Title: [Plugin: W3 Total Cache] Header Expire Last modified: August 19, 2016 --- # [Plugin: W3 Total Cache] Header Expire * Resolved [invi2003](https://wordpress.org/support/users/invi2003/) * (@invi2003) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/) * I have a question when using the Expires Header option within w3-total-cache Browser Cache.. When I check my site using redbot.org, it shows: * > #Vary: User-Agent can cause cache inefficiency > # This response is **stale**.# > This response might be served by a cache, even though it is **stale**. * Is this a normal behavior that I should ignore ? * Thanks * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/) Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total) * [efikim](https://wordpress.org/support/users/efikim/) * (@efikim) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606157) * This **might** be caused if your server doesn’t have the time correctly set, or doesn’t provide the timezone to PHP, maybe. * I’m on shared hosting and get a warning about PHP timezone from W3TC’s compatibility check, and got a similar error (I can’t remember exactly what it said now) when I used redbot to check the headers. I haven’t got round to asking my hosting company if they can do something about it yet, so it could be something else entirely! * Thread Starter [invi2003](https://wordpress.org/support/users/invi2003/) * (@invi2003) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606166) * Still no go. * Server Modules & Resources: PHP Version: 5.1.6 **PHP Timezone: OK** Web Server: Apache FTP functions: OK (required for Self-hosted (FTP) CDN support) Multibyte String support: OK (required for Rackspace Cloud Files support) cURL extension: OK (required for Amazon S3 support) zlib extension: OK (required for compression support) Opcode cache: eAccelerator Memcache extension: OK Mime type detection: Mimetype Hash function: hash (required for NetDNA purge support) Safe mode: Off Open basedir: Off zlib output compression: Off mod_mime: OK mod_expires: OK mod_deflate/ mod_gzip: OK mod_headers: OK mod_env: OK mod_setenvif: OK mod_rewrite: OK * [thatruth2006](https://wordpress.org/support/users/thatruth2006/) * (@thatruth2006) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606288) * How did you get all your mods turned on and eAccelerator enabled, I new to VPS, and all mine come back not installed when i do compatibility check, any help is appreciated. * Plugin Contributor [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606329) * [@invi2003](https://wordpress.org/support/users/invi2003/), requires mod_expires and the appropriate browser cache options enabled for the object you’re testing. Make sure that .htaccess is updated (there are no warnings from W3TC) and from there you should be ok. * [@thatruth2006](https://wordpress.org/support/users/thatruth2006/), hard question to answer without knowing how your server is set up. * Thread Starter [invi2003](https://wordpress.org/support/users/invi2003/) * (@invi2003) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606331) * **[@thatruth2006](https://wordpress.org/support/users/thatruth2006/) **I have my own dedicated server so I was able to enable these features. Don’t know much about doing it on VPS. * **[@frederick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/frederick/) Townes** here’s my .htaccess code * > # BEGIN W3TC Skip 404 error handling by WordPress for static files > mod_rewrite.c> RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond%{ > REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} \.(css|js|html|htm|rtf > |rtx|svg|svgz|txt|xsd|xsl|xml|asf|asx|wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx > |exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg| > mpg|mpe|mpp|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram > |swf|tar|tif|tiff|wav|wma|wri|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip)$ [NC] RewriteRule .*–[ > L] # END W3TC Skip 404 error handling by WordPress for static files > # BEGIN HTTP Compression > # Netscape 4.x has some > problems… BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html # Netscape 4.06-4.08 > have some more problems BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip # MSIE masquerades > as Netscape, but it is fine BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html# > NOTE: Due to a bug in mod_setenvif up to Apache 2.0.48 # the above regex won’t > work. You can use the following # workaround to get the desired effect: BrowserMatch\ > bMSI[E] !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html # Don’t compress media or scripts SetEnvIfNoCase > Request_URI (?:bmp|gif|jpe?g|php|png|swf|tiff?)