Render is automatically enabled.

• The On-Demand Render toggle becomes locked.

• Encited ensures fresh renders can still be generated when requests arrive.

This behaviour prevents a situation where uncached requests would bypass rendering entirely and return no prerendered content.

The platform automatically manages this configuration to ensure uncached paths continue working correctly.