How to Fix the “Error Generating Critical CSS” Issue in WordPress

Imagine you’re visiting a website that takes ages to load. It’s like trying to get a response from a snail in molasses. Frustrating, right? Well, that’s the kind of experience you’re giving your website visitors if it loads slowly.

A slow-loading website can lead to increased bounce rates, decreased conversions, and lower search engine rankings. Fortunately, there are several ways to improve website performance, and one of the most effective methods is to use a caching plugin.

A caching plugin is a piece of software that stores static copies of your website’s pages in memory. When a visitor requests a page, the plugin can serve them the cached version instead of having to regenerate the page from scratch. This can significantly reduce page load times and improve overall website performance.

WP Rocket is a popular caching plugin for WordPress that can help you improve your website’s performance. However, some users have reported encountering an “error generating critical CSS” message when using the plugin. This can prevent your website from loading properly.

What is the “Error Generating Critical CSS” Issue?

The “error generating critical CSS” issue occurs when WP Rocket is unable to generate critical CSS for your website. Critical CSS is a subset of your website’s CSS that is essential for rendering the above-the-fold content of your pages. When WP Rocket is unable to generate critical CSS, your website may not load properly or may load very slowly.

This issue can occur for a number of reasons, including:

• A conflict with another plugin or theme
• An issue with your website’s CSS
• An issue with WP Rocket itself

Before troubleshooting the error make sure the following IPs are whitelisted by your server, firewall, or security plugin:

46.30.212.116
46.30.212.64
46.30.212.65
46.30.212.66
46.30.212.67
46.30.212.68
46.30.212.69
46.30.211.85

IPs and URLs of these services need to be allowed at all your security levels (security plugins, server rules, proxies like Cloudflare, etc.) in order to work properly.

How to Fix the “Error Generating Critical CSS” Issue

There are a few things you can try to fix the “error generating critical CSS” issue:

1. Disable other plugins and themes: If you have recently installed a new plugin or theme, try disabling it to see if that resolves the issue.
2. Clear your website’s cache: Sometimes, the issue can be caused by cached data. Try clearing your website’s cache and then reloading your website.
3. Increase your WP Rocket CSS generation timeout: If you have a large website, you may need to increase the CSS generation timeout in WP Rocket.
4. Exclude problematic CSS files: If you have identified specific CSS files that are causing the issue, you can exclude them from WP Rocket’s critical CSS generation. You can do this by going to Settings > WP Rocket > Exclude CSS.
5. Contact WP Rocket support: If you have tried all of the above and you are still encountering the issue, you can contact WP Rocket support for further assistance.

So, if you’re looking for a way to make your website faster, easier to use, and more search engine friendly, then a caching plugin is the answer. It’s like giving your website a superpower – the power of speed.

You can read this article for more details.