Reader Not Updating Non-WordPress.com Feeds Properly
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Hello,
I would like to report a problem with the WordPress.com Reader that I have been noticing when I try to follow non-WordPress.com Feeds/Blogs/Websites/et cetera.
Following WordPress.com Feeds/Blogs/Websites/et cetera (things hosted on WordPress.com) update properly in the Reader, non-WordPress.com Feeds usually update normally only briefly when you first start following them and maybe sometimes randomly during the day, but most of the time non-WordPress.com Feeds can go hours (15 or more hours) before properly updating sometimes even as new posts are made to the Feeds.
I have had this problem with all of the non-WordPress.com Feeds that I have tested like:
NPR RSS Feeds:
The Disinformation Feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/disinfo/oMPh?format=xml
BBC RSS Feeds:
http://www.bbc.com/news/10628494
WP Tavern:
Google News Feeds:
Bing News Feeds:
For example, I tried subscribing to the Disinformation Feed again last night and the feed was updating normally at first as usual, and the next morning (my computer was shutdown and I have Firefox set to Permanent Private Mode to clear everything when I exit the browser) the Reader is showing that the last post was made 14 hours ago even though several posts have been made in the last 14 hours but the Reader does not recognize this (sometimes it can take over 15 hours before they quietly show up hidden in the Reader and/or before you are alerted about new posts).
Screenshot showing the false latest Disinformation post in the Reader, but the Disinformation Feed that I am following in Firefox show several new posts made over the last 14 hours when I was sleep as my computer was shutdown:
https://mediacru.sh/bf5cCf78aF_U
Another strange thing that happens is that when you add a new Feed to the Reader, the Reader will then magically temporarily work for the other Feeds that were not working normally showing you posts that you missed over the last few hours, but then it stops updating properly again usually.
The silent updates that happen in the Reader is another problem where the non-WordPress.com Feeds sometimes are quietly updated hours late, but you are not alerted to this; and so you will miss this unless you look through previous posts in the Reader to find these silent updates.
Anyway, strange things seem to be happening with non-WordPress.com Feeds in the Reader (I have no problems with WordPress.com Feeds), and I just wanted to report this because either these are bugs or maybe the Reader was designed this way or maybe this is a problem with Firefox (I am using the latest version of Firefox, and I have had this problem with several versions of Firefox; but I have not tested this with other browsers).
To reproduce these problems just try following several of the non-WordPress.com Feeds above, things will work normally at first, but throughout the day you will notice that the Reader will stop updating normally at times, some times silent updates will happen hours late without you being alerted, and if you add new Feeds you will notice that this will magically show the posts that you missed in the Feeds that are not updating properly.
Hopefully you can make sense of what I typed above because I did not do a good job of trying to explain these problems with the Reader. :D
Thank you,
-John JrThe blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi John Jr,
What you’re describing actually sounds like something we expect from the Reader. The Reader doesn’t work like email does, where an RSS feed sends a message to you, rather, it’s occasionally checking back in on all your subscribed feeds, and grabbing new data whenever it finds it.
Reader is able to find data much faster on WordPress powered feeds just because of the ease of access. It can search and refresh more often, grabbing new content faster.
The reason you’re finding lapses when Reader isn’t fetching new content from your feeds listed, is because Reader just can’t search as frequently all the non-WP subscriptions listed among all our users. The reason you’re seeing all the feeds update better when you change a subscription is because that action is a trigger for your Reader to fetch new content from everyone. Just a quirk really.
One thing I’d like for you test out to make sure that Reader is working as expected: Next time you notice a lapse in new content like your provided screenshot, can you click “Edit” (next to “Blogs I Follow”), then click on the Blog’s name? This brings Reader to that feed URL and it should be refreshed with all content.
Best,
-Alex G.
Happiness Engineer | WordPress.com
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Hello Alex G.,
I thought that was a possibility, thank you for explaining that, but there are still a few problems that I think should be worked out/fixed.
I would like the problem of silent updates to be fixed, where updates are added without a warning/alert to let me know that new things were added to the list, I just noticed that this happened again today as I scrolled down my list; and I saw hidden updates from hours ago that were added without warning, and they were not added at the top of the list but further down in the list among old posts.
I tried your experiment for the NPR Business RSS Feed just now, the list had not updated in a few hours in the Reader or when I went directly to the Business Feed in the Reader like you wanted me to even though new posts have been added in the actual RSS Feed in the last few hours, but it still did not show the updates/new posts.
Reader Direct Feed Screenshot:
https://mediacru.sh/HDr7ZBDG3Jy5
RSS Feed Screenshot:
https://mediacru.sh/HjUIsnsya1DG
Thank you,
-John Jr -
Hi John Jr,
Thank you very much for testing that out. :)
I’m going to continue testing this with an engineer and see what more I can dig up. I’ll let you know what we find. Thanks for your patience, and for the reporting!
Best,
-Alex G.
Happiness Engineer | WordPress.com
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Hello Alex G.,
You are welcome. :)
That is good to hear, and thank you.
One more thing, are there any plans to adjust it so that the Reader will check non-WordPress.com Feeds for updates more often/sooner (like every 15 minutes or 30 minutes or less et cetera)?
Thank you,
-John Jr -
Hi John Jr,
Still looking into this today. I wanted to let you know that we are consistently looking for the best way to have Reader update quickly both WordPress and non-WordPress feeds. Part of the issue is that with so many WordPress.com users, updating too frequently can be tantamount to attacking some of the non-WordPress feeds. It’s a balancing act that is still in active development.
That’s why we definitely appreciate this report, as we want to make sure refreshes happen correctly, even if our automatic feed refreshes aren’t as timely yet.
I’ll let you know what details we find.
Best,
-Alex G.
Happiness Engineer | WordPress.com
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Hello Alex G.,
Okay, thank you for the update, and it is good to know that this is still being looked into and that improvements are still being done to/considered for the Reader. :)
-John Jr
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Hi John Jr,
Like I mentioned before , I worked with some of our lovely engineers taking a look at this scenario in Reader. While everything is actually behaving as expected, I do have some more information on why things are occurring the way they are.
I sent you to that feed URL because I was under the impression that viewing a feed in the Reader sent a request for all new content of that feed. This was just a misunderstanding on my part, and in fact all content fetches occur automatically, with the exception of when new feeds are added or edited. Currently there isn’t a way to force-refresh a feed.
Right now we typically see all feeds across all of WordPress.com Readers updated at least once a day, but it can be a little better depending on Reader’s traffic and how much content is being put out. For instance, your screenshots were showing lags of about 15 hours. Some feeds, including WordPress-powered ones, update significantly faster than that mostly because of a protocol called PubSubHubbub which allows for content to grabbed faster without attacking the sites’ servers as harshly. That’s why you’re seeing some feeds update frequently, leaving some of the missed content “lost” when it updates later.
Please know that we already have ongoing development to get that 24 hour update time much lower, and we’re also working on a way to allow you to refresh certain feeds that you know generate content more often.
Let me know if that makes sense and if you have more questions. :)
Best,
-Alex G.
Happiness Engineer | WordPress.com
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Hello Alex G.,
Thank you for taking the time to correct and clarify that :) ; it made sense to me. ;)
-John Jr
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