## **🔍 Overview**

Some customers notice two related issues when building or editing pages in Website Studio: **blank pages automatically appearing in the footer menu** and **page content briefly flashing before displaying as blank** on refresh. These issues can feel alarming, especially before publishing, but they are typically caused by a known rendering and page-generation behaviour in the builder. This article explains what causes these issues and how to resolve them.

## **⚙️ What Causes These Issues**

Both symptoms usually share a common root cause:

- **Auto-generated placeholder pages:** When Website Studio creates or scaffolds blog sections, it may automatically add placeholder pages to your navigation menus, including the footer, even if those pages have no content yet.
- **Content rendering delay:** The builder occasionally renders page content in a brief flash before the final layout is applied. On refresh, if the cache or build state is out of sync, the page may display as blank until the content is fully re-rendered.
- **Unsaved or uncommitted draft state:** Content that has been added but not properly saved can appear missing after a browser refresh.

## **🛠️ How to Fix Blank Pages in the Footer Menu**

1. Open **Website Studio** from the left sidebar or navigate to **/website-studio**.
2. Open your active project and go to the **Navigation** or **Menu** settings, then select the **Footer Menu**.
3. Review the list of pages linked in the footer. Identify any pages with no title, no content, or labelled as a placeholder.
4. Click on each blank page entry and select **Remove from Menu** or **Delete Page**, depending on whether you want to unlink it or remove it entirely.
5. If the blank page was auto-generated as part of a blog setup, verify that your blog template is fully configured before re-adding it to the menu.
6. Save your menu changes and preview the footer to confirm the blank entries are gone.

## **💡 How to Fix Content Flashing and Blank Page on Refresh**

1. Inside your project in Website Studio, navigate to the affected page.
2. Check that all content blocks on the page are **fully saved**. Look for any unsaved indicator (such as a pending save prompt or highlighted block) and confirm the save.
3. Once the page appears correct in the editor, click **Save** or **Publish** at the top of the builder to commit the current state.
4. After saving, perform a **hard refresh** in your browser (Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows or Cmd + Shift + R on Mac) to clear any cached version of the page.
5. If the content still flashes or appears blank, try **clearing your browser cache** entirely, then revisit the page in the editor.
6. If you are using a custom domain, allow a few minutes for any CDN or caching layer to clear before testing the published version again.

## **✅ Before You Publish: A Quick Checklist**

To feel confident before publishing your site, run through these checks:

- All pages in your menu (header and footer) have visible, saved content.
- No placeholder or auto-generated blank pages remain in any navigation menu.
- You have previewed each page in the builder and confirmed content loads correctly.
- You have performed a hard refresh after your final save to verify the page renders as expected.
- If blog pages are included, each post or blog index page has at least a title and a content block.

## **🚀 Still Seeing the Issue?**

If blank pages or content flashing persist after following the steps above, there may be a project-level configuration issue that requires investigation. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.