Published site won't show my updates?

First, it's amateur hour and I'm up! My first website and Xara is a dream come true for those of us who don't know HTML. Anyway...

I used Xara to build a decent website and I published it the first time a few days ago just to get an idea how it would look. It was fine and contained all the text and graphics that it originally had in the template. My changes up to that point were limited to some background color changes.

Now I have removed many of the template jpg's, reorganized some small layout features and added my own text. When I publish, I still have some of the old text and "x" where my new jpg's should be.

I feel my issue is probably something idiot simple and it involves the files in my "index" folder. My website files are listed in a folder on my desktop listed so:

notes
index_htm_files
about
blog
contact
gallery
index
index (This one is the Xara WebDesign index)
news
products
store

Any help is appreciated!

Best,

Mike :D

Hi Mike, welcome to TG :)

First thoughts:-

Have your tried refreshing your browser cache (CTRL+f5) ?

Is that 2 index files on your server ?

Is the index_htm_files folder empty ?

Which software did you use to upload the site ?

What is the URL ?

I refreshed my cache.

Yes there are two index files, not sure why. One has IE avatar next to it and the other has the Xara WebDesign avatar. I don't think I should have two.

The index_htm_files folder has the jpg's that make up the site and there is also another "index" file with the Xara WebDesign avatar.

I used Xara-file-publish...should I use something else?

URL is dcoutlaws.us

Thanks for any help. I'm not in a rush to get this done until after Thanksgiving anyway.

Best,

Mike

Sounds like an error during upload. Some of your image files are missing from the server. I would try uploading again.

Welcome to TalkGraphics Mike

You are confusing the index.web file (your Web Design document file) and your index file (index.htm or index.html) which is the file that is uploaded to your directory on your web host's server.

When you publish your website, either to a folder on your desktop, or to your web host's server, Web Designer creates an html script for each page. For example, page-one.html, page-two.html, etc. Web Designer also creates a folder that is based on the name you use when you publish your website, usually index.htm or index.html. If you publish your website as index.html then Web Designer creates a folder index_html_files. All of your images, style sheets and java script files and any attachments are placed in this folder. The web site script pages, looks in this folder for this material.

If you have two index files, index.htm and index.html, the browser will always ready the index.html file. So if you published your site and did not key in the full title and extension (index.html), then by default, Xara names the file index.htm.

So, always export your site as index.html.

Ok, I deleted the folder on my desktop containing the website files and saved again to desktop using export. It looks as though Xara names everything what it should be. I went to publish again and although everything appears to upload properly, I still have no changes to the website visible. When I open a browser and move the index.html file onto it the webpage I designed opens up properly and all the images, text, links, etc. work as desired.

I am at a loss to explain why the site won't update. I am using FutureQuest as my host.

Any thoughts? Thanks for your patience!

Best, Mike

Mike

I sounds like your ISP is caching the pages and now allowing a refresh. Can you give us a link so we can have a look. If there is anything significant in your changes let us know what to look for.

To override this hosting caching *feature*, try holding down the SHIFT key on your keyboard and then pressing F5 or clicking 'Refresh'.

OK, a link to what? (think - amateur!)

Mike

OK, so I communicated with FutureQuest as to my issues for several days and the recommendation was an FTP client. So I download CoreFTP and in addition to another layer of complexity the files are now moved to another folder which I can't find. Thank God for thumb drives!

Now the site looks like three layers of I don't know what. :-O

I'm going to bed...goodnight!

ibpilot - This is not really as hard as it seems. But the first time you try to do this it can seem like rocket science.

FutureQuest can give you the FTP information you need to upload your files which usually consists of an ftp address, something like ftp.mysite.com, and a folder in which to park your website files, often something link public_html. If FutureQuest does not require a special folder, then leave that box empty.

You already have your user name and password.

Have a look at the attached. This is really all you need. (I would never trust any product that comes from Ottawa :rolleyes:)

Here is what FutureQuest says you need:

Quote:

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Regardless of what FTP client you use, there are a few things you will need to know:

* Your UserName: Refer to your Activation Letter that was emailed for this information.

* Your Password: Refer to your Activation Letter that was emailed for this information.

* The Host Address: Usually ftp.yourdomain.tld (replace yourdomain.tld with your own domain name)

* FTP settings should be set to utilize PASV or Passive transfer mode depending upon your FTP client. (See below for instructions on doing this in CuteFTP and WS_FTP.)

* If behind a firewall you may need to enable the "Use firewall" setting in your FTP program as well.

---

So you do not need to worry about the optional folder.