Is your WordPress site hanging a lot and causing errors? Well, slow load times and caution messages can be frustrating for you and your audience. These errors are usually caused due to misconfigured caching on your WordPress. It needs to be treated soon, or it gets worse, like crashing the whole database or sending an incorrect query for the data which do not exist.
So, in case of poor management, cache maximizes the issue, and the database becomes unresponsive, leaving an impact on your website’s sales and user experience.
Applying a cache to your site is a smart move, as it improves the loading process and keeps the whole process smooth. However, in some cases, it can also cause problems. In this article, we will learn about some common cache issues and ways to troubleshoot them.
What is Cache
In simple words, “cache” refers to “store,” and in the world of websites, cache temporarily saves the site’s data so that it can load smoothly. WooCommerce or WordPress cache is a system where static data such as product prices, images, CSS files, and more are stored and in return, it improves website performance and reduces server load.
A cache can be of multiple types, such as browser cache is a system where things like images, CSS, and Javascript files are stored on the user’s device. On the other hand, page caching is for your WordPress sites where the page’s content is stored, and every time a visitor opens the site, it quickly loads that specific data.
How does it work?
WordPress websites work on the basis of PHP; it generates files and fetches information from a database. For every single page, it may need to go to the database and collect that file, which slows things down and creates complexity. Cache creates another version of those pages so that the website doesn’t have to repeat the process. In this way, the whole website’s performance speeds up, dealing with plenty of visitors at the same time.
Common Cache Issues in WordPress
When we try to resolve cache issues using a plugin or any other method, it’s important to understand that the cache can get complex, causing more errors and difficulties in resolving the below-mentioned issues.
Client-Side Errors
Here, we have stated WordPress cache issues faced by most of the clients, also mentioning some quick tips to resolve them right away:
- Outdated Content
The most common Woocommerce cache issue is that upon updating the content, your audience can still view the outdated data on your store. The data can be images, product descriptions, or any relevant content. The issue is caused because of files updating too frequently, and it gets
The problem is mostly caused because of high cache configurations on your WordPress site, infrequent cache expiration intervals, or CDN settings.
How to Fix: Try to manually clear out the cache or reduce the cache expiration time so that when you update your content, it is frequently refreshed. Also, try clearing out the cache from your hosting control panel.
- Login Issues
When you cache your WordPress login pages, it most of the time leads to usual errors and failure, especially when you try to enter your admin dashboard. This is caused by the cache plugin accessing your incorrect version of the login page, which frequently interferes with the authentication process.
How to Fix: Every cache plugin must have some pages to exclude. Locate that setting and remove login or signup pages from your cache.
- Invalidation Issues
Invalidation occurs when the plugins you had installed for cache clearance stop refining the data and create an error while it loads. Without proper cache invalidation, users may experience incorrect content display and slow functionality on any site.
How to Fix: To fix the validation error, you can try clearing out the cache, but if the error still occurs, then you can use a Content Delivery Network that handles cache invalidation properly.
- Cache Crash
A cache crash occurs when the cache stops storing data, and all of its requests hit the database. This can overload the database, causing major errors and crashing the website completely.
How to Fix: You can use a circuit breaker, which is a mechanism that you can use to add a safety shield on your website that prevents sending multiple requests to the database.
Admin-Side Error
Here are a few WordPress cache errors that occur on the admin side. You can have a quick insight into each one of them and use the quick tip to solve those issues:
- Browser Cache Issues
Due to browser cache, some websites take a lot of time to load, and it slows down the whole browsing experience. Every browser has its specific cache system, which stores static website files and helps the audience load previously visited sites more quickly. But if it is disrupted, then it can cause major issues and cause frustration.
How to Fix: Try clearing out your browser cache manually. For the detailed steps, you can navigate to the last section of this article.
- Slow Backend Performance
Most of the time, the admin area of your WordPress site gets affected due to excessive cache settings or conflict. This happens when you install a cache plugin, and it tries to cache so many files for the user that it gets loaded and causes errors. It can also lead to slow performance in the backend, such as when you try to edit a new post or manage settings.
How to Fix: One quick solution to all plugin-related issues is to deactivate it right away. To do so, follow the steps:
- Go to your WordPress Admin Panel
- Navigate to Plugins
- Click on Installed Plugins
- Locate that plugin and deactivate it
- Cache Conflict
Cache conflict is caused when the cache system interferes with the functionality of other existing plugins on your WordPress site. This is because certain themes or features are not designed to work with any caching mechanism.
This problem can lead your web pages towards slow performance, such as taking minutes to load a single page, and if it gets worse, it can also cause a broken layout and pages that dont even function.
How to Fix: If multiple cache mechanisms are active, like CDN, plugin, or more, then disable one to avoid such conflicts. Also, you can go for debugging mode to clearly identify the source that is causing conflict.
- Thunder Herd Error
This cache error in WordPress happens when most of the cache keys expire at the same time. This error causes every query to be transferred to the database, and in return website slows down, pages take hours to load, data starts crashing, etc.
How to Fix: While you set up expiration dates for the cache keys, try out adding random delays between each key; this will help when other keys expire while some of them keep working.
