Cache not resetting as expected

Hello @scooterlord ,

Are you sure that this issue is caused by Hummingbird? By any chance are you hosted on Siteground? Because I can replicate this issue with CSS files not being updated on their hosting without Hummingbird enabled.
But when checking on another Hosting there are no issues like that. Clearing browser cache instanly works there.

– I have connected the plugin with cloudflare. Is this a complete replacement to the cloudflare plugin?

In Hummingbird, CloudFlare connection allows only for Browser Caching control.

– Please store my settings when I temporarily deactivate caching/assets caching, and please trigger a reset to everything when I re-activate it.

I’m not sure if I understand correctly, Hummingbird already has option to save settings and data and also reset it. It’s in the Hummingbird -> Settings -> Data&Settings

kind regards,
Kasia

Hello and thanks for your reply!

– No I am not hosted on Siteground.
– Thanks for clarifying about the cloudflare plugin use
– Regarding the save of settings, for some reason it seems to be working now!

..when you mention about clearing browser cache, you mean on the device itself? This works here as well, but this beats the purpose of using browser cache – you can’t force users to reset their browser cache whenever you do a change on the static elements (css, js, fonts, whatever). The whole caching procedure should be completely transparent to users.

Hi @scooterlord

Asking users to clear browser cache manually it’s not expected procedure, indeed. But if you got CloudFlare connected to Hummingbird (if you are actually using CloudFlare of course) then could you, please, check one more thing?

Does it make a difference if you specifically use the “Clear cache” button on “Hummingbird -> Dashboard” page (on the left of “View Documentation” button there)?

I mean using this very button instead of the one on Page Caching page and separately on Asset Optimization page.

Also, are only mobile devices affected or all? I’m sorry if I missed that but I just want to make sure.

Kind regards,
Adam

Hello again and thanks for the reply!

Before commenting, I would like to say that this button to clear ‘everything’ was what I was expecting for the plugin to have. Unfortunately, it’s not very well placed up there – this is the first time I see it! I would suggest that you should have it as a clearer option – either on it’s own page in the plugin and/or add it on the admin navigation as a separate button with clear wording, like ‘Clear everything’ or ‘Clear cache, assets & cloudflare’. It will make a huge difference to users, trust me.

Yes, I have cloudflare connected indeed. Clicking on the button makes absolutely no difference to my mobile browser – unless of course I use private browsing.

Same applies for desktop as well, I need to ctrl-refresh to receive the new static files. The problem is that if I don’t see the changes immediately, then users don’t see the changes either.

Then again, the expected behavior for me would be the following:

– Make changes to my static files – and nothing else, eg change versions etc
– Click on this magic ‘Clear everything’ button
– View changes after a couple of mins

Is there anything more expected from a developer’s end? Is versioning necessary after all?

Hi @scooterlord,

The “Clear Cache” button as pointed in the previous reply only helps with clearing Page Cache it doesn’t clear browser cache. The action what “Clear Cache” button on “Hummingbird > Dashboard” would do would be similar to the “Clear cache” button under Hummingibird > Caching > Page Caching > Clear Cache.

This was suggested in order to see if you notice any difference. The action performed by both buttons would be the same.

At the moment, Hummingbird only helps with controlling browser cache in Cloudflare once you have connected with Cloudflare. So if you have page cache enabled in Cloudflare and also have page cache enabled in Hummingbird then HUmmingbird will not be able to cleare Cloudflare cache in anyway.

Just to be clear is the issue with only the browser cache not getting cleared or is it only with page caching?

Yes, I have cloudflare connected indeed. Clicking on the button makes absolutely no difference to my mobile browser – unless of course I use private browsing.

Could we know what changes were made that isn’t noticing in the mobile browser once the page cache is cleared?

To ensure we are on the same page,is it possible to share a screenshot of the anomalies you are noticing so that we could have a better idea regarding this and bring into our Hummingbird teams attention if needed.

Please advise if I have missed out anything. Looking forward to your response so that we could help get you sorted asap.

Kind Regards,
Nithin

Hello, we haven’t heard back from you in a while so we will close down this ticket, if you have any followup questions feel free to reopen it.

Cheers,
Predrag

I apologize for not replying, for some reason I couldn’t see the second-to-last-reply.

The button that has been suggested in the dashboard reads:
‘This will clear your Page, Cloudflare & Asset optimization caches’

…so essentially, it can’t be the same as the ‘Clear page cache’ at the top of the screen.

No matter what I do, it doesn’t seem to reset mobile browser cache – let me clarify on this though. What I am expecting to see is any change on the website reflect on any browser. When on mobile, I keep refreshing but nothing changes, however, going private browsing, I can see the new changes. This means, though, that whoever visited the site up to this point can’t see the new changes.

As a temporary solution I have added a short expiration time of 8 hours for the assets, so user can take the changes within the day.

What you have described above raises new questions. Yes, I am using Cloudflare cache as well. Shouldn’t I? I am not really sure how the two co-operate with each other. Is it advised to remove Cloudflare caching? Then… what’s the purpose of the integration?

Hi @scooterlord

Could you please run this test:

– Enable the Cloudflare on the development mode, try to replicate the issue.

In case the problem persists, kindly let us know the following information.

Theme Name:
Is it a WordPress single or Multisite:
WordPress version:
PHP Version:

About the integration, it should only clear the browser cache, but I can see we already have a feature request to clear all Cloudflare caches from Hummingbird.

Let us know the result you got.
Best Regards
Patrick Freitas

Hello again,

Regarding your tests:
– Custom theme
– Latest WordPress version (5.5.1)
– PHP version: 7.4.10

Development mode or not, it makes no difference, and I guess it’s due to the reason mentioned below:

…I did some further testing and from what I can see the problem is that when you reset your assets cache the produced hummingbird filename is exactly the same. How would you expect it to be realoded from browsers since it is cached with the exact same filename every time you clear your cache?

For example, hummingbird produces the following automated asset filename:
.../wp-content/uploads/hummingbird-assets/76caf9511861473790287bcc41d0fadd.css

If you clear your asset cache, then a ‘new file’ is produced, but with the same filename, which is already browser-cached.

If the filename or the version of the filename (eg filename?v=2) was different every time you clear your assets, I guess the problem would be solved.

Hi @scooterlord,

Thanks for the additional information from your tests, we have forwarded this to our devs to check it out further from their end.

Cheers,
Predrag