Front Page Cache Issues?

[mikaelad]

Anyone else noticed any cache issues on TechSpot's front page in the last couple of weeks? Here the issue started a little while ago where the front page server old content until I manually refresh the page.

The same issue is apparent on my laptop and on my mobile. For example I visited the page just a minute ago and it showed "Microsoft is seeking a software architect to port Microsoft 365 to Rust" as the latest news item, though it was posted few days ago. Refreshing the page cleared the issue.

 

[Anton Longshot]

Same here.
I actually thought the site had died until I tried refreshing it manually, thanks to mikaelad's post ^^

 

[Anton Longshot]

Also, auto-login does not happen UNLESS I refresh the page then everything works as it should

 

[Julio Franco]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, it's not something we have noticed or has been reported lately. We have been experimenting with a new caching mechanism, however we didn't extend that test to the frontpage, but just a secondary section.

I will forward this to our developers right now. In the meantime, could you please share basic info like browser/OS where this is happening? Also, can you confirm if you have any custom settings (e.g. privacy extensions installed, disabled cookies, etc.).

Finally, is this happening on every frontpage load or just randomly? If you open TechSpot on an incognito window (right after failing), does it open a fresh/updated version of still an old cached one?

 

[mikaelad]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, it's not something we have noticed or has been reported lately. We have been experimenting with a new caching mechanism, however we didn't extend that test to the frontpage, but just a secondary section.

I will forward this to our developers right now. In the meantime, could you please share basic info like browser/OS where this is happening? Also, can you confirm if you have any custom settings (e.g. privacy extensions installed, disabled cookies, etc.).

Finally, is this happening on every frontpage load or just randomly? If you open TechSpot on an incognito window (right after failing), does it open a fresh/updated version of still an old cached one?

Since the issue started, I've seen it happen with the following:

* Android phone with Firefox
* iPhone with Safari
* Laptop with Firefox

I use uBlock but nothing else. The issue has presented itself at least in couple different locations, so it shouldn't be the router either.

It doesn't happen always. There has been cases where I've seen the latest news without having to refresh. When this happens on a phone, navigating to the home page again doesn't help. I have to use "pull to refresh" in order to see the actual latest content, I suppose it forces the refresh. I'll try the incognito mode the next time.

When I last time noticed the issue on my laptop, I checked the cache-control headers and it had no-cache, must-revalidate so they looked ok.

Like I mentioned, it started recently. I've been visiting the site about 10 times a day for the last five years or so but haven't had the problem before.

 

[Anton Longshot]

I use Win10 and Chrome w/ Ublock and "I Don't Care About Cookies" on an Intel machine w/ 32 gigs of RAM.
At the moment the stuff I mentioned seems to work as intended once more. Both site refresh and auto-login is okay.
I never use my iPhone or iPad to surf the web and by coïncidence have not visited this site on my laptop for some time, so I have no info about the site's performance on those machines.

 

[Julio Franco]

Thanks for the info that helps for sure.

I have a strong suspicion on the problem but not yet a solution...

When I last time noticed the issue on my laptop, I checked the cache-control headers and it had no-cache, must-revalidate so they looked ok.

I was thinking about this, too... somewhere there seems to be a mix of an issue with the CDN, cache control, and browser settings. It doesn't happen to me or our dev, but it's likely more people are having the problem.

 

[Anton Longshot]

Whoops I am back at mandatory refresh in order to make new articles visible and auto-login work.
I changed nothing so it isn't me.

 

[mikaelad]

Yep, the cache issue happened here again with Android & Firefox. I kinda thought that maybe the issue had disappeared because I hadn't noticed any problems for the past couple of days.

I'll try to replicate it on my laptop & check things using private browsing mode.

 

[Julio Franco]

We deactivated some of the caching stuff we are working on, let me know if you see any changes. Thanks!

 

[Anton Longshot]

We deactivated some of the caching stuff we are working on, let me know if you see any changes. Thanks!

It seems to work okay once more.
In case this remains the case, thanks for fixing it.

 

[Julio Franco]

No issues anymore?

 

[mikaelad]

Haven't seen any issues. Thank you for the help!

 

[BbN48]

I had this issue until now, when I clicked the login button (got the message "you are already logged in") and then went back to the frontpage. Now I see all the new stuff.

I hadn't seen any news updates for weeks before today (stuck on 4080 super review as the biggest picture).