Are your WordPress changes not showing up when logged out? This can be very annoying especially when you’ve published a new article thinking that it is now live while on the other hand, it is not yet visible to your visitors.
One of the biggest problems is that you can vividly see the post available in the admin area, but once you log out, it vanishes.
In this article, we will be looking at the possible cause of WordPress changes not showing up when logged out.
Table of Contents
What are the causes of WordPress changes not showing up when logged out?
The main culprit for changes not taking effect when logged out is Caching.
Caching for the website could be divided into (3) three different types, but before we go into that, we would want to know what caching is.
What is caching
Caching can is the process of a program storing data for future requests. Website caching can reduce load time. Caching can be done through different methods, CDN, Website, and your browser, so as to increase load speed. So many websites use cache for easy accessibility. When it comes to website caching, caching can be done in (3) three ways.
Three types of caching are responsible for WordPress changes not showing up when logged out.
Mainly there are three types of caching methods that are responsible for WordPress changes not showing up when logged out:
- CDN cache
- Website cache
- Internet Browser cache
CDN cache
CDN is the acronym for (Content Delivery Network). It is used to speed up a website. Some content delivery networks include Cloudflare, MaxCDN, Amazon CloudFront, and Edgecast. In the case of CDN, static contents are being cached on its servers, and also, delivery of content is based on the nearest location of the visitor who is visiting the website.
In some cases, the old version of static pages is still being served to visitors even after clearing browser caches. If you just made a recent change on your WordPress (Themes, Pages, or Contents) it won’t be visible to the visitor.
Website cache
There are different types of plugins that are available for handling cache files and related issues. Again, the main aim of this is to boost load speed. We all know speed is important in this era.
In some cases, some website caching plugins might fail to clear and purge the cache files successfully.
These will lead to the delivery of previous cache files data which was cached before.
Internet Browser cache
Browsers caches website in other to reduce load time and boost load speed. In some cases, the browser might fail to get the latest changes made on a website. These can lead to delivering of old saved cache data.
Once this happens, your new website changes won’t take place on the visitor’s device or your device.
How to fix WordPress changes not showing up when logged out
Now we’ve got the three possible causes of WordPress changes not showing up when logged out. We are also going to fix it using the caching method provided.
How to fix WordPress changes not showing up when logged out (CDN provider)
Here, we are going to clear CDN caches. As I said above, there are different CDN providers, and I made mentioned Cloudflare, MaxCDN, Amazon CloudFront, and Edgecast. Also, they are not limited to these providers, there are a bunch of them.
For now, I am making use of Cloudflare, and I will be making use of Cloudflare for this tutorial. If you are making use of other CDN providers, you don’t need to worry, the procedures are almost the same apart from the User Interface (UI).
1. Log in to your CDN provider (Dashboard area).
2. In the menu section navigate to (Cache) and click on the (Cache button).
3. Scroll to (Purge cache), locate (Purge everything), and click on it.
4. Wait for it to purge everything.
We have successfully refreshed our cache to the latest version of our website.
How to fix WordPress changes not showing up when logged out (Website cache)
Tons of Website caching platforms and plugins are available to manage WordPress caching, it doesn’t matter the plugin you are using. Also, the procedures to refresh the cache are almost the same.
I have made use of the Ezoic free hosting platform, and Ezoic caching feature. I have also used some WordPress plugins like WP rocket, Litespeed cache, and some others. But in this tutorial, I will make use of the Ezoic caching system and Litespeed cache.
Ezoic caching feature
Before clearing or refreshing the Ezoic cache be sure you have enabled the caching feature. If you are not making use of it or you’ve never activated the Ezoic caching feature before then don’t bother to follow this procedure. But if you are currently making use of the speed and caching feature then follow this procedure.
1. Log in to Ezoic.
2. At the top menu, look for (Speed) and click on (Speed).
3. Under (Clear cache), click on (Clear cache).
That’s it we are done with that part, It’s as easy as that
Clearing cache using a plugin
A lot of people ain’t making use of the Ezoic cache feature, Most prefer the likes of WP fastest cache, Litespeed cache, and the rest. If you are one of them follow this procedure below.
1. Access your caching plugin settings. In most cases, you will need to access the plugin cache settings inside the WordPress setting while sometimes you can access the cache settings by just scrolling down the WordPress dashboard bar. This depends on how the plugin was built to be accessed.
2. Look for (Cache), if you are using Litespeed cache make use of the (Toolbox) feature.
3. Click on (Purge all), if you can not locate purge all make use of (Clear cache).
4. Wait till you get a notification that it is successful.
That’s it, we’ve successfully cleared and refreshed cache files using the Ezoic and plugin method.
How to fix WordPress changes not showing up when logged out (Internet Browser cache)
As we explained above, internet browsers EG. (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge browser) sometimes saves caches for some websites in other to speed up load time when you request for the website again.
Here we will need to clear all caches that are being saved by the internet browser.
I will be using the chrome internet browser for this procedure, It is also similar to other browsers.
1. Open your chrome browser.
2. Clear all open tabs by hitting on the X button.
3. Click on the (3) three dots at the right top of your screen.
4. Head on to (More tools) then click on (Browsing data).
5. Select (Advance) then tick browsing data, cookies, other site data, and cached images and files.
6. Click on the (Clear data) button.
Use incognito browsing mode
If you don’t want to use the method above you can open a new window or tab using incognito mode. Using this method caches, files are not being saved so you will be getting the latest version of your website.
Conclusion
WordPress changes not showing up when logged out are mainly caused by the caching system. The CDN cache, Website cache, and Internet Browser cache are mostly the cause of changes not taking effect after making changes on your WordPress website.
Checking, purging, and clearing caches can resolve this issue as fast as possible.
From my previous years of blogging, the (Website type of cache) is mostly the cause of WordPress changes not showing up when logged out. If you are using Ezoic caching features you will need to log in to clear cache files but if you are using plugins you will also need to clear and purge cache files through the plugin.
Other errors include coding errors, permission configuration, incorrect files, and unsaved changes.
Did this methods fix your WordPress site changes issue? I will be willing and also waiting patiently in the comment section for you.
