AutoCMS front-end image not updated: In-depth analysis of cache problems and efficient troubleshooting guide

As a senior website operations personnel, I know the feeling of anxiety when the website content is updated in the background, but the front end remains unchanged.Especially on high-frequency operations such as image updates, this phenomenon is even more common.AnQiCMS (AnQiCMS) is a content management system developed based on Go language, known for its efficiency and stability, and its excellent performance is often inseparable from the exquisite caching mechanism.However, it is these caches that improve efficiency, which sometimes also become the 'hidden hand' behind the failure of image updates to be reflected in the front end in a timely manner.

This article will analyze in detail the potential causes of un-updated images on the front-end of the security CMS from multiple cache levels, and provide a set of systematic troubleshooting methods to help you efficiently solve such problems.

Browser Cache: The Most Common 'Camouflage' Trick

Many times, the image has not been updated not because of the server-side issue, but because of your browser.The browser stores accessed static resources (including images, CSS, JS, etc.) locally to accelerate page loading.When you visit the same page again, if these resources have not changed, the browser will directly read from the local cache without re-requesting from the server.

During the operation of AnQi CMS, when you update the image in the background, if the browser still uses the old cached version, the front-end display will naturally be the old image.This is a very common phenomenon, especially when you, as a website administrator, immediately check after frequent content updates.According to the document hints of the AnQi CMS, "After the picture is uploaded, if the background is updated but the front end is not updated, please clear the local browser cache".

The methods to troubleshoot and solve this problem are relatively simple:

  • Forced page refresh:Typically on Windows systems:Ctrl + F5，in macOS it isCmd + Shift + R. This will instruct the browser to ignore local caching and reload all resources from the server.
  • Clear browser cache:If forced refresh is ineffective, you can go to the browser settings and clear all browsing data, especially "cached images and files".Close and reopen the browser after cleaning, and then visit the website.

Security CMS System Cache: Performance Optimization at the Application Level

AutoCMS is a high-performance content management system, which built-in static caching and various optimization measures to enhance website loading speed and SEO performance.This means that even if the image file has been updated on the server, the security CMS itself may still hold a cached version of the old image, causing it to still refer to the old resources when generating the front-end page.

The "Content Settings" feature of AnQi CMS provides options such as "Whether to enable Webp image formatWhen these settings change, or a new image is generated by the system, if the application layer cache of the Anqi CMS is not updated in time, the image path or display effect on the front page may still be in the old state.

To resolve the cache issue at the security CMS system level, you need:

  • Perform the "Update Cache" operation:In the background management interface of AnQi CMS, there is usually a clear 'Update Cache' or 'Clear Cache' button (as documented, located in the 'Cache Update' feature module).Click this button, Auto CMS will clear its internal storage of old cache data, forcing the system to regenerate page content, including image references.
  • Check the image processing settings:If you have recently modified the WebP conversion, image compression, or thumbnail generation rules, please make sure to also clear the cache of Safe CMS after updating the images to ensure that these new rules are applied to the newly generated images.

Web server cache: Potential obstacles in the reverse proxy layer

In many CMS deployment scenarios, to enhance performance, security, or to implement multi-site management, Nginx, Apache, and other web servers are often used as reverse proxies.These web servers also have powerful caching capabilities, which can cache the content generated by the backend application (i.e., the security CMS) and directly respond to user requests, thereby reducing the pressure on the backend.

When the image is updated and the cache is cleared by the CMS, if the upper Nginx or Apache server still provides the old cached content, the front-end users will still see the unupdated image. Especially when configurations likeproxy_cacheWhen executing instructions, this level of cache needs special attention.

