Title: Plugin throwing Soft 404 errors
Last modified: August 11, 2017

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# Plugin throwing Soft 404 errors

 *  Resolved [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)
 * (@hommealone)
 * [8 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/)
 * Hi,
    Our Google Webmaster tools Search Console says that we are getting loads
   of “Soft 404” errors. It lists URLs that I can’t decipher.
 * Based on the URL details and the HTML of our pages, I believe that they are coming
   from the Facebook Feed WD plugin.
 * Hoping that someone can point me in the right direction. Our website is here:
   
   [http://www.councilofindustry.org/](http://www.councilofindustry.org/)
 * The URLs shown in the Google Search Console look like this (for example):
 * [http://www.councilofindustry.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=PopupBox&current_view=0&fb_id=1&theme_id=1&open_with_fullscreen=0&open_with_autoplay=0&image_width=800&image_height=600&image_effect=fade&enable_image_filmstrip=0&image_filmstrip_height=70&enable_comments=1&enable_likes=1&enable_shares=1&enable_author=1&enable_name=1&enable_place_name=1&enable_message_desc=1&enable_image_ctrl_btn=1&enable_image_fullscreen=1&enable_object_info=0&slideshow_interval=5&enable_image_facebook=0&enable_image_twitter=0&enable_image_google=0&current_url=name%3D3d-printing-goes-hollywood&image_id=137&image_id=](http://www.councilofindustry.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=PopupBox&current_view=0&fb_id=1&theme_id=1&open_with_fullscreen=0&open_with_autoplay=0&image_width=800&image_height=600&image_effect=fade&enable_image_filmstrip=0&image_filmstrip_height=70&enable_comments=1&enable_likes=1&enable_shares=1&enable_author=1&enable_name=1&enable_place_name=1&enable_message_desc=1&enable_image_ctrl_btn=1&enable_image_fullscreen=1&enable_object_info=0&slideshow_interval=5&enable_image_facebook=0&enable_image_twitter=0&enable_image_google=0&current_url=name%3D3d-printing-goes-hollywood&image_id=137&image_id=)
 * Following that URL simply gives a page with the error message “The image has 
   been deleted.” No 404 error message or anything like that.
 * I’m guessing that this PARTICULAR error was generated on the blog post here –
   but I may be wrong about that; it might only be REFERRING to this blog post:
   
   [http://www.councilofindustry.org/3d-printing-goes-hollywood/](http://www.councilofindustry.org/3d-printing-goes-hollywood/)
 * Since the URLs refer to a “Popupbox” I’m guessing(??) that this may possibly 
   be related to the plugin’s “Lightbox” feature? As far as I can tell, we do not
   use the lightbox feature at all. I’ve tried to turn it off… On the options page
   for our Facebook Feed WD feed (a “page” feed), I’ve found that the lightbox “
   tab” is hidden. I’ve tried un-hiding it, and then setting all of the options 
   to “No”, but I don’t think that has helped.
 * Why are we seeing these errors?
    Why is Google indexing these URLs; or maybe 
   they are not indexing them, but everytime someone views a page, ajax tries to
   load these URLs??? How can I correct this? If I can’t correct them, what can 
   I do to have those directed to a proper 404 error page?
 * ANY suggestions that might lead me in the right direction would be helpful!
 * Thanks!
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fplugin-throwing-soft-404-errors%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 14 replies - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

