Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

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aeneas1
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Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by aeneas1 »

have recently discovered, surprisingly, that an enormous number of web surfers just don't know how to clear their browser caches, especially when using a mobile device, especially when using safari on a mobile device, and as a result some changes i make to the forum aren't immediately displayed, instead their browsers are pulling old, cached data... is there a way to force browsers to immediately display all forum changes, without the user having to clear their cache before seeing the changes? thanks very much!
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by Scanialady »

You can change your cookie name.
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by aeneas1 »

Scanialady wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:49 am You can change your cookie name.
interesting... so whenever i change the forum's cookie name it forces all browsers to fetch info from the forum server rather than use cached data? that makes perfect sense... but i'm a little trigger shy when it comes to changing the forum cookie, iirc i ran into some issues the last time i did it, for example users had a hard time staying logged in for a day or so, their sessions would time out.... is this something that a change in cookie name could cause or did something else must have cause the issue? also, are there any potential downsides to changing the cookie name, short term? thanks!
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by Ger »

Scanialady wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:49 am You can change your cookie name.
That does nothing with cached CSS of course.

@aeneas1: which version of phpBB do you use? 3.2.1 and above usually provide for this by forcing the assets version.
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by aeneas1 »

Ger wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 12:42 pm
Scanialady wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:49 am You can change your cookie name.
That does nothing with cached CSS of course.

@aeneas1: which version of phpBB do you use? 3.2.1 and above usually provide for this by forcing the assets version.
does nothing with cached css? well that's no bueno for my needs, a deal breaker in fact... re what phpbb version i'm using? way behind the times i'm afraid, 3.1.9, plan to update one of these days, but not in the immediate future..... so nothing else i can do?
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by Ger »

You can force recompiling style components in ACP -> Load settings. But be aware: it's a major performance hit.

Better just update to 3.2.3.
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by stevemaury »

Support for phpBB versions earlier than 3.2.0 has ended. Any support requests regarding those versions are limited to help with conversion to the latest version.
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

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Ger wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 3:05 pm You can force recompiling style components in ACP -> Load settings. But be aware: it's a major performance hit.

Better just update to 3.2.3.
i use this when i'm making changes but always thought it was for admin view, i.e. it wouldn't work the same for other users, but i guess that's not the case? btw i've often forgotten to disable it on the live board after making changes, never noticed any performance hit, let alone major hit, maybe it's because my board isn't high traffic?

whatever the case, users still have to clear their cache to see the changes even with recompile enabled, which is what i was hoping to avoid, was looking for a means where users would see he changes even if they didn't clear their cache... heck, even an embedded button/link within the forum that clears the user's cache, or triggers a popup window like cntrl + shift + delete would be great, but i haven't been able to find code for somethinglike this.... anyway, the point is, i'm finding that most of my members aren't computer savvy and rarely, if ever, clear their cache, don't even know how to clear their cache, and when you try to explain the simple process to them, or point them to simple steps, it's akin to asking them to split atoms, half think the process will erase all of their bookmarks and emails...
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by aeneas1 »

stevemaury wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 3:59 pm Support for phpBB versions earlier than 3.2.0 has ended. Any support requests regarding those versions are limited to help with conversion to the latest version.
wow, didn't realize this, can't ask questions about 3.1.9 anywhere on this board, that's not related to upgrading? are there other popular phpbb boards where this can be discussed?
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by AmigoJack »

That's the reason why the support forum is named [3.2.x] Support Forum and (amongst others) [3.1.x] Support Forum is in the archive category and have no write permission anymore. As a result most users evade this by asking for support in a non-support forum.

Caching is a fundamental concept and you can't force others to flush it. Do site changes on a release level instead of daily and make a global topic about your site changes - that way it's seen in every forum of your board and when users read to hit CTRL+F5 they'll hopefully do it. Don't think about other ways, it's not worth the hassle and surely has more downsides.
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by aeneas1 »

AmigoJack wrote: Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:48 am That's the reason why the support forum is named [3.2.x] Support Forum and (amongst others) [3.1.x] Support Forum is in the archive category and have no write permission anymore. As a result most users evade this by asking for support in a non-support forum.

