Specify a cache validator (gtmetrix)

  • Resolved metalhead505

    (@metalhead505)


    5 years, 1 month ago

    GTmetrix is recommending that I “specify a cache validator” for favicon.ico

    One way to resolve it is to remove ico and ICO from the W3TC entry in htaccess. I’ve done that manually, but then W3TC routinely adds it back in.

    Is there a way to prevent W3TC from adding ico and ICO to the htaccess entry?

    Thanks.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Plugin Contributor Marko Vasiljevic

    (@vmarko)

    Hello @metalhead505

    I am sorry about the issue you are experiencing and I am happy to assist you with this.
    Can you please share the part of the .htaccess file where W3 Total Cache is adding those?
    Thanks!

    Thread Starter metalhead505

    (@metalhead505)

    No need to be sorry. I’m grateful for your plugin.

    These 2 sections of htaccess contain ico and ICO:

    <FilesMatch "\.(asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|eot|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|webp|json|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|webm|mpp|otf|_otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|svg|svgz|swf|tar|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|_ttf|wav|wma|wri|woff|woff2|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip|ASF|ASX|WAX|WMV|WMX|AVI|BMP|CLASS|DIVX|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|GIF|GZ|GZIP|ICO|JPG|JPEG|JPE|WEBP|JSON|MDB|MID|MIDI|MOV|QT|MP3|M4A|MP4|M4V|MPEG|MPG|MPE|WEBM|MPP|OTF|_OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|PNG|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|RA|RAM|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TAR|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|_TTF|WAV|WMA|WRI|WOFF|WOFF2|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW|ZIP)$">
    FileETag MTime Size
    <IfModule mod_headers.c>
         Header unset Set-Cookie
         Header set X-Powered-By "W3 Total Cache/0.13.1"
    </IfModule>
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.(bmp|class|doc|docx|eot|exe|ico|json|mdb|webm|mpp|otf|_otf|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|svg|svgz|swf|tif|tiff|ttf|ttc|_ttf|wav|wri|woff|woff2|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|BMP|CLASS|DOC|DOCX|EOT|EXE|ICO|JSON|MDB|WEBM|MPP|OTF|_OTF|ODB|ODC|ODF|ODG|ODP|ODS|ODT|OGG|PDF|POT|PPS|PPT|PPTX|SVG|SVGZ|SWF|TIF|TIFF|TTF|TTC|_TTF|WAV|WRI|WOFF|WOFF2|XLA|XLS|XLSX|XLT|XLW)$">
    FileETag None
    <IfModule mod_headers.c>
         Header unset ETag
         Header unset Last-Modified
    </IfModule>
</FilesMatch>

    If we remove both instances of ico & ICO, the GTmetrix warning will disappear.

    However, I’m not sure if this is ideal for everyone, or just me.

    Thank you!

    Plugin Contributor Marko Vasiljevic

    (@vmarko)

    Hello @metalhead505

    Ah yes, W3 Total Cache does set those for the ICO files. This is because if the Etag or Last-modified are set for ICO it can throw 500 errors. I assume that the score in the Gtmetrix report for Specify a cache validator is 95-97 and the only thing that is suggesting is a favicon.ico.
    There are a couple of things that you can do. You can remove ico and ICO from the .htaccess file and change write permission so that .htaccess cannot be written to. This would, of course, mean that any changes will not be added to the .htaccess so if you choose to do this you should do it after you are satisfied with the settings.
    The other thing that you can try is adding an empty file called favicon.ico in the root of WP folder. This may help in some cases.

    This being said this is because of the security reasons and avoiding breaking the website and throwing 500 errors.

    Thank you!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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