Weird plugin conflict after latest update

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    • #2641
      Nathan
      Participant

      Anyone else seeing this? Updated one site last night and now random pages are throwing weird errors only when caching is on. Turned off 2 plugins already and it still acts up. Feels like one of those dumb conflicts that wastes half a day.

    • #2735
      hankroot
      Participant

      Yep, seen that before — usually ends up being some stupid cache edge case, not the actual plugin you first blame. I’d clear all cache layers and test with cache off + one page at a time. If it only blows up when caching is on, that’s where I’d look first, not the two plugins you already killed.

    • #2841
      hankroot
      Participant

      Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of garbage that eats a morning. I’d still suspect the cache layer before anything else. We had one do this after an update and it turned out to be an old object cache/transient mess, not the plugin everyone was blaming.

    • #2871
      pixelwitch
      Participant

      Yeah, caching is usually the first thing I’d blame too, annoying as that is. I’ve had “plugin conflict” stuff turn out to be some busted cache/object cache nonsense way more often than the plugin everyone wants to rip out.

    • #2977
      Nathan
      Participant

      Yeah, that’s usually the fun part — update something and suddenly it’s “random” pages only when cache is on. Classic. I’d be looking at object cache / transients / whatever cache layer is still hanging around more than the two plugins you already shut off. Seen it a bunch where the plugin looks innocent and the cache is just serving some mangled old output or bad fragment. If it were me, I’d clear everything, not just the obvious page cache. CDN too if there’s one in front. Otherwise you end up chasing ghosts for half the day like a mug.

    • #3021
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Yeah, cache layer first, always. Half the time the “plugin conflict” is just the cache serving some busted old response and making everyone chase the wrong thing. I’d also check if it’s only happening on pages with some specific block/query/widget output. Seen that a few times where it wasn’t the plugin itself, it was one stale fragment getting reused everywhere.

    • #3079
      hankroot
      Participant

      Technically, yeah, I’d still suspect cache/object cache before I start ripping out more plugins. Had one like this a few months back where the site looked “broken” only on cached hits, and it turned out to be stale junk in Redis, not the plugin everyone was blaming. Annoying as hell.

    • #3658
      Den
      Participant

      Kind of feels like from what I’ve seen, yeah, I’d still be looking at cache first too. If it’s only on cached hits, that usually tells me the “plugin conflict” is a bit of a red herring and something stale is getting served back. Clear object cache, page cache, any CDN cache if there is one, then retest before you keep nuking plugins.

    • #3782
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Yeah, that still smells like cache layer nonsense to me. I’ve had “plugin conflicts” that only showed up on cached pages and it wasn’t the plugin at all, it was some busted cached variant getting reused after the update. If you’ve only disabled 2 plugins, I wouldn’t assume much yet. Clear page cache, object cache, CDN cache if there is one, then hit the same URLs uncached and see if the error actually survives. Also worth checking if it’s tied to one template or block output. Random pages usually aren’t random — it’s often one query/widget/block getting cached and sprayed everywhere. If Redis or whatever’s in play is involved, I’d look there before I start playing plugin whack-a-mole.

    • #3904
      meloncrash
      Participant

      Yeah, been there. The “random pages only when caching is on” part is exactly the annoying bit that makes you waste an afternoon chasing ghosts. I’d be looking at whatever changed in the update first, but not in a “delete every plugin” way. I’ve had stuff break because of stale object cache more times than I can count, and half the time clearing Redis or whatever instantly makes the problem disappear and you feel stupid for even touching the plugins. If it’s still happening after a full cache purge, then yeah, maybe one of the updated plugins is doing something dumb with output buffering or a template hook. But “turned off 2 plugins” honestly doesn’t mean much yet. Could still be some page builder junk, CDN cache, or even a specific block/widget getting cached wrong. I’d test one busted URL uncached and see if the error is actually real or just cached garbage. Random pages usually aren’t random, like crawl_void said. At least lately.

