Intermediate image sizes missing

  • ozgeozkul

    (@ozgeozkul)


    3 months, 3 weeks ago

    Hello,

    I’m experiencing a persistent issue on two different WordPress sites regarding missing intermediate image sizes (specifically some custom cropped sizes) and I would like to understand whether this could be related in any way to the WordPress core image generation system, or if it is entirely external (theme/server).

    I will explain the situation clearly:

    1. The issue

    On two different WordPress installations:

    • echomuta.com (new site, actively developed)
    • yegena.com/yeni (an older site I built 1 year ago, no updates at all for a long time)

    certain image sizes are failing to generate.
    These are custom image sizes registered by the Uncode theme (they use prefixes like uai-* when a ratio such as 1:1 is selected in their modules).

    What happens is:

    • WordPress records the cropped image size in the attachment metadata
    • But the physical file is not created on the server
    • So WordPress thinks the size exists and includes it in srcset
    • As a result, I get broken images / missing thumbnails at some resolutions

    This happens randomly with some images, not all.

    2. What the theme developer says (Uncode)

    The Uncode dev team says:

    • Their image system hasn’t changed in 3 years
    • The theme requests these custom crops normally
    • If they fail, it is “almost certainly a server issue”
    • WordPress writes the missing size into metadata even when the image cannot be created
    • Adaptive Images / Dynamic Srcset were disabled on my end, so it’s not related to their performance settings

    They strongly believe the server is stopping or limiting the creation of certain sizes.

    3. What my hosting provider says

    My hosting provider says:

    • There are no errors in server logs
    • No restrictions or file removal
    • No Imagick/GD errors reported
    • The server is not blocking anything
    • And they suggest upgrading to a bigger hosting package

    So at the moment:

    • The theme says “not from us, this is server related”
    • The hosting says “not from us, no errors”

    Meanwhile two different sites show the same missing-thumbnails behavior. 🔹 4. What I already tested

    I have already:

    ✔ Disabled all plugins
    ✔ Cleared cache
    ✔ Disabled Adaptive Images in the theme
    ✔ Tested on different browsers/devices
    ✔ Checked file permissions
    ✔ Checked upload folder integrity
    ✔ Verified no external CDN or cache is deleting images

    Still, certain intermediate sizes fail to be created.

    5. My question to WordPress

    I am not assuming this is a WordPress core bug — I understand the core image functions are stable.

    However, I would like to know:

    Is there any known situation in WordPress where the metadata records an image size even if the physical file fails to be generated, without logging any error?

    Is it normal behavior that WP adds an intermediate size to metadata even when wp_generate_attachment_metadata() fails silently due to server limits?

    Could there be a scenario where WordPress does NOT produce a specific custom crop, but DOES update the metadata, without exposing any visible error?

    Are there any hooks, filters, or known behaviors in core that could cause certain custom image sizes to fail silently?

    I am trying to identify whether:

    • this is 100% a server-side limitation (Imagick/GD memory, timeout, policy.xml, etc.),
    • or whether WordPress has a known silent-failure behavior that could explain what I am seeing.

    Any insight or direction would be greatly appreciated.
    This issue has been very stressful because theme and hosting both say “not us,” while the problem clearly happens between them.

    Thank you for your time and any clarification you can provide.

    Best regards,
    Ozge

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
  • bvbaked

    (@bvbaked)

    3 months, 3 weeks ago

    It is possible that the sizes are created but the file is not. This might happen if you created a size after an image was uploaded. These are not retroactively built out. In the metadata for the attachment, it will list the sizes it has created and the path to the cropped image. So yeah, if you are missing a cropped image and the theme or layout is looking for one it won’t find a source. How the theme/plugin handles this case would be up to the developer so if there is no fallback then you may get blank images

    I would recommend you try a plugin that rebuilds thumbnails. This can ensure you have all the crop sizes you need

    Some things to consider:

    • If it is a server problem then it may be the directories are not writable. This should be easily tested by uploading an image. You should also get a notice in the media library
    • If your image is too small, larger crops may not generate since it is bigger than the image. You’ll need to double check this isn’t a problem or possibly upload a bigger image if needed
Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.