Changes to a template causes all pages that use that template to be *queued* for rerendering. Only when it's their turn to be taken from the queue will they be rerendered and the categorylinks links table will be updated accordingly.

How long this takes depends on how often the job queue is processed and how many jobs are on it. It may be a few seconds, or hours, sometimes even days (usually after someone edited a template that is used a few million times).

You can see the nu8mber of pending jobs for a given site using the API: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&meta=siteinfo&siprop=statistics

Please verify that your changes really don't propagate *ever*. I suspect you just need to wait a bit longer.

I assume you mean after modifying the category in the template?

Yes, you need a null edit instead of a purge to force it go through. BUT you can also wait and it will get updated through the job queue.

By the way an api.php?action=purge&forcelinkupdate&titles= purging should work.

More info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Job_queue

joedecker wrote:

No, you misunderstand. I have pretty good evidence this is not a job queue issue.

I have several dozen examples on ENWIKI of files (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gernot_Pfl%C3%BCger) that show upon refresh and purge in the Category:Expired proposed deletions of unsourced BLPs

However, those articles do not show in that category. The example I listed at this point has been purged but not null edited, six days ago. The job queue has repeatedly hit zero during that time. I have been observing this behavior relatively consistently for two years.

(In reply to comment #5)

No, you misunderstand. I have pretty good evidence this is not a job queue
issue.

I have several dozen examples on ENWIKI of files (e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gernot_Pfl%C3%BCger) that show upon refresh and
purge in the Category:Expired proposed deletions of unsourced BLPs

However, those articles do not show in that category. The example I listed at
this point has been purged but not null edited, six days ago. The job queue
has repeatedly hit zero during that time. I have been observing this behavior
relatively consistently for two years.

It's now in the category.

(In reply to comment #6)

It's now in the category.

with http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=purge&forcelinkupdate&titles=Gernot_Pfl%C3%BCger

joedecker wrote:

Awesome! That does work, whereas my attempts to purge do not. The difference appear tob e your use of

&forcelinkupdate

I'm happy to consider this closed. Thank you.

joedecker wrote:

Oh, and can someone point me at where &forcelinkupdate is documented?

I think your problem is that the template is conditionally including one category or another, without being edited.
A daily null edit to Template:Prod_blp/dated probably fixes it (but it should hopefully not be included in too many articles!).

joedecker wrote:

Platonides, that's exactly right. It's the conditional inclusion that's at issue. Even if the page updates, the cache updates, the categorylinks table isn't updated, unless you know the (undocumented?) option to purge that Liangent indirectly pointed me to.

And not too many, typically about 100. Last I checked there were 88.

joedecker wrote:

Or, more precisely, "category changes as a result of some condition, such as the passage of time, changing that changes the categorization being attempted". Betcha 31628 is the same deal.

joedecker wrote:

Oh wait, you think a null edit to the dated template... I'm sorry, I missed your point. Interesting.

See also bug 18478

• This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 18478 ***