Title: SmartPreload weight order Last modified: July 16, 2026 --- # SmartPreload weight order * Resolved [harryfear](https://wordpress.org/support/users/harryfear/) * (@harryfear) * [4 days, 16 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smartpreload-weight-order/) * Hi — reporting a SQL bug in 2.0.2, with root cause, a minimal reproduction, and a one-word fix. * **The error** * It fires from the front-end output buffer on essentially every render. We accumulated 1,864 of these in our PHP error log: * `WordPress database error BIGINT UNSIGNED value is out of range in 'cast(nullif(` wp_easyfonts_fonts`.`weight`,'') as unsigned) - 500' for query SELECT font_file FROM wp_easyfonts_fonts WHERE family = ... ORDER BY ... ABS( CAST( NULLIF(weight,'') AS UNSIGNED ) - 500 ) ASC, id ASC LIMIT 1 made by shutdown_action_hook, do_action(' shutdown'), wp_ob_end_flush_all, ob_end_flush, EasyFonts\Frontend\OutputBuffer- >process, EasyFonts\Frontend\SmartPreload->build, EasyFonts\Fonts\Registry->resolve_preload_file` * **Cause** * `src/Fonts/Registry.php` line 533, inside `resolve_preload_file()`: * `ABS( CAST( NULLIF(weight,'') AS UNSIGNED ) - %d ) ASC,` * MySQL/MariaDB evaluates the subtraction in **unsigned** arithmetic. Any candidate row whose `weight` is lower than the requested target weight produces a negative intermediate, which is out of range for an unsigned type, and the statement errors. * `ABS()` cannot rescue it — the error is raised while evaluating the subtraction, before `ABS()` is ever applied. The error text is the tell: it quotes the inner expression (`... as unsigned) - 500`), not the `ABS()` wrapper. * **Minimal reproduction** (plain MySQL/MariaDB, no WordPress needed) * `SELECT ABS( CAST( NULLIF('400','') AS UNSIGNED ) - 500 );` → ERROR 1690 (22003): BIGINT UNSIGNED value is out of range in ‘(cast(nullif(‘400′,”) as unsigned) – 500)’ * `SELECT ABS( CAST( NULLIF('400','') AS SIGNED ) - 500 );` → 100 ✓ * **Suggested fix** — change `UNSIGNED` to `SIGNED`: * `ABS( CAST( NULLIF(weight,'') AS SIGNED ) - %d ) ASC,` * The intent (order candidates by absolute distance from the target weight) is then expressed correctly: the subtraction happens in signed arithmetic and `ABS()` does its job. * **Scale** * It triggers for every candidate row lighter than the requested weight, so any family with a normal weight spread hits it constantly. On our install 50 of the 130 rows in `wp_easyfonts_fonts` have a weight below 500 (weights 100/200/300/ 400). * **Environment** - Easy Fonts 2.0.2 - WordPress 6.9.4 - PHP 8.2.31 - MariaDB 10.11.18 - sql_mode: `ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION` * Note the sql_mode does **not** include `NO_UNSIGNED_SUBTRACTION` — that’s stock configuration, so I’d expect any install without that mode explicitly set to hit this. * **Workaround in the meantime** * We’ve disabled Smart Preload (`smart_preload = 0`), which stops `SmartPreload:: build()` from calling `resolve_preload_file()` and silences the errors completely. Font hosting and serving are unaffected (that path uses the disk-based lookup), but of course we lose the preload hints — which is why I’d love to see the fix land so we can turn it back on. * Thanks for the plugin! Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total) * Plugin Contributor [Uzair](https://wordpress.org/support/users/uzairwp/) * (@uzairwp) * [4 days, 5 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smartpreload-weight-order/#post-18967678) * Hi, * Thanks for taking the time to put together such a thorough report. The detailed analysis and minimal reproduction made it very easy to understand and verify the issue. * We’ve fixed this in **Easy Fonts 2.0.3**, so updating to the latest version should resolve the SQL error during Smart Preload. * Please update when you have a chance, and if you notice anything else after upgrading, feel free to let us know. * Thanks again for the excellent report and for helping us improve the plugin! * Thread Starter [harryfear](https://wordpress.org/support/users/harryfear/) * (@harryfear) * [4 days, 2 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smartpreload-weight-order/#post-18967809) * Uzair — thanks for the remarkably quick turnaround on this. * Confirming 2.0.3 resolves it completely. We’ve updated staging and production: the SQL error is gone (previously it fired on essentially every render — we’daccumulated ~1,800 in the log), Smart Preload is re-enabled on both, and fonthosting/serving is unaffected. We also cold-tested the provisioning path onstaging — deleted a hosted font and confirmed it re-downloads byte-identicallywith preload on — no issues. * Nice touch wrapping it in COALESCE(NULLIF(weight,”), ‘400’) rather than just swapping the cast — that also handles the empty-weight case, which wouldotherwise have sorted unpredictably as NULL. * Thanks also for the rest of 2.0.3 — the beacon UTC fix and the decisions-table cap in particular are welcome. Appreciate the props in the changelog, and thecare you’ve clearly put into the plugin. * Cheers! Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total) You must be [logged in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fsmartpreload-weight-order%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US) to reply to this topic. * ![](https://ps.w.org/easyfonts/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3563789) * [EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant](https://wordpress.org/plugins/easyfonts/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/easyfonts/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/easyfonts/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/easyfonts/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/easyfonts/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/easyfonts/reviews/) * 2 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [harryfear](https://wordpress.org/support/users/harryfear/) * Last activity: [4 days, 2 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/smartpreload-weight-order/#post-18967809) * Status: resolved