    • #4002
      pixelwitch
      Participant

      Well, yep, I’d still suspect cache weirdness before “plugin conflict” tbh. Had the same thing where only cached hits were blowing up and it turned out to be stale object cache junk, not the plugins I was blaming. Clear everything — page cache, object cache, CDN if you’ve got it — and test…

    • #4084
      Mason
      Participant

      Personally, That’s not really accurate. from what I’ve seen, yeah, and half the time “plugin conflict” is just cache being stupid after an update. If it only breaks with caching on, I’d stop blaming plugins so fast. Clear *everything* first, not just the obvious page cache. I’ve seen object cache or CDN junk keep serving broken output like a little gremlin for hours. If it still happens after that, then sure, maybe one of the updated plugins is doing something dumb. But “turned off 2 plugins” is barely a test. In my opinion,. That’s how I look at it.

    • #4182
      Den
      Participant

      Realistically, yeah, this still smells more like cache junk than a straight plugin fight. If it only happens with caching on, I’d want to know what cache layer is involved before blaming the plugins you already disabled. Page cache, object cache, CDN… one of those is usually the annoying part. Also, “random pages” is always the fun lie these things tell you. Usually it’s one template, one block, or one path getting cached wrong and making everything look cursed. If you’ve already cleared all caches and it’s still doing it, then fine, start looking at the update itself. But right now I wouldn’t call it solved just because 2 plugins got turned off. That’s barely a test.

    • #4292
      hankroot
      Participant

      Yeah, I’d still clear the boring stuff first before chasing ghosts. Seen this a bunch where it “looks” like a plugin conflict but it’s actually cache serving old crap after the update. If it’s only happening with caching on, that’s the big clue right there.

    • #4480
      Pike
      Participant

      Fair enough. To be fair, yeah, I’d be looking at cache layers before I start ripping plugins out one by one. “Random pages” after an update is usually some stale crap hanging around in object cache/CDN, not some magical plugin war Honestly,. Clear all of it, then test again with one busted page if you can.

    • #4755
      sergbank
      Participant

      Usually, personally, yeah, I’d still suspect cache before I start blaming the updated plugin(s) too hard. I’ve had this same annoying mess where it only breaks on cached views and the uncached page is fine. Usually ends up being some stale object cache or a CDN edge hanging onto the old version like an idiot. The “random pages” part is what makes me roll my eyes, because it’s never actually random once you dig into it. If you’ve only turned off 2 plugins, I wouldn’t call that much of a test either. I’d want to know if this is page cache, object cache, server cache, or Cloudflare junk before touching anything else. Sometimes one template or one weird archive page is the only thing getting served broken. I’d probably clear everything, test one busted URL in an incognito window, then hit it with caching off/on and see if it’s still consistent. If it only shows up after cache warms up, that’s usually not a plugin conflict in the way people mean it.

    • #6260
      sergbank
      Participant

      In practice, yeah, I’d still be looking at cache layers before blaming some random plugin. “Works with caching off, breaks with caching on” is usually not a true plugin conflict, it’s some stale garbage getting served. I’ve had this happen after updates where everyone wants to start deactivating half the site and it ends up being Cloudflare/object cache/page cache acting stupid. What kind of error is it, though? White screen, 500, fatal, broken layout? If you already killed 2 plugins and it’s still doing it, that doesn’t really prove much. Could just be one cached template or an old PHP output hanging around. Clearing *all* caches, not just the plugin cache, usually tells the story pretty fast. hankroot’s probably half right for once, but I wouldn’t stop at “clear cache” and call it solved either. If it only hits random pages, that’s the annoying part — usually means one specific type of page is getting cached differently. At least lately. In my opinion,

    • #6494
      Nathan
      Participant

      Yeah, that still smells more like cache/CDN weirdness than “one plugin is evil.” If it only happens with caching on, I’d be looking at object cache too, not just page cache Technically,. Had one last month where the site was fine uncached and totally busted once Redis started serving old junk back. Super annoying. Personally,

    • #6774
      adrian_knox
      Participant

      Personally, Yeah, that’s the part people keep skipping over — “cache on” doesn’t mean one thing. If it’s only breaking after warm cache, I’d want to see whether it’s page cache vs object cache vs CDN, because those can all make you chase the wrong plugin for an hour. And “random pages” usually isn’t random at all, it’s some specific template or query path getting served stale. If you haven’t already, clear *everything* and test one URL hard, not just the homepage. Otherwise you’re just guessing and burning time.

