Archived and Closed
This conversation is no longer open for comments or replies and is no longer visible to community members. The community moderator provided the following reason for archiving: Fix provided, issue resolved.
As you are aware, Sitebuilder Desktop was replaced by Sitebuilder Plus several years ago. We do understand how much you enjoy using Desktop Builder, and we are doing what we can to get it operational for you again.
In the interim, you can use Sitebuilder Plus to make your urgent updates. We highly recommend you check out our Latest Builder “Website Builder” and consider rebuilding in this state of the art editor, providing hundreds of updated templates, free SSL and Mobile Responsiveness. We have amazing tutorial videos to help get you started using the new editor. You can view these HERE
As additional updates become available in resolving desktop connection issues we will post responses promptly.
Thank you for your patience while we work through these issues.
Elyzabeth , Official Rep
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44,918 Points
Posted 10 months ago
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420 Points
I have Homestead Sitebuilder. For the past 5 hours, I have been unable to get online to update my site. I am online with other programs (email, twitter, etc.) but not Homestead Sitebuilder. I even tried another computer to no avail.
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578 Points
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1,588 Points
This conversation is no longer open for comments or replies.
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1,588 Points
SO I go over to homestead and sign in and use the "PLUS" version, WHICH LACKS FEATURES I USE AND I DO NOT WANT TO USE, but ok I need to do some edits.
Well first off what I see in plus is NOT what I have live on the site itself and not what I had last successfully published with sitebuilder before all this.
So if I monkey around in plus and publish I have to change a TON of stuff to cross reference and bring them both to the same level, if I hit publish site in plus this is gonna really mess up my site since plus is showing pages that are not up to date with what I currently have live showing on my site itself.
Just one site I have 19 pages of content I don't want to have to go thru 19 pages and cross reference the differences between what is already live vs what sitebuilder "Plus" is showing me.
I am afraid to even do a basic edit in plus as what it shows as current is NOT what the live site shows.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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1,588 Points
I have only tried in plus on this one site and it's a complete different mess than what is currently published, man I am really afraid to have this "Sync" thing done, also IF they get desktop working again do I need to uninstall and reinstall it for it to see and update to the current state of published site stuff after usiing this "plus" which I hate btw.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
Plus was meant to replace desktop, so they do not sync with each other. Each one syncs only to the published site. If I copy the published site to the Plus editor, you should be able to see, edit and publish the current site. When you open desktop the next time, it should download those changes. If it does not, then you can simply close desktop and rename the site folder(I can provide the path to the folder), and reopen desktop. At that time it will download the entire published site.
You can always make very small changes in Plus, to get started, in order to make sure it is working correctly.
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1,608 Points

Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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1,608 Points
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1,036 Points
Also, are you at liberty to tell us how many Desptop Sitebuilder users there are? Judging by the number of unique posters with complaints for not being able to publish, it seems to be about 50 or so left. Either that, or there are a lot of dormant websites out there. Your support desk is taking the brunt of complaints I suppose. Anyway, just curious how many are left, of which I am one.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
I also do not have exact numbers on how many people still use desktop, but it isn't many. I do know it is over 50 total, but many of them do not make regular edits. As it turns out, not all desktop users are affected by this issue. It might be that some ISPs do not yet adhere to the new security protocol, but we are continuing to look at the issue.
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1,036 Points
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1,036 Points
I have just had a lengthy conversation with Michelle at Homestead in sales.
1. I repeated everything she said and she agreed that I did not misinterpret what she is authorized to tell people who are calling in.
2. She was very patient with me and spoke factually and confidently.
3. She did not mince any words about Desktop Sitebuilder being done and customers should expect nothing else from Homestead regarding this "25 year- old obsolete program" .
4.. I advised her that Homestead has an official news release on the community bulletin board that says Homestead is trying to fix the problem so customers can publish their websites again. She said she knows what is being said by Homestead representatives on the community bulletin board but cannot respond.
5. I asked her one last time if she was sure of her statements and I advised her that I was going to put our conversation on the community bulletin board. She said yes, her responses are "official" and yes, she has no problem with me putting our conversation on the community bulletin board.
6. I did ask if there has been a lot of phone calls regarding the "cannot publish
issue" and Desktop Sitebuilder. She said no. Most people have switched to website builder.
6. Barring slight differences in wording, the following is paraphrased from her almost exact words.
HERE IS THE OFFICIAL POSITION FROM MICHELLE, an official representative of HOMESTEAD:
1. Homestead is done with Desktop SiteBuilder. They have stopped trying to fix the publish problem because whatever they did cannot be undone.
2. She says it is a problem they thought they had fixed with Microsoft but it did not work. She stated their engineers are no longer working on finding a solution.
