The Cookie Notice kit in TermsFeed AutoTerms hides its bar by design from browsers that closed it, and from logged-in users while "Disable for logged-in users" is "yes", the default. In every other case, a setting, a cache, or another script keeps the bar hidden. The bar shows a message and a "Close" link, does not block any script, and does not record an answer. The plugin prints the bar hidden on every page, and a script shows the bar in the browser.

Search the page source (Ctrl+U, or Cmd+Option+U on a Mac) for wpautoterms-cookies-notice: a page that holds <div class="wpautoterms-cookies-notice" style="display:none"> received the bar, and the script decided to keep it hidden. A page without that text never received the bar. Compare the markup with Add a Cookie Notice Bar to WordPress.

Cause 1: You are logged in with "Disable for logged-in users" set to yes

The Cookie Notice hides from every logged-in user while "Disable for logged-in users" is "yes", which is the default. You test while logged in to WordPress, so the bar never appears for you, while logged-out visitors see it.

Close every private window, then open the page in a new one, which starts logged out. The bar appears there and not in your normal window. In the page source of your normal window, search for wpautoterms_js_cookies_notice: a "disable":"1" value there points to this cause, and an empty value rules it out. A page cache that stores pages for logged-in users serves the hidden bar to logged-out visitors too. W3 Total Cache does this while "Don't cache pages for logged in users" is off.

From now on, test the Cookie Notice as your visitors see it: in a new private window, after you close the others. Keep page caching off for logged-in users. Change the setting to see the bar while logged in.

  1. Set "Disable for logged-in users" to "no" on the Cookie Notice screen, and click the "Save Changes" button.
  2. Clear the page cache.

Clicking the "Close" link stores the cookie wpautoterms-cookies-notice with the value 1, and the bar stays hidden in that browser until the cookie expires. Each site of a multisite network, and a site in a subdirectory, keeps its own cookie.

The Application tab of DevTools shows the stored cookie. Expand Cookies, select the domain of your WordPress website, and look for wpautoterms-cookies-notice with the value 1.

Close every private window, open a new one, and load the page there, where no wpautoterms-cookies-notice cookie exists yet. To test in your normal window, where you are logged in, change the setting and delete the cookie.

  1. Set "Disable for logged-in users" to "no" on the Cookie Notice screen, and click the "Save Changes" button.
  2. Right-click wpautoterms-cookies-notice in the Application tab of your normal window, and delete it.
  3. Reload the page.

The Cookie Notice kit is off after install, and it turns on only from the Compliance Kits screen. The Cookie Notice settings screen has no Enabled checkbox, so saving its settings leaves the kit off.

Open TermsFeed > Compliance Kits and read the Cookie Notice box, which shows "Disabled". The page source of the website does not hold wpautoterms-cookies-notice.

Turn the kit on from the Compliance Kits screen. Run either the Cookie Notice kit or the Cookie Consent kit, never both, and compare the 2 kits in Add a Cookie Notice Bar to WordPress.

  1. Click the "Enable" button in the Cookie Notice box, which shows "Cookie Notice enabled." at the top of the screen.
  2. Clear the page cache.
  3. Close every private window, open a new one, and load the page.

Cause 4: A page cache stores the page without the bar

Some caching plugins store the page without the top bar, so visitors who get a cached page do not see the Cookie Notice at the top. WP Super Cache and Cache Enabler store the bar with the page. The bottom position still works, because the bottom bars print in the footer.

Close every private window and open a new one, so you load the page logged out as the cache serves it. Search the page source for id="wpautoterms-top-static-container" or id="wpautoterms-top-fixed-container" on the plain address, then on the address with ?nocache=1. A container only on the second address means the cache stores the page without the top bar. A cache or content delivery network (CDN) that ignores query strings serves its stored copy on both addresses, so clear its cache instead. TermsFeed > Settings, Advanced tab, shows "Unsupported caching plugins detected. We recommend enabling this option." once the AutoTerms plugin detects an unsupported caching plugin.

Turn on compatibility mode, which prints the top bar where the cache keeps it. Read when to use compatibility mode in WordPress Caching Plugins.

  1. Open TermsFeed > Settings, select the Advanced tab, turn on "Caching plugins compatibility mode", and click the "Save Changes" button.
  2. Clear the page cache, as the hint "Clean/delete cache after enabling or disabling this option." asks.
  3. Close every private window, open a new one, and load the page. Visitors then see the bar at the top of cached pages.

Cause 5: A page speed plugin removes jQuery or stops it from running

The bar appears only once jQuery runs on the page, so a page speed plugin that removes jQuery, or stops it from running while combining files, keeps the bar hidden. The notices script needs jQuery, wp-util, and the handle wpautoterms_base, and WordPress prints it only while all 3 are registered. A plugin that delays jQuery until the first scroll or click only delays the bar.

The Console and Network tabs show whether jQuery runs. A red line such as Uncaught ReferenceError: jQuery is not defined points to a missing jQuery. Filter the Network tab for auto-terms-of-service and reload: no wpautoterms.js request, or a status other than 200, points to a removed or combined script. A red error from the combined file confirms it.

Keep the page speed plugin away from jQuery and the notices script. Read when the bars need a combine exclusion in TermsFeed AutoTerms Script and Style Handles.

  1. Turn off any page speed option that removes jQuery from your WordPress website.
  2. Exclude jQuery, wp-util, and the AutoTerms plugin scripts from the combine option of the page speed plugin only while the Console shows an error in the combined file. Enter each exclusion in the form the documentation of your page speed plugin asks for, such as the file paths /wp-includes/js/jquery/, /wp-includes/js/wp-util, and auto-terms-of-service-and-privacy-policy/js/.
  3. Clear the cache of the page speed plugin, close every private window, and load the page in a new one.

A visible Cookie Notice always has a working "Close" link, so a "Close" link that does nothing points to another element that covers the bar and takes the click. Errors in other scripts do not stop the "Close" link.

Right-click the "Close" link and select Inspect. The Elements tab selects a.wpautoterms-notice-close when nothing covers the link, and any other element selected there covers it.

Find the element that covers the bar in the Elements tab and lower its z-index, or move the bar with "Announcement bar position".

The bar stays closed only while the browser keeps the cookie wpautoterms-cookies-notice, so a bar that closes and returns on the next page points to a blocked cookie. A browser setting or a cookie blocker extension stops the cookie.

In the normal window where the bar returns, click the "Close" link, then open the Application tab and expand Cookies. No wpautoterms-cookies-notice for the domain of your WordPress website means the browser blocks the cookie.

Allow cookies for your WordPress website in the browser, or in the cookie blocker that runs in it, and test again.

A working Cookie Notice appears to a logged-out visitor, closes on a click on its "Close" link, and stays closed on the next page. A private window keeps your admin login out of the test. Save your change and clear the page cache first.

  1. Close every private window, open a new one, and load a page of your WordPress website.
  2. Confirm that the bar shows the message at the position you chose, with the "Close" link. A bar set to "bottom" and "static" shows only once you scroll to the end of the page.
  3. Click the "Close" link and confirm that the bar disappears.
  4. Open the Application tab, expand Cookies, and confirm wpautoterms-cookies-notice with the value 1.
  5. Open a second page and confirm that the bar stays closed.