YOUR WEB DESIGNER SWEARS HE OR SHE HAS MADE CHANGES TO YOUR WEB SITE, OR YOU HAVE UPDATED THE SITE YOURSELF, BUT YOU CAN'T SEE ANY DIFFERENCE.
"Help! I can't see the changes to my web site!"
By David Curtis
It happens every day. After a computer goes to a web site once and then some changes are made to the site the changes don't show up on the computer the next time the person goes there.
Internet browsers work by "caching" files from the internet onto your computer. This means that they store the pictures and page info in a place hidden from your usual access. In many cases you need to delete these cached images before you can see the new ones, particularly if you're in a hurry to see them. Your internet browser will update them eventually, but it could take days.
How do I delete my temporary internet files you ask? Easy. Start your Internet Explorer and click on Tools, then go down and click on Internet Options, then click on Delete Files.
Now it asks "Delete all files in the temporary internet files?" (and you thought I was making this up!)
Yes, and put a check in the box while you're at it - get rid of everything. Now, if you're a modem user you'll suddenly notice that your connection has slowed way down. That's because you have to download every single file from the internet again fresh. Now you see why there is a need for a temporary internet file cache.
"Yes, but I use FireFox" you say? OK FireFox instructions are:
On the menu go to Tools, then down to Options, then choose Privacy and finally click on Cache. Then click on Clear Cache Now.
Ok? You're done! What if you're using Internet Explorer 7? Similar to a combination of the two of these.
Click on Tools, Internet Options, Delete, then look for the Temporary Internet Files area (it should be the first area listed) and Click on "Delete Files"... and that's it.
That said... it may NOT be "it". You may STILL not be getting the current page and here's why:
Your internet service provider (AOL, Brighthouse, RoadRunner, Bell South, etc.) has to pay for their bandwidth just like everyone else. Just like everyone else, your service provider is now run by a bunch of pencil pushing bean counters in the accounting department concerned about the bottom line. They are not concerned about providing the best quality service. They are accountants.
To save money and cut down on bandwidth (bandwidth is like the flow of water going through a pipe) from the internet backbone (the hugely fast and efficient fiber optic "pipes" which carry the most data on the internet) the bean counters at your Internet Service Provider (ISP) recommend using "Caching Servers". That's right. There's that word again "cache". Instead of the cache you have on your little computer sitting in your home, they have banks of servers all caching the web pages from all sorts of web sites on the internet.
Then they serve those pages up to you COLD - sometimes weeks old - without recent updates or additions, and you're getting billed for surfing sites which may not even be there any more... or which may have special offers and coupons or sales events which you cannot see. This is what your "ISP" (Internet Service Provider - Ahem! Service? Ha!) is doing to you for you... take it or leave it, thank you very much.
Now this is not the case when it comes to the major websites out there. These special giants are granted pass-through service privileges so you can go directly to their web sites unhindered by this Cache blockage. Msn.com, General Motors, Yahoo!, etc. all the big sites are entered into a manually adjusted register which allows them to be exempted from this raw treatment. The result is that you may not be able to see certain small provider websites as they currently exist even IF you go through the process of deleting cache on your computer.
There IS a way to do it however - but it requires that you set up a temporary free "proxy" and circumvent your ISPs bean counter caching servers. That process, however, is a bit beyond what I can teach you to do in this article. If, however, you are interested in using a proxy server account, there are many good paid permanent proxies available.
Good luck and look for my next article entitled: "How come I just created a new web site, and some people can't get there?" - or - "The Evil Dr. Von Micro-and-soft Did it To Me Again."
