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FAQ • Support

WordPress Footer Template Requires Its Own Save Cycle

Field Note #186
🔬 Resolved 🟢 Beginner ⏱ 30 Minutes ✓ Observation from Experience

⚡ Quick Fix (TL;DR)

The Fix: 1. Identify whether the block is on a page or inside a template part (header, footer, sidebar).
2. If it is in a template part, navigate to Appearance → Editor and find the template.
3. Confirm the template shows unsaved changes and save it directly.
4. Clear caches after saving the template, not before.

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The symptom
A Custom HTML block was updated with new code, the page was saved, caches were cleared, and the live site still showed the old version of the block. The block was located in the site footer.
 Initial assumption
The assumption was a caching issue — either WP Super Cache or the GoDaddy firewall cache.

Investigation
The block was embedded in a WordPress footer template part (Appearance → Editor → Templates → Footer), not directly on a page. Footer template parts have their own independent save state in the WordPress Site Editor. Saving a page does not save changes to template parts — the template itself must be opened and saved separately using the Site Editor’s own Save button.

What to check
When a block update does not appear on the live site despite cache clearing:
1. Identify whether the block is on a page or inside a template part (header, footer, sidebar).
2. If it is in a template part, navigate to Appearance → Editor and find the template.
3. Confirm the template shows unsaved changes and save it directly.
4. Clear caches after saving the template, not before.

Resolution
Open Appearance → Editor → the relevant template → locate the Custom HTML block → replace the content → click Save in the Site Editor. Then clear WP Super Cache and the GoDaddy firewall cache.

Troubleshooting lesson
In WordPress FSE (Full Site Editing), pages and templates are separate entities with separate save states. A change to a template part is not saved by the page’s Update button. Always confirm which layer the block lives on before troubleshooting further.

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