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Integrate a CDN resource with WordPress using W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache is a WordPress plugin that rewrites static file URLs so browsers request those files from a Orange's CDN custom domain instead of the origin. A CDN resource must exist first, and the custom domain must have a CNAME record pointing to the *.gcdn.co target shown in the CDN resource's Setup guide.

Back up the WordPress files and database before installing the plugin. These steps assume a default WordPress file layout. A heavily customized layout might not rewrite URLs correctly.

W3 Total Cache plugin setup

W3 Total Cache adds a Performance menu to the WordPress admin sidebar after it is activated.

  1. 1

    Open the plugin installer

    Log in to WordPress admin (example.com/wp-admin) and navigate to Plugins > Add Plugin.

  2. 2

    Install and activate the plugin

    In Search Plugins, enter W3 Total Cache. On the W3 Total Cache card by BoldGrid, click Install Now, then Activate.

    If the Setup Guide wizard opens, click SKIP to reach the settings pages.

W3 Total Cache CDN settings

Generic Mirror is the W3 Total Cache type that rewrites hostnames in HTML without pushing files to a storage API. That is the type to use with Orange's CDN.

  1. 1

    Enable Generic Mirror

    Navigate to Performance > General Settings and scroll to the CDN section.

    1. Select Enable.

    2. In CDN Type, select Generic Mirror.

    3. Click Save Settings.

    CDN section with Enable selected and Generic Mirror as the CDN type

    A notice appears because the hostname field is still empty: A configuration issue prevents CDN from working: The "Replace default hostname with" field cannot be empty. Click Specify it here, or navigate to Performance > CDN.

    Notice that the hostname field is empty, with a Specify it here link

  2. 2

    Enter the custom domain

    In Replace site's hostname with, enter the custom domain from the CDB Technical Web Portal (CDN > CDN resources). Use the custom domain (cdn.example.com), not the gcdn.co hostname. Click Save Settings & Purge Caches to save and clear cached HTML so pages are regenerated with the CDN hostname. If only Save Settings is available, navigate to Performance > Purge All Caches separately.

    Replace site's hostname with field and Save Settings on the CDN page

  3. 3

    Confirm CDN delivery

    Open the site in a logged-out private browser window. In browser developer tools, open Network, disable the browser cache, and reload the page. Static files should request the custom domain instead of the origin hostname. Select a cached asset and confirm that a repeated request returns HIT in the Cache response header.