Issue with "Strip Category Base" Breaking WooCommerce Links Intermittently - Support

Domantas
2 weeks ago

Rank Math free

Hi Rank Math Support,

We are experiencing a critical issue with the “Strip Category Base” feature in Rank Math SEO. Our WooCommerce product category and product links randomly break until we go into Rank Math settings and click “Save” without making any changes. This issue causes major disruptions to our business.

Here’s what we’ve checked so far:

Affected URLs: All WooCommerce product categories and products.
Caching: We use LiteSpeed Cache; purging cache does not fix the issue.
Permalinks: Default WooCommerce structure is /category/ and /product/.
.htaccess Permissions: Set to 644.
Plugins Used: (List below for reference)
Redirect Settings in Rank Math: Set to “Redirect to Homepage” when no similar URL is found.
Questions:

Could Rank Math be failing to apply the “Strip Category Base” setting properly?
Do you have a recommended fix to prevent this from happening without having to re-save settings?
Would adding /rank-math/* to LiteSpeed’s “Do Not Cache” rules help, or is this unrelated?
This issue is urgent and impacts our sales. Please provide any solutions or troubleshooting steps to permanently resolve this.

Thanks

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

RankBot
2 weeks ago
Hello,

We apologize for the issue you are facing with the "Strip Category Base" feature in Rank Math SEO. Thank you for providing detailed information about the problem, as it helps us understand the situation better.

Based on your description, it seems that the intermittent breaking of WooCommerce links could be related to how the settings are being applied or cached. Here are some suggestions to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issue:
1. Check for Conflicts: Sometimes, other plugins can conflict with Rank Math. Temporarily disable other plugins (except Rank Math and WooCommerce) to see if the issue persists.
2. Caching Settings: Since you are using LiteSpeed Cache, adding /rank-math/* to the "Do Not Cache" rules may help. This ensures that any dynamic changes made by Rank Math are not cached, which could be causing the links to break.
3. Permalink Structure: Ensure that your permalink structure is set correctly in WordPress settings. You can try re-saving the permalink settings in WordPress (Settings > Permalinks) to refresh them.
4. Redirect Settings: Review your redirect settings in Rank Math. If they are set to redirect to the homepage when no similar URL is found, it might be worth checking if this is causing any unintended behavior.
5. Server Configuration: Since you mentioned .htaccess permissions, ensure that your server configuration allows for proper URL rewriting. You might want to consult with your hosting provider to confirm this.
6. Rank Math Support: If the issue continues after trying these steps, please reply to this ticket with any additional details or error messages you encounter. A human agent from our support team will take over and provide further assistance.
We understand how critical this issue is for your business and appreciate your patience as we work towards a solution. Please let us know if you have any further questions or need additional assistance.

This is an automated reply from Rank Math Support Bot. Your ticket has been assigned to a human agent and we will get back to you shortly.
Reinelle
1 week, 6 days ago
Hello,

In this case, please monitor the issue and once it happens, head over to your WordPress Dashboard > Settings > Permalinks, and hit the “Save Changes” button (without making any changes) to clear the permalink cache.

If the issue was fixed by saving the permalinks, you could add the following snippet to flush the permalinks every hour and prevent the error from appearing:
```
add_action('my_hourly_event', 'do_this_hourly');
 
function my_activation() {
    if ( !wp_next_scheduled( 'my_hourly_event' ) ) {
        wp_schedule_event(time(), 'hourly', 'my_hourly_event');
    }
}
 
add_action('wp', 'my_activation');
 
function do_this_hourly() {
    global $wp_rewrite;
    $wp_rewrite->flush_rules();
}
```
Here’s how you can add filter/hook to your WordPress site:
https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-hooks-actions-filters/

Let us know how this goes.
Domantas
1 week, 6 days ago

Rank Math free

This just tries to prevent by “clicking” the save button, but does not find the root problem. What are the Rank Math files that are related to the permalinks? It may be a problem with optimisation and they should be exluded (specific file/s, rather than the whole plugin)

Jeremy
1 week, 2 days ago

Hello,

We currently don’t experience this type of issue.

Please ensure that you are using the latest version of Rank Math plugin. If not yet, please do update them. You may refer to our changelog page here: https://rankmath.com/changelog/

If the issue persists, we might need to take a closer look at the settings. Please edit the first post on this ticket and include your WordPress & FTP logins in the designated Sensitive Data section.

Please do take a complete backup of your website before sharing the information with us.

It is completely secure and only our support staff has access to that section. If you want, you can use the below plugin to generate a temporary login URL to your website and share that with us instead:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/temporary-login-without-password/

You can use the above plugin in conjunction with the WP Security Audit Log to monitor what changes our staff might make on your website (if any):

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-security-audit-log/

We really look forward to helping you.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this ticket.

Issue with “Strip Category Base” Breaking WooCommerce Links Intermittently