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Fixing Page Layout and Styling Issues Caused by LiteSpeed Cache

58 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Litespeed cache

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Why Does LiteSpeed Cache Sometimes Break My Website's Layout?

LiteSpeed Cache is a powerful optimization plugin, but its aggressive caching and optimization features can sometimes conflict with theme and plugin functionality, resulting in broken layouts, missing elements, or visual glitches. Based on community reports, these issues frequently manifest as:

  • Menus appearing broken, duplicated, or not loading
  • CSS styles not applying correctly for logged-out users
  • Page content "flashing" or briefly showing unstyled
  • Specific elements like sliders, videos, or fonts not displaying properly
  • Admin toolbar turning white or malfunctioning

Common Causes and Solutions

1. CSS/JS Optimization Conflicts

Minifying, combining, or deferring JavaScript and CSS files is a common source of conflicts. These processes can break theme and plugin scripts that rely on specific loading sequences.

Solution: Disable these optimizations one by one to identify the culprit:

  1. Go to LiteSpeed Cache > Page Optimization
  2. Under CSS Settings, turn off CSS Combine, CSS Minify, and Async Load
  3. Under JS Settings, turn off JS Combine, JS Minify, and JS Defer/Delay
  4. Purge all caches after each change to test results

2. ESI (Edge Side Includes) Issues

ESI is used to cache parts of pages dynamically, but it can cause problems with user-specific content like admin toolbars or login status.

Solution: Disable ESI if you're experiencing issues with user-specific elements:

  1. Go to LiteSpeed Cache > Cache > ESI
  2. Set Enable ESI to Off
  3. Purge all caches and test

3. UCSS and Critical CSS Generation Problems

The UCSS (Unique CSS) feature can sometimes generate incorrect CSS, causing layout issues that only affect certain pages or user states.

Solution: Exclude problematic pages from UCSS:

  1. Go to LiteSpeed Cache > Page Optimization > Tuning > UCSS Exclude URI
  2. Add paths to problematic pages (e.g., / for homepage)
  3. Purge all caches and regenerate UCSS

4. Plugin and Theme Compatibility

Some themes (particularly Divi) and plugins have specific compatibility requirements with LiteSpeed Cache.

Solution: Check for known compatibility issues:

  1. Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme to rule out theme conflicts
  2. Disable other plugins to identify potential conflicts
  3. Consult your theme's documentation for LiteSpeed-specific recommendations

5. Caching Too Aggressively

Sometimes the cache serves outdated or incorrect versions of pages to users.

Solution: Purge cache systematically:

  1. Use LiteSpeed Cache > Toolbox > Purge > Purge All
  2. If using CDN (like CloudFlare), purge those caches as well
  3. Test with cache-busting parameters: ?LSCWP_CTRL=before_optm (no optimization) or ?LSCWP_CTRL=NOCACHE (no cache)

Systematic Troubleshooting Approach

  1. Identify when the issue occurs: Does it affect all users or only logged-in users? All pages or specific pages?
  2. Disable optimizations gradually: Turn off features one by one, purging cache between each test
  3. Test with different user states: Check as logged-in user, logged-out user, and in incognito mode
  4. Check browser console: Look for JavaScript errors or failed resource loads
  5. Compare source code: View page source when broken vs. working to identify differences

When to Seek Additional Help

If these steps don't resolve your issue, you may need to provide more specific information for community assistance:

  • A report number from Toolbox > Report > Send to LiteSpeed
  • Screenshots of the issue
  • Specific URLs where the problem occurs
  • List of active plugins and theme information

Most layout issues can be resolved by carefully adjusting optimization settings rather than disabling the plugin entirely. The key is methodical testing and identifying which specific feature conflicts with your site's unique configuration.

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