Hey @sdelp!
This is usually related to another plugin or your theme having the Cycle library included. Our plugin uses Cycle2 and there are known conflicts when both libraries are included on the site. This typically manifests as a disappearing slide.
If they aren’t rotating at all, I would look to be sure that you don’t have any Compatibility Options set that could cause the issue, such as Disabling the Cycle2 include.
It could be there is a Javascript error on the site. In that case, any other javascript (including our rotator) would stop working.
If you have a link to a page with the rotator not working I’d be happy to take a look and see if I can provide more information!
Let me know if that helps.
All the best,
Richard
Thread Starter
sdelp
(@sdelp)
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the response. It was actually an issue with the host. WPEngine had a setting that was preventing the rotation.
I enabled Allow Order By Rand(). It was disabled by default.
Normally we disable ORDER BY RAND() orderings in MySQL queries because this is a big no-no for large databases which we’ve seen cause massive slow-downs for dozens of our customers. However, you can enable it if you know what you’re doing, for example if you cache the results for 5-15 minutes so that you’re not pummeling the database with these slow queries.
Thanks.
Hey @sdelp!
Oh I see – I thought you were referring to the Cycle not the Random Testimonials. That makes so much more sense!
Yes that is definitely a known thing, I do think we have an FAQ on our website about it actually. I’m glad that you were able to fix it!
Did you see the notice in the Easy Testimonials Settings area letting you know you were on WP Engine? There should be a notice that appears at the top of our settings pages letting you know about this issue.
All the best,
Richard
Thread Starter
sdelp
(@sdelp)
Actually we developed the site on another host and then migrated to WPEngine. It only showed the error when I disabled the plugin and then re-enabled it on WPEngine. That was my clue to what was going on. 🙂
Thanks for the responses. Great plugin.
Thread Starter
sdelp
(@sdelp)
Sorry, I was wrong. It is not fixed. 🙁 It works when I am logged into the WP admin. However, when I log out it does not work. They do not rotate. URL is https://yorkbuilders.com/
Thread Starter
sdelp
(@sdelp)
We just talked to WPEngine support and they provided the following to provide to the plugin author. Can you please review and let me know? Thanks.
“WP Engine support excluded the home page from caching which forced the page to be served every time visiting. When we disable the cache exclusion and the page is cached, it shows only the two testimonials as the page is not forced to create a new page on the request of the visitor. So if cache is excluded, which means no caching for that page and forces a brand new page on every visit, it works. But if the page is cached, which we have heavy caching protocols in place on the platform, then the easy testimonials doesn’t work because it is showing a cached version.
They should provide a workaround or something that we can try to resolve”
Hey @sdelp!
If you have page caching in place (content caching, such as they describe) then you have 3 options:
1) ask WP Engine to exclude the page in question from the cache,
2) use a Testimonial Cycle widget, loading more than one testimonial and ordered randomly. this may achieve the desired effect in a different way, or a similar effect. you can turn off auto transition if you don’t want the testimonials to start changing without user interaction
3) keep caching enabled and have users see new testimonials every time the cache cycles. This will deliver random testimonials every 15 minutes (or whatever they have their content cache set to.)
Unfortunately, this is just a side effect of heavy content caching. There isn’t anything we can do from the plugin to force WP Engine to regenerate one portion of the page as that is all being done on their end, not ours.
All the best,
Richard
