## **🔍 Overview**

When you publish or sync a Website Studio site to WordPress, you may encounter issues such as pages returning 404 errors, WordPress dashboard tools not functioning correctly, navigation links breaking, or blog content not displaying as expected. This article explains the most common causes and the steps you can take to resolve them.



## **⚠️ Known Issues to Be Aware Of**

Before troubleshooting, note the following confirmed issues that may affect your sync:

- **Articles synced via Content Genius may not publish correctly to WordPress.** This is a known issue currently awaiting a platform fix. If your blog posts were created or managed through Content Genius, they may appear blank or fail to transfer.
- **Blog pages may only be accessible via a homepage quick-link.** Direct URLs to blog pages could previously redirect to the homepage. This has been resolved in a recent update — if you are still experiencing this, follow the steps below.
- **Blank pages after sync.** A bug that caused synced pages to publish as blank has been fixed. If you synced before this fix was released, re-syncing your site should resolve the issue.

## **✅ Step 1 — Verify Your WordPress Connection**

A failed or incomplete connection between Website Studio and your WordPress site is the most common cause of sync errors.

1. Go to **Website Studio** in the left sidebar of Search Atlas (URL: **/website-studio**).
2. Open your site project and navigate to the **Publish** or **Sync to WordPress** option.
3. If you see the error **"Couldn't load your WordPress sites,"** your WordPress credentials need to be re-entered or reauthorised.
4. Disconnect and reconnect your WordPress site by re-entering your site URL and credentials. Ensure you are using an account with **Administrator** permissions on WordPress.
5. Once reconnected, attempt the sync again.

## **🔄 Step 2 — Re-Sync Your Site After Known Fixes**

If your site was synced during a period when a known bug was active, the simplest fix is to perform a fresh sync.

1. In **Website Studio**, open the affected site project.
2. Review your pages to confirm all content is correct and complete inside the builder before re-syncing.
3. Trigger a new **Sync to WordPress**. This will overwrite previously published blank or broken pages with the current content.
4. After syncing, visit your live WordPress site and confirm pages load correctly.

## **🗺️ Step 3 — Fix 404 Errors and Broken Navigation**

404 errors after migration are usually caused by WordPress permalink settings not matching the URLs published by Website Studio.

1. Log in to your **WordPress Admin Dashboard**.
2. Go to **Settings → Permalinks**.
3. Without changing anything, click **Save Changes**. This forces WordPress to flush and regenerate its rewrite rules, which resolves most 404 errors.
4. Return to your live site and test the affected page URLs.
5. If a specific navigation link is broken, check the link destination inside Website Studio and confirm it matches the slug of the published WordPress page exactly.

## **📝 Step 4 — Resolve Missing or Incorrect Blog Content**

Blog posts may not display correctly due to page template mismatches or the Content Genius sync limitation mentioned above.

- **If blog posts are blank:** This may be related to the known Content Genius sync issue. Re-publishing the posts manually inside WordPress, or waiting for the upcoming platform fix, is currently the recommended workaround.
- **If the blog page shows no posts:** In your WordPress Admin, go to **Settings → Reading** and confirm that the correct page is assigned as your **Posts page**.
- **If direct blog URLs redirect to the homepage:** This was a known bug that has been resolved. Perform a fresh sync from Website Studio and then flush your WordPress permalinks as described in Step 3.

## **🧪 Step 5 — Test Your Site After Changes**

After completing the steps above, run a quick check to confirm everything is working:

- Visit your homepage and click through all main navigation links.
- Test at least two or three internal page URLs directly in your browser.
- Open a blog post to confirm the content renders fully.
- Check that WordPress tools such as the admin bar and dashboard are accessible and functioning normally.

## **💬 Still Experiencing Issues?**

If the steps above do not resolve your problem — especially if you are affected by the Content Genius sync limitation still awaiting a platform release — our team can investigate further. 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.