 *  Plugin Contributor [WD Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wdsupport/)
 * (@wdsupport)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9410646)
 * Hello, [@hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)!
 * Thank you for posting about this problem!
 * The reason this problem occurs is that Facebook changes the URLs of images periodically.
 * Could you please check if your feed is set to be updated? Edit your feed and 
   make sure the value of **Update** option is not set to **No Updates.**
 * Also, make sure **Feed autoupdate interval** from F**acebook Feed WD > Options**
   is not set to a very large period. 30 minutes should be enough.
 * Cheers!
 *  Thread Starter [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)
 * (@hommealone)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9411971)
 * Thanks!
 * In my feed, the value of Update option was not set to No Updates.
 * Feed autoupdate interval from Facebook Feed WD > Options was set to 1 hour 30
   minutes.
 * I’ve changed that to 20 minutes.
 * I’ll check back in our Google Search Console next week and see if the “soft 404
   errors” have stopped. I’ll post back here to let you (and anyone else with a 
   similar problem) know.
 * Question: we use W3 Total Cache to cache our site. Does that have any effect 
   on this issue? Would that also be caching the stale image URLs? What is the relation
   of the Facebook Feed WD intervals, and W3 Total Cache?
 *  Plugin Contributor [WD Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wdsupport/)
 * (@wdsupport)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9414513)
 * Hey, [@hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)!
 * Please do check the results and keep us posted.
 * W3 Total Cache can affect this, indeed. Since Facebook changes the URLs of the
   images from time to time, the old URLs can be cached on the website and cause
   the 404 soft errors.
 * If I’m not mistaken, W3 Total Cache must have an option to add exception for 
   plugins. Could you try to add Facebook Feed WD to the list?
 * Thanks! Have a wonderful day!
 *  Thread Starter [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)
 * (@hommealone)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9418294)
 * Can’t find any options in W3 Total Cache for exceptions for plugins. I’m having
   a hard time figuring out how that would work; isn’t the markup of the Facebook
   Feed WD part of the markup generated for the page (rather than inserted by javascript)?
   If so, how could that be excepted from the cache?
 * How often DOES Facebook change the image URLs? Multiple times/day?
 * What image URLs are changed? Are they changed for the featured image of the posts?
    -  This reply was modified 8 years, 9 months ago by [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/).
 *  Thread Starter [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)
 * (@hommealone)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9418363)
 * W3 Total Cache has this setting:
 * > Never cache the following pages:
 * and by default, it shows in the field:
 * > wp-.*\.php
   >  index\.php
 * Perhaps I could add my exception there? Perhaps by including something like:
 * `wp-admin/admin-ajax\.php?action=PopupBox&current_view=0&fb_id=*`
 * What do you think? If that field is a possibility for adding an exceptions, what
   would be a good value to enter?
 *  Plugin Contributor [WD Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wdsupport/)
 * (@wdsupport)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9421008)
 * Hello, [@hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)!
 * Simply add the front-end link of the page, where your Facebook feed is published.
   This will be enough for W3 Total Cache to not keep any data from the feed.
 * Please give this a try and let us know how it goes.
    Cheers!
 *  Thread Starter [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)
 * (@hommealone)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9421702)
 * That won’t work. That will keep W3TC from caching the entire page, wouldn’t it?
   The feed appears on our homepage and in the sidebar of every page on our website.
   That would result in totally switching off W3 Total Cache altogether, wouldn’t
   it.
 * That’s why I was hoping to find a more specific URL such as the one that is called
   by admin-ajax.
 *  Plugin Contributor [WD Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wdsupport/)
 * (@wdsupport)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9429855)
 * Hello, [@hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)!
 * In that case, could you please try with this?
    `http://www.councilofindustry.
   org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=PopupBox&current_view=0&fb_id=*`
 * The plugin might need the relative URLs, so in that case please use the following:
   `/
   wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=PopupBox&current_view=0&fb_id=*`
 * Let me know if this works.
    Cheers!
 *  Thread Starter [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)
 * (@hommealone)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9435117)
 * I’ve added this (it seems to not want a leading slash):
    `wp-admin/admin-ajax.
   php?action=PopupBox&current_view=0&fb_id=*` I’ll give it a few days and let you
   know. Thanks!
 *  Plugin Contributor [WD Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wdsupport/)
 * (@wdsupport)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9437403)
 * Hey, [@hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)!
 * Please do monitor and test, and keep us posted on how it goes.
    Thanks! Have 
   a wonderful day!
 *  Thread Starter [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)
 * (@hommealone)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9451645)
 * I _think_ that the problem may be abating. It is a little hard to tell from within
   the Google Search Console “Crawl Errors” interface. I’ve marked all of the old“
   soft 404” error items as ‘fixed’ (“Mark as fixed”) in order to remove them from
   the list.
 * If anyone knows a better way to monitor this, please let me know!
 * After Google has crawled the site a couple of more times (that may take a while),
   I’ll see if the “soft 404” errors re-appear, and report back again at that time
   to let you know.
 *  Plugin Contributor [WD Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wdsupport/)
 * (@wdsupport)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9453215)
 * Hello, [@hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)!
 * The soft 404 errors will reappear, in case this problem remains. Please let us
   know in case you notice some.
 * We hope the problem is fixed.
    Cheers!
 *  Thread Starter [hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)
 * (@hommealone)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9476281)
 * ZERO new soft 404 errors so far. I think we’ve fixed it.
 * Thanks so much for your help with this issue.
 *  Plugin Contributor [WD Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wdsupport/)
 * (@wdsupport)
 * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9479351)
 * Hey, [@hommealone](https://wordpress.org/support/users/hommealone/)!
 * That’s fantastic! We are happy to know the 404 soft errors have been fixed on
   your website.
 * Please feel free to let us know in case you will need further assistance. If 
   you enjoy using the plugin, we hope you can share your thoughts about it here:
 * [https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wd-facebook-feed/reviews/](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wd-facebook-feed/reviews/)
 * Your kind contribution is highly important for our team!
    Thank you so much! 
   Have a great day!

Viewing 14 replies - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

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## Tags

 * [Facebook Feed WD](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/facebook-feed-wd/)

 * 14 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [WD Support](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wdsupport/)
 * Last activity: [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-throwing-soft-404-errors/#post-9479351)
 * Status: resolved