Do not cache footer

Question

I added this code in local.xml

<default>
    <reference name="footer">
         <action method="unsetData"><key>cache_lifetime</key></action>
         <action method="unsetData"><key>cache_tags</key></action>
    </reference>
</default>

But it didn't work. How can I refresh cache for footer.phtml programatically?

Answer 1

Sanjana, you can do this two ways:

Disable with getChildHtml()

According to Magento's getChildHtml() you can tell it to use the cache or not to by sending the second parameter:

public function getChildHtml($name = '', $useCache = true, $sorted = false)

Set $useCache for this block when calling $this->getChildHtml('footer'): $this->getChildHtml('footer', false) in

• 1column.phtml
• 2columns-left.phtml
• 2columns-left.phtml and
• 3columns.phtml

which are root template files.

By setting the cache lifetime to null in layout.xml and create helper

Let's use a simple helper:

class My_Module_Helper_Data extends Mage_Core_Helper_Abstract {

public function returnNull() 
{
    return null;
} 

}

And set the value in layout xml like this:

<reference name="footer">
    <action method="setCacheLifetime"><lifetime helper="mymodule/returnNull" /></action> </reference>

All thanks to Fabrizio Branca

Answer 2

The issue you are facing is the same that Fabrizio explains here:

http://fbrnc.net/blog/2015/06/cache-and-layout-xml-tricks

To paraphrase his blog post, when you are setting the cache lifetime in the xml any of the values that you pass into the node <action method="setCacheLifetime"> will evaluate to true. Even if you pass null, that will be converted to a string, and that string will be true. What you have to do is create a helper class that can set the value of null in the node.

Create a blank module and add your config file:

{{site_root}}/app/code/local/{{your_namespace}}/CacheNull/ect/config.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <{{your_namespace}}_CacheNull>
            <version>1.0.0</version>
        </{{your_namespace}}_CacheNull>
    </modules>
    <global>
        <helpers>
            <customcachenull>
                <class>{{your_namespace}}_CacheNull_Helper</class>
            </customcachenull>
        </helpers>
    </global>
</config>

Then create your helper class:

{{site_root}}/app/code/local/{{your_namespace}}/CacheNull/Helper/Data.php

class {{your_namespace}}_CacheNull_Helper_Data extends Mage_Core_Helper_Abstract
{
    public function returnNull()
    {
        return null;
    } 
}

Once you verify that the module is loading correctly on your site, you can add in the needed xml to remove the footer from the cache:

{{site_root}}/app/design/frontend/{{you_theme_namespace}}/{{your_theme}}/layout/local.xml

<reference name="footer">
    <action method="setCacheLifetime"><lifetime helper="customcachenull/returnNull" /></action>
</reference>

To check if the footer is in fact not being cached, take another tool from Fabrizio:

https://github.com/AOEpeople/Aoe_TemplateHints

Using this you will be able to see in full color what blocks are being cached as well as a bunch of other useful info about your site's content.

Answer 3

The last step may need to be modified:

<reference name="footer">
    <action method="setCacheLifetime"></action>
</reference>

Answer 4

Working

• set null via helper

  <reference name="footer">
      <action method="setCacheLifetime">
          <value helper="helper/method" />
      </action>
  </reference>
  

• pass no argument

  <reference name="footer">
      <action method="setCacheLifetime"></action>
  </reference>
  

• use JSON data

  <action method="setCacheLifetime" json="value">
      <value>null</value>
  </action>
  

Not working:

• set null as string

  <reference name="footer">
      <action method="setCacheLifetime">
          <value>null</value>
      </action>
  </reference>
  

• empty value

  <reference name="footer">
      <action method="setCacheLifetime">
          <value></value>
      </action>
  </reference>
  

---

Source: http://fbrnc.net/blog/2015/06/cache-and-layout-xml-tricks