Solving problems with site loading in Sitebuilder

This tutorial explains why your site or page may not be loading in the Yola Sitebuilder. We will explain how you can make sure your content is added correctly so that your site loads and you're able to edit it.

Initial troubleshooting

If your Sitebuilder isn't loading, we recommend trying the following: 
 

Clear your browser's cache
This link has information on how to clear your browser's cache: Clear cache.

Check the Privacy Settings
Your settings must be set to enable cookies from Yola, this link has those details: Enabling Cookies.

Enable Javascript
Check that your browser is set to enable Javascript : Enable Javascript.

Check for large pictures or large files
This can definitely cause a page to load very slowly. Please take a look at the following on how to resolve this issue: Image Optimization.

Check your network
Contact your internet service provider. They might be experiencing problems. Try navigating to other sites to see if they load for you.

Try a different browser
Test your site in different browsers. For example will the page load in Chrome, but not in Internet Explorer? There may be a widget on your page that a particular browser cannot load. Try your site in Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.

Anti-virus/firewall
Check your computer's anti-virus and firewall programs to see whether they may be blocking your site from loading. This information is usually listed in the logs. If your site is being blocked, you will need to add it to your exceptions list. For information about how to do this, visit your anti-virus and firewall provider's website and take a look at their "Help" section.

Browser add-ons
Browser add-ons could affect your Sitebuilder and prevent it from loading correctly. If you have add-ons installed on your browser, try disabling them. 

Location
If you are using a public computer, such as in a library or internet cafe, the network security settings may be causing your Sitebuilder not to load. Try to access your site from your home computer. 

If, after going through the above steps, your page still isn't loading it may be because of text that has been pasted from MS Word, or broken HTML code.
 

Browser compatibility

I am using Internet Explorer 11 and my text does not appear on my page.

Currently, we only support Internet Explorer 11 or newer. If you are using Internet Explorer 11 and the text on your site is not showing, you need to turn off Compatibility View. To do this, click on the Compatibility View button of your browser (next to the refresh button) and add Yola to the Compatibility settings. For more information, see this article.
 

Effects of copying and pasting from MS Word or an external source

Do not copy and paste directly from MS Word or any other external sources!

Copying and pasting directly from a program like MS Word, email, or other webpages is one of the easiest ways to destroy your site. When you copy and paste directly from these sources, there is hidden formatting in the text that can cause the page to break. Here are some things that may happen to your site as a result of pasting text directly:

  • Your page will not load in the Sitebuilder. This might not happen initially but your page will break at some point.
  • Content on the page might not be editable.
  • The inconsistent appearance of your text in different browsers.
  • Text and images appear "jumbled" and do not display the way you laid them out.
  • Inability to format your text as you would like.
  • Other elements of the style may break, such as the menu links.
  • You may be unable to access various Sitebuilder functions, such as saving or publishing.

How to resolve this issue using Notepad or TextEdit

  1. Copy the content from the MS Word document or external source.
  2. Paste the content into a text editor.
    • Windows users: Use Notepad for this purpose. You can search for it on your Start Menu.
    • Apple Mac users: Use TextEdit for this purpose. You can find it in Finder > Applications. Please note that if you use TextEdit, you must select the "Plain Text" option after you paste. To do this, go to Format > Make Plain Text.
  3. Notepad or TextEdit will strip out any unwanted formatting and you can then safely copy and paste the text into the Text Widget.
  4. Then use the Text Editing Toolbar to format your text as desired.

 

How to add images stored in an MS Word document

In order for your images to display correctly on your page, you would need to upload the images individually and not embedded inside an MS Word document.

If you upload the document, a link to the MS Word document will be displayed on your page, instead of the image itself.

Uploading the images

  1. Open your MS Word document.
  2. Right-click on the image.
  3. Click on "Save As" and save the image on your desktop or in any location on your computer.
  4. Follow the above step for all images.
  5. The image will be saved as .gif or .png if it's a graphic illustration, or a .jpg if it's a photograph.
  6. You will now be able to upload your image, using these steps: Adding pictures.
     

My page is stuck on "Opening Page" and the content does not load

This is mainly caused by adding invalid HTML code to your page. When this happens the page is not editable and therefore does not allow you to correct the code. This situation is rather unfortunate and you have only two options available. The first option is to try and break the code by changing the layout (usually 3-over-1 works best). Then drag the widget containing the invalid code to one of the empty columns and delete. If you are still unable to access your code, then your only option is to delete the page and recreate it. Invalid HTML causes very similar problems to text pasted directly from MS Word.

How do I avoid such a situation in the future?

We recommend testing your HTML code first before adding it to your page. Here's how to test the code:

  1. Create a test site in your Yola account.
  2. Before adding the HTML code to your site, simply test it out on the test site first.
  3. Add the code and save the page.
  4. Now open a different page and then return to the page with the pasted code.
  5. If the code stops the page from loading or if you encounter any problems on the page, we suggest not adding it to your site until it's corrected.

How do I fix my invalid HTML code?

  1. Go back to the source of the HTML code and make sure you have copied the entire code.
  2. To make sure you are copying the entire code, simply right click on the code with your mouse and click on "Select All". This will ensure that all code is selected. 
  3. Then click on "Copy".

Use an HTML tidy tool - there are many HTML tidy tools available for correcting invalid HTML code. We recommend using http://infohound.net/tidy.

Using the HTML tidy tool

  1. Paste your copied HTML code into the field called "HTML".
  2. Click on "Tidy!".
  3. Your invalid code will be corrected.
  4. Right-click with your mouse, click on "Select All", right-click again and click on "Copy". This will ensure all code is copied.
  5. Drag and drop the HTML Code Widget onto your page. 
  6. Now copy and paste the corrected HTML code into the HTML Editor. 

 

"Invalid Component" error dialog box when loading my page

Invalid component


If you see a similar error dialog box with a message like this "Invalid Component id '134'. Cannot Find Component HTML" this is mainly due to pasting invalid HTML code on your page.

This type of Error message is much easier to resolve and in most cases does not require for the page to be deleted and recreated.

Here's how to resolve the problem:

  1. Hold down on the "Esc" key or click on "OK" until the message closes.
  2. Locate the last piece of HTML code that was added to your page. This is most likely the cause of this issue.
  3. Delete the HTML Code Widget containing this code.
  4. Save the page.
  5. Click on Page > Refresh (it looks like a circle with an arrow).
    • If the Error Dialog box does not appear, then the HTML Code Widget you deleted was the offending widget.
    • If the Error Dialog box still appears, then you still need to locate the offending HTML Code Widget and delete it.

How do I correct the invalid code?

Follow the steps outlined above!


I get validation errors on my page

When you see such errors on your page, there is nothing to be alarmed about. These HTML validation errors have little or no practical impact to how browsers render your site or how search engines index your content.

We consulted one of our Javascript developers and here's what he has to say:

"Due to the nature of Yola, it's quite difficult and time-intensive to ensure complete HTML/CSS compliance. Traditionally we've focused more on features and work-flow than generated code quality because we felt most users weren't aware of HTML validation and would prefer more features and better work-flow to higher quality generated code and fewer features / worse work-flow.

That said, as former standards-compliant web developers ourselves, we understand the goals of standards compliance. We get big smiles on our faces when everything validates correctly and will be placing an emphasis on fixing as many of these issues as we can in the future."

Please try the above suggestions if you are having problems loading or editing your site. If you are still experiencing difficulty and have Yola Bronze, Silver, or Gold account, submit a support request.

Was this article helpful?
0 out of 1 found this helpful