caching not updating my changes!

Hello @magicpowers

I am sorry about the issue you are experiencing and I am happy to assist you with this.
The recent W3TC 2.1.5 update has nothing to do with the issue you are experiencing.

tried to disable W3 Total Cache plugin – did not help.

When you disable W3 Total Cache it means that W3TC does not have any impact anymore on your website. So if the issue persists after disabling W3TC it means that the issue is not related to W3 Total Cache but with another layer of caching.

4. After about 2 hrs when I re-saved the changes on Chrome – they started to show.

It appears that your server-side caching or proxy caching have some TTL and the HTML is cached for 2 hrs or so outside of W3 Total Cache.

Please confirm that the issue persists once W3TC is disabled. If the issue is still there make sure to clear any proxy cache or server-side caching.

One thing that you can do to confirm this is to add a random query string to the URL. When Page Caching is enabled in W3 Total Cache using the Disk: Enhanced method, by default W3TC, does not cache query strings. SO all you have to do is to add a random query string to the URL, for example,
https://www.quantumliving.com.au/podcast-2/?asdsadg
This will load your page and will bypass page caching.
Please also make sure to share the URL of the page you are having an issue with and let me know if clearing the server-side cache helps!
Thank you!

hi @vmarko

When you disable W3 Total Cache it means that W3TC does not have any impact anymore on your website

The caching block was already there, so disabling your plugin temporarily didn’t make any difference as the “damage” was already done.

Because you updated the plugin only few days before this issue happened, and it has never happened to me before – that’s too close to be a coincidence in my view. My server cache was not being updated or changed – I’ve checked.

I am not an IT expert, but logically, if two systems have been working side by side for the past few years without any conflict or issues, and then one of them is updated and suddenly there is a caching issue when I re-log on to the site admin that blocks all site updates for hours – the culprit is the system that was recently changed. Something in that update caused a conflict or caching delay – perhaps even nothing to do with the server cache.

Since you didn’t offer me any actual help, nor did my hosting provider, for that matter and I was in a critical, urgent situation – in desperation I reached out to my wonderful Wordfence plugin support. Their Lead Engineer immediately took the time to log in to my site and check everything including the settings in WP3TC – and found several errors there (incorrect settings) – which could have been causing issues, and has corrected them.

Your plugin while really good, is quite complex to configure, which is at the developer level in my view, not an average user. It doesn’t come with instructions – and the configuration manual is available somewhere online, which I believe has been written by someone else, not you.

But even the manual’s instructions require a certain level of developer’s knowledge which I don’t have. I configured the plugin as best I could, with a lot of guesswork.

The Wordfence Support Engineer (whose IT knowledge is in the stratosphere, if you ask me) has found about a dozen issues in your plugin settings I wouldn’t have a clue they were wrong or missing something.

My website updates got unclogged somehow six hours after the second save last night.

Now everything is working fine.

My only disappointment is that one, there is no warning with your plugin that configuring it does require developer’s knowledge; and two, that when I reached out to you, you didn’t offer to log in to my site and check the settings and try to solve the issue, given the urgency of the situation. Yes, I’m a free user, but still…

Hello @magicpowers

Thank you for the information.
First of all, I am glad that the issue is resolved.
While I understand your point and where it’s coming from, there are a couple of things that I feel obligated to clarify.
– If the issue was related to the recent update, it would start to occur immediately and not after a couple of days. in the latest release, there was an issue with the sanitization of the page extension argument, in JS, which has nothing to do with the issue you are experiencing. If the issue was related to the latest release, there would be a lot of issues reported of this kind.
– Once the plugin is disabled, the plugin does not impact the website performance. Meaning the .htaccess/nginx rules are removed, which stops the rewrite for the Browser Cache, Page Cache, Minify, etc. This is why I asked you to confirm if the issue is still there once W3TC is disabled.
– You stated that I did not offer you any actual help. I am sorry but I will disagree with this. I offered you troubleshooting steps to determine what may be causing the issue as I cannot say with 100% accuracy what is causing the issue you are having. This brings me to the point of offering to login to your website – As per wp.org guidelines, I am not allowed to ask the access to your environment and if I’d suggest that it would mean that my account would be banned.
So this is a public forum to provide free support for the users of the plugin. You are of course able to contact us directly via the Plugin in Performance>Support or via the website, as you contacted the wordfence support I am sure since I do not see any topic opened on their support forum related to this issue.
– The W3 Total Cache plugin is a complex plugin and that’s what makes it the best caching solution. A lot of options also mean that you have a lot of freedom in choosing the best settings for your website. I am not going to argue that some settings may be more advanced, and that’s why the support is here, and as the plugin, the support is free!
We have a document that you can find here that explains the settings in the W3 Total Cache. Please understand that not every website is the same, and the configuration depends on the theme, plugins, server configuration, hosting plan, external resources, etc.

Once again I must emphasize that I am not allowed to ask for access on the public forum.

I am sorry for the lengthy reply and once again I am glad that the issue is resolved.
If you have any questions about the settings, configuration please let me know and I’ll be more than happy to answer. Just don’t ask me to log in to your website ??

Thanks!

Hi @vmarko

I did not criticise your plugin – it is a very good caching plugin, as I said. ??

and it’s great that you offer a free version, too!

but yes, it is complex to configure.

The actual cause of that caching issue on my website is still unknown.

PS I wouldn’t expect you to ask for login to my site on this forum. But I hoped that you’d ask me to contact you via email directly, and then offer to check it out ?? When you have a crisis on your hands and no one to fix it you get desperate!

no hurt feelings!

thanks! ??

Hello @magicpowers

Not at all! ??
As I’ve said I understand the frustration when something like this happens.
Just to confirm, you’ve managed to resolve the issue but you are unsure what might have caused it?
Thanks!

hi @vmarko

sorry about the delay, I was migrating my website to another host – which has created another issue I am posting a new ticket about.

To answer your question – yes, the issue has been resolved. My Wordfence Security Support Lead Engineer logged in and adjusted several settings in the WP3 Total Cache plugin portal which he said were incorrect (set up by me), which included adding some strings I wouldn’t have a clue about! LOL

so now it’s all fine.

thanks!