Meet First Things, a 35-year old magazine focused on religion, culture, and public life.

When First Things decided it was time to step into a digital-first future, the responsibility fell to one person: Miguel Caranti, the publication’s systems architect. Miguel manages the technical side of the site with care, balancing the needs of a loyal print audience with the growing expectations of digital readers. 

But as the publication shifted from a custom CMS to WordPress, the website became the primary product. Miguel knew the demands on their infrastructure were about to change.

At first, everything seemed straightforward. The team chose Leaky Paywall, a subscription platform for publishers, for its server-side strength and seamless integration with WordPress. They expected a modern system, faster production, and a smoother subscription experience. But almost immediately, Miguel began seeing warning signs. 

Their old hosting platform couldn’t handle the needs of a paywalled site. Cache hit ratios plummeted. Logged-in users saw the wrong content. Traffic spikes caused errors. Every time he raised a concern, the answer was the same, “It’s time to upgrade again.”

That left Miguel with a bad taste in his mouth. He didn’t want excuses and more costly hardware bumps. He wanted clarity and transparency. He needed a hosting partner who understood how dynamic publishers operate. The greater the problems became, the clearer it was that their host couldn’t support the direction First Things was heading.

That search for a real technical partnership led Miguel to BigScoots.

The Challenge: A Dynamic Site Has Paywall Demands

A subscription site is different from a typical blog or marketing site. Every page request checks the user’s login status, subscription tier, and access rights. With Leaky Paywall, this happens at the server level, making the site more dynamic. Dynamic sites need strong, well-tuned hosting to stay fast.

First Things’ previous host struggled with this. The site slowed to a halt during traffic spikes. Their cache hit ratio dropped sharply. In many cases, the system didn’t cache pages at all. The team began seeing 502 and 504 errors, especially during big news events, when people needed and expected information from them most. 

The hosting provider’s main answer was always the same: upgrade the hardware. But upgrading didn’t seem like the way to address the real issue. 

Since logged-in pages could not be cached, the server had to recreate every page from scratch. As traffic increased, the hosting setup fell further behind. The team also had difficulty obtaining transparent data. Their host upcharged for full performance metrics. Figuring out why pages were slow or why caching hit ratio was impossible. They were expected to pay to troubleshoot their own problem.

Even worse, logged-in visitors were occasionally shown the wrong version of a page, which impacted their experience. Some subscribers saw locked content even though they were signed in. Others saw a logged-out page when they should have had full access.

For a publication that depends on subscriptions, this was a serious problem. Every delay or error increases the chances of losing a reader.

The First Things team wasn’t the only one frustrated. Leaky Paywall noticed the issue too.

CEO and Founder Pete Ericson remarked, “A slow site kills paid subscriptions. People aren’t patient anymore.”

The problem was clear. First Things needed stronger hosting, better caching, and a team that understood how publishers work.

The Solution: A Fast, Low-Risk Migration to BigScoots

Leaky Paywall introduced First Things to BigScoots. Within minutes, BigScoots’ CEO Scott Stapley scheduled a call. In that first conversation, he explained what hardware would solve their persistent issues and how BigScoots could fix their caching challenges.

Miguel made the decision almost immediately. The BigScoots team migrated the First Things site in under 48 hours. The move was free and included the first month of hosting. The migration required almost no work on their end. The entire process was fast and smooth. 

“Within two days, we were on a website that was moving way faster,” reported Miguel. “Even simple browsing felt different.” 

Pete from Leaky Paywall said the pages loaded “like an app… Bam! Bam! Bam!”

Immediate performance improvements included:

• Fully Loaded Time was reduced 63.7% from 1,500 ms to 545 ms
• Largest Content Paint (LCP) was reduced 77.4% from 1,500 ms to 339 ms
• Time to First Byte (TTFB) was reduced 57.6% from 236 ms to 100 ms
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) was eliminated 100% from 0.27

But the migration was only the beginning.

Logged-In User Caching: The Breakthrough

Standard hosts don’t bother with caching logged-in users. It’s complex work and deemed not worth the effort when they can avoid it altogether. This is safe, but it is also the reason many subscription sites feel slow. 

