Publishing and domain problems

My live website does not show my latest changes

Almost always one of three things, in this order of likelihood:

1. You saved but did not publish. Saving updates your draft; publishing updates what visitors see. They are separate steps.
2. Your browser is showing you a cached copy. Open the address in a private browsing window to see what a new visitor sees.
3. You are looking at a different address. A website can have both an Instantsite address and a connected domain. Check which one you published to.

Publishing was refused

Publishing runs a check first, and errors block it because they would produce a genuinely broken public website. The list names each problem and where it is. The usual ones:

• A button with no destination.
• A link pointing at a page that has been deleted.
• A contact form with nowhere to deliver to.
• Missing required metadata on a page.

Warnings (an empty heading, a low-contrast button) are shown but do not block publishing. See publishing your website.

My domain will not verify

Custom domains are available on Pro and Premium. On a paid plan, work through these in order:

Check the record itself

• The record type matches exactly. A TXT value added as a CNAME never verifies.
• The host is exactly as shown. Many DNS providers append your domain automatically; entering the full name then produces a doubled host such as _verify.example.com.example.com.
• The value has no trailing space and no trailing dot your provider did not ask for.
• There is no older, conflicting record of the same type on the same host.

Then check the timing

DNS changes have to spread before we can see them. That can take hours depending on your provider and the record's time-to-live. Press Verify again later; there is nothing else to do in the meantime.

Then check the order

The three steps run in sequence: proving the domain is yours, issuing the HTTPS certificate, then routing traffic. A later step cannot pass before an earlier one has.

The domain verified but nothing loads

A verified domain serves nothing until two more things are true:

1. It is assigned to a website.
2. That website is published.

Both are on the Domains screen and in the editor. If the browser warns about the connection rather than showing nothing, the certificate is still being issued; the dashboard step shows where it is.

A domain that used to work has stopped

• Check its expiry date and auto-renew setting. An expired domain stops resolving whatever else is configured.
• Check your plan. Custom domains are a paid feature, so a website on one becomes unreachable at that address if the account returns to Free. Its instantsite.app address still works.
• Check that nothing changed at your DNS provider; a records cleanup elsewhere can remove the routing record.

Contact form submissions are not arriving

1. Check the delivery address in the editor, under Contact form delivery. With no address set, submissions go to your account email.
2. Check the spam folder of that address.
3. Send a test submission from your published website, not from the editor.
4. Republish if you changed the delivery address after publishing; the published website carries the settings from when it was published.

Still nothing? Write to support with the address of the published website and the delivery address you configured.