TechNote (Archived)

Pages do not show after uploading or updating

Issue

After uploading an updated page to a server, the changes made to the page do not appear when viewed on the server.

Reason

Browsers may fail to display changes to an updated page for several reasons. Some of the reasons relate to how the page was uploaded to the server; others relate to conditions existing on the viewer's computer system or on the server itself. More information about these reasons can be found in the troubleshooting steps below.

Solution

This TechNote offers several approaches to troubleshooting why the changes in an updated page are not showing. In following these steps, you will verify that:

The updated page actually uploaded.
The page uploaded to the correct folder on the server.
The browser is displaying the most recent version of the page.
The server is providing the most recent version of the page.

Verifying that the updated page actually uploaded

Begin by confirming that the new version of the page has, in fact, uploaded to the server. The best way to confirm this is to check the "timestamp" of the uploaded page in the Remote pane of the Site Window. The timestamp (the date and time) of a saved modification to a file appears under the Modified category in both the Remote pane and the Local pane of the Site window. If, after checking the timestamp for the uploaded page, you are still not sure about whether the file uploaded, you can also delete the older version and upload the newer one.

Follow these steps to confirm that the updated page did upload:

If your Site window is not already open, choose Site > Open Site to open the appropriate defined site.
In Dreamweaver, make a small change to the document and save it the defined site.
Look in the Local pane of the Site window to see if the timestamp on the document you saved in Step 1 reflects the current time. You may need to refresh the view in the Site Window by choosing View > Refresh Local (Windows) or Site > Site Files View > Refresh Local (Macintosh).
Connect to the remote site and upload this document.
Look in the Remote pane of the Site window to verify that the timestamp for the uploaded file has changed. You may need to refresh the view in the Site Window by choosing View > Refresh Remote (Windows) or Site > Site Files View > Refresh Remote (Macintosh).

Note: While the file is uploading, you will be able to monitor a progress meter that shows the number of bytes being uploaded. This progress meter will appear in the lower right-hand corner of the Site window.
If you are still not sure whether or not the updated page uploaded, you can delete the page from the server and then re-upload the updated page.

Verifying that the updated page uploaded to the correct folder

If this is the first time the site has been uploaded, make sure that the files are uploading to the correct folder on the server. The information as to which folder the files should go into must be provided by the Host Provider. In some situations, a user connects to the FTP host directory, but the user uploads files into a subfolder called htmldocs or public or www. Check with your Host Provider if you are not sure specifically which folder to upload your files to. When using FTP as your method of access in Dreamweaver, this folder is defined in the Site Definition's Remote Info category in the Host Directory text box.

Verifying that the browser is displaying the most recent version of the page

Refresh/Reload: To see the current contents in an uploaded page, be sure that the browser is displaying the newer version. First try refreshing the page by clicking the Refresh (Microsoft Internet Explorer) or Reload (Netscape) button. You can also force the browser to go back to the server for the most recent page by pressing Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) while clicking the Refresh button.

Clearing the cache: To avoid having to download the same material repeatedly, browsers keep copies of all pages that you view, up to a certain limit. This set of files is called the "browser cache." You have the option of clearing these files from the cache so that when you view a page you can be sure you are not looking at a previously-saved copy. The instructions for both Internet Explorer and Netscape (on both platforms) are below:

Windows

Internet Explorer
1. Choose Tools > Internet Options > General.
2. Under the listing for Temporary Internet Files, click Delete Files.
3. On the Delete Files dialog box, Click OK.
4. Click Settings.
5. On the Settings dialog box, select the "Every visit to the page" option.
6. Click OK.
7. On the Internet Options dialog box, click OK.
Netscape
1. Choose Edit > Preferences.
2. Expand Advanced in the Category list, then select Cache.
3. Click Clear Memory Cache; then click OK.
4. Click Clear Disk Cache; then click OK.
5. Under the "Document in cache is compared to document on network," you can select the Every time option. This setting will direct the browser to compare the document in cache to the server each time you view the page.
6. Click OK on the Preferences dialog box.

Macintosh

Internet Explorer
1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Web Browser > Advanced.
2. Under the Cache section, click Empty Now.
3. For Update Pages, you may want to select Always.
4. Click OK.
Netscape
1. Choose Edit > Preferences.
2. Select Advanced, then Cache, in the Category list.
3. Click Clear Disk Cache Now; then click OK.
4. Under the "Page in cache is compared to page on network," you can select the Every time option. This setting will direct the browser to compare the document in cache to the server each time you view the page.
5. Click OK on the Preferences dialog box.

Verifying that the server is providing the most recent version of the page

Some servers also have a file cache that is used for file requests. If this server cache is not updated frequently, then the new pages may not be served. Check with your Host Provider to see if your server uses a file cache. If so, ask them to refresh the cache so your new pages will be presented.