    • #6782
      adrian_knox
      Participant

      From my experience, yeah, I’d still bet on cache weirdness before a “bad plugin” at this point. If it only happens with caching on, people love going straight to plugin whack-a-mole and it usually wastes the whole afternoon. I’ve seen this with object cache and CDN stuff way more than with an actual plugin conflict. What’s the exact error? 500s, fatals, broken HTML, or just one page going weird? That usually narrows it down fast enough instead of guessing at random.

    • #6804
      Pike
      Participant

      Yeah, that’s usually not “plugin X is cursed,” it’s cache serving something stale or half-broken. I’d be looking at object cache/CDN before gutting more plugins. Random pages is the annoying part, because it’s always some dumb template or query getting cached wrong. Honestly,

    • #7131
      pixelwitch
      Participant

      To be fair, Yeah, that’s the fun kind of problem where u disable 2 things and somehow it’s still broken. Usually ends up being cache/CDN/object cache nonsense, not the plugin you immediately blame. If it’s only happening with caching on, I’d stop touching random plugins for a bit and check whether it’s the same page type every time. Archive, product, search, whatever — “random” usually isn’t random. Just my experience. To be fair,

    • #7355
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Realistically, yeah, if it only breaks with caching on, I wouldn’t keep blaming plugins yet. I’d check object cache first, then CDN, then whatever got changed in the last update. “Random pages” usually means one bad cached response or some template/query edge case, not some magical plugin curse. Could be wrong though.

    • #7493
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Yeah, that still smells like cache layer garbage to me, not “plugin conflict” in the usual sense. I’ve seen this a bunch where the site looks fine uncached, then cached pages start serving some half-baked response from one template or query path. Turning off a couple plugins doesn’t really prove much if the bad output is already sitting in object cache / page cache / CDN edge. If it was me I’d clear everything hard, then test with just one cache layer at a time. Also worth checking whether the errors line up with one post type or one weird page template, because “random” is usually not random at all. Honestly, half these update breaks are just stale cached fragments pretending to be a plugin issue. Could be wrong though.

    • #7519
      crawl_void
      Participant

      Technically, usually, yeah, if it only shows up with caching on, I’d stop thinking “plugin conflict” for a minute. Seen this too many times where the actual problem is stale cached output or some busted edge case getting served over and over. Disable a couple plugins all you want, doesn’t matter if the bad response is already sitting in page cache/object cache/CDN. I’d be looking at: – same URL pattern? – same template? – same query type? – only logged out / only logged in? “Random” is usually just “I haven’t found the pattern yet.”

    • #7891
      axelrowan
      Participant

      Yeah, I’d still suspect the cache layer before I’d call it a real plugin conflict. I’ve had “random pages” turn out to be one busted cached variant or a bad object cache entry just sitting there being annoying. Clearing only one layer usually does nothing, which is the part that wastes the day 🙄 If it only happens when caching is on, that’s the clue.

    • #9193
      meloncrash
      Participant

      From what I see, Realistically, yeah, agreed. “Random pages” + caching on usually means some ugly stale output or one busted variation, not some magical plugin war. I’ve had it where clearing the main cache didn’t do jack because the object cache was still holding onto garbage. Annoying as hell.

    • #9195
      meloncrash
      Participant

      Well, yeah, I’m with you on the cache layer being the usual idiot here, but I wouldn’t totally rule out a plugin yet either. Had one last month where the “fix” was clearing cache 3 times and then realizing the update changed a query on one archive template. Looked random as hell until I hit the same URLs in incognito and saw the pattern. If it’s only with caching on, I’d be looking at: – page cache – object cache – CDN cache if you’ve got one – any “optimization” plugin doing minify/combine nonsense And honestly, the weird part is usually not the plugin you just updated, it’s the thing that now gets cached wrong because of it. What kind of errors are you seeing? PHP warnings, blank pages, 500s, weird layout stuff?

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