Hey @jlwp123,
based on your description, this appears to be related to loopback request issues in LocalWP on Fedora Linux.
Simply Static uses WordPress background processing which relies on your site being able to make HTTP requests to itself. In some LocalWP configurations (especially on Linux), these “loopback” requests can fail silently, causing the export to appear stuck.
Here are some troubleshooting steps:
- Check the Diagnostics Page Go to Simply Static → Diagnostics and check if all tests pass. Look specifically for any warnings about WP-Cron or connectivity issues.
- Enable Debug Logging Go to Simply Static → Settings → Debug and enable “Activate Debug Log”. Then try the export again and download the debug log from the Generate page. This will help identify where the process is getting stuck.
- Try Triggering WP-Cron Manually Visit this URL in your browser while logged in as admin:
https://your-local-site.local/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron
Then check if the export progresses.
- Check LocalWP’s Live Link Feature If LocalWP has a “Live Link” or similar feature enabled, try disabling it temporarily as it can interfere with loopback requests.
- Verify SSL Configuration In LocalWP, try switching between “Preferred” and “Custom” SSL settings, or temporarily disable SSL to see if that resolves the issue.
- Use Server-Side Cron (Workaround) If the above doesn’t help, you can try enabling server-side cron:
– Go to Simply Static → Settings → Debug
– Enable “Use server-side cron job”
– Save settings
Then set up a real cron job to hit wp-cron.php every minute
- Check for WP-Cron Being Disabled Verify that DISABLE_WP_CRON is not set to true in your wp-config.php file.
- Try the “Reset Background Queue” Option Go to Simply Static → Utilities and use the “Reset Background Queue” option to clear any stuck processes, then try the export again.
If none of these work, please share:
– The debug log after attempting an export
– Your LocalWP site configuration (PHP version, web server type)
– Contents of your wp-config.php (with sensitive data redacted
This will help us investigate further!
Thread Starter
Jlwp
(@jlwp123)
Hi thanks for your very thorough reply and troubleshooting steps.
I went thru all the steps and then clicked Generate again.
I did not see anything happening, so I went to do other things and came back to it about 30 minutes later and saw the Activity log screen and it showed a successful export.
I would like to suggest for your consideration to add some sort of indication right after clicking Generate that the Generate process has started.
All I see change in the GUI is that a button changes to pause and because of this there is no way of telling if Generate is proceeding or hung up. Because I see nothing for minutes, I go and do other things and come back to the plugin say 30 minutes later, not knowing if the process is proceeding or not and that is not a good user experience.
Even just a spinning disk, or popping up the Activity log screen right away with some message saying the process has started would be very helpful.
Plugin Support
sr293
(@sr293)
Thanks so much for sharing this feedback. I’ll share this with the team as we continue to develop and improve Simply Static. We appreciate it!
