Troubleshooting
Every Dirigible feature that changes how pages load lives in Dirigible Optimize, and the design never depends on it. So the quickest test is to switch it off.
Something looks or behaves wrong?
- Go to Plugins in the WordPress admin and click Deactivate under Dirigible Optimize.
- Check the page or feature again, logged out or in a private window. If it still looks the same, purge the cache first (see below).
- Reactivate Dirigible Optimize.
If the problem went away while Optimize was off, look for a matching card on Optimize Settings and check its box to put that WordPress feature back. If there's no matching checkbox, contact Dirigible support and say what changed.
Deactivating is safe: the site keeps its design and content. Images already converted to JPG or compressed stay that way, WebP copies already removed stay removed, and PageSpeed results are kept. Daily PageSpeed tests, loading the home page after updates, an unfinished WebP cleanup, adding new image sizes to older images and PDF compression pause until you reactivate. A compressed PDF's kept original stays on the server until Optimize is back to remove it.
Cached pages may need a purge
Your host keeps copies of pages at its edge cache, for up to 30 days. Turning Optimize off or changing a setting doesn't always clear those copies, so visitors (and you, when logged out) can keep seeing the old version.
To see the change, purge the cache in your hosting dashboard (on Rocket.net, the site's CDN cache), or ask your host to purge it. Logged-in pages usually aren't cached, but they also load differently from what visitors see.
Common symptoms
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A plugin feature works for you but not for visitors, or an app can't read the site | Lock down REST for logged-out users is checked | Uncheck it on Optimize Settings |
| The same, with the box unchecked | The site runs an older Dirigible People (before 4.0.20) or Events (before 4.1.43), so Optimize keeps REST locked to protect contact details | Update Dirigible People and Events |
/feed/ shows "Feeds are disabled on this site." |
RSS feeds are off | Check Turn RSS feeds back on (for example, for RSS-to-email newsletters) |
| The admin or site shows English instead of the Site Language | Translations are off | Check Use the Site Language |
| The WordPress mobile app can't connect | XML-RPC logins are off | Deactivate Optimize while you use the app |
| A classic widget is missing from widget areas | Classic widgets are unregistered | Use a block instead, or deactivate Optimize |
| A pasted link doesn't turn into an embed | oEmbed discovery is off for unknown sites | Use a supported provider or an embed code |
| A form says "Please verify that you are human" right after you submit it | The Turnstile check loads when you reach the form and hadn't finished | Wait for the check to finish, then submit again. Deactivate Optimize to rule the on-demand loading out |
| A form won't send, or shows "The reCAPTCHA was invalid", right after Turnstile's Gravity Forms settings changed or Optimize was deactivated | The visitor got a cached copy of the page from before the change, without reCAPTCHA | Purge the site's cache. See One spam check per form |
| Real form entries land in the form's Spam list on a site using reCAPTCHA v3 | Their reCAPTCHA score was at or below the add-on's Score Threshold. If support turned on reCAPTCHA on demand for the site, the later loading may lower scores | Tell Dirigible support, who can turn it off for the site; or lower the Score Threshold under Forms → Settings → reCAPTCHA |
| A Google Map stays blank | Maps load when a visitor scrolls near them, and something on the page stopped that script | Check the browser console for errors, and deactivate Optimize to confirm. Developers can switch it off with the dirigible_optimize_lazy_map_embeds filter |
| A Matterport tour shows a picture and a View 3D tour button instead of the tour | Tours load when a visitor presses the button, so the page loads faster | Nothing to fix. If pressing it doesn't load the tour, check the browser console for errors and deactivate Optimize to confirm. Developers can switch it off with the dirigible_optimize_matterport_facade filter |
| An Instagram feed shows without its layout (photos stacked or full size) | The feed's styles load only on pages where a feed is placed, and this page's feed wasn't found | Purge the cache, then check again. If it's still wrong, deactivate Optimize to confirm and tell Dirigible support which page and where the feed is placed. Developers can switch it off with the dirigible_optimize_instagram_assets filter |
| The header cart's panel opens blank for a moment, then its contents appear | The panel's styles load after the page appears, and it was opened before they arrived (on a very slow connection) | Nothing to do: the contents appear once the styles arrive. To rule it out, check Load the cart panel's styles with the page on the Shop Cart card, then purge the cache |
| The header cart button or its panel looks wrong | The panel's styles load after the page appears | Check Load the cart panel's styles with the page on the Shop Cart card, purge the cache and look again. If that fixes it, tell Dirigible support which page |
A slider, form add-on or other plugin stops working for visitors, and the browser console says jQuery is not defined or names a missing jQuery function |
jQuery loads after the page, or without jQuery Migrate | Check Don't defer jQuery, or Load jQuery Migrate, on the jQuery card, then purge the cache and test again. Deactivating Optimize rules it out too: jQuery then loads as WordPress ships it |
| A Gravity Forms icon is missing for visitors | Form pages skip WordPress's icon font | Deactivate Optimize to confirm, then tell Dirigible support which form |
| A PNG upload came out as a JPG | Opaque PNGs are converted when smaller | Check Keep PNG and GIF uploads as they are, then upload it again |
| An uploaded photo is smaller than the original | Uploads over 3,000 pixels are shrunk | Pages never show more than 3,000 pixels. For a full-size download, upload the file inside a .zip |
| A photographer wants photos saved at a higher quality | Uploads are compressed | Ask Dirigible support: the quality can be raised for one site. Photos already uploaded keep their quality, so upload them again afterwards |
| A PNG looks different after upload | It was reduced to 256 colours | This only happens when it looks the same; if it doesn't, tell Dirigible support which image. Upload it inside a .zip to keep it exactly as it is |
| A compressed PDF looks wrong, or needs its accessibility tags back | It was compressed | Click Restore original on its attachment screen (within 30 days of compressing) |
| A PDF link still downloads the old, bigger file | The host's cache still has the old copy | Purge the cache (see above) |
| There's no Compress PDF button on a PDF | The PDF is under 1 MB, has form fields or a signature, or the server's Ghostscript is older than 10.03.1 | Nothing to fix; Dirigible support can check which with the site report |
| Analytics shows no visits | Visits by logged-in administrators aren't counted (unless Track Admin Sessions is on), and cached pages start counting only as their cache refreshes | Visit in a private window, click to a second page and close the window, then reload Analytics. Purge the cache to start counting on every page at once |
| There's no Analytics in the admin menu | Dirigible Analytics was turned off for this site (it's on by default), or Dirigible Optimize isn't up to date | Check Count visits with Dirigible Analytics on Optimize Settings, or update Dirigible Optimize |
| Analytics shows fewer visits than Google Analytics | Robots, speed tests and visitors who ask not to be tracked aren't counted, and the two count visits slightly differently | Expected. Compare the trend, not the exact figures |
| With the cookie banner on, Visitors for a week or a month is higher than you'd expect | Visitors who haven't accepted cookies are recognised for one day at a time, so they count once for each day they visit | Expected. A single day counts each visitor once; longer periods count those visitors once per day |
| Analytics still counts after you turned it off | Visitors got a cached copy of a page from before the change | Purge the site's cache |
| A page shows as Others (limit reached) | More than 2,000 different page addresses were visited in one day, or, in a month kept as monthly totals, the page wasn't among that month's 2,000 most viewed (usually robots trying made-up addresses) | Nothing to fix: totals still count every view, and the next day starts fresh |
| Countries shows only Unknown | The host doesn't pass on the visitor's country | Tell Dirigible support |
| The PageSpeed card says Not running | No license, or the site isn't public | See Daily PageSpeed score |
