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Why changes to your WordPress site are not showing

You edited your site, but visitors still see the old version. This guide helps you find the cause and fix it.

WordPress2 min read10 steps

Why does this happen?

Most of the time, the cause is caching. A cache is a saved copy of something so it loads faster. It is like keeping a photo of a page, so you do not need to rebuild it each time. When you change your site, the saved copy can be old for a while. Caches can be in several places:

  • Your web browser.
  • A caching plugin on your WordPress site.
  • Your hosting server.
  • A CDN, which is a network of computers around the world that keep copies of your site close to visitors.

Sometimes the cause is different. The change may not be saved, or you may be editing the wrong page.

Steps

  1. Make sure you saved the change. Open the post or page and click Update. Check that no error message appeared.
  2. Open your site in a private window. In Chrome, press Ctrl + Shift + N. In Firefox, press Ctrl + Shift + P. If you see the change there, the cause is your browser cache.
  3. Clear the browser cache. Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete, choose cached images and files, and click the clear button. Then press Ctrl + F5 on your site. This forces a fresh load.
  4. Clear your WordPress caching plugin. Look in the top bar of your dashboard or in the plugin's settings for Clear cache, Purge all or Delete cache.
  5. Clear any server cache. Check your hosting control panel for a cache tool. If you do not find one, ask Hostvento support.
  6. Clear the CDN cache if you use one, such as Cloudflare. Log in to the CDN and use its purge option.
  7. Check that you are logged in to the right site. If you have a staging copy (a test copy of your site), you may have changed the test copy and not the live site.
  8. Check which theme is active under Appearance, then Themes. If you edit theme files, make sure they belong to the active theme.
  9. If a child theme is in use, edit the child theme file. A child theme is a small copy of a theme that keeps your own changes.
  10. Turn off plugins one at a time. Go to Plugins, then Installed Plugins. Test after each. Take a backup first.

If you changed the address or settings

Some changes need time. For example, a DNS change can take hours to spread around the world. DNS is the internet's phone book that connects your domain to your hosting.

Tip: After every update, get into the habit of clearing the cache and checking in a private window. It takes ten seconds.

Quick recap

  • Old content is usually caused by a cache.
  • Check in a private window to test your browser cache.
  • Clear the plugin cache, the server cache and the CDN cache.
  • Make sure you saved, and that you edited the live site and the active theme.