Cannot fetch posts while others are updating

Hi @selahhq , thanks for reaching out!

This error message usually appears when an import process is still running in the background. In other words, Spotlight is already fetching posts, so it temporarily prevents another fetch from starting at the same time.

To help resolve this, we recommend limiting the number of Instagram posts imported per account. This can reduce the load and prevent the import process from getting stuck.

You can adjust this setting here:

• Go to Spotlight > Settings
• Open the Configuration tab
• In the Import section, set “Max number of posts imported per account” to 25

After making this change, please try refreshing the feed again and see if the issue is resolved.

Let us know how it goes, and we’ll be happy to assist further if needed.

Hi @selahhq

Thanks for the update, and sorry to hear the issue is still persisting.

To help us investigate this further, could you please share a screenshot of your Accounts page?

You can find this page by going to:

WP Admin > Instagram Feeds > Settings > Accounts

Once you’ve shared the screenshot, we’ll take a closer look and advise on the next steps.

Thanks for your cooperation, and we’ll be happy to help you get this sorted.

Hi @selahhq

A simple and secure option is to use Snipboard. You can upload the screenshot there without creating an account, then copy and share the generated link here in the thread.

Before uploading, please make sure to blur or redact any sensitive information.

Once you’ve shared the link, we’ll take a look and continue from there.

Hi @selahhq

Thank you for sharing the screenshot, we really appreciate it.

Upon checking, everything on the Accounts page appears to be configured correctly.

To help us investigate further, could you please share a few additional screenshots?

1. Go to Instagram Feeds > Feeds and send us a screenshot of your feed. If possible, please also capture the screen when the error message appears.
2. Go to Spotlight > Settings, then open the Configuration tab
   Please share a screenshot showing the configuration page, just so we can confirm and double check the value currently set on your site.

Once we have these, we’ll take a closer look and guide you on the next steps.

Looking forward to your reply.

Hi @selahhq

Thank you for sharing the screenshots, that’s very helpful.

I understand you previously mentioned refreshing the feed and clearing the cache. However, since we adjusted the configuration settings earlier, it’s important to repeat the refresh process after that change so the new settings fully take effect.

Please try the following again:

1. Go to Instagram Feeds > Feeds
2. Click the ellipsis (three dots) next to your feed
3. Select Clear Cache
4. Then select Update Posts

This ensures any stuck process is cleared and a fresh fetch is triggered using the updated configuration.

Let us know how it goes after doing this, and we’ll continue from there if needed.

Hi @selahhq

Thanks again for your patience while we continue investigating this.

At this point, we’d like to check whether there might be something stuck in your site’s cron system that’s preventing the import process from completing properly.

Could you please try the following:

1. Install the WP Crontrol plugin (if it’s not already installed).
2. Go to Tools > Cron Events.
3. Use the search field and search for “spotlight”.
4. Take a screenshot of the results.

If possible, please capture a screenshot of the entire WP Crontrol page, including the top section. Sometimes important notices or warnings appear at the top, and those can help us identify the issue more accurately.

Once we have that, we’ll take a closer look and advise on the next steps.

Looking forward to your reply.

Hi @selahhq

Thank you for sharing the WP Crontrol screenshot. Your Spotlight cron events look normal and nothing appears stuck or overdue, so this does not seem to be a WP-Cron issue.

At this point, the next thing we’d like to confirm is whether your site is using a persistent object cache, such as Redis, Memcached, LiteSpeed Object Cache, or any object cache must-use plugin.

If you are using one, please try flushing the object cache (not just the page cache) or temporarily disabling it, then test Update Posts again.

If the issue still persists after that, the best next step would be to check the debug logs so we can see exactly what is happening during the update process.

To enable debug logging:

1. Open your wp-config.php file.
2. Add or update the following lines:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );

3. Save the file.
4. Go back to Instagram Feeds → Feeds and click Update Posts to trigger the error again.

After that, you should find a log file at:
/wp-content/debug.log

Please share the relevant lines from that file that were generated around the time you triggered the update. You can paste them here in the thread, and feel free to redact anything sensitive.

Once we see the log output, we should be able to pinpoint what is keeping Spotlight in the updating state.