Style Pack Issue

what theme are you using?

Divi theme

Looks like Robin is on it, but I did want to say thank you for posting a detailed description of the issue, what you’ve tried, and relevant settings.

It is a strange issue. Before digging in to code or the Divi theme, it sounds like something related to the criteria used for which topics are counted as “new”. @robin-w – let me know if you want a second set of eyes looking into this.

That is interesting – the latest update did not change anything for the divi theme apart from add an explanation.

so do no topics older that the update not show in any forum, or only show in forums with newer topics?

If you have a link to a live example, that would be useful

@codejp3 – yes if you can shed any light on this, that would be helpful.

@robin-w – Busy for the next few hours, but then I will try to replicate this on my test server.

@blinkweb – I would also like to clarify that you are indeed referring to the main forum/topic indexes, not shortcodes or widgets. Also, are there actually topics within the forums that show the “no topics/replies” message? Or are they empty?

@blinkweb – Here’s what I’ve tried on my test server:

I had several forums/subforums with old topics/replies already in them. That should simulate the “old” topics/replies.

I installed Divi theme version 4.21.0 using all default settings for the theme.

I then activated Style Pack version 5.5.0 and updated it to 5.5.1. The topics/replies on the index displayed properly.

I then created some new topics/replies within those forums/subforums and the index still displayed properly.

Then I tried by installing Style Pack 5.4.7 and updated it to 5.5.1. The topics/replies on the index displayed properly.

Just for good measure, I created some new topics/replies within those forums/subforums and the index still displayed properly.

SO….

I can’t replicate the issue you describe on my test server. which brings me back to the clarifying information both myself and @robin-w asked:

1.) Does the issue exist with all forums, or only forums where there’s been new topics/replies after the Style Pack update?

2.) Does the issue exist with the primary forum/topic index pages, or is the issue happening with shortcodes/widgets that you’re using?

3.) Do you have a link you can provide that shows the issue in-action? You can email it privately to me at [email protected] if you prefer.

4.) Did the issue clearly and immediately happen after updating Style Pack with no other site changes, or were there multiple changes applied to your site at the same time?

5.) Have you specifically used the bbPress tools (/wp-admin/tools.php?page=bbp-repair) for:
“Recalculate parent topic for each reply“,
“Recalculate parent forum for each topic and reply“,
“Recalculate last activity in each topic and forum“,
“Recount topics in each forum“,
“Recount replies in each forum“,
and “Recount replies in each topic“,
and most importantly:
ONE REPAIR AT A TIME !! ( I’ve noticed that when you do multiple repairs, they don’t always get performed, so ONE AT A TIME is the way to do it).

1. It actually affects old topics and replies. (i.e. topics more than 3 or 4 weeks old) If a new topic or reply is posted then everything works fine and the screen is updated as usual
2. The only shortcode used is in the sidebar. the rest of the screens as you drill down use the BBPress template – whichever that one is
3. The forum is open to the public for read only and the issue can be seen there. Go to emgs.org and select forum from the top menu
4. Various plugins/themes were updated on the same day
5. I have just run each repair individually and still no change

OK. I can see the issue on your site. I’m not sure that is the issue is related to Style Pack though.

Try this for me:

1.) put your site into maintenance mode so the public doesn’t see you messing with it.

2.) Disable Style Pack.

3.) Refresh the forum pages that have the issue and take note whether the problem is fixed or the problem persists.

4.) If the problem persists, head over to bbPress tools and do a “Recalculate last activity in each topic and forum” repair.

5.) Refresh the forum pages again that have the issue and see if the problem is fixed or still persists.

6.) Re-enable Style Pack

7.) Take your site out of maintenance mode so that it’s live again.

8.) Report back here with the results.

If the problem still persists after getting through steps 1-5, then the issue is not with Style Pack. In that case, I may be able to offer other suggestions of things to try, but there’s nothing we can do with Style Pack to fix it for you.

The only shortcode used is in the sidebar. the rest of the screens as you drill down use the BBPress template – whichever that one is

@blinkweb

Are you sure you’re not using custom pages with shortcodes?

Your Navigation Menu link points to:

https://emgs.org/forum-temp/

But your breadcrumb for the forum root points to:

https://emgs.org/members-forum/

And BOTH URLs display identical content.

You should only be using one link for your forum root content. Having 2 links pointing to identical content is horrible practice that search engines will hold against you and rank you lower because of it. Plus it can confuse your members due to multiple links pointing to the same content.

Which one is the slug specified for “Forum Root” in the in bbPress settings (/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=bbpress) ?

My guess is “members-forum” is the correct one, which indicates that you have created a custom page with the slug “forum-temp” and uses and embedded shortcode.

The slug specified as the “Forum Root” is the one you should be using in your nav menu (probably “/members-forum/”). The duplicate link should be deleted/removed altogether (probably “/forum-temp/”).

Clicking on the “Forum Notes” forum points to:

https://emgs.org/members-forum/Forum/forum-notes/

The breadcumb shows:

Home Icon ? Members Forum ? Forum Notes

Clicking “Members Forum” in that breadcrumb takes me to:

https://emgs.org/members-forum/

That pretty much confirms that /forum-temp/ is the one that needs to be deleted and no longer used and that /members-forum/ is the one that should be in your navigation menu.

Also, all of your slugs should ideally be lowercase …

https://emgs.org/members-forum/Forum/forum-notes/

… So the slug for “Forum” in “Forum Single Slugs” (/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=bbpress) should be changed from “Forum” to “forum”. It looks fine for topics, but if any others are capitalized there, change them to lowercase as well.

You have some URL/slug/link issues like these mentioned here. Fixing them will certainly help and improve your site, but none of these changes will fix the issue you mentioned in this topic. I just noticed these issues as I was browsing your site and wanted to pass on the info so your site doesn’t keep getting ranked lower by search engines.

As for addressing the original issue you created this topic for – Once I get your reply for the post above, we’ll go from there.

When I turn off the style pack everything is fine. All of the forums and topics show the correct freshness data. I don’t need to refresh any screens.

I will check with customer re page slugs.

@blinkweb – Thank you for confirming the connection of this issue with Style Pack, but the cause of the issue isn’t clear. What I can deduce is that it has to do with “freshness” and specifically with the “Divi” theme. Let’s try to narrow it down some more.

With Style Pack active, can you go to the “Export Plugin Settings” tab ( /wp-admin/options-general.php?page=bbp-style-pack&tab=export ) and save a local copy for yourself, and email me with the export file as well? [email protected]

There is no personal or private info in that export. Just values for your Style Pack settings.

I’m going to try to replicate the issue again using your exact plugin settings. We’ll go from there.

@blinkweb – just letting you know I did get the settings export, imported it in my local test server, and the issue you described appeared immediately.

I’m now looking into the cause of it and will update this topic as soon as I know more.

@blinkweb –

Temporary Immediate Fix:

In the “Freshness Display” tab ( /wp-admin/options-general.php?page=bbp-style-pack&tab=freshness ), change 6. Freshness format from “Hybrid” to “Default”.

That will hold you over until an official fix is released. @robin-w is planning to release a compatibility update for Astra theme later today (5.5.2) and I’m not sure I’ll have the code fix done for this today… so the fix for this will probably be in the following update (5.5.3).

@codejp3 – great glad you have found the cause. I’ve released 5.5.2 so go ahead with 5.5.3 whenever you are ready.