$ no-gzip dont-vary # Make sure > proxies don’t deliver the wrong content Header append Vary User-Agent env=! > dont-vary # Fragment size to be compressed at one time by zlib #DeflateBufferSize > 4096 # Amount of compression applied to output #DeflateCompressionLevel 9 # > How much memory should be used by zlib for compression #DeflateMemLevel 9 # > Zlib compression window size #DeflateWindowSize 15 # Enable HTTP Compression > policy for all except .css, .js and .html documents SetOutputFilter DEFLATE > AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css text/plain text/html text/xml text/xsd > text/xsl application/x-javascript \ \. application/wlwmanifest+xml image/svg > +xml image/x-icon # END HTTP Compression > # BEGIN W3TC Browser Cache > AddType text/css .css AddType > application/x-javascript .js AddType text/html .html .htm AddType text/richtext. > rtf .rtx AddType image/svg+xml .svg .svgz AddType text/plain .txt AddType text/ > xsd .xsd AddType text/xsl .xsl AddType text/xml .xml AddType video/asf .asf. > asx .wax .wmv .wmx AddType video/avi .avi AddType image/bmp .bmp AddType application/ > java .class AddType video/divx .divx AddType application/msword .doc .docx > AddType application/x-msdownload .exe AddType image/gif .gif AddType application/ > x-gzip .gz .gzip AddType image/x-icon .ico AddType image/jpeg .jpg .jpeg .jpe > AddType application/vnd.ms-access .mdb AddType audio/midi .mid .midi AddType > video/quicktime .mov .qt AddType audio/mpeg .mp3 .m4a AddType video/mp4 .mp4. > m4v AddType video/mpeg .mpeg .mpg .mpe AddType application/vnd.ms-project . > mpp AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database .odb AddType application/ > vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart .odc AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument. > formula .odf AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics .odg AddType > application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation .odp AddType application/vnd. > oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet .ods AddType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument. > text .odt AddType audio/ogg .ogg AddType application/pdf .pdf AddType image/ > png .png AddType application/vnd.ms-powerpoint .pot .pps .ppt .pptx AddType > audio/x-realaudio .ra .ram AddType application/x-shockwave-flash .swf AddType > application/x-tar .tar AddType image/tiff .tif .tiff AddType audio/wav .wav > AddType audio/wma .wma AddType application/vnd.ms-write .wri AddType application/ > vnd.ms-excel .xla .xls .xlsx .xlt .xlw AddType application/zip .zip > ExpiresActive On ExpiresByType text/css M3600 ExpiresByType > application/x-javascript M3600 ExpiresByType text/html M3600 ExpiresByType > text/richtext M3600 ExpiresByType image/svg+xml M3600 ExpiresByType text/plain > M3600 ExpiresByType text/xsd M3600 ExpiresByType text/xsl M3600 ExpiresByType > text/xml M3600 ExpiresByType video/asf M31536000 ExpiresByType video/avi M31536000 > ExpiresByType image/bmp M31536000 ExpiresByType application/java M31536000 > ExpiresByType image/x-icon M31536000 ExpiresByType image/jpeg M31536000 ExpiresByType > application/vnd.ms-access M31536000 ExpiresByType audio/midi M31536000 ExpiresByType > video/quicktime M31536000 ExpiresByType audio/mpeg M31536000 ExpiresByType > video/mp4 M31536000 ExpiresByType video/mpeg M31536000 ExpiresByType application/ > vnd.ms-project M31536000 ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.database > M31536000 ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart M31536000 > ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula M31536000 ExpiresByType > application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics M31536000 ExpiresByType application/ > vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation M31536000 ExpiresByType application/vnd. > oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet M31536000 ExpiresByType application/vnd.oasis. > opendocument.text M31536000 ExpiresByType audio/ogg M31536000 ExpiresByType > application/pdf M31536000 ExpiresByType image/png M31536000 ExpiresByType application/ > vnd.ms-powerpoint M31536000 ExpiresByType audio/x-realaudio M31536000 ExpiresByType > application/x-shockwave-flash M31536000 ExpiresByType application/x-tar M31536000 > ExpiresByType image/tiff M31536000 ExpiresByType audio/wav M31536000 ExpiresByType > audio/wma M31536000 ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-write M31536000 ExpiresByType > application/vnd.ms-excel M31536000 ExpiresByType application/zip M31536000 > BrowserMatch > ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip BrowserMatch\ > bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html BrowserMatch \bMSI[E] !no-gzip !gzip-only- > text/html Header append Vary User-Agent > env=!dont-vary AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css application/ > x-javascript text/html text/richtext image/svg+xml text/plain text/xsd text/ > xsl text/xml image/x-icon mod_headers.c> Header set Pragma “public” Header set Cache-Control “public” > FileETag MTime Size Header set X-Powered- > By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.1.1” htm|rtf|rtx|svg|svgz|txt|xsd|xsl|xml)$”> Header set > Pragma “public” Header set Cache-Control “public, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate” > FileETag MTime Size Header set X-Powered- > By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.1.1” |wax|wmv|wmx|avi|bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|mdb > |mid|midi|mov|qt|mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|mpp|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt > |ogg|pdf|png|pot|pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|swf|tar|tif|tiff|wav|wma|wri|xla|xls|xlsx > |xlt|xlw|zip)$”> Header set Pragma “public” Header > set Cache-Control “public, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate” FileETag > MTime Size Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/ > 0.9.1.1” bmp|class|divx|doc|docx|exe|gif|gz|gzip|ico|jpg|jpeg|jpe|mdb|mid|midi|mov|qt > |mp3|m4a|mp4|m4v|mpeg|mpg|mpe|mpp|odb|odc|odf|odg|odp|ods|odt|ogg|pdf|png|pot > |pps|ppt|pptx|ra|ram|swf|tar|tif|tiff|wav|wma|wri|xla|xls|xlsx|xlt|xlw|zip) > $”> Header set Pragma “public” Header set Cache-Control“ > public, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate” FileETag MTime Size > Header set X-Powered-By “W3 Total Cache/0.9.1.1” IfModule> # END W3TC Browser Cache > # BEGIN WordPress > RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / > RewriteRule ^index\.php$ – [L] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond%{ > REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [L] > # END WordPress * Plugin Contributor [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606334) * Ok, so did you use one the various tools mentioned in the FAQ to test your pages/ objects? [http://web-sniffer.net/](http://web-sniffer.net/) is a decent tool. * Thread Starter [invi2003](https://wordpress.org/support/users/invi2003/) * (@invi2003) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606352) * I tried the tool and this is the result i see when using googbot as the agent * > HTTP Response Header > Name Value Delim > Status: HTTP/1.1 200 OK **Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:57:28 > GMT** Server: Apache/2.2.3 (CentOS) X-Powered-By: W3 Total Cache/0.9.1.1 X- > Pingback: [http://www.(REMOVED)](http://www.(REMOVED)).com/xmlrpc.php Cache- > Control: max-age=-440870 **Expires: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:29:38 GMT** Vary: Accept- > Encoding,User-Agent Content-Encoding: gzip Content-Length: 17518 Connection: > close Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 * But when I do it with Web-sniffer as an agent it shows * > HTTP Response Header > Name Value Delim > Status: HTTP/1.1 200 OK **Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:59:55 > GMT** Server: Apache/2.2.3 (CentOS) X-Powered-By: PHP/5.1.6 Last-Modified: > Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:37:46 GMT Vary: Accept-Encoding,Cookie,User-Agent **Expires: > Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:37:46 GMT** Pragma: public Cache-Control: public, must- > revalidate, proxy-revalidate Etag: 1413eb9051a3c4b55ed9eaccdd79cf97 Content- > Encoding: gzip X-Pingback: [http://www.(REMOVED)](http://www.(REMOVED)).com/ > xmlrpc.php Connection: close Transfer-Encoding: chunked Content-Type: text/ > html; charset=UTF-8 * I’m kind of confuse here. Checking Google and Yahoo the last cache page they have of my site is Google from 6/28/2010 and Yahoo 8/01/2010 * Plugin Contributor [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606366) * You have some non-default settings or other (non-W3TC) directives in your .htaccess file that are causing anomalies. * Can you submit a bug submission form from the support tab of the plugin? * Thread Starter [invi2003](https://wordpress.org/support/users/invi2003/) * (@invi2003) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606368) * Just did. * Just so you know I just added this to .htaccess while troubleshooting * > > c> ExpiresActive On ExpiresDefault A3600 > # 1 Year > c> ExpiresActive On ExpiresDefault A2592000 * Plugin Contributor [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606374) * Replied. * Thread Starter [invi2003](https://wordpress.org/support/users/invi2003/) * (@invi2003) * [15 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606377) * **Frederick ** Thanks for the support. For now I’ll leave header cache disabled via the plugin and im adding the header expire manually to .htaccess. I’m already seeing improvement. * Thanks. * Plugin Contributor [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * (@fredericktownes) * [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606385) * Ok, but that doesn’t help improve the plugin which intends to do this automatically for you. Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total) The topic ‘[Plugin: W3 Total Cache] Header Expire’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/w3-total-cache/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=1041806) * [W3 Total Cache](https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/w3-total-cache/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/w3-total-cache/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/w3-total-cache/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/w3-total-cache/reviews/) * 12 replies * 4 participants * Last reply from: [Frederick Townes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredericktownes/) * Last activity: [15 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-header-expire/#post-1606385) * Status: resolved