How do you update a website built in Wordpress.?
A friend made my website then it was turned over to me. Now I am not able to save my changes with my website in Wordpress, hosting is GoDaddy. What could be going wrong?
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Sep 12, 2014
One thing to check is your status as a user ...Check if your friend made you an "administrator" when you were added to the users ...log into your site and from the dashboard click on users to see what status you have. If you are not an administrator then ask your friend to log in and change your status ...
Sep 12, 2014
Hi Debbie, if you are not familiar with Wordpress, it can be frustrating at times. However, it is super simple to learn well if you in the control panel often to browse around and see what is available to use. I personally have been using wordpress for 10 years to create simple to complex teaching & ecommerce platforms.
When you say you can't save changes, do you mean you cannot login to make the changes or are you logged in, on the relevant page, and the changes won't update once you click update in wordpress?
I have ran into the problem where when clicking update, nothing was changed on the page live; still had the same wordage, without the corrections I made showing. After some research and answers from other wordpress experts, I discovered that a simple clearing of my cache in the browser fixed the problem. For whatever reason, my browser was not releasing cache in order to clear memory so that the changes reflected on the page for me to see. So you might try that to see if it works for you also.
Another possible reason I discovered was that Wordpress needed to be updated to the newest release, which you should be able to notice when logged in to your WP control panel at the top. If it needs to be updated, you will see a warning with a link to click for updating.
Another possible reason is that if you are using a theme custom designed for your site, then you might not actually be in the proper area to edit the text. For example, I have worked with themes that when you go to edit the page from the typical edit function, edits made here are not see on the page live because the actual editing that happens for that page is contained within a custom widget, or within a theme builder section of the admin panel.
There are a few more possible reasons, but these are typically the most common I have come across, as well as many clients that I support.
If you have any questions, concerns, or it is still not working right for you, feel free to ask me more questions with more detail concerning the problem. Hope it begins to work for you and that you become a wordpress expert soon. It is fun cms to use and can do awesome things for a business.
I am here with any concerns. :)
Sep 12, 2014
Don't put your password on this forum. It's possible you're not selecting the "update" button before you leave the page you're working on, which is hard to do because Wordpress will prompt you as to whether or not you want to leave. A more likely cause is your connection to GoDaddy is timing out - GoDaddy has notoriously slow servers - and/or your connection to GoDaddy is too slow. Anyone have any suggestions on how she can confirm that theory?
Sep 12, 2014
I agree with Michael without knowing further information as to what it is you are trying to change it's hard to be helpful.
Is it design related? Content related? Template?
Thanks Robyn
Sep 12, 2014
I agree with Michael's comments. Are you able to sign into Wordpress ok? Most likely you are omitting to press the update button before exiting. This is a common problem for people not too familiar with Wordpress. Please do not give out your user name and password on this forum as I see there is an admin link at the bottom of your website which directly leads to your Wordpress sign on and password. If you do need further help, please send me a private message and I would be happy to arrange a Skype call to walk you through how to do the changes in WP. Regards,
Sep 12, 2014
Depends on whether it is a post or page you are updating. Generally you add your content and then update the page or post. But if you can not do that then there is some corruption of files somewhere that is assuming that your are logged in as administrator an not just a user. Users unless specified do not have administrative permissions. They can not add or delete content. If it is an administrative user and password that you need contact your friend and ask him for it. The best solution in this case is to contact your friend and ask him to check it out for you. Having made the site he is in a better position to answer your question.
Sep 12, 2014
Debbie,
If you are creating new pages be sure to add to the menu...If updating wordpress themes or plugins, there is a great plugin to help call Easy theme and plugin updater...let me know if you have any other questions. Hope that helps...keekee
Sep 12, 2014
Probably just a WP database / config issue.
Configure using WP-CLI (WordPress command-line interface) if you are technically savvy: http://wp-cli.org
This lets you control your WP sites by just using a computer terminal.
Alternatively, you can use hosting platforms like GetPantheon to help you scale up and maintain your site through any computer browser:
https://www.getpantheon.com/wordpress
Best of luck, Debbie.
Sep 12, 2014
I hate to say this but the likely problem is that you don't know enough about wordpress to make the changes / updates properly.
I offer all my clients maintenance packages for simple basic updates and provide quotes for the more time consuming and therefore costlier changes.
The person who built your site knows wordpress and can likely do the changes quickly and easily. I assume you are trying to save money by doing these updates yourself, but instead the question might be, how much time have you taken to try to find the answer to your question above. This means time away when you could be doing what you do know which is your business.
All of a sudden retaining a web and wordpress savvy person to make your changes seems very cost effective.
Also without you going into detail as to what type of change you are making, how are you doing it and how are you saving the file makes it impossible to answer or even help you with your issue.
Sep 13, 2014
Probably has something to do with your WordPress profile and how it was setup. You might want to make sure you have all the permissions available.
Most updates can be done from the WordPress Dashboard. If not you can also do updates from your godaddy Cpanel.
If you could be more specific as to what you are trying to save or update we an offer more assistance.
Sep 13, 2014
Hi Debbie -
A number of things could be wrong. Consider:
• PLATFORM AND HOST: First there are some lower level programs that WordPress runs on: Linux, Apache (server), MySQL (database), and PHP (the program that makes things happen). "L.A.M.P platform." All of these are frequently updated...BUT all hosts do not necessarily keep you at the latest version.
• THEMES AND PLUGINS: There are thousands of themes and plugins out there and most sites use at least 10 plugins...BUT...not all are programmed to standard, some conflict with other plugins, and all must be kept up to date as WordPress is updated.
• SCRIPTING/PROGRAMMING: It is even possible that a developer could damage your site, independent of the items mentioned above, if they do not know what they are doing with CSS, PHP, and Javascript programming. Sometimes it's just an honest mistake.
I go back before WordPress 1.5 (current version 4.0) and will be happy to quote you on some Tech. Support. In the meantime, hang out on the support forums at WordPress.org, and see what you can learn.
Sep 12, 2014
Hello, Debbie.
As Michael Best said, it might be good if you provide more information about the website you have issues with.
Maybe if you can provide the URL and maybe a username and password (that you can change or delete later, if that makes you feel better).
Regards.
Sep 12, 2014
Hello to a fellow Oregonian! In addition to the other comments about being admin, I'm wondering what ISP you're using for your connection (to look at your website). Some ISPs "cache" a website to speed up access, which means the site can be changed on the hosting server but the old version will still be showing up in your browser for a while. Go to a coffee shop with a portable and use their wifi, or even visit your next door neighbor and ask to view your site on their computer, and if the changes show that will confirm there's a caching issue. Good luck!
Sep 12, 2014
Try putting a question mark at the end of the url in the browser, it might be caching
Sep 13, 2014
First, do you know if you are listed as a site administrator? If not, make sure you have those privileges to make changes. Otherwise, Michael has the "Best" suggestions.
Sep 13, 2014
Give WordPress IT team a call, they will explain exactly how to do what you need.
Sep 13, 2014
Debbie,
First make sure that you have admin access. Hosting shouldn't matter.
IF you have the time, there is all kinds of info available on the wordpress codex - you could also try youtube tutorials. If you don't have the time and want to make major changes, I would suggest hiring someone so you can focus on what you are good at.
:)
Sep 13, 2014
Without having specifics on what you are facing; I find that tutorials on YouTube like the one in the link can be helpful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH_gV_qPTIg
Forgetting to click "update" is common (I still do it myself occasionally).