Troubleshooting | Sitepager

If something is not working as expected, check the sections below. Most issues come down to page access, timing, or selector settings.

My scan failed

When a scan fails, Sitepager shows an error category and a message explaining what went wrong. Here are the most common causes:

Domain could not be found The URL you entered does not resolve. Check for typos in the website URL and make sure the domain is live.

Secure connection failed The site has an SSL or certificate issue. Open the URL in your browser and check if it loads over HTTPS without warnings.

The website took too long to respond The page did not load within the timeout. Try running the scan again. If it keeps timing out, the site may be slow or under heavy load.

The website could not be reached The server refused the connection. Confirm the site is online and not behind a firewall that blocks automated requests.

The website temporarily limited requests The site returned a 429 (rate limited) response. Wait a few minutes and try again.

Pages are missing from my results

Sitepager crawls pages by following links from your starting URL. If a page is not linked from any other page in your scan scope, it will not be found.

Other reasons pages may be missing:

Your exclude patterns are filtering them out
You are using an include list but have not enabled crawling beyond those URLs
The max pages limit was reached before Sitepager found them
The page requires authentication and login is not configured

Check your include and exclude patterns and max pages setting. See Include and Exclude Pages.

My screenshots look different from what I see in my browser

Sitepager runs in its own browser environment. A few things can cause differences:

Viewport size Sitepager uses a specific viewport for each device type (desktop, mobile). Your browser window may be a different size. Check which device is selected in your scan settings.

Dynamic content Elements like carousels, ads, and tickers change on every load. Sitepager captures whatever state they are in at the moment of the screenshot. Use dynamic content selectors to remove them. See Dynamic Content Selectors.

Animations frozen Sitepager disables animations and pauses videos before taking screenshots. Elements may appear in a different state than what you see when browsing normally. See Capturing Animations.

Page load timing If content loads after the screenshot is taken, it will not appear. Increase the page load wait time in your scan settings to give slow content more time.

Animations are missing from screenshots

Sitepager freezes animations before capturing. If an element was still hidden or mid-transition at capture time, it will not appear.

Scroll-triggered animations usually complete before capture because Sitepager scrolls the full page first
Hover and click interactions are not triggered unless you configure selectors. See Hover and Click Selectors
Timed animations (banners that appear after a delay) may not finish in time. Increase the page load wait time in your scan settings

For a full explanation, see Capturing Animations.

Hover or click effects are missing

Sitepager does not hover or click elements unless you tell it to. Add the element’s CSS selector to your hover or click selectors in scan settings.

If you have configured selectors but effects are still missing:

Open your site in Chrome
Right-click the element and select Inspect
Find the element’s CSS selector (class or ID)
Test it in the Console tab: document.querySelector('.your-selector')
If it matches the right element, use that selector in Sitepager

If the element has no stable selector, add a custom class to your site. See Testing with Generic Classes.

Visual changes flagged but I did not change anything

Small differences between runs can flag pages as changed even when your content has not changed:

Dynamic content like ads, tickers, or rotating testimonials changes on every load
Font rendering can shift slightly between runs
Third-party embeds (maps, social widgets) may render differently each time

To fix this:

Add dynamic elements to your dynamic content selectors to remove them before capture. See Dynamic Content Selectors
Raise the Threshold under Visual Settings in your scan settings. The default is 1%. Increasing it tells Sitepager to ignore smaller pixel differences

External link results are not what I expected

Sitepager checks external links by sending a request and recording the HTTP status code. It does not load or crawl external pages.

Some things to know:

Links that return 401, 403, or 429 are not flagged as broken. These status codes usually mean the external site is blocking automated requests, not that the link is broken
Only 404 (Not Found) and 410 (Gone) are classified as confirmed broken
Server errors (500, 502, 503) are recorded but not counted as confirmed broken because they may be temporary

See Check External Links for details.

My site is blocking Sitepager

Some sites block automated requests through bot detection or firewall rules.

Signs your site is blocking Sitepager:

Scans return blank pages or error pages
Pages return 403 (Forbidden) or 999 (blocked by site)
Screenshots show CAPTCHA challenges or access denied messages

Set a custom user agent so your site can identify Sitepager, then add an allowlist rule on your platform. See Custom User Agent and Allow Sitepager Through Your Firewall for step-by-step instructions.

If your authenticated scan is not working:

Confirm your credentials work by signing in manually at the Login URL
Check that your selectors match the current login form. Forms change when sites are updated
Make sure the Login Success Selector only appears after a successful login, not on the login page itself
Increase the Login Wait Time if your login page has a slow redirect

See Test Authenticated Pages for the full setup.

Still stuck?

Contact us at support@sitepager.io. Include the scan name and a description of what you expected versus what happened. Screenshots of the issue help us diagnose faster.