How to Fix Divi ‘ET_Core_Cache_Directory’ not found error.

Welcome back to KickstartCommerce.com! Well, you’ve finally arrived on this website in hopes of understanding and finding a solution to the pesky Divi or MotoPress ‘ET_Core_Cache_Directory’ not found error for the WordPress Emmet theme.

It took me the better half of a day to sort through this error code gibberish and remedy it. The good news is that the fix won’t require you to write code or perform some sort of risky workaround.

However, the bad news is that you’ll need to be familiar with using an FTP client — Filezilla recommended. Let’s dive in and help get you on your way!

It all started when I received a frantic error-laden email from a consulting customer with a Managed WordPress website hosted at GoDaddy. The email read as follows:

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Error Details
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An error of type E_ERROR was caused in line 9 of the file /var/www/wp-content/themes/Divi/core/components/init.php. Error message: Uncaught Error: Class 'ET_Core_Cache_Directory' not found in /var/www/wp-content/themes/Divi/core/components/init.php:9
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(287): et_core_init('')
#1 /var/www/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(311): WP_Hook->apply_filters(NULL, Array)
#2 /var/www/wp-includes/plugin.php(478): WP_Hook->do_action(Array)
#3 /var/www/wp-settings.php(524): do_action('after_setup_the...')
#4 /var/www/wp-config.php(97): require_once('/var/www/wp-set...')
#5 /var/www/wp-load.php(37): require_once('/var/www/wp-con...')
#6 /var/www/wp-admin/admin.php(34): require_once('/var/www/wp-loa...')
#7 {main}
  thrown

Not certain as to why GoDaddy was unable to help them, but I gladly accepted the challenge to resurrect their website, which was completely down due to a fatal PHP error.

I tried logging into the WordPress admin, but no dice. Fortunately, the email included what appeared to be a recovery mode link, so I took my chances and clicked it. To my surprise, the WordPress admin was made and available and I logged into the admin area, thinking to myself that this is likely nothing more than plugins and themes beefing with another — as is 90% of the time.

I made my way over to the updates area in the admin panel, and to further surprise, no updates available for plugins or themes. Uh oh… what could be the issue now.

I’ll spare you the next four hours in details of searching high and low for how to solve ‘ET_Core_Cache_Directory’ not found error in Divi theme. I used quite a few search phrases, but finally discovered the answer on page 2 of Google out of 98 or so results. I simply used an exact-match search (imagine that): “ET_Core_Cache_Directory.”

Nevertheless, to fix a WordPress website using Divi and encountering the ‘ET_Core_Cache_Directory’ not found error, you simply need to ensure that the cache folder contains the following three files:

• Directory.php
• File.php
• init.php

Somehow, and I’ve yet to figure out how, but the entire cache directory disappears without notice in the components directory: /var/www/wp-content/themes/Divi/core/components/. So, you must download the cache directory and its file, and upload it to the components directory.

In addition, I’ve not been able to determine whether or not this peculiar behavior is limited to only the cache directory and its files. I would imagine it could happen to other directories as well.

Nonetheless, I uploaded the cache directory and its respective files, and this customer’s website loaded as fast as a blink. That’s it!

While dang near impossible to find a solution online, I’m grateful that it was nothing more than uploading a directory and three files. No need to know how to write or comment out code as a workaround. Good ol’ upload using a web-based File Manager or an FTP client. That’s it!

Well, I hope this solution has added a few days, if not years, back to your life and website!

Let me know if you have any questions, or need additional assistance to troubleshoot your issue. Thanks and that’s all for now!

Download zip of cache directory and files