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How to Fix Frontend Sync Issues

This guide helps you resolve issues when product changes made in cobby are not visible in your Magento store frontend.

Problem​

You've made product changes in cobby and saved them successfully, but these changes are not appearing on your Magento store's frontend (website).

Solution​

Follow these steps in order to identify and resolve the sync issue.

Step 1: Check Index Settings​

Magento indexes may be set to manual mode, preventing automatic updates.

  1. Log in to your Magento backend.
  2. Navigate to System > Index Management.
  3. Check the Mode column for each index.
  4. Look for indexes set to Manual (especially the Catalog index).
  5. If any indexes are manual, select them.
  6. In the Actions dropdown, select Change Index Mode.
  7. Set them to Update on Save or Update by Schedule.
  8. Click Submit.
  9. Select the same indexes again.
  10. In the Actions dropdown, select Reindex Data.
  11. Click Submit.
  12. Wait for reindexing to complete.
  13. Check your frontend again.

Check the Job Log:

  1. Navigate to https://app.cobby.io.
  2. Go to your workspace.
  3. Check the job history log.
  4. Verify which indexers were triggered during your last save.
  5. Ensure the relevant indexes (like Catalog) were reindexed.

Step 2: Clear External Cache​

External caching systems like Varnish may be displaying cached content.

Test if cache is the issue:

  1. Open your product or category page in the frontend.
  2. Add a parameter to the URL, for example: ?test=1
    • Example: https://yourstore.com/product-page?test=1
  3. If the changes appear with the parameter, cache is the issue.

Solution:

  1. Log in to your Magento backend.
  2. Navigate to System > Cache Management.
  3. Click Flush Magento Cache.
  4. If using Varnish or other external cache:
    • Access your server or hosting control panel.
    • Flush the external cache (consult your hosting provider if needed).
    • Or contact your system administrator.

For Varnish users:

If auto-flush is enabled in cobby settings, it may slow down save operations for large catalogs:

  1. Navigate to Stores > Configuration in Magento backend.
  2. Find cobby settings.
  3. Consider disabling automatic Varnish cache flushing.
  4. Flush cache manually after batch updates instead.

Step 3: Check Custom Search Extensions​

Custom search solutions may not be synchronized with cobby's changes.

Common custom search systems:

  • SOLR
  • ElasticSearch
  • Algolia
  • Other third-party search extensions

Solution:

  1. Identify which search extension you're using.
  2. Check if the search extension responds to Magento events.
  3. Verify the extension is compatible with cobby.
  4. For SOLR by integer-net, use the compatibility module.

For developers:

Ensure your custom search extension listens to cobby API events. See the cobby API requests and events documentation.

Step 4: Check for Store View Data Issues​

Corrupt or inconsistent data across store views can cause display issues.

Symptoms:

  • Changes visible in Magento backend but not frontend
  • Inconsistent display across different store views
  • Issues persist after cache clearing

Check for orphaned data:

  1. Access your Magento database (via phpMyAdmin or SQL client).
  2. Check the EAV tables (e.g., catalog_product_entity_varchar, catalog_product_entity_int).
  3. Look for records with store view IDs that no longer exist.
  4. Records should have store_id = 0 for default values.

Solution:

  1. Back up your database before making changes.
  2. Identify orphaned records (records with invalid store_id values).
  3. Clean up these records manually via SQL.
  4. Or use a database cleanup extension.
  5. Test your products in the backend after cleanup.

Prevention:

  • When removing store views, clean up associated attribute values.
  • Use Magento's proper store view deletion process.
  • Avoid direct database modifications.

Troubleshooting​

Changes visible in backend but not frontend​

  • Clear all caches (Magento, Varnish, CDN, browser).
  • Check if the product is enabled and assigned to the correct websites.
  • Verify the product is in stock and visible in catalog/search.
  • Check visibility settings for each store view.

Changes visible in some store views but not others​

  • Check store view-specific values in the backend.
  • Verify "Use Default Value" is not checked if you want custom values.
  • Clear store view-specific cache.
  • Reindex specifically for the affected store view.

Changes appear after a long delay​

  • Set indexes to "Update on Save" instead of "Update by Schedule".
  • Check if external cache has a long TTL (time to live).
  • Reduce cache lifetime in your cache configuration.
  • Consider using cache tags for more granular invalidation.

Only specific attributes don't sync​

  • Check if the attribute is included in the search index.
  • Verify the attribute is set to be used in frontend.
  • Check attribute scope (global vs. store view).
  • Ensure the attribute is part of the product's attribute set.