Ongoing Bug – WP Studio Local Host Sync Issue After Update

[abcfineart]

Quick summary

After a recent WP Studio update, syncing across multiple computers using a shared cloud folder (Dropbox) is broken. Previously, I could switch between my work and home computers seamlessly, but now saved changes are stored differently in the WP Studio database, causing broken links and missing resources. This results in ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED errors and prevents assets from loading. The issue has persisted across multiple updates.

Steps to reproduce

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Set up WP Studio with a Local Host stored in a shared cloud folder (e.g., Dropbox).
2. Open the project on Computer A (e.g., at work) and make changes to a file in MyPlugin.
3. Save the file and confirm that the changes appear correctly in WP Studio.
4. Close WP Studio on Computer A and let Dropbox sync the changes.
5. Open WP Studio on Computer B (e.g., at home) and load the same project.
6. Notice that the changes are not reflected correctly, and some files appear out of sync.
7. Inspect the browser console and observe multiple ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED errors related to missing resources (CSS, JS, etc.).
8. Try to access the affected admin pages, and notice broken styles and scripts, with errors like Uncaught ReferenceError: wp is not defined.

What you expected to happen

What I Expected to Happen:

I expected WP Studio to continue syncing correctly across my two computers using the shared cloud folder (Dropbox). When making changes to a file in MyPlugin on Computer A, saving it, and allowing Dropbox to sync, I expected:

1. The same changes to appear correctly when opening WP Studio on Computer B.
2. The project files and WP Studio database to remain consistent across both computers.
3. No broken links or missing resources when accessing the admin pages.
4. No ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED errors preventing styles and scripts from loading.

Previously, WP Studio handled this setup without issues, ensuring that both computers stayed fully in sync.

What actually happened

After saving changes in MyPlugin on Computer A, the updated files synced through Dropbox, but WP Studio did not reflect them correctly when opening the project on Computer B. Instead:

1. Some files appeared out of sync or were not updated properly in WP Studio on Computer B.
2. The database in WP Studio seemed to store files differently, leading to inconsistencies.
3. Stylesheets and scripts failed to load, causing missing resources and broken layouts.
4. Console errors like ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED appeared for multiple assets, including CSS and JS files.
5. Some admin pages became inaccessible or displayed Uncaught ReferenceError: wp is not defined.

These issues persist even after restarting WP Studio and resyncing the cloud folder. The problem did not exist before the update.

Impact

One

Available workarounds?

Yes, difficult to implement

Platform

No response

Logs or notes

No response

[fredrikekelund]

Hi, @abcfineart. A couple of questions to understand the problem better:

• Does wp-admin load correctly, or are both the front-end and wp-admin dysfunctional?
• Are the sites using the same hostname on both computers?
• Could you inspect the DOM to verify that the asset URLs also contain the expected hostname? ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED seems to indicate that some URLs contain an unexpected hostname.

[abcfineart]

1-
#Does wp-admin load correctly, or are both the front-end and wp-admin dysfunctional?

The front-end only displays “Hello WordPress.” The wp-admin initially loads, but as soon as I click on any admin menu (like a plugin settings page), everything breaks—styles and scripts fail to load.

2-
#Are the sites using the same hostname on both computers?
Yes, both computers use the exact same hostname and setup as before. No changes were made to the environment.

3-
#Could you inspect the DOM to verify that the asset URLs also contain the expected hostname? ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED seems to indicate that some URLs contain an unexpected hostname.

I checked the network requests in the browser’s developer tools, and it looks like many of the failed assets are missing a proper hostname. For example, one script is attempting to load from :8881/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wc-admin instead of a full URL like http://localhost:8881/....

So it seems WP Studio is generating incorrect or incomplete asset URLs—specifically missing the hostname—when I switch between synced computers using the shared Dropbox folder. That likely explains the consistent ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED errors.

[fredrikekelund]

It sounds like the database might contain incorrect configuration, possibly due to an issue with the Dropbox sync.

The database is contained in a single binary file in wp-content/database/.ht.sqlite. In principle, I don't think Dropbox should have any trouble syncing this file, but there is no official support for syncing sites this way, so I can't speak to exactly what could go wrong.

If you have WP-CLI installed, it would be helpful if you could run wp option get siteurl and wp option get home from your WordPress site's root folder and share the results.

You could also try "forcing" a different siteurl and home configuration by updating your wp-config.php like so:

define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'http://localhost:8881' );
define( 'WP_HOME', 'http://localhost:8881’ );