Common issues & fixes

Overview

This page covers the most common issues publishers run into when installing and running Allspice.

Most issues are caused by one of the following:

• recipe pages not being detected as valid recipes
• sitemap coverage differences
• caching / optimization plugins delaying scripts
• Publisher Portal changes not synced yet
• large sites syncing in batches over time

If you've made changes in the Publisher Portal, go to your WordPress plugin settings and click Sync with Allspice to apply them immediately.

Prerequisites

Before troubleshooting, confirm:

• The Allspice plugin is installed and activated
• Your domain is linked + verified in the Publisher Portal
• Your recipe posts are publicly accessible
• You have at least one recipe URL you can test
• You have pressed Sync with Allspice in the plugin settings (recommended)

Changes will still apply automatically even if you do not sync manually, but updates run on a ~12 hour schedule to avoid excessive network calls.

Syncing & Recipe Count Issues

Issue: "Allspice shows fewer recipes synced than I have on my site"

This usually means one of the following:

• some posts are not included in your public sitemap
• some posts were not recognized as valid recipes
• some pages were temporarily inaccessible during crawling
• some posts did not include enough recipe data for extraction

Common examples of "not a valid recipe":

• recipes with only 1 ingredient
• pages that look like recipe content visually, but do not include structured recipe metadata (JSON-LD)

The easiest way to increase accuracy is to ensure your recipe pages include JSON-LD recipe schema (schema.org Recipe).

Issue: "A handful of recipes failed when syncing a large site"

On very large sites, syncing can happen in batches. Occasionally:

• a small number of recipes fail temporarily
• some pages timeout or return inconsistent markup
• extraction may be delayed due to load

In most cases, these recipes will sync successfully the next time the job runs. If you're syncing thousands of recipes, it's normal for the first run to be incomplete. The next scheduled sync will resolve missing stragglers automatically.

Issue: "Sync is taking longer than expected"

This is most common on sites with:

• thousands of recipe pages
• heavy ad scripts
• slow server response times
• inconsistent HTML / recipe markup across old posts

Recipe Detection Issues

Issue: "Allspice is not appearing on a recipe page"

Most common causes:

• the recipe does not have structured recipe markup
• the recipe is embedded in a way Allspice cannot reliably detect
• the page is being cached with incomplete HTML
• script delay / optimization is preventing the widget from running

Recommended steps:

• Confirm the page is a real recipe post (not a category page or tag page)
• Confirm the recipe has more than one ingredient
• Press Sync with Allspice in the plugin settings
• Clear your site cache (if applicable)
• Test in an incognito window

Issue: "Allspice appears on a post that isn't a recipe"

This can happen when a page contains content that looks like recipe markup (or includes partial structured data) but isn't intended to be a recipe.

Recommended steps:

• verify the page's structured data content
• ensure non-recipe posts do not include recipe schema
• contact Allspice support with the page URL so we can refine detection

Issue: "Allspice is missing older recipes, but works on newer ones"

Common causes:

• older recipes use a different recipe plugin or markup format
• older posts are missing JSON-LD schema
• content structure changed during a theme migration

Recommended steps:

• check the older posts for structured recipe markup
• ensure your sitemap includes older recipe URLs

Button & Widget Issues

Issue: "Buttons show up but nothing happens when I click them"

Most common causes:

• caching/optimization delayed the scripts required for actions
• a custom button class was applied but action mapping wasn't configured
• Publisher Portal changes weren't synced yet

Recommended steps:

• Confirm the button is configured correctly in the Publisher Portal
• Press Sync with Allspice in the plugin settings
• Temporarily disable "Delay JS" settings in caching plugins
• Test again in an incognito window

Issue: "Custom buttons don't work"

Custom buttons require two things:

• the correct Allspice class name applied to your element
• the correct action assigned in the Publisher Portal

Recommended steps:

• verify the class name matches exactly
• confirm the button action in the Publisher Portal
• press Sync with Allspice

Issue: "Premade buttons aren't appearing where expected"

Premade button placement depends on how you're adding them:

• Shortcode: only appears where shortcode is placed
• Block: only appears where block is placed
• Automatic placement: appears only on detected recipe pages

If you're trying to show a premade button on a landing page or homepage, use a shortcode/block or a custom button instead.

WordPress Plugin docs →

Publisher Portal Settings Not Applying

Issue: "I changed settings in the Publisher Portal but my site didn't update"

Publisher Portal changes can update in two ways:

• Immediate update (recommended): press Sync with Allspice in the plugin settings
• Scheduled update: changes apply automatically on a ~12 hour cycle

This is intentional to avoid frequent network calls and keep performance fast. If you're actively testing, always press Sync with Allspice after any Publisher Portal change. After syncing, you can view the updated status in the "Advanced" section of the plugin settings page.

Issue: "Recipe changes don't show up immediately"

Recipe syncing follows the same system:

• you can sync immediately via the plugin
• otherwise recipes update on a scheduled sync cadence

This prevents performance overhead on your pages and avoids excessive background scraping.

Performance / Caching Issues

Issue: "Allspice works sometimes, but not always"

This is almost always caused by:

• caching plugins serving different JS versions
• "Delay JS execution" settings
• script combination/minification changing execution order
• conflicting overlays or UI layers on the page

Recommended steps:

• exclude Allspice scripts from "Delay JS"
• exclude Allspice scripts from minification/combination
• clear cache and test in incognito

Plugin Compatibility docs →

Issue: "Allspice is not loading for logged-out users"

This can happen if:

• caching rules differ between logged-in and logged-out visitors
• a security plugin blocks third-party scripts
• bot protection challenges interfere with loading

Recommended steps:

• test as a logged-out user
• verify caching rules aren't blocking scripts
• check security plugin settings for third-party restrictions

Ads / UI Overlap Issues

Issue: "Allspice overlaps my sticky footer ad"

Allspice is designed to avoid common footer ad placements and remain above them.

If overlap occurs, it usually means:

• the ad unit uses a non-standard selector
• the footer height changes dynamically
• there are multiple stacked overlays competing for space

Recommended steps:

• send us a screenshot + the recipe URL
• we can add compatibility handling for your specific layout