- Cache Penetration
Cache penetration happens when a certain key is missing from both the cache and the database. The server keeps on finding that specific data in return, adding the load to the database and cache.
How to Fix: You can fix this WordPress cache issue by saving a null value in the cache. This will prevent the system from checking the data repeatedly to find that missing key.
Common Cache Issues in WooCommerce
- Wrong Items in the Cart
Most of the time, customers report issues like wrong items being placed in the cart. This can happen due to some cache issues when previous data is still shown to the customers. The cache is good for your website, yet sometimes it creates errors like processing payments for long hours or not moving to the checkout page.
How to Fix: Clear the cache regularly and exclude cart and checkout pages from cache settings. Also, to avoid that conflict, you can exclude wc_session from caching as it is a special code that has all the cart and product information. And when this code is cached, it causes problems so excluding it can solve your problem instantly.
- Out-of-Stock Products Mentioned as in-stock
This WooCommerce cache issue is caused when the web page is cached. It starts displaying outdated content including stock information of the product. Even when you update the information, it still shows the previous content, causing frustration for the buyers when they add that item to the cart.
How to Fix: Try to clear out the cache regularly or remove product pages from the cache setting. The issue can also be solved by enabling cache purging. Many plugins out there allow automatic cache clearance of your wooCommerce site so that you can opt for that option, too.
Two Easy Methods to Troubleshoot Cache
Every cache error stated above has its specific solution, but it doesn’t work every time. To overcome this problem, we have listed two easy methods to solve multiple cache-related issues at once.
Method 1: By using Plugin
There are various cache plugins out there. Some of them are available for free, and some require a subscription, but here we have stated the most common and powerful cache plugin that can help you solve multiple cache issues:
WP Rocket Plugin: Super Fast Solution for all Cache Issues
WP rocket plugin is specifically designed to solve WordPress cache issues and speed up your site’s loading time with its robust mechanism. It includes advanced options like removing used CSS from your site and minification of lazyloads. So, you can opt for it to get an ultimate solution for all of your cache errors.
Features of the Plugin
- The plugin automatically caches the static files
- Compress the file sizes and speed up load times
- It requires file optimization for CSS, JavaScript, and more
- Reduces initial load times and displays images when required
- Optimizes your WordPress database
- Integrates with content delivery networks (CDNs)
- Automatically expires cache after a certain time
- Allow cache exclusion for specific pages
Once you have bought this plugin install it on your WordPress site and configure some basic settings to make it work properly.
Method 2: Manually
Another easy method to resolve cache issues in WordPress is manually configuring some settings. Here, we have listed the top four settings that you can use to solve any cache issue on your site:
Clearing WordPress Cache Without Using a Plugin
You can also clear your site’s cache by following these steps:
- Go to the website files via FTP or file manager ( through the control panel)
- Now, from the file (wp-content), navigate to “cache”
- Open the folder
- Clear the data
Now, you have erased all the cache files from your website.
Clearing Browsing Cache
- Follow these steps to clear the browser’s cache ( if you are using Google Chrome):
- Click on three-dot symbol from the top right corner
- From the dropdown, select Settings
- Now, from the side menu bar, Click on Privacy and Security
- Navigate to Clear Browsing Data and click on that
- Check all the boxes
- Click on Clear Data
- Close all tabs of Chrome and reopen
Hence, you have successfully cleared your Chrome cache data. Below we have listed some common browsers and their steps to clear cache:
Clear Cache from Firefox
To clear cache files from Firefox again to the three-dot symbol, navigate to its settings and open history. Here, you will find an option named Clear browsing data. Click on that, and you have erased on cache file from your Firefox.
Clear Cache from Edge
Go to the settings and click on clear browsing data. Once clicked you will see an option of Choose what to clear. Now, from the menu, select the files that you want to clear and click on the Clear button. This is how you can clear the cache from Microsoft Edge.
Clear Cache from Safari
Go to the Reset Safari option. This will open a new section from which you can select multiple options that you want to clear from Safari, including cache data. Click on Clear History, and your browser cache will be cleared within seconds,
Conclusion
So, these were some common cache issues that you can resolve using the methods mentioned above. Also, other than this, there are multiple free cache plugins available to help you solve login, checkout, cart, or loading errors. However, implementing a cache on your website can improve its performance and functionalities; just remember to exclude some pages from caching and configure it accurately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is cache in WordPress?
Cache in WordPress stores website data temporarily to improve loading speed. It reduces the need to fetch data from the database repeatedly.
Q2. What problems does cache cause?
Cache can display incorrect content, create compatibility issues with plugins, and crash the whole website if it gets worse. Clearing it regularly can help avoid these problems.
Q3. How do I clear my WordPress cache?
You can clear wordpress cache via plugins or by accessing website files from FTP. From there, you can locate cache folder and delete stored cache files manually.
Q4. How often should I clear WordPress cache?
Every time you update your site’s content, try clearing out the cache; you can also use multiple plugins to delete them automatically.
Q5. Which free cache plugins are best for WordPress?
W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, and WP Fastest Cache are some of the best free caching plugins for WordPress. They require robust mechanisms and solve all types of cace errors at once.
Q6. What is the difference between cache and cookies?
Cache stores website resources for faster loading, while cookies save user data like login details and preferences.
