07 — Troubleshooting

If the live page looks old after an upload, start by checking the deployment path. Browser cache is a common cause, but it is not the only one.

Check in this order

  1. Confirm the edit is in the uploaded file. Open the repository's index.html on GitHub and check that the expected text is in the committed version.
  2. Confirm the publishing source. In Settings → Pages, verify the selected branch and folder are the ones Git-FED updated, and that index.html sits at that folder's root.
  3. Check the Pages deployment. In the repository's Actions tab, open the most recent Pages build/deployment run. If it failed or is still running, resolve that before judging the site.
  4. Open the direct Pages URL. Use the URL shown in Settings → Pages, not the Google Sites editor preview. Allow some time for publishing; GitHub says changes can take up to 10 minutes.
  5. Bypass local cache. Force-reload the page or open it in a private/incognito window. Compare with another browser or device if available. If the direct Pages URL is fresh but one browser is stale, the browser's cached copy is likely the issue.
  6. Check Google Sites separately. Confirm its link or embed still points to the current Pages URL. If the Google Site itself has pending edits, publish the Google Site.
  7. Check path spelling and case. Verify names such as assets/styles.css match the actual file names. A broken style file does not necessarily mean the HTML text failed to publish.

Diagnose the result

  • GitHub's repository file is old: the edit was not uploaded to the expected branch or the wrong file was changed.
  • Repository file is new but Pages shows the old version: check the Pages source and deployment run, then wait and force-reload.
  • Direct Pages URL is new but Google Sites is old or blank: fix the Google Sites URL/embed and publish the Google Site. Embedding may have host-specific restrictions; use a direct link as a fallback.
  • Text appears and then disappears only after refresh: verify the text is actually present in the served index.html; browser-only state is not the persistence model used here.

GitHub's Pages quickstart describes publishing delay, and its Pages troubleshooting guidance covers additional site errors.