Having Problems Publishing Your Website? Here’s How to Diagnose the Issue
Running into a website error when publishing your website can be pretty stressful. You followed the steps to get your website online, but whenever you type in your domain name nothing comes up. Luckily, most problems surrounding your website can be pretty easy to fix – especially if you have a simple website, and the error isn’t coming from a code conflict.
Below we dive into some of the biggest issues surrounding getting your website online. If you’re stuck, then spend some time working through the list below. Hopefully, you’ll be able to resolve your website issues on your own. But remember, you can always reach out to technical support to help you work through any issues you can’t solve on your own.
With that being said, let’s jump in.
Problem #1: You can’t see your website
So, you’ve uploaded your website’s files to your server via FTP. Or, you’ve installed WordPress on your site, but when you type in your domain you don’t see anything?
This is a pretty common issue. But, it’s also pretty easy to solve.
The most common reason your site isn’t showing up is that either your DNS records aren’t pointing towards your host, or you’ve updated your nameservers, but they haven’t transferred over yet.
First, make sure that your nameservers are pointing towards your new host. Second, check that your domain name hasn’t expired.
Problem #2: No changes are appearing on your site
If you’ve recently made changes to your site, but they aren’t appearing, then you probably don’t have an issue with your site, but rather with your browser. Your web browser is probably just calling up a cached version of your site, instead of the most recent version where changes have been made.
To fix this issue simply clear the cache on the browser you’re using to view your site.
If this doesn’t fix the issue, then double check that you actually uploaded your new website files to your server.
Problem #3: Your site looks incomplete
On occasion, when you’re uploading your site there could have been a connectivity issue, either with your Internet or connection to the server. It is rare, but it does happen.
If, when you access your site, it appears incomplete and only some of the files or pages are showing, then try to upload your site again. Solving the issue could be this simple.
Problem #4: Images are appearing as broken links
So you’ve uploaded images to your site, but they either aren’t showing up at all, or they’re displaying as broken image links. There are a few different reasons this issue could be occurring.
- The images could be uploaded to the wrong folder. If you’re uploading images via FTP, you need the images to be in the exact folder specified in the image path name.
- You could have the wrong image filename within your site’s HTML. For example, if your code says the image name is “freebook.jpgâ€, but you’ve named the image “free-book.jpg†it won’t be able to find the image. Double-check that the image filenames match what’s referenced in your site’s code.
- You could be linking to the desktop location of the image, rather than the image on your server. This happens when you’re building your site using a website builder on your computer. When you preview the site it looks good, but viewed online it won’t be able to access the same images. To remedy this make sure that your HTML is referencing your images located on your server, not your desktop.
Problem #5: You get an error message
If you’re using a CMS like WordPress to build out your site and all you’re getting is an error message, then there’s probably a plugin conflict or an error with your theme’s code. Now, if you don’t have any development skills, then this is probably an issue that you won’t be able to work out yourself.
However, if you did just make changes to your theme’s code and after those changes, you’re getting an error message, then there is a workaround.
To fix this issue login to the backend of your site via FTP, and locate your site’s files. Open up the file that you modified and copy and paste the original theme code before your changes. You can find this by downloading a fresh version of your WordPress theme.
Hopefully, the tips above have helped you solve the most common issues preventing you from publishing your site online. If you’ve tried the above to no avail, then we recommend reaching out to your hosting support team to help diagnose and solve the issue.
Kevin Wood writes about technology and human potential. You can find him at his virtual homes Wooden Writing and Counter Culturist.