SOLVED Website Wont Open Browser Downloads A file Instead

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A strange experience! My blog website wont open, instead the browser asks to download a RAR file?

My Blog Tipsnfreeware has been going on quite well for more than 2 years now. Suddenly this morning, when I tried to load my site, the website wont open the browser instead asks to download a file in .rar format.

I tried In Internet explorer (ver.10) IE too did not open the site, instead offers a very strange file name asking whether to open or save the file.

That was very strange. What went wrong ? I am sure I didn’t change or install anything on my site. My blog site is hosted on a self-hosted word press site.

After a lot of search in the forums, got mixed information, finally could solve this issue for the website won’t open in any browser.

Follow these steps if you have faced this issue: (This is what I did and solved the issue)

First step: I use a cache plugin WP super cache. A very good WordPress cache plugin to speed up your word press site. I have configured as per the optimal settings for WP super cache.

I remember recently updated WP super cache to 1.4.5 version. on my site. Thinking this could be the cause, I deactivated WP super cache. In the .htaccess file deleted all entries made by WP super cache and saved the .htaccess file.

See also How to Uninstall WP Super Cache WordPress Plugin

I logged out of wp-admin and tried to load my site. And voila it worked in all browsers, Chrome, FF, and IE too.
That’s strange! I thought, why WP super cache should cause this problem.

Second Step: That was obviously very strange because I have been using WP Super cache for quite some time.
So, to double-check I logged in to wp-admin and activated WP super cache again. I logged out and loaded my site.

The problem returned, my website wont open browser downloads a file instead. My website won’t load in any of the browsers.

I remember reading in some forums, issues about activating gzip in cache plugins. So I disabled gzip function in wp super cache.

Gzip in wp super cache is the ” Compress pages so they’re served more quickly to visitors” option. This is a recommended option.

Next, I deleted cache files and expired cache files too. Logged out and loaded my site, it worked fine this time. Website loaded in all browsers without any issues.

CONCLUSION: Maybe WP super cache version 1.4.5 has some compatibility issues with WordPress. I’m not an expert on this if so I’m sure the author will correct and update the plugin soon.

This doesn’t mean you should not use WP super cache. This is one of the best cache plugins for a WordPress site. Just make sure DO NOT ENABLE GZIP FUNCTION in wp super cache advanced settings.

UPDATE:(Oct 10/2015) About 15(Fifteen) hrs ago WP Super Cache has been updated to version 1.4.6. This issue was posted in forums and the Author has rectified the issue. If you have updated the plugin you can now safely enable Gzip compression. Thanks to the plugin author.

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