BackupBuddy and W3 Total Cache Conflict Fix

If you use BackupBuddy to run routine backups of your WordPress site you more than likely have run into an issue or two getting it to play nicely with other plugins. I recently ran into an issue that seems to have been a problem for more than just myself so I thought I would share the fix here.

BackupBuddy and W3 Total Cache Cron Schedule Conflict

The title pretty much sums it up.  When running W3 Total Cache my scheduled backups stopped working in BackupBuddy. I was able to create the schedule and save it but upon page reload it would say there was an error and the scheduled backup would not run.  After disabling W3 Total Cache the scheduled backups worked again so I knew I had narrowed down the culprit.  There are several ways to fix the problem but none of them are perfect.

Disable Object Cache

The first option is to disable the object cache with W3 Total Cache.  This will slow down your caching slightly but at least you will get back you scheduled backups functionality.  You can find this under the “General Settings” section of the W3 Total Cache plugin.

Add Alternate Cron to the WP-Config File

The second option is to add a bit of code to your wp-config.php file though there is a downside to this.  BackupBuddy actually has a suggested fix for similar problems in their documentation though it does not point specifically to W3 Total Cache.  The downside here is that this will sometimes add a random string to your home page url so it would look something like this:”http://www.yoursitename.com/?doing_wp_cron239435lkj3455lk345j345″ which is not pretty.  I personally do not like this option but if you don’t mind it then it will get your scheduled backups working again. Below is the code to add to your wp-config.php file.

// ** Fix for BackupBuddy Cron Scheduling **/
define('ALTERNATE_WP_CRON', true);

 Don’t Use W3 Total Cache

The last option is to simply not use W3 Total Cache.  Do you really need a caching plugin or are you just using one because it sounds cool?  If your site isn’t having performance issues just ditch the caching plugin altogether.  If you need a caching plugin try WP Super Cache as an alternative.  You just might like it.

Have a solution that wasn’t listed? Share it in the comments below!