Caching is a fundamental concept and you can't force others to flush it. Do site changes on a release level instead of daily and make a global topic about your site changes - that way it's seen in every forum of your board and when users read to hit CTRL+F5 they'll hopefully do it. Don't think about other ways, it's not worth the hassle and surely has more downsides.
extremely helpful and a great idea! re cntrl + f5, does it behave the same across all browsers (for example, safari)? can cntrl + f5 be executed with mobile devices (i never use mobile devices)? and does it cntrl + f5 flush all browsing history, just the forum history, or just the current page history? thanks again!
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by AmigoJack »

No need to full quote me, especially if you manage to colorize parts of it instead of only using that part as a quote to begin with.

No, Macintosh users need to press ⌘+R most likely. The most common internet browsers have the same key combinations. Flushing a cache is unbound to a history. And since you ask: the cache's sense is to not always re-transmit all resources from the servers again and again; purge it and no local copy is there to begin with, hence all resources are re-requested from the servers.

Software on mobile devices (as in smartphones and tablets, not notebooks) is subject to its operating system and missing input possibilities. As a result it's most likely hidden in menu items, such as "settings > privacy & security > clear cache/browsing data". These pictures should give you or others the idea.

XKCD about this.
  • "The problem is probably not my English but you do not want to understand correctly. ... We will not come anybody anyway, nevertheless, it's best to shit this." Affin, 2018-11-20
  • "But this shit is not here for you. You can follow with your. Maybe the question, instead, was for you, who know, so you shoved us how you are." axe70, 2020-10-10
  • "My reaction is not to everyone, especially to you." Raptiye, 2021-02-28
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by aeneas1 »

AmigoJack wrote: Thu Sep 20, 2018 3:04 pm No need to full quote me, especially if you manage to colorize parts of it instead of only using that part as a quote to begin with.

No, Macintosh users need to press ⌘+R most likely. The most common internet browsers have the same key combinations. Flushing a cache is unbound to a history. And since you ask: the cache's sense is to not always re-transmit all resources from the servers again and again; purge it and no local copy is there to begin with, hence all resources are re-requested from the servers.

Software on mobile devices (as in smartphones and tablets, not notebooks) is subject to its operating system and missing input possibilities. As a result it's most likely hidden in menu items, such as "settings > privacy & security > clear cache/browsing data". These pictures should give you or others the idea.

XKCD about this.
re mobile devices, yes it's in the settings, either via the browser or settings app, was just wondering if there was also a shortcut key(s) similar to desktop... in fact that's what started my quest, the reason for my post, forum members who are primarily mobile device users but who don't know, by and large, how to clear their mobile device cache, and when told most seem to think it's a very daunting task with mysterious, negative, consequences such as bookmarks being erased, photos lost, it's very frustrating.

here's an example - my forum is an nfl team forum, we have a weekly game thread which can be reached via a link in the navigation bar - the link is updated every week but will take you to the old link unless you clear your cache.
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by canonknipser »

You can define it on webserver level, eg. for apache with the module mod_expires in your .htaccess. See https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/m ... pires.html for a documentation, and for sure you'll find a lot of examples by using a proper search engine
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Re: Force Forum Changes To Display Without Clearing Browser Cache?

Post by AmigoJack »

Stop full quoting my posts!

aeneas1 wrote: Thu Sep 20, 2018 4:39 pmjust wondering if there was also a shortcut key(s) similar to desktop
Mobile devices have no keyboard, hence they have no shortcuts. Onscreen keyboards don't expect multiple fingers at once either.

aeneas1 wrote: Thu Sep 20, 2018 4:39 pmvia a link in the navigation bar - the link is updated every week
Seriously, you have a dynamic content website - the way you formulate it would mean the board with its links to forums, topics, posts and profiles would also be cached for days, but that's clearly not the case. Whatever you do now, you took the wrong approach and ended up trying to solve avoidable problems. One example: the link "private messages" has always an appropriate text when having new PMs or not.
  • "The problem is probably not my English but you do not want to understand correctly. ... We will not come anybody anyway, nevertheless, it's best to shit this." Affin, 2018-11-20
  • "But this shit is not here for you. You can follow with your. Maybe the question, instead, was for you, who know, so you shoved us how you are." axe70, 2020-10-10
  • "My reaction is not to everyone, especially to you." Raptiye, 2021-02-28
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