[Resolved] Loading site in Mozilla Firefox

[Garth Dryland]

Hey Tom

For some reason my site isn’t loading right in Firefox. It refreshes the entire page on http://accountwise.co.nz but when I load http://generatepress.com firefox works fine.

However if I load my site in other browsers like opera and chrome it loads fine whereas if I load your site in these browsers I generally get reloads of the menu and or the generate press image. I have add-on extensions in chrome but none in opera. I have no active if firefox to my knowledge, just the ones it comes with which appear to be deactivated. I have also force safe mode to ensure they are disabled.

I have dropped cache and constantly refresh the sites but the problem continues. I have also used the following steps.

If you want Firefox to always download the latest files then you can change the doc frequency setting like this:

type this into the address bar: about:config
type this into the Search: browser.cache.check_doc_frequency
double click on the browser.cache.check_doc_frequency line to edit it

info about the possible browser.cache.check_doc_frequency settings:
3 – only check if it seems outdated
2 – always use cached version
1 – always check for newer version
0 – check for newer version once per session

If i use 2 (which is not ideal as it wont pick up changes) instead of the default 3 my site loads fine. So it appears the cache is fine but for some reason the browser is acting like I set it to 1 rather than the default 3 but only with regard to my site, not yours. Its really weird. Its as though Firefox thinks there are changes on my site when there aren’t any.

This issue is happening on my computers and on my android also.

I was previously testing the settings for W3 Total Cache however I have reverted to a previous backup (files and database) and it still happens.

Any suggestions ???

[Tom]

That’s weird – I just went to your site using Firefox and navigated around a bit and did some refreshes. It seems to load fine for me? No refreshing at all.

Did you maybe fix this between then and now?

Let me know 🙂

[Garth Dryland]

No, I haven’t been able to sort the problem. It seems that I get all the good issues like this.

I get the feeling it may be something ISP, route, or web server related but strange that not all browsers appear to see the sites the same way. I have also dropped DNS cache, browser cache and temp files etc numerous time and its still the same. My mobile internet is with the same provider and that behaves the same when using Firefox.

My production site was fine to my knowledge but after working on the DEV site, tinkering with the W3 Total Cache configuration and checking across browser behavior, it appears to have somehow altered how my devices see the production site, despite re running backups which I believe were previously fine.

It could just be a coincidence and from what you have said it may only be me with the issue. Its weird how the issue is only with Firefox though. Especially when Firefox works fine for me on your site, while other browsers don’t.

All my devices seem to see my site as changing with each page reload. If I kill that feature in Firefox by overriding the setting to use the cached version only, the site loads perfectly as it should.

If i revert to the default setting (3) which can load new or existing pages, as required by any normal user, or any other option in Firefox it completely reloads the pages. Option 0, 1 and 3 are designed to do this one way or another but not necessarily each and every time.

These sorts of problems are like bashing your head against a concrete wall. They are not very pleasant. Extremely painful even.

It certainly appears to have something to do cache, but it seems to me that it is not stale cache related, it seems to be the Firefox browser thinking its all new data, when its not.

Any suggestions ???

[Garth Dryland]

I have also tested the site connecting through canada, usa, uk and netherlands. Routing via these locations made no difference whatsoever.

[Garth Dryland]

This morning I thought I should check the issue is not theme or plugin related despite not adding any new ones recently, so deactivated all plugins first and the problem appears to have stopped.

Now that I have a direction to head in, which appears to be causing the issue I should be able to narrow down and sort this problem fairly quickly. I am assuming it must be from a recent plugin update.

When I find the culprit I will post it here. It may help someone else.

[Garth Dryland]

It appears the culprit is the All In One SEO Pack plugins (both pro and free versions)

I will see what they have to say about it however I am certainly considering converting to Yoast despite cost difference. The cost is small in comparison to the time spent finding these issues.

I am well aware from cross referencing a heap of info that Yoast SEO is optimized to work best with other top plugins that are also optimized to work in conjunction with WordPress SEO like W3 Total Cache for example.

It is entirely probable that the AIOSEO plugin has been why the set up on W3 Total cache has been a bit problematic. I thought (being the hopeful sort) that it may just be due to it not being entirely version compatible but maybe its been AIOSEO plugin the entire time.

Time will reveal all, no doubt.

[Tom]

Glad you finally figured out the culprit – what a weird bug to have to find.

Hopefully they’re able to resolve it 🙂

[Garth Dryland]

I would be interested to know what plugins you run on GP if you could let me know when you get a moment. Obviously GP Premium is one we both use. I also know you use WordPress SEO by Yoast.

I would like compare the others with mine to see what I may or may not need to keep an eye on moving forward.

Cheers

[Tom]

I’m using quite a few (would take forever to type them out).

Any specifics you’re interested in? 🙂

[Garth Dryland]

Not really. I was under the impression you only used about six or so based on replies in forum.

It really doesn’t matter. I was just curious to see how they stack up with respect to the page load issues I mentioned were experienced on your site with certain browsers.

I know I’m heading in the right direction further tweaking my plugins list so they all work together in harmony. Its just a matter of time til I get them narrowed down to the bare essentials that work seamlessly.

I want as few plugins as possible, while retaining flexibility and reliability. That’s my goal before duplicating my tested site foundation and applying it to other situations.

[Tom]

As few plugins as possible is good, but if you’re using well developed plugins, they won’t slow your site down. I have 20+ plugins active on this site 🙂

[Author]

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