W3TC: Remove query strings from static resources quick tip

Just a quick tip for those who are using the famous W3TC (W3 Total Cache) caching plugin for WordPress. If you’re a Page-Load-Speed freak, and you’re checking how fast your blog loads day after day, then you might have noticed that your average speed grade in GTMetrix went down because of static resources factor. If your disappointed about the results of your speed test because of that one factor, then worry no more! You can remove those query strings easily in just one click.

Just go inside your WP admin, then click Performance > Browser Cache > Prevent caching of objects after settings change, then untick it. Just like the screenshot below:

Below are my GTMetrix results screenshot before removing the query strings. Notice that my grade is F in the query string factor, which is really disappointing and annoying:

My Page Speed grade went up by 3% in just one click. Below is the GTMetrix results screenshot after removing the query strings:

Try it yourself! If you’re not using a W3TC plugin, then adding this to your functions.php file might help:

function _remove_script_version( $src ){
$parts = explode( '?', $src );
return $parts[0];
}
add_filter( 'script_loader_src', '_remove_script_version', 15, 1 );
add_filter( 'style_loader_src', '_remove_script_version', 15, 1 );