If you are getting an error message while publishing your website with EverWeb, there are a few steps you can take to fix the problem, but some are dependent on where you are publishing to, either EverWeb + Hosting or a third party web hosting provider.
Before continuing, be sure that the Internet connection you are using allows publishing through FTP. Many hotels, restaurants or other public wifi connections may restrict certain connection protocols making it impossible to publish your website. Sometimes they will allow only regular FTP but won't allow FTP with SSL or FTP with SSH.
If you use a VPN such as SurfShark, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, iCloud Private Relay etc... they may cause publishing time outs. Please try disabling them temporarily and publish again.
If you are using a connection such as from your home that you know has no restrictions, the following steps may help.
Publishing to EverWeb + Hosting Publishing Issues
Publishing through EverWeb + Hosting rarely produces issues since our servers are optimized for EverWeb's publishing features. However, EverWeb defaults to secure connections and some public Internet connections may block this type of connection.
Try these steps to fix any publishing error with EverWeb;
1. Verify that your Internet connection allows FTP connections. If you are using a Hotel or public wifi, they may restrict FTP connections.
2. Verify that you are not blocking any important connections with a Firewall or an application like LittleSnitch. Confirm that your firewall has opened ports 21 and 22 for FTP connections.
3. On macOS, sometimes iCloud Private Relay can act as a firewall and affect publishing. Open your System Settings and turn off iCloud Private Relay and try publishing again.
3a. On Windows, sometimes Windows Defender will block outgoing FTP connections. Open your system preferences and disable it and try to publish your website again
4. You can turn off Secure publishing through EverWeb by going to the 'Account' tab in the Preferences and turning off the 'Use Secure Publishing' option.
5. Try to boot up your computer in Safe Mode to rule out any system software that affect publishing;
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac
6. If you still have problems publishing, go back to the Preferences and select the 'Publishing' tab. Then toggle the option that says 'Use Passive Publishing Connections'. Then try publishing again. Normally this option should be enabled, but some types of connections may require this to be turned off.
7. If you have a slow internet connection, or one that is unreliable. We recommend publishing while EverWeb is in the foreground. That means the menu bar in the top left of your computer says 'EverWeb' and you aren't using other applications. Sometimes operating system slows down applications in the background and combined with a weak internet connection, you may get disconnected from your server.
8. If you use a VPN such as SurfShark, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, etc... they may cause publishing time outs. Please try disabling them temporarily and publish again.
These steps should solve almost any publishing issue. If you continue to have problems, please contact us with the exact error message you are getting when publishing. You can press the 'Copy To Clipboard' button in the Error Dialog that appears when you are publishing and paste it into an email to us.
Publishing to a Third Party Web Hosting Provider
Since there are such a wide variety of web hosting providers, you may encounter issues when publishing to a third party web hosting provider. However, most issues are very easy and straightforward to fix.
Usually the error message will provide a clue as to what the problem is, such as 'Authentication error' which means your login details are not correct, or 'cannot find directory path' which means what you entered in the directory path field is not correct.
If you are having trouble publishing to a third party web hosting provider, please try these steps in this order;
1. Verify that your Internet connection allows FTP connections. If you are using a Hotel or public wifi, they may restrict FTP connections.
2. Verify that you are not blocking any important connections with a Firewall, iCloud Private Relay or an application like LittleSnitch. Confirm that your firewall has opened port 21 and 22 for FTP connections.
3. Ensure your login details are correct. Most web hosting providers, such as Godaddy, provide a different username/password to login to your Account through their web site than what is used to publish to your FTP server. If you are getting an 'Authentication error' message, check that you are using the correct login details. In EverWeb go to the File menu and select 'Edit Publishing Settings' to adjust your FTP login details.
4. Verify with your web hosting provider that your directory path is correct. We won't know the correct directory path as many hosts use different ones. It is very important to get the directory path correct, otherwise you won't be able to publish your website. Your directory path is NOT your website URL. If you get an error message saying 'Directory path cannot be found' or something similar, you most likely have the wrong directory path entered. In EverWeb go to the File menu and select 'Edit Publishing Settings' to adjust your FTP directory path.
5. Open the Preferences and go to the 'Publishing' tab. Toggle the option that says 'Use Passive Publishing Connections' and try publishing again. Normally this option should be enabled, but some types of connections may require this to be turned off.
6. Try to boot up your computer in Safe Mode to rule out any system software that affect publishing;
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac
7. If you have a slow internet connection, or one that is unreliable. We recommend publishing while EverWeb is in the foreground. That means the menu bar in the top left of your computer says 'EverWeb' and you aren't using other applications. Sometimes operating system slows down applications in the background and combined with a weak internet connection, you may get disconnected from your server.
8. If you use a VPN such as SurfShark, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, iCloud Private Relay etc... they may cause publishing time outs. Please try disabling them temporarily and publish again.
9. Contact your web hosting provider to verify that there are no issues on their end. Remember that EverWeb uses the standard FTP protocol to publish your website and your server must be functioning correctly to publish.
These steps should solve almost any publishing issue. If you continue to have problems, please contact us with the exact error message you are getting when publishing. You can press the 'Copy To Clipboard' button in the Error Dialog that appears when you are publishing and paste it into an email to us.