W3 Total Chache Changing Filename Extensions

  • Hi,
    I noticed that with W3 Total Cache enabled, the filenames listed for media files is changed to append some extra characters onto the filename extension. I’m assuming these are the cached versions of the files (JPEG images, PDF files, etc.)?!?

    While the links still work properly, and links to the appropriate master file when downloading a PDF for instance, it’s broken some styling we were doing.

    – Will we always have filename extensions altered when using W3?

    – If so, does anyone have a workaround for styling links using the filename attribute, looking for a consistent ending (extension) to the filename?

    EXAMPLE: We currently style all PDF downloads with a little PDF icon. We target these links using: ‘a[href$=”.pdf”]’. But since W3 is adding extra characters to the end, it doesn’t find .pdf anymore (it’s now something like ‘filename.pdf?6a7aa3’).

    THANKS!

    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/w3-total-cache/

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Thread Starter KennyLL

    (@kennyll)

    Wondering if anyone has any ideas here? Or is there anywhere else to seek support for W3 Total Cache?

    We use it on multiple sites and this will probably be an issue on all.

    Thanks!

    Thread Starter KennyLL

    (@kennyll)

    Still haven’t found a good solution for this. Does anyone have this issue with caching???

    Any ideas where else to look or creative solutions??

    Thanks!

    Check the browser cache settings and make sure you don’t have it adding query strings. Uncheck any box regarding query strings in that section.

    Thread Starter KennyLL

    (@kennyll)

    Wow, thanks for the fast reply!

    Do you mean the option in ‘Media & Other Files’ labeled:
    Prevent caching of objects after settings change
    Whenever settings are changed, a new query string will be generated and appended to objects allowing the new policy to be applied.

    I also see it in the ‘General’ section, but it looks like the two mirror each other (disable in one, disabled in the other).

    And it’s in CSS/JS section. Shouldn’t be necessary there, right?!?

    Can you explain what exactly this does and what the drawbacks of unchecking it might be??

    Thanks again!

    No I recommend unchecking it.

    Typically your JS and CSS already have a query string which is added by the files themselves. You don’t need the second query string.

    No real drawbacks from disabling it. Frankly, its more of a pain to have it enabled so remove it in the general/global settings and it should affect all of them.

    Thread Starter KennyLL

    (@kennyll)

    OK, thanks for the feedback. So this won’t cause an improper (cached) version of a file to be displayed or downloaded if it’s changed?!?

    I guess the phrase I don’t understand is ‘after settings change’. Does this just refer to what can happen if/when you change the W3 Total Cache settings?? I notice when I do make a change and save, that I see a button to update query strings at the top. Does just manually clicking that do what this is trying to do automatically??

    Thanks. Trying to understand more about what the plugin does so I can troubleshoot easier in the future. But it’s fairly complex.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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