Following some work (I don't know what exactly, but it involved fiddling with an add-on domain and likely rebooting the server) I've seen that my pages are coming up marked as expired more than 40 years ago! I don't know how this is possible, but I then realised that these expired pages were not getting replaced when an anonymous user navigated to them.
I then realised that I am puzzled about how this works and would welcome some confirmation (actually I have already tried to write this up in some detail).
What exactly does it mean when a page is marked as "expired". I expected that the next anonymous visitor to the site would clear the expired page and renew the cache, but it seems like in fact that does not happen. Does the cron job need to run in order to clear the cached page, before a new one can be created (I have "Clear expired pages on cron runs" activated).
Thanks for the explanation

Comments

mikeytown2’s picture

Expired means page is marked as old but will not be refreshed until the built-in crawler hits it. Keeps page loads fast & useful for sites that don't change very often.

AlexisWilke’s picture

Mikeytown2,

Should the expiration be "limited" and say Expired instead of Expired 40 years ago?

I have those pages too, quite interesting. @joel_guesclin, 2010 - 1970 = 40 years since Unix was born.

Now, I'll question the following message too:

cache/normal/secure.m2osw.com/services_.html
Does not exist.
Expired: 40 years 24 weeks ago
Cache Generated: 0.63 seconds

The message says that the file does not exist and expired 40 years ago and yet you know how long it took to generate and offer the Flush Page button.

This being said, there doesn't seem to be any problem with the site.

Thank you.
Alexis

joel_guesclin’s picture

If the page "will not be refreshed until the built-in crawler hits it" does that mean that it will not be refreshed when an anonymous user visits it? Or is the refresh carried out either by the crawler or by an anonymous visit whichever comes first.
Mikeytown2, could you possibly check for accuracy what I have written on the subject (see link at top of post)? This would be useful I'm sure not just for me but for general documentation, and i would happily add it in if considered useful.
Many thanks