Troubleshooting: PWA and push notifications

The browser does not offer to install the app

Cause. One of these:

• The Installable app switch under Career Board > Settings > Integrations > PWA settings is off. It is off on new sites.
• BuddyNext runs the site’s app. Career Board then registers no manifest or worker, and the job pages are part of BuddyNext’s app.
• The site is not on HTTPS.
• You are not on a page that carries the manifest. It is linked only on job archive pages, single job pages, and the jobs archive, employer dashboard and candidate dashboard pages you set under Settings > Pages.
• The site has no Site Icon, so the manifest has no icons.

Fix.

1. Turn the Installable app switch on and save the Integrations tab.
2. Serve the site over HTTPS.
3. Upload a Site Icon under Settings > General. The manifest uses the 192 and 512 pixel versions.
4. Open one of the pages listed above and reload.
5. Open https://your-site.com/wcb-manifest.json in the browser. It should show JSON. If it shows a 404 page, the switch is off, BuddyNext’s app is on, or a server rule or cache intercepts the address. A site in a subfolder serves it under that folder, for example https://example.com/site/wcb-manifest.json.

See PWA.

The installed app shows the wrong color

Cause. The manifest takes its color from the Brand colour.

Fix. Change the color under Career Board > Settings > Brand, then open /wcb-manifest.json and check that theme_color shows the new value.

Offline pages do not load

Cause. The service worker keeps a copy only of job board pages that were shown to a signed-out visitor, and uses it only when the network fails. It never keeps a signed-in member’s page, so a member who is signed in sees the browser’s offline screen. Pages outside your jobs, companies and resumes pages are not kept either.

Fix. Visit the page once while signed out and online. Sign-in is not needed to read job pages.

Push notifications do not arrive

Cause. Push is sent only to the native companion app. The website and the installed PWA do not send browser push. The member’s phone must also be registered.

Fix.

1. Sign in to the companion app on the phone. The app registers its push token with POST /wcb/v1/push/register-device.
2. Check the phone allows notifications for the app.
3. Push is sent in the background, so scheduled tasks must run (Action Scheduler or WP-Cron).
4. The mobile app connection needs a valid license. See Troubleshooting: license and updates.
5. A device that the push service reports as no longer registered is removed. Sign in to the app again to register it.

A push is sent for the same events that add a row to the notification bell. See Notifications.