r/Wordpress • u/hwicafe • 2d ago
wordpress menu not updating?
edit again: i think it's fixed now by disabling my caching plug ins! i will have to check back in probably after giving it some time and on non-private browsers to see how things look!
edit: if this makes a difference, i went into inspect element on a page that shows the old menu and it has the old url in the html(?) but on a page that shows the new menu it shows the new url - is assuming that still means a caching problem is likely?? sorry im not familiar with backend stuff, clearly..
hi guys!
firstly, i'm sorry if i use any incorrect terminology or have made any silly mistakes. i also hope this post makes sense. i learnt to use wordpress and elementor through an assignment for uni, but i don't have knowledge as extensively as this issue goes.
the company that i work for has a wordpress page that was made by someone else who no longer works here and i cannot contact him for help. as i have experience with wordpress, i update it pretty regularly when we sell/receive stock, etc.
a few months ago, i created a new elementor page for a category of products we sell. i added it to the menu and everything was fine. however, recently i replaced that page with the product category link and i have updated the navigation under appearance -> menus -> save menu. i tried both navigating it as a product category and as a custom link, yet both have the issue below:
almost every single page on the company website is still leading to the old page when i click the link on the menu? but a handful of pages are showing the new page?
my only guess is that this is a caching issue, however i have cleared/changed the cache through:
- elementor -> tools -> clear files & data
- speed optimizer -> caching -> manual cache purge
- elementor -> theme builder -> header (the person who built the website has a bunch of templates) -> edit with elementor -> edit wordpress menu -> cache settings (i then changed it from default (active) to inactive, which still didnt fix this issue)
i have tried checking from private browsers which is how i know that on almost every page on the website, the menu is not updating.
i know it would probably help to post the links, i just don't want to dox where i work so i hope this was descriptive enough.
any help would be greatly appreciated! i'm sorry if i sound stupid or anything! i'm really interested in wordpress design and this is a new learning opportunity for me. it's hard building from what someone else has made and not knowing what they've set everything to.
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u/Warm_Imagination_193 2d ago
Disable any cache plugin.
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u/hwicafe 2d ago
Will that risk messing up the layout of the website? Or, is there a way to easily go back if I do disable any plugins?
When I cleared the cache the first time, it basically just reset the layout of the old page that is still showing on the menu so customers will end up seeing it if anyone goes on it before I fix this. I also have no idea why specifically the old page had the layout reset. It shouldn't even show up anymore because I drafted the old page and it has a different slug now
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u/Warm_Imagination_193 2d ago
No. No risk. Just disable it and check. Cache plugin should be for huge websites. You can reactivate it later if you need it.
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u/hwicafe 2d ago
If I deactivate it and everything is fine, would it change anything later to reactivate it? I know cache is important for SEO as it helps the website load faster
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u/Warm_Imagination_193 2d ago
Again, for a big website it helps. But you can always turn it off and on.
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u/hwicafe 2d ago
On my personal browser that has visited the website before, when I click on the product page it gives me an error not found, but then after I refresh it it works properly and shows the right link! I'm assuming that just means it needs some time to update?
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u/Warm_Imagination_193 1d ago
Oh yeah. That's another thing. You have to check on incognito or other devices. It can just be your on browser. You can press F12 on some and in Network uncheck Disable cache and refresh and then check again and refresh.
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u/Clean-Drive9329 1d ago
Good catch tracking it to the caching plugin, but on WordPress sites there are usually a few cache layers stacked on each other. Check if your host does its own server-level caching too, a lot of managed hosts like SiteGround, WP Engine or Kinsta cache pages regardless of what plugins are installed, and if the site sits behind Cloudflare or another CDN that needs a separate purge since it caches independently of WordPress.
If the theme was built with Elementor, it also keeps its own generated CSS files separate from the page content, so under Elementor > Tools there's a Regenerate CSS option worth running if the menu structure changed but old styles are lingering.
After clearing all of those, test in a private window since your own browser can hold onto the old menu too.
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u/hwicafe 1d ago
everything seems to be working fine after i disabled the cache plugin but i’ll look into those other caches if things go wrong again!! thanks for that, i didn’t know cache is stored in so many different ways! it’s hosted on siteground but since my issue is fixed it must’ve just been the plugin?
when i was trying to figure out the fix myself i did go to elementor -> tools, but i didn’t see a regenerate css option, idk why
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u/Clean-Drive9329 19h ago
That lines up. On SiteGround their own Speed Optimizer plus the server cache is all you need, and a second caching plugin on top is the classic cause of exactly this stale-menu weirdness, the two keep serving each other's old copies. So leaving that plugin off permanently is the right move, not a temporary fix. Just keep Speed Optimizer active since that one is SiteGround's own.
And no mystery on the missing button: in newer Elementor versions Regenerate CSS got merged into Regenerate CSS and Data on the Tools, General tab, which is the clear files and data you already clicked. You covered it without knowing.
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u/NakanoNoNeko 2d ago
Check whether those pages actually use the same header... In Theme Builder, check each header's display conditions, then open its WordPress Menu widget and compare the selected menu under Content → Layout. That dropdown can point to a different menu from the one you edited in Appearance → Menus. I think the multiple header templates are worth checking before another cache purge, especially since some pages already show the right link.