Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Website not updating

[Joe 22]

Hi guys

I have done a search online and every time someone has had this problem before as far as I can see, it is due simply to IE storing pages in the cache and not refreshing. This is not that.

I hesitate to say it is hosted with 1&1, as I am not expert and besides this have had no other problems with them (during the last 6 months of being with them, for my only site).

Last week I tried to update a few pages and they did not refresh. I even deleted them off the server - getting the page 404 error page - and sent up again, but the original pages were then displayed(?). (I knew it wasn't my pc, but checked the site from work anyway, and saw the same old pages).

1&1 suggested I delete all the pages and resubmit, which I have done, with the same result.

Any ideas please?

Thanks guys

[UH-Bobby]

Hmm,

That's an odd issue. I don't mean for this to sound like a stupid question, but are you saving the files before uploading them?

[Joe 22]

Hi Bobby

The files are saved and when viewed in IE off-line (in browser but opened from local files) there they are, all new and pristine. Then I look on-line having deleted the old pages of the server (checking to get the error 404 page) and send the new pages up, only to find the old pages are showing again.

All very strange.

1&1 have just replied again telling me to allow 15 - 30 mins for refresh, but we are talking 3 days now since I first tried. In the past I have been aware NTL (our ISP - now Virgin) have been slow refreshing their end, but in that case the new site was visible from another location (like from our work). This is not the case here.

It's almost as if the 1&1 server will accept when the page has been removed - showing the error 404 page. But when it is sent up as a new page (with the same name as the previous), it seems to dredge up a cached page and not recognise the new page.

This seems to be a new phenomenon. - Though I could potentially be missing something obvious, I am trying to be thorough. I am sure I could fix it in the short term by renaming all the pages and redoing all the internal links, but this is a big job and would need to be done every time I update a page, if this continues.

Thanks for your help.

[UH-Bobby]

You're welcome , sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I've honestly never seen it being cached at a remote end, but it's definitely possible. If they can't resolve it, I think I'd find a new provider.

[DJwrite]

Have you checked whether you are behind a proxy server? Probably a transparent one that caches your pages. Have you tried uploading a totally different version of the page, perhaps one just saying "hello world" to see if it makes any difference. How about newly uploaded files that were not on the server before?

[trevorblack]

Have you tried uploading completing new pages that have not been uploaded before new file names, even if you aren't linking to them but type the url in can you see the newly added page?

[MikeDVB]

My advice would be to try accessing the pages via a proxy that you have never used and if you see the new content via the proxy you are likely behind a transparent proxy.

I know that if you are in South Africa and some other places they use a lot of proxy technology because their international bandwidth is *very* expensive.

http://www.proxy.org/
http://hidemyass.com/
http://bypass-filters.com/

The first is a good resource to locate proxies where as the other 2 are proxies I have found useful.

[Joe 22]

Thanks guys. It is fixed.

To cut a long story short, invlolving much installing and uninstallng, I found it was with CoreFTP.

I noticed that when I tried creating an entirely new page (or renaming an old one), while the page was clearly visable on my pc and in the folder, it was not showing through CoreFTP (despite repeated restarts etc to refresh).

I downloaded CoffeeCupFTP and it worked fine.

All very strange, as I have used Core for several years without problem, but there you have it. Issue solved.

Thanks again for all your time and advice.

Cheers

[MikeDVB]

I'm glad you were able to figure it out and the issue was so minor

[Joe 22]

Thanks, though it was one of those times when the problem wasn't minor (unable to update our website), and the cause could not be found... very frustrating.

I knew it was not the browser or ISP cacheing the pages, and the FTP program seeemed to be behaving normally - deleted files off the server and resubmitting them, showing the transfer and 100% Success, so I had no reason to think it was the FTP program. (not until I tried to create new pages and could not see them).

I have emailled and apologised to 1&1 for all my emails saying it could only be them, and thanked them for their patience. I just didn't know that the FTP program could cache pages too, expecially when uninstalling and reinstalling it.

I am pleased it's over, but it's been a stressful few days.

Thanks again

[MikeDVB]

What I mean by minor was that it wasn't something major that couldn't be easily resolved once it was diagnosed.