You view a web page, then change the contents of that page, then refresh the page in your browser but you still see the old version of the page. In other words, your changes do not appear.

To understand the problem, you must first understand that your web browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, etc.) saves a cache of web pages to make your surfing experience smoother (and faster). So, when you are viewing any web page, it is possible that you are actually viewing a cached version that was stored on your hard drive from a previous visit to that same web site. The problem is more noticeable on pages that you are updating, simply because you know that there is an update.

Consider this. Let's say that you go to CNN.com several times a day to read today's news headlines. And on two successive visits, you notice that nothing has changed. This could mean that CNN really has not updated their web page. But it could also mean that they have indeed updated the page, but your browser is just showing you the cached (saved) version of the page from your hard drive. You don't really know which it is. But if it's your own web page that this happens to, then of course you know for sure when you've updated the page or not.

So, the next logical question is this. How can I get my browser to give me the current version of the page instead of the cached version. And the answer is this. The version that you get depends on your cache settings. Yes, you can control when your browser goes and checks for a new version of a page, and when it just gives you the cached version of the page.

In Internet Explorer, select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu. Then click the "Settings" button in the "Temporary Internet Files" box. Adjust those settings to your liking. In case you care, I have shown my own settings in the screen shot below. As a web site developer, I need to make sure that I'm always getting the very latest version of every web page I visit. Just realize that if you set your browser the same as mine, it may seem that your browsing experience is a bit slower. This is because these settings affect ALL web sites you visit, not just the ones you update.