3. She stated that desktop sitebuilder websites cannot ever be published again NOR can they be removed by the customer.
4. Whatever was published on February 4th 2019 or before is now frozen in time.
5. To remove a website, the customer has to call Homestead.
6. She stated that the official TEMPORARY fix is for customers to download their websites into Sitebuilder Plus. She stated she understands the problems associated with that but has no other suggestion. Even that fix is temporary. Hey guys, don't miss that last sentence, sitebuilder plus is a temporary fix.
7. Website Builder is the program that all customers MUST BEGIN USING.
I have tried to restate the facts as I understood the conversation. Michelle at Homestead, if you are reading this, please feel free to correct me if you see something substantively wrong or misinterpreted or misquoted.
Drew and Elizabeth. You might want to enlighten us. Obviously, there is a disconnect between support and management.
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1,036 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
That being said, there could be a future time that desktop is permanently ended, but that decision is not made by support and desktop users will be sent an email with details well before that is done. We would also post an announcement here in the community, giving all the pertinent details.
Furthermore, as I have mentioned several times over the years, desktop does require some Microsoft components that were also discontinued long ago. If Microsoft decides to disable them, desktop will cease to function.
Currently, we are working to restore the connection of desktop for those affected(not all users). I will be in another meeting tomorrow morning with the development team to discuss the issue. Because of the product age and new security requirements, coupled with the continued evolution of Windows, we can't promise that it can be fixed, but I can promise we are doing everything we can to resolve this issue.
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1,036 Points
Off topic, has the email notices stopped being sent out on topics we follow. This topic is so buried that it is almost impossible to find.
BTW, the same situation exists on my laptop and it is windows 7.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
If it becomes necessary, I can listen or the support manager can too, but at this time, I prefer to focus on testing and such, to try to resolve the issue.
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742 Points
Sitebuilder Desktop - info that may help.
I am using Win7x64 and have not had a problem with SB Desktop. Over past weeks have been updating and publishing sites with no problems. Did so again without doing any re-installs etc today.
In regard to total discontinuation of SB Desktop I would like you to seriously take into consideration the following and ensure it is passed on to those in control.
I have been with Homestead from almost Day 1 (1998-99). Firstly with the free personal site and then with the paid Business Sites (of which I have 2).
Over those years I have built substantial sized sites with 'well over 1,000' pages - all established before either Sitebuilder Plus or Website Builder.
Even now with the sites downsized I still have 1177 pages.
I work alone and the immensity of the task or re-building all of these pages in the new Website Builder whilst at the same time maintaining my business is simply too overwhelming to contemplate.
Also as you might imagine - after 20 years and being in my 40's when I began, I am no longer a spring chicken and suffer health issues as one does as they age.
The websites are vital for my existence - they keep food on the table and pay the rent.
There is no way that I could rebuild all of this in 90 days if given such notice. It took years to build the first time and with my health issues I have no idea how long it would take now.
Kind Regards
Pam
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1,588 Points
I guess if it comes to an end then I just close up shop, but most of what I do is for .org groups or friends and family, they depend on me for updates to their sites, I sure don't want to be the one to tell them no, but I haven't found a solution to desktop that works for me and allows the things I do regularly in Desktop (mainly cut copy paste between many pages).
I would hope with this phasing out that they would make a new desktop but it sounds like that won't be happening, at least maybe a way to move these things from desktop over to something else? I have tried plus and can't stand working in it, it's buggy and flaky at best, what's funny is my old Desktop software runs circles around the newer "plus". As for that other thing I keep reading about website builder or something, I haven't seen anything on that sounds like i need to hit youtube but can you move sites from Desktop over to it?
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
Hope this helps.
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2,546 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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8,810 Points
I have been using Sitebuilder desktop for many years as long as Homestead has been up and running. I have one site that I stream audio for a client, and I use the new Site Builder for other clients. At this time the new site builder does not have the capabilities to stream audio which I find unusual. Could you please advise me what I should do next. Thank you.
Elyzabeth , Official Rep
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44,918 Points
You can upload audio and place an audio player element on your website through Sitebuilder Plus. You would find this under Insert > Youtube Video > Audio Player. This will allow people to play and pause your audio. Is this what you were wanting?
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388 Points
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1,588 Points
Now that I can't get desktop to publish and have a few sites I need to work on for people I sign into plus reluctantly, and i get this message.
Here is the thing, I am frozen, I don't even quite understand this, the last time I published was from desktop but that hasn't worked in a week or so, I see no way to "preview" what they mean by start from save point or last change, and the site in question has MANY MANY pages and things I do not want to mess up.
I keep hoping sitebuilder will just work but if not I am even afraid to mess in plus as i don't even know which button to hit or what it's going to do to my existing site, or worse how to get back to desktop IF it can even be fixed.