For web server cache, the troubleshooting and resolution steps usually include:

  • Check Web server configuration:Log in to your server, check the configuration files of Nginx or Apache (for examplenginx.conf), or the virtual host configuration), look forproxy_cache/fastcgi_cacheor other cache-related instructions.
  • Manually clean the Web server cache:If there is confirmation of Web server cache, you need to manually clean the corresponding cache directory. For example, for Nginx, it usually requires deletingproxy_cache_pathThe specified cache file or directory. After cleaning, be sure to restart the Nginx or Apache service to make the new configuration take effect, or force the cache to be refreshed.

CDN缓存：Global Distribution Network's 'Latency' Effect

For global users or websites with high traffic, content delivery network (CDN) is a common acceleration solution.CDN by distributing website content to edge nodes worldwide, allows users to retrieve content from the nearest node, greatly enhancing access speed.However, CDN will also cache static resources (including images).

If your website uses CDN, even if your browser, AnQi CMS backend, and web server caches have been cleared, the CDN edge nodes may still store old versions of images.This may cause users in different geographic locations to see inconsistent content, or for the front-end images to still display the old version for a period of time after an update.

To resolve CDN caching issues, you need:

  • Log in to the CDN service provider's console:Access the management interface of the CDN service provider you are using (such as Cloudflare, Aliyun CDN, Tencent Cloud CDN, etc.).
  • Execute the "Refresh CacheIn the CDN control panel, find the corresponding domain or URL, and select the "Refresh Cache" (Purge Cache) feature.You can choose to refresh all content, or specify refreshing specific image URLs.Part of the CDN service also provides a "preheating" feature, which can actively push new content to edge nodes.

Suggested troubleshooting sequence and non-caching factors to consider

To efficiently resolve the issue of image not being updated, it is recommended that you troubleshoot in the following order:

  1. Browser cache:Check first, usually the simplest reason.
  2. Security CMS system cache:Clear the background cache to ensure that the latest content is generated by the application layer.
  3. Web server cache:If there is an Nginx/Apache reverse proxy, check and clean its cache.
  4. CDN Cache:If CDN is used, be sure to refresh the CDN node cache.

If all the above caches have been checked and cleared, but the images still have not been updated, then the problem may have gone beyond the scope of caching, and you need to consider the following non-caching factors:

  • Image path error:Check if the image URL referenced on the front-end page is correct and if it points to the newly uploaded image.
  • Problem with the image file itself:The uploaded image file is corrupted, incorrectly formatted, or too large, causing the load to fail.
  • File system permissions:Is the directory permission of the picture file stored on the server correct, and does AnQiCMS have permission to read and provide these files.
  • Template code error:Does the code that references images in the front-end template have logical errors, causing the new image to be unable to be correctly retrieved?

By systematically checking and eliminating these potential issues, you will be able to locate and resolve the problem of unupdated images on the front page of the security CMS more quickly and accurately, ensuring the timeliness of website content and the smoothness of user experience.

Common Questions and Answers (FAQ)

Q1: I just uploaded a new image to replace the old one on the Anqi CMS backend. Why do I still see the old image when I immediately visit the front end?

This is usually caused by your browser caching old images.The browser stores the static resources (including images) you have visited locally to speed up loading.After you update the image in the background, the browser may still read the old image from the local cache.You can try to force refresh the page (Windows: Ctrl+F5; macOS: Cmd+Shift+R) or completely clear the browser cache to solve the problem.

Q2: I have cleared the browser cache and clicked the "Update Cache" button in the Security CMS backend, but the front-end images are still old. What might be the problem?

如果浏览器和安企CMS系统缓存都已清理，但问题依然存在，很可能是您的Web服务器（如Nginx、Apache）作为反向代理，其自身也配置了缓存。These web servers will cache the content generated by the backend application.You need to log in to the server, check the Nginx/Apache configuration file, manually clean up the corresponding cache directory, and then restart the Web service.

Q3: My website uses CDN services, and the images of safe CMS are updated on my computer, but some users still report that they are old. What's going on?

This is usually caused by CDN caching.CDN will distribute your website's static resources to edge nodes around the world for caching.When you update the image, the old version of the image may still be retained on the CDN edge nodes.