How can I resolve the issue of Webflow CMS items not being accessible after publishing, despite the links being correct?
TL;DR
- Republish to both your custom and Webflow.io domains to ensure changes apply everywhere.
- Verify CMS template pages exist with proper slugs and content, confirm items aren't drafts or archived, and check for redirects or domain misconfigurations.
If your Webflow CMS items are not accessible after publishing, even though the links appear correct, the issue typically involves publishing errors, collection page settings, or site domain configuration.
1. Republish to Both Domains
- Go to Webflow Designer and click Publish.
- Ensure you select both your main custom domain and the Webflow.io subdomain before clicking publish.
- Sometimes Webflow publishes changes only to the subdomain or just the custom domain, leading to missing pages.
2. Check Collection Page Template
- In the Pages panel, locate the Collection Page for the relevant CMS collection.
- Make sure the template page exists and is not empty. If there's no content or the page was accidentally deleted, the CMS item won’t render.
- Verify that required fields (like slug or reference fields) are not empty or misconfigured.
3. Verify Slugs and Links
- Open the CMS item and confirm that the slug field is populated and unique.
- Go to a Collection List or Link block and check that the link to the CMS item uses the correct field (usually the slug).
- Confirm you are visiting the correct path (e.g., yoursite.com/blog/my-post).
4. Check Page Password Protection or Draft Status
- In the Page Settings of the collection page, ensure it is not password protected.
- In the CMS editor, ensure that the item is Set to "Published", not in a Draft state or archived.
5. Review Site Redirects or Hosting Configuration
- Go to Project Settings > Hosting, scroll to the 301 Redirects section.
- Make sure there are no redirects that overlap with your CMS collection paths.
- Ensure that the primary domain is correctly set if you're viewing the site from a custom domain.
6. Test Links on Webflow.io Domain
- Visit the CMS item using your site’s Webflow.io staging domain (e.g., yoursite.webflow.io/blog/my-post).
- If it works here but not on your custom domain, the issue is with the DNS settings or the custom domain wasn't published correctly.
7. Clear Local Cache or Use Incognito
- Sometimes browser caching interferes with new CMS items showing up.
- Try accessing the link in an incognito/private window or after clearing your cache.
Summary
To fix inaccessible CMS items after publishing, republish to all domains, confirm the CMS templates and slugs are set correctly, and check for drafts, redirects, or hosting issues. Testing on the Webflow.io domain can help isolate whether the issue is local to your custom domain.