{"id":32600,"date":"2013-03-03T14:33:29","date_gmt":"2013-03-03T09:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=32600"},"modified":"2026-10-13T13:41:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:11:40","slug":"wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Caching Plugins Can Delay RSS Feed Updates: How to Fix It (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are your RSS feed updates late, so new posts reach feed readers, email newsletters and social auto-posting tools an hour after you publish? A WordPress caching plugin may be serving an old copy of your feed. That&#8217;s exactly what happened to us in 2013: our feed stayed stale for over an hour after each post, so FeedBurner and our Twitter auto-posts showed nothing new. Here&#8217;s why caching delays RSS feed updates and how to fix it with today&#8217;s caching plugins.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-32604\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/quickcache-nocache.png\" alt=\"Exclude feed from cache to fix RSS feed updates\" width=\"499\" height=\"311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/quickcache-nocache.png 499w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/quickcache-nocache-300x186.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> To fix delayed RSS feed updates, exclude your feed URLs (<code>\/feed\/<\/code>) from page caching in your caching plugin, or make sure the plugin purges feeds when you publish. Also check any CDN cache rules for <code>\/feed\/<\/code>. After that, your feed updates within seconds of publishing, and services that read it pick up new posts on their next check.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aea1a813096f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6aea1a813096f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#Why_caching_plugins_delay_RSS_feed_updates\" >Why caching plugins delay RSS feed updates<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#How_to_fix_RSS_feed_updates_in_popular_caching_plugins\" >How to fix RSS feed updates in popular caching plugins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#Check_your_CDN_too\" >Check your CDN too<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#Push_updates_faster_after_you_fix_the_cache\" >Push updates faster after you fix the cache<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#What_about_FeedBurner\" >What about FeedBurner?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#Frequently_asked_questions\" >Frequently asked questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#How_do_I_check_if_my_RSS_feed_is_cached\" >How do I check if my RSS feed is cached?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#Will_excluding_the_feed_from_cache_slow_my_site\" >Will excluding the feed from cache slow my site?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#How_often_do_feed_readers_check_my_RSS_feed\" >How often do feed readers check my RSS feed?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/03\/wordpress-caching-plugin-delay-rss-feed-updates\/#Why_are_my_social_auto-posts_late\" >Why are my social auto-posts late?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_caching_plugins_delay_RSS_feed_updates\"><\/span>Why caching plugins delay RSS feed updates<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Caching plugins save a static copy of each page so your server doesn&#8217;t rebuild it for every visitor. If the plugin also caches <code>\/feed\/<\/code> and doesn&#8217;t clear it when you publish, feed readers keep getting the old version until the cache expires. In our case the cache lifetime was one hour, so every tool that read our feed was up to an hour behind.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_fix_RSS_feed_updates_in_popular_caching_plugins\"><\/span>How to fix RSS feed updates in popular caching plugins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>LiteSpeed Cache:<\/strong> it purges related pages and feeds on publish by default. If feeds stay stale, go to <strong>Cache &gt; Excludes<\/strong> and add <code>\/feed<\/code> under <strong>Do Not Cache URIs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>WP Super Cache:<\/strong> in <strong>Settings &gt; WP Super Cache &gt; Advanced<\/strong>, add <code>feed<\/code> to <strong>Rejected URL Strings<\/strong>, and tick <strong>Clear all cache files when a post or page is published<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>W3 Total Cache:<\/strong> in <strong>Performance &gt; Page Cache<\/strong>, untick <strong>Cache feeds<\/strong>, or add <code>\/feed\/<\/code> to <strong>Never cache the following pages<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>WP Rocket:<\/strong> feeds aren&#8217;t cached by default. If you added them, remove <code>\/feed\/<\/code> from cached URLs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Other plugins:<\/strong> look for a &#8220;never cache&#8221; or &#8220;exclude URLs&#8221; setting and add <code>\/feed\/<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In 2013 we used Quick Cache (shown above) and fixed it by adding <code>feed<\/code> to its No-Cache URI patterns. The idea is the same in every plugin.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Check_your_CDN_too\"><\/span>Check your CDN too<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you use Cloudflare or a host CDN, a &#8220;cache everything&#8221; rule can also cache your feed. Add a rule to bypass the cache for <code>\/feed\/*<\/code>, or purge the CDN when you publish. Feeds are small, so skipping the cache costs very little server load.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Push_updates_faster_after_you_fix_the_cache\"><\/span>Push updates faster after you fix the cache<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Update Services:<\/strong> under <strong>Settings &gt; Writing<\/strong>, WordPress pings services such as Ping-o-Matic when you publish.<\/li>\n<li><strong>WebSub:<\/strong> a WebSub (PubSubHubbub) plugin notifies feed readers like Feedly and Inoreader instantly instead of waiting for them to check.<\/li>\n<li><strong>IndexNow:<\/strong> Rank Math and other SEO plugins can notify Bing and other search engines of new URLs immediately.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_about_FeedBurner\"><\/span>What about FeedBurner?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We used FeedBurner as our main feed in 2013 and wrote how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/fix-feedburner-feeds-not-updating\/\">fix FeedBurner feeds not updating<\/a>. Google has since frozen FeedBurner: it still serves feeds, but email subscriptions ended in 2021 and features like Socialize are gone. If you still use it, the same rule applies: FeedBurner can only show new posts once your WordPress feed is fresh. For more caching tips, see why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/11\/wp-super-cache-not-deleting-expired-pages\/\">WP Super Cache may not delete expired pages<\/a> and our earlier switch from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/02\/wp-super-cache-to-quick-cache\/\">WP Super Cache to Quick Cache<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_asked_questions\"><\/span>Frequently asked questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_I_check_if_my_RSS_feed_is_cached\"><\/span>How do I check if my RSS feed is cached?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Publish a test post, then open <code>yoursite.com\/feed\/<\/code> in a private window. If the new post is missing, the feed is cached. Some plugins also add an HTML comment or header showing the cache status.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Will_excluding_the_feed_from_cache_slow_my_site\"><\/span>Will excluding the feed from cache slow my site?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Feeds are requested far less than pages, and WordPress generates them quickly.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_often_do_feed_readers_check_my_RSS_feed\"><\/span>How often do feed readers check my RSS feed?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Anything from every few minutes to a few hours. WebSub makes supported readers update instantly.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_are_my_social_auto-posts_late\"><\/span>Why are my social auto-posts late?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Most auto-posting tools read your RSS feed. If the feed is cached, they post late or skip posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are your RSS feed updates late, so new posts reach feed readers, email newsletters and social auto-posting tools an hour&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,17],"class_list":["post-32600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","tag-tutorials","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32600"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65472,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32600\/revisions\/65472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}