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Galeodan
Galeodan
Known Participant
August 5, 2021
Question

Webpage Cache Control Strategy

  • August 5, 2021
  • 6 replies
  • 759 views

I am looking for a way to force user browsers to refresh my webpages when they have been updated. I am looking at the developer.mozilla.org page and there are numerous tools but its hard to tell which would be appropriate. I have relaunched a completely new page and am still making minor changes to complete it. Even when ready, I will be making intermitent updates and if users have the old page in cache, they will see stale data. If the CSS has been updated they may just see a broken page, which looks really amateurish.

 

Is it possible to insert an update date (maybe in meta tags) which the user's browser can read to determine whether a refresh is needed? I think it would have to be something I insert manually to be sure that CSS changes, as well as HTML changes, trigger a refresh.  

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    6 replies

    O
    osgood_
    Legend
    August 6, 2021

    I've never come across any solution that works 100%.

      P
      Paul-M
      Legend
      August 6, 2021

      Assuming it is an Apache server, something like this in .htaccess file should do the trick, it will stop caching. If you are not sure what a htaccess file is, ask your web host for support...

      # DISABLE CACHING
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header set Cache-Control "no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate"
    Header set Pragma "no-cache"
    Header set Expires 0
</IfModule>
    <IfModule mod_expires.c>
        ExpiresActive Off
    </IfModule>
    <IfModule mod_headers.c>
        FileETag None
        Header unset ETag
        Header unset Pragma
        Header unset Cache-Control
        Header unset Last-Modified
        Header set Pragma "no-cache"
        Header set Cache-Control "max-age=0, no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate"
        Header set Expires "Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT"
    </IfModule>

       

      Paul-M - Community Expert
        B
        Community Expert
        Ben MCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        August 6, 2021

        As it hasn't been asked, is this a site you have built yourself or is this a site that you are building using a CMS like Wordpress?  Depending on whether you have access to the code, you may opt for the options below or if you are using a CMS, we could offer recommendations for a plugin that could help with forcing your cache to be updated. For instance if you are using Wordpress, I would recommend WP Rocket.

        Galeodan
        GaleodanAuthor
        Known Participant
        August 6, 2021

        Thanks - Site is DIY

        Nancy OShea
        Community Expert
        Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        August 6, 2021

        Do you have caching expressed in your HTACCESS file?

         

        An example for a site that's updated monthly.

         

        ## EXPIRES CACHING ##
        <IfModule mod_expires.c>
        ExpiresActive On
        ExpiresByType image/svg+xml "access 1 year"
        ExpiresByType image/jpg "access 1 year"
        ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access 1 year"
        ExpiresByType image/gif "access 1 year"
        ExpiresByType image/png "access 1 year"

        ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access 1 year"

        ExpiresByType text/css "access 1 month"
        ExpiresByType application/pdf "access 1 month"
        ExpiresByType text/x-javascript "access 1 month"
        ExpiresByType text/javascript "access 1 month"
        ExpiresDefault "access 2 days"
        </IfModule>
        ## EXPIRES CACHING ##

         

        Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
        Galeodan
        GaleodanAuthor
        Known Participant
        August 6, 2021

        Don't have an HTACCESS file - First I ever heard of one 🙂

         

        Nancy OShea
        Community Expert
        Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        August 6, 2021
        quote

        Don't have an HTACCESS file - First I ever heard of one 🙂

        =========

        .htaccess is commonly used to configure Apache servers.

         

        Plesk Panel users:

        https://www.plesk.com/blog/various/comprehensive-guide-to-htaccess/

         

        c-Panel users:

        https://www.hostgator.com/help/article/how-to-edit-your-htaccess-file

         

        Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
        BenPleysier
        Community Expert
        BenPleysierCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        August 6, 2021

        This article may be of assistance

        https://medium.com/@codebyamir/a-web-developers-guide-to-browser-caching-cc41f3b73e7c

         

        This shows that the main document is always retrieved from the server while supporting files will be retrived from the browser cacche.

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          Galeodan
          GaleodanAuthor
          Known Participant
          August 6, 2021

          Thanks Ben - The article written in plain English - Very handy 🙂 Good to know critical text will be drawn from server - Critical for some of my pages.

           

          Nancy OShea
          Community Expert
          Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          August 5, 2021

          I'm afraid you cannot force people to do something they refuse to do.  Just ask the un-masked, un-vaxed COVID-19 patients who are surging the new outbreaks right now.  No matter what you tell them they should do, people do what they want to do.

           

          OPTION 1:

          Add a notice to the top of time sensitive pages and hope for the best.

          Refresh:

          • Windows and Linux browsers: CTRL + F5
          • Apple Safari: SHIFT + Reload toolbar button
          • Chrome and Firefox for Mac: CMD + SHIFT + R

           

          OPTION 2:

          If you're willing to compromise on page performance, add Pragma no-cache and expiration date meta tags to your document <head>.  And hope the end user's browser doesn't ignore it.  BTW Expires is in GMT date & time.

           

           

          <meta http-equiv="pragma" content="no-cache">

<meta http-equiv="expires" content="dd Mon yy hh:mm:ss">

<meta http-equiv="cache-control" content="no-cache">

           

           

          Good luck!

           

          Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
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