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Updated website not showing changes? Easy Fix Here

If for some reason, your WordPress website cannot update or the updated version is not showing changes, I will teach you how to fix it in this article.

A quick example of this issue is this: You to the menu list at the back end but when you check your site frontend, you do not see the new menu added.

Another example is when you update an old post. You may have added new content, image, or even internal linking. Then you check your site and you do not find any of these changes.

If by any chance you are having this exact type of issue or similar ones, be rest assured that you have a perfect solution here. Do not panic.

Why Your Website Changes Are Not Showing

The main reason why changes or updated version of your website is not showing on the front end is due to caching issues.

What is Caching?

Web caching is a technique used to temporarily store frequently accessed data, such as web pages, images, and other resources, on a device or a server in order to reduce the time it takes to load the data.

Take note that the cache is being saved either on a device (laptop, smartphone, or Tablet) or server (with your host).

So, when a user requests a web page, the cache checks to see if a copy of the page is already stored locally.

If it is, the cached version is used instead of requesting the page from the server again.

This can greatly improve the load time of the page and reduce the load on the server.

Caching can be done on the client side, on the server side, or a combination of both.

The Problem With Caching

Caching can be a powerful tool for improving the performance and scalability of a website, but it can also have some drawbacks. Some potential issues with caching include:

  • Consistency: Caching can create consistency issues if different users see different versions of a page. For example, if one user makes a change to a page, it may not be reflected for other users.
  • Stale data: If the cached version of a page becomes out of date, the user may see incorrect or outdated information.
  • Security: Caching can also create security issues if sensitive data is cached and not properly secured.
  • Cache invalidation: Determining when to invalidate a cache can be challenging and can lead to stale data or inconsistency.
  • Complexity: Caching can make the website architecture more complex, which can make it harder to develop, test, and maintain.

Overall, caching can be beneficial but it should be carefully implemented and managed to avoid these problems.

However, for the purpose of this content, we’ll focus on the inconsistency issue of caching that does not show the updated version of your website when changes are made.

Related: Find out the difference between a Blog and a Website

How to Fix It When Updated website Is Not showing changes

When the updated version of your website is not showing, you can easily fix this by doing these:

  • Clear device cache
  • Clear site Cache
  • Contact host

1. Clear Device Cache

Remember that a device could be either a Smartphone or a Laptop. For the purpose of this discussion, I’ll focus on a laptop device. However, the procedures are pretty much similar to mobile devices.

Also, that note that there are different web browsers but for the purpose of this content, I will focus on Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox browsers since they are the most popular.

Web browsers vs market share

How To Clear Cache On Google Chrome

To clear the cache on Google Chrome, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open Google Chrome and click on the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window.
  2. Select “More tools” and then click on “Clear browsing data.”
  3. In the new window that appears, select the “Cached images and files” option. You can also select other options such as “Cookies and other site data” or “Browsing history” if you want to clear those as well.
  4. Select the time range for which you want to clear the cache. You can choose from options such as “All time,” “Last hour,” or “Last 7 days.”
  5. Click on “Clear data” to clear the cache.
  6. Close the browsing data window and refresh the current page.

Alternatively, you can also use keyboard shortcuts to clear the cache in chrome.

On Windows, you can press Ctrl + Shift + Del to open the Clear browsing data window, and on Mac, use Command + Shift + Del.

How To Clear Cache On Safari

To clear the cache on Safari, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open Safari and click on “Safari” in the top menu.
  2. Select “Preferences” and then click on the “Advanced” tab.
  3. Check the box next to “Show Develop menu in menu bar.”
  4. Click on “Develop” in the top menu and then select “Empty Caches.”
  5. Close the preferences window and refresh the current page.

Alternatively, you can also use keyboard shortcuts to clear the cache in Safari. On Mac, you can press Command + Option + E to Empty the cache.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that starting from Safari 14, the Develop menu is not available by default, it can be enabled in “Safari” -> “Preferences” -> “Advanced” -> check the box next to “Show Develop menu in the menu bar.”

How To Clear Cache On Firefox

To clear the cache on Firefox, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open Firefox and click on the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the top right corner of the browser window.
  2. Select “Options” and then click on “Privacy & Security.”
  3. Scroll down to the “Cookies and Site Data” section and click on “Clear Data.”
  4. In the new window that appears, make sure the “Cached Web Content” option is selected and then click on “Clear.”
  5. Close the privacy and security window and refresh the current page.

Alternatively, you can also use keyboard shortcuts to clear the cache in Firefox. On Windows and Linux, you can press Ctrl + Shift + Del to open the Clear Recent History window, and on Mac, use Command + Shift + Del.

Please note that clearing the cache will remove stored data, including login information and website settings, so you may have to log in again and reset some settings after clearing the cache.

However, this should be able to fix your site if it was not showing the updated version. But if it does not fix it, you can try the next method.

2. Clear Site Cache

Another option to fix a site whose latest update is not showing is by clearing the site cache.

At this point, I am assuming you must have cleared your device cache.

To be clear, there is no one way of clearing your site cache because there are so many caching tools on the website. For WordPress users, there are many caching plugins.

The procedure for clearing the cache would differ based on the caching plugin being used.

However, a general principle is this: go to your caching tool or plugin and look for “clear cache” or anything similar to that.

But if you are using an external (Cloud) caching platform like Ezoic, follow the steps below to clear your site cache.

From your Ezoic dashboard, click “Leap”.

Next, click caching.

How to clear site Cache on Ezoic

You have two options here.

The first is “Clear Cache”. This clears all site cache (for all pages) stored on Ezoic CDN.

The second option is to “Clear For URL”. This option lets you clear the cache for just one URL or page.

All you have to do is paste the URL of a page whose updated content is not showing on the front end.

By the way, you could follow the procedure in this guide to make your site faster if you use Ezoic.

Whatever plugin or 3rd-party caching tool you use, ensure to clear your site cache in order to fix sites not showing updated versions.

If this method still does not work. You can then try the next method.

3. Contact Your Website Host

If the updated version of your website is still not showing after making changes, you may need to contact your host.

Even if you have a caching plugin or a 3rd-party caching platform, it is still important to contact your host.

Sometimes, hosts still create caching for a site irrespective of your own caching tools.

Moreover, your hosts must have a better way of helping your site show the latest update.

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Final thought

To recap, when your updated website is not showing changes, the first thing to do to fix it is clear your device cache.

If that does not work, clear your site cache from the backend through your caching plugin or external caching platform.

Finally, if all the above methods don’t fix it, you should contact your host.

If you found this content useful, you may also learn how to fix your mobile menu when it’s not showing, find out the numerous ways to monetize your site, and learn how to write amazing content.

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