OtherPeoplesPixels

Website (Access Problems)

Help! I can't see my OPP website. What's going on?

Okay, deep breath…there are a few possibilities:

  • 1. You own your domain name, and just bought a site with us. You have not taken any steps to set that domain name up to point to the new OPP site.

You need to login to your Control Panel and follow the steps described there to setup your domain to point to your new OPP website. Once you do this, it should be up and running shortly.

  • 2. You have just changed your nameservers, but can't see your new OPP site yet.

It's possible that you can't see the site because the DNS/nameserver change you made hasn't spread to your Internet Service Provider yet. As the instructions in your Control Panel said, it generally takes 48 hrs for the change to spread web-wide.

Provided that you have waited at least an hour or so, it's also possible that there may be something local going on on your end that's preventing you from seeing the site. You can try:

  • Clearing the cache on your browser. You can find out how in your browser's help section. It may be storing old data about your site.
  • Turn off and restart your cable/DSL modem and router (if you have one). Keep them off for a few minutes, and this will clear the stale DNS info out of them, which could have been pointing to your old site.
  • 3. You own your domain name and have had your OPP site for a while. It stopped working all of a sudden and now shows a “parked domain” page. (These sometimes have ads on them or pictures of smiling college girls with backpacks.)

Your domain name is probably expired. Yikes! This is why your website is down. You need to get in touch with your domain registrar (the folks you bought the domain from) ASAP, and renew your domain. Then, set your nameservers to ours. Once you do this, your site should be back up shortly.

  • 4. Oops, did you forget to pay for or renew your OPP site?

No worries, our feelings are not hurt. We try to give as much of a grace period to our customers as possible, but eventually an unpaid site does come down. Please contact support@otherpeoplespixels.com and we'll help sort it all out!

  • 5. You are having a problem not covered in 1-4. Perhaps your site appears as blank, or it just doesn't show up.

99% of the time this sort of thing is caused by a local issue, specific to your browser, your computer or your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

You can see if the problem you are experiencing is a local issue by calling a friend using a different computer on a different ISP. If they can see the site, then the issue lies with your browser, your computer's set-up or your ISP. If it's a local issue, check the tips below. If your friend swears blind that they have the same problem, please contact support@otherpeoplespixels.com asap because it is super duper rare for an OPP site to be down!

Browser Problems:

  • The first thing to do is clear your cache. If you don't know how to do this, refer to the browser's help section.
  • If this doesn't work, restart your browser or try another browser.
  • You should also be using the latest copy of your browser for the best over-all web-browsing experience. If not, then update your browser. Old browsers make all websites look crummy!

Computer Issues:

  • Do you have any anti-ad-ware or anti-spy-ware running on your computer? These programs can sometime block legitimate websites.
  • Oh dear…is it possible that your computer has a virus? A tip off can be ads, weird spam links, or pop ups on your computer.
  • Are you accessing your website from a place of business? Sometimes companies block their network from being able to see certain types of websites.
  • I hate to say this, but is your computer really old? This too could be the issue…

ISP (Internet Service Provider) Issues:

  • Are you having problems seeing other websites too? Then this is most likely an issue with your ISP. Call them or just wait for the service to come back online. We have this problem at home sometimes too! When will the internet get piped straight into out brains? Just kidding. That's kinda scary.

My website looks *weird*. What's going on?

Sounds like a browser issue. Clear your browser's cache, and/or restart your browser — or try another browser. Also, check out the tips above.

If your website or images look cropped, it's probably because you have enabled 'zooming' in your browser, to enlarge text on other websites, but this affects your site too.

Call a friend, if they are not having the same issue, then the problem is being caused by your local computer, connection, browser or settings. Try updating your browser to the most modern version too, as old browsers can make everyone's websites look funky.

I just paid for my OPP website, but it's not set up yet. Why, oh why?

We're so glad that you are excited about your OPP site! Please be patient. As the set-up process says, we must manually review and activate all sites so it takes us some time to get new sites up and running. We are a small business, so this can sometimes take up to 48 hours — or longer over the weekends/holidays.

We do truly, sincerely, massively appreciate your patience and are glad that you're excited about your new website!

See Also

help/cp/website-access-problems.txt · Last modified: 2011/08/18 22:23 by debbie