Hello Andrew.

Thanks for reaching out to us.

1. If you're using the API method:

What we are doing is passing Google sheet API URL with parameters from your Google sheets URL in a format like https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/... to the WordPress built-in function 

wp_remote_get

that performs an HTTP request using the GET method and returns its response.

If you test your file (you can create the same sheet with dummy data) and test it on our sandbox, you will see that tables are created without any issues with or without the new google sheet API connection.

Please check out solutions for the first initial error for curl error 28 - Operation timed out here:

https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-curl-error-28-connection-timed-out-after-x-milliseconds/

2. If you're not using the API method, but the old method:

That old logic has one timeout set in filewp-content/plugins/wpdatatables/source/class.wdttools.php. Please search for this:

$timeout = 25;

Increase it to 100 and check again.

If you have a version of wpDataTables older than v.3.6, the timeout is set to "5", not "25".

I hope this helps.

Hello again Andrew

You can see the date on that ticket (May 25th, 2021). A lot can happen in 7 months, and the information I sent you 2 weeks ago is the information I received from the same developer who couldn't find the solution back in May. We've had a fair number of users with the same error message in the past couple of months, and they were able to fix it with the same advice I shared with you.

I'm not sure how the template developer can say that an error leading to their file wp-content/plugins/thegem-elements/inc/content.php:3099 is "misleading", but I'll forward that to our developers for checking as well.

I'll get back to you as soon as I hear from them.

Hello Andrew,

Here's the latest response from our developers:

The highlighted text sent in the previous response is related to the "Too many requests" error which comes from the Google API because of the limit:

For curl error 28 - if the API method is being used, this error is returned by the function wp_remote_get which uses cURL in the background. The client's server doesn't have time to manage the data from Google's API in 5 seconds (which is the default setting in WordPress).

That limit can be increased using a hook https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/341357/wp-remote-get-curl-error-28-only-on-same-domain. Instead of "15" set it to "100", just in case.

Why the error is in the file of another plugin is not clear. Maybe it's because of this error for the cURL.

The old method can be used (without Google's API credentials) where the timeout limit is set to 25 in file wp-content/plugins/wpdatatables/source/class.wdttools.php on line 198

This can be overwritten with the hook wpdatatables_curl_get_data in the same file wp-content/plugins/wpdatatables/source/class.wdttools.php on line 208.

I'm glad to hear that Andrew.

I already modified the response for future reference, so all info is properly included.

Thank you for your patience.

Hello Andrew.

I don't know of any other workarounds or fixes, but I have reached out to our developers one more time. I hope they'll be able to provide some advice, but I can't promise anything.

I'll get back to you as soon as I hear from them.

Hello again Andrew.

Can you please turn off the API method (if you're using that), and set an even bigger value in wp-content/plugins/wpdatatables/source/class.wdttools.php file. There's nothing more to it, really, it's just that your server needs a lot of time to fetch the data from the Google Sheet using cUrl.

Hello Andrew

Unfortunately, there's been no progress in this regard. Try increasing the time limit to 10 seconds to see if it works. I'll remind our developers that this is still an issue, but I can't promise any ETAs on the fix. Google implemented fixed rates for fixing this and we still haven't been able to find a workaround.

Hi, Andrew

Our developers are working on a solution for improved caching for our tables.  

This will be very useful in situations when linking tables to Google Spreadsheets, or Google API.

It should be released very soon.

We can't guarantee an exact ETA,

because our developers want to make sure everything is tested out and ready, before the feature gets added to the plugin.

- We will also add Documentation about the new caching feature,  and we will be here if you have any questions about it.

-

You can also follow our changeLog page if you'd like ( it is also available in the plugin dashboard), where we state any changes/new features/bug fixes during updates;

and our newsletter, so you're informed about new features, bug fixes, freebies, etc.