BigScoots has spent years building a different approach that’s tailored specifically to dynamic publishers. BigScoots engineered a system that can safely cache parts of the page for logged-in users using Cloudflare Enterprise CDN. This allows sites to follow Leaky Paywall’s rules.

This approach reduces requests to the origin server, speeding up page loads for subscribers. It’s not something most hosts can do because it requires custom logic and an in-depth understanding of how paywalls work. 

Now, BigScoots partners directly with Leaky Paywall to make sure the caching layer handles sessions, metering, and access rules correctly.

When First Things rolled out this new system, the results were impressive. Many logged-in sessions doubled in speed. Some improved even more.

“They saw “almost a 50–100% speed increase,” said Pete.

Logged in user performance improvements included:

• Homepage speed increased 94.1%
• Post speed increased 93.7%
• Category speed increased 90.57%
• WP Admin Dashboard speed increased 88.75%
• WP Admin Edit Posts speed increased 70.4%

Hands-On Support That Acts Like a Real Team Member

As First Things’ subscriber base continued to grow, BigScoots also helped resolve other issues. When the team noticed a minor glitch in how pages loaded for logged-in readers, a BigScoots engineer dug deep into the caching logic and fixed it quickly. Miguel described the fix as “clever gymnastics.”

Another time, the Gravity Forms editor malfunctioned. BigScoots moved fast and:

• Spun up a staging site
• Turned off plugins one by one
• Tracked the cause
• Confirmed BigScoots did not cause the issue
• Guided First Things to a solution

These actions saved Miguel a significant amount of time. Instead of troubleshooting alone and being asked to pay to get data, First Things had a true partner in BigScoots.

“I just immediately wrote a support ticket,” Miguel said. “Before BigScoots, I always tried to solve things myself.”

Even in the case when something went wrong, BigScoots owned the issue, fixed it, and followed up with clear communication. This level of partnership was new for First Things.

The Results: A Faster, Smoother Experience for Paid Subscribers

With BigScoots’ logged-in caching system, subscribers were met with a fast, responsive experience. Articles loaded quickly. Pages behaved the way they should. And the paywall works as expected.

For a publication with long-form content, this matters. A fast site encourages readers to stay longer, click more often, and return more frequently. When retention is the goal, high engagement is important. This improved experience helped First Things continue seeing growth.

Reliability During Traffic Spikes

When major news breaks, readers want to know. They flood the First Things site. Before BigScoots, these spikes led to slowdowns or errors. 

Now, the site stays stable and responsive, even when thousands of people arrive at once.

A Better Workflow for the Editorial Team

The WordPress backend is smoother and faster. Editors spend less time waiting and more time creating. Publishing is easier. Managing content is less stressful. These minor improvements help the team work faster and more efficiently.

Cost-Effective Hardware Power

One of the most surprising results was cost. First Things pays roughly the same amount as before, but BigScoots gives them twice the hardware power. Miguel estimated that their former provider would have charged three times more for the same setup.

A Hosting Team That Functions Like an Extension of Their Staff

Small publishing teams rarely have dedicated engineers. BigScoots fills that gap. When something happens, Miguel asks BigScoots first. The team understands how their paywall, plugins, and caching need to work together.

“You get a lot of hardware power for a very doable price and an excellent team to support you,” Miguel said of BigScoots.

BigScoots also collaborates directly with Leaky Paywall, creating a unified partnership that helps solve problems quickly.

Looking Ahead

The partnership between First Things, Leaky Paywall, and BigScoots shows how much publishers can achieve when performance and support work hand in hand. 

With strong hosting, a more innovative caching system, and a responsive team, First Things has the speed it needs to grow its digital audience.

And, BigScoots and Leaky Paywall continue exploring ways to improve performance, support logged-in readers, and offer publishers even more tools for a fast, stable, and modern subscription experience.

Accelerate Your Subscription Site

If you have a subscription site that is struggling with similar issues, start a live chat with BigScoots to learn how logged-in user caching can improve the performance of your site and the experience for your paid subscribers.