Troubleshooting

Find what you're seeing below. Each answer says what usually causes it and what to do, and links to the page that explains more.

I published, but the site didn't change

• The site is still rebuilding. Every publish rebuilds the site, which takes a minute or two, longer on Bitbucket and Vercel. The top of the admin panel says Updating the live site… until it's done, then The live site is up to date. Reload the page you're looking at then; your browser may also show its own copy for a little while.
• The rebuild failed. The top of the admin panel says The live site couldn't be updated. Your change is still published; What went wrong? says why, and If the live site isn't updated says what to do about each reason.
• The change went into a draft. If a bar at the top of the screen says you're working in a draft, your change is kept there until the draft is published. Choose Publish all in the bar, or submit it for review (Drafts).
• It was submitted for review. An owner may have limited what you can change; changes outside that are submitted for review instead of published, and go live once a reviewer publishes them.
• The page is scheduled. A page or item with a schedule shows only from its start, and goes at its end (Scheduling). The Pages screen says when.
• The change was to the site's code. Blocks added or removed under Blocks show up once the site has rebuilt with them, and the editor offers them after that (Add blocks).

I can't sign in

The sign-in screen says what went wrong. What each message means:

• "That sign-in didn't work": the token was copied only in part, has expired, or was revoked. Make a new one with the sign-in screen's link (Signing in with a token).
• "That account can't see this site": the token wasn't given access to the site's repository. On GitHub, choose Only select repositories and pick the site when you make it.
• "That account can see the site but isn't allowed to change it": the account needs write access to the repository, the Developer role on GitLab, or Write permission on Bitbucket. Ask an owner to invite you. Collaborators on someone else's personal GitHub repository need a classic token, from Create a broader token instead.
• "Goodfellow isn't installed on this site": the sign-in service's app needs installing on the repository once. An owner chooses Install Goodfellow on the sign-in screen; anyone else can sign in with a token meanwhile.
• "needs the site's address in Site settings" or "works only at the site's own address": signing in with GitHub works only at the address in Site Settings → General. Sign in with a token, add or correct the address, and sign in at that address after the site has rebuilt.
• "works only on the published site": signing in with GitHub doesn't work on your own computer. goodfellow dev and next dev need no sign-in.
• "That account isn't an owner of this site": the Editors, Domain and Updates screens' owner sign-in needs one of the site's owners: Admin on GitHub and Bitbucket, Maintainer on GitLab (Inviting and removing editors).
• "isn't available right now": the sign-in service can't be reached, or has been used as much as it can be that day. Sign in with a token.
• "You were signed out because your sign-in expired": sign in again; changes to pages you were editing are kept in the browser (Unpublished changes). Signing in with Bitbucket lasts two hours.
• "Couldn't reach…": check the connection. A network that blocks GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket blocks the admin panel too.

On a site with a token broker, editors sign in on the broker's page, and the admin panel says where if it's opened anywhere else.

Someone else changed this page

Publishing stopped because someone else published changes to the same page or file since you opened it. Nothing was overwritten: Reload opens their version, so you can make your change again on top of it, and Put my changes back brings yours back to publish over theirs (Working with other editors). To see what they changed, open the page's version history.

My domain doesn't work, or has no HTTPS

• "Something else is there": another DNS record with the same name points elsewhere, often the registrar's own parking page. Delete it at the registrar.
• The records are in place, but HTTPS isn't ready: hosts issue the certificate once they see the records, which can take up to a day. If it takes longer, look for a CAA record that leaves out Let's Encrypt, or Cloudflare's proxy in front of a site that isn't on Cloudflare Pages.
• The site opens, but looks unstyled or its links are broken: the site needs rebuilding for its new address. Publish any change, or use Rebuild now on the Updates screen.

If it doesn't work on the Domain page has more.

A block shows a note in the editor

Some blocks need something set up first, and say so in the editor, with a link to where it's done: a Form needs a form service in Site Settings → General, Share buttons and link previews need the Site address, Comments need Site Settings → Comments, and a block that adds pages of its own says why it can't on this page. Visitors never see these notes; until it's set up, the block shows nothing on the site, or only what works without it. Built-in blocks and Forms say what each block needs.

Fonts or pictures don't show

• A picture is missing: its file may have been deleted or renamed. Publishing lists links to media that doesn't exist (Site checks); choose the picture again. A picture just uploaded shows in the editor at once, and on the site once it has rebuilt.
• Pictures, videos or maps from other sites show a box asking first: the site asks visitors before loading other sites' content (Visitors' consent). They show once the visitor allows it.
• The whole site looks unstyled: usually the site's address or folder changed without a rebuild, as above. On a host other than the four Goodfellow sets up, check the build's folder and addresses.
• Your own font doesn't show: check its files are WOFF2 and are still in the media library's fonts folder, which publishing reports if not (Your own fonts). While a font loads, pages show one of the computer's fonts in its place.
• A Google font doesn't show: builds copy Google's fonts into the site; if Google couldn't be reached during the build, pages load them from Google instead, which some networks block. The next rebuild copies them again.

The admin panel can't open the site

If the admin panel says Some of the site's files have problems, a content file was changed outside the admin panel in a way it can't read, or was saved by a newer release of Goodfellow than the site's. Its details name each file and what's wrong with it. A developer can fix the file, or put back a version that worked from the site's history; a file from a newer release needs the site updated first.

The build failed

What went wrong? at the top of the admin panel names the step that failed and, where the build said, the file that caused it (If the live site isn't updated):

• Didn't start: the account's free build minutes or billing on the host.
• Packages couldn't be installed: often a passing problem; publish again later.
• A content file has a problem: fix it in the admin panel, or put back a version from its version history.
• The site's code: undo a change under Blocks if there was one just before; otherwise a developer needs the host's details, behind See the details.

Developers can run goodfellow build on their computer to see the same problem, with --strict to fail on content problems too (Commands).

Updates stopped

The Updates screen's Last update says when the last update ran and what it did (The Updates screen). If nothing has been installed for a while:

• There's nothing to install. Fixes are installed on their own, but a new release that can change how things work, such as 0.9 for a site on 0.8, waits for an owner to choose Update to ….
• Automatic fixes are off, or the newest fix is among the releases the site went back from. The screen shows both.
• The last update didn't build. Every file went back as it was; the screen says why, and a developer may need to look. A plugin or theme that doesn't say it works with the new release is named on the screen.
• Rebuilding overnight is set to Never, which also stops fixes being installed on their own.
• The setup doesn't run updates. Sites made before the nightly check, and some on Vercel, need their setup files copied from a newer starter; on GitLab and Bitbucket, Turn on automatic updates has to be chosen once (Turning it on). Bitbucket's free plan has 50 build minutes a month, which a busy month can use up.

The upgrade guide says how to bring an older site's setup up to date.