Understanding Cached Data (Transients) in Matador Jobs

Matador Jobs integrates closely with your ATS (such as Bullhorn) and, to keep your site fast and reliable, it caches certain pieces of data locally using WordPress transients.

In most cases, this caching happens quietly in the background and just works. Occasionally, however, you may notice that:

• You’ve updated data in your ATS
• A sync has completed successfully
• But the updated data is not yet reflected in Matador Jobs on your WordPress site

When this happens, the cause is often cached data stored in a transient.

This article explains:

• What transients are and why Matador uses them
• When cached data can cause confusion
• How to safely clear a transient using a Transients Manager plugin
• How to refresh the data by running a sync

What Are WordPress Transients?

Transients are a WordPress feature used to temporarily store cached data in the database (or object cache, if available).

They allow plugins like Matador Jobs to:

• Reduce unnecessary API requests
• Improve performance and page load times
• Avoid hitting rate limits on external services

Each transient:

• Has a name (key)
• Stores a value (often an array or object)
• May have an expiration time

Once expired, WordPress automatically regenerates the data the next time it’s needed.

Why Matador Jobs Uses Transients

Matador Jobs communicates with Bullhorn using the Bullhorn REST API. Some data — especially data that changes infrequently — is cached so that Matador does not need to request it repeatedly.

This helps:

• Speed up job imports and page loads
• Reduce load on the Bullhorn API
• Improve overall site stability

One example of this is the user email lookup used when assigning jobs and submissions.

Example: matador_bullhorn_user_emails

The matador_bullhorn_user_emails transient is used to cache Bullhorn user email addresses.

This cached data allows Matador Jobs to correctly assign:

• jobOwner
• assignedUsers
• responseUser

…without making repeated API requests to Bullhorn every time a job or submission is processed.

When This Can Cause Confusion

If user-related data changes in Bullhorn (for example:

• A recruiter’s email address is updated
• A user is added or removed
• Ownership assignments are changed

…the cached data in matador_bullhorn_user_emails may still reflect the old information until the transient expires.

As a result, you may see:

• Incorrect or missing job owners
• Assigned users not updating as expected

When You Should Clear a Transient

You may want to manually clear a transient if:

• You’ve recently updated user data in Bullhorn
• A sync completes but the changes are not reflected
• You are troubleshooting unexpected ownership or assignment behaviour

Clearing a transient is safe and does not delete jobs, candidates, or submissions.

How to Delete a Transient Using a Transients Manager Plugin

The easiest way to manage transients is with a WordPress plugin.

Step 1: Install a Transients Manager Plugin

Popular options include:

• Transients Manager
• Advanced Transients

Install and activate your preferred plugin from the WordPress plugin repository.

Step 2: Locate the Transient

Once installed:

1. Go to WordPress Admin > Tools > Transients (menu location may vary)
2. Use the search or filter option to find:

matador_bullhorn_user_emails

Step 3: Delete the Transient

• Click Delete or Remove for the matador_bullhorn_user_emails transient
• Confirm the deletion if prompted

This removes the cached data immediately.

Step 4: Run a Sync

After deleting the transient:

1. Go to Matador Jobs > Settings
2. Run a Sync (or Hard Sync, if appropriate)

Matador Jobs will now:

• Request fresh user data from Bullhorn
• Rebuild the transient with up-to-date information
• Apply the refreshed data to jobs and submissions

Important Notes

• Transients are recreated automatically when needed
• Deleting a transient does not break Matador Jobs
• In many cases, waiting for the transient to expire naturally will also resolve the issue
• If you are unsure which transient to clear, contact Matador support before deleting multiple entries

Need Help?

If clearing a transient and running a sync does not resolve the issue:

• Check your Matador Jobs logs
• Confirm the data is correct in Bullhorn
• Submit a support request with details of what you’re seeing

Our support team can help identify whether cached data, API permissions, or configuration settings are involved.