How to change cache lifetime for a specific feed

This guide's purpose is to help you change the cache lifetime for a specific feed using Feedzy's built in features.

The cache lifetime of a feed refers to how often your feed should update its content. This can be done in 2 different ways, based on your preferred editor:

1. Using the Block Editor  (a.k.a Gutenberg)

2. If you prefer the Classic Editor (Shortcode Editor), you can control the feed's cache right from the shortcode builder.

You can use the refresh attribute to set how often you want the feed content to update using the `value_unit` format, where 1 <= value <= 100 and the unit can be mins, hours, or days.

Shortcode refresh syntax examples

Use plural unit names in the refresh value, even when the number is 1.

Valid examples:

[feedzy-rss feeds="https://example.com/feed/" refresh="30_mins"]
[feedzy-rss feeds="https://example.com/feed/" refresh="1_hours"]
[feedzy-rss feeds="https://example.com/feed/" refresh="3_hours"]
[feedzy-rss feeds="https://example.com/feed/" refresh="1_days"]

📝 Note: Use 1_hours, not 1_hour. If the refresh value is invalid, Feedzy can ignore it and fall back to the default cache lifetime instead.

Why a feed may still look stale

If your feed does not refresh when expected, the most common reasons are:

• the refresh value uses an invalid unit such as 1_hour instead of 1_hours
• the feed is still using Feedzy's default cache lifetime because the custom refresh value was ignored
• you are running an outdated version of Feedzy, where lazy loading kept its own cache for up to a day regardless of the refresh value

Using refresh with lazy loading

Adding lazy="yes" to the shortcode does not change the cache lifetime. The feed and its lazy-loaded output both use the interval from the refresh value, so you can keep lazy loading enabled and still show fresh content. For example, refresh="1_hours" keeps an hourly feed current while loading it lazily.

If a lazy-loaded feed keeps showing the same content for up to a day even with a shorter refresh value, you are running an outdated version of Feedzy. Update to the latest version to get the corrected behavior.

Developers can still override the calculated lazy-load cache time with the feedzy_lazyload_cache_time filter documented in Lazy loading feed items with Feedzy.