This whole thing is just really hurting my brain at the moment, I am so beyond frustrated i don't know what to do, I do sites for charities and businesses that count on me at this point I am about to write one pretty bad letter to all of them and just say I am sunk and can no longer do their sites or something if things can't be fixed soon.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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1,588 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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388 Points
Elyzabeth , Official Rep
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44,918 Points
I can see what is causing this issue and am having our developers address it. I will let you know when that is resolved.
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1,036 Points
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1,036 Points
Correction to my previous post. The date is 2-16-19, not 2-15-19 as I stated.
Michelle in sales said either build the sites anew in website builder or I can request Homestead to remove all my websites, cancel the account and a refund will be issued. I am assuming that is what they are hoping all remaining Desktop Sitebuilder customers will do. One or the other. Actually, it looks like we have no choice.
BTW, website builder has no blank page to start from. It forces you to select one of their pre-designed websites and then start modifying.
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
I would tend to believe Drew rather than Michelle in regards to what is being done.
Best,
Sue
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1,036 Points
What a mess Homestead has created. I am actually being indirectly threatened with a lawsuit at the moment because I can not take down a pdf file that inadvertently contained HIPPA information on a Boys State 2018 participant. Removing the link, which I did some time ago, did not stop Google bots from crawling the site. Unfortunately, the pdf is still on the Homestead file manager servers because I can not delete the file in dispute. Not being able to modify, delete files or graphics or do anything to update and publish www.alpost305.org is causing some real problems.
And btw, being in the dark most of the time and getting no updates from Homestead doesn't help anything. I am beginning to think the Homestead rep Michelle is right and Drew is wrong or misinformed or just not in the loop. Homestead is doing nothing further on Desktop Sitebuilder. per Michelle at Homestead, all a customer can now do is call customer service and have them take down the website, in my case, websites, and issue a refund.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
To say Homestead has created a mess is not fair. This program was discontinued years ago, and is not being updated. We are usually able to get it going again, as I hope we have now. In addition, you have the option of using Sitebuilder Plus. That is the currently supported version of Sitebuilder. If the Plus editor is not showing the current site, we can get that updated for you so you are able to use it.
Again, there is no guarantee that we will always be able to get desktop running again when it breaks. Standy by for my detailed instructions coming soon to this topic. I am hopeful it will resolve your issue, it did for me.
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1,036 Points
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1,588 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
I do understand the frustration and nervousness in trying to switch things to a completely new tool, and I will not lie to you in that there will be a learning curve, but we are available on the phones and here in community with answers to your "how to" questions.
Lyz also has some of the topics set up on our YouTube channel. It really does make a more modern looking site for your business. And while it may not have all the features you know and love about desktop, the end result should make you happy.
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220 Points
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130 Points
i logged in into www.homestead.com then i download the website builder. After full installation I try to login .. but it stated Internet Connection Required. Im using Win7 and Win10 64 bit .. Bos OS cant open my website builder
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
These instructions assume you are on Windows 7 or later.
- Install/repair Microsoft J# 2.0
- Using Windows controll panel, uninstall Homestead Sitebuilder
- Use Windows explorer to locate the folder c:\program files(x86) and delete the folder Homestead.
- Locate the hidden folder c:\programdata. Inside the program data folder, rename the Homestead folder to Homesteadbackup.
- Log into your Homestead account
- Go to the Websites manager page
- Click the Download Sitebuilder link under the edit site button.
- Scroll to step 3 under the Troubleshooting section and click the indicated link
- Save the program to your hard drive
- Open your downloads folder and extract the files from the zip folder.
- Run the program SiteBuilderSetup.exe
- Log into desktop and select a site. Since you renamed the folder that contains the site files, desktop will download the published site. Then you can test publishing. I have not yet tried to rename the backup folder so this step is not necessary, so I advise you let Sitebuilder create the folder and download your sites.
- Try to publish a change and let us know if it worked.
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1,036 Points
Drew, do me a favor. Find your Homestead Rep Michelle in sales and set her straight on what to tell Desktop Sitebuilder Customers.
susan2829, Champion
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43,192 Points
Cheers,
Sue
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388 Points
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1,608 Points
Elyzabeth , Official Rep
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44,918 Points
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1,608 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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1,608 Points
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1,588 Points
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1,588 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points
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1,588 Points
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points

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80 Points
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490 Points
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1,588 Points
Using windows7 64 bit if that helps at all.
Elyzabeth , Official Rep
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44,918 Points
If you will scroll up to Drew's last comment, you will see instructions that have allowed others to access the program.
Drew N, Alum
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262,816 Points

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388 Points
Elyzabeth , Official Rep
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44,918 Points
If you log in to homestead.com and go under Websites Manager, you should be able to click "Add New Website". This new website should automatically be created in the newer builder. Is that the steps you are taking to add a new site? On your account we are still working on making sure you no longer get that error when choosing a design on the new sites, but that should be how you add them.
You can absolutely create your new sites in the background while still editing and using the older sites. That will not cause any trouble
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388 Points
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