Need help? Check out our Support site, then


WordPress.com Forums » Support

URGENT: pdf still visible after deleting

  1. teufeldevildiablo
    Member

    I have deleted on the blog in question every post, every page, every media file. Yet a pdf file is still visible in Google and appears upon clicking the URL:
    http://um2010.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/bernd-gewinnt-blog.pdf
    I have also deleted all temporary internet files.
    Can someone please explain this embarrassing breach of privacy?

    The blog I need help with is um2010.wordpress.com.

  2. tandava108
    Member

    Your blog is a private blog so we cannot go and look. I see you have cleared your internet cache. Are you accessing the site through a proxy server? some ove these also provide caching.

  3. teufeldevildiablo
    Member

    No proxy server at all.

  4. raincoaster
    Member

    Sign OUT of WordPress.com. Then click on that URL. You will see that you are denied access to it.

  5. tandava108
    Member

    @um2010
    Just to clarify the situation:

    • I assume that you know that your blog is private and that only authorised people can access it.
    • You have delete the file and you don't want anybody to see it, even athorised users of the blog
    • They are still seeing the file even after you removed it.

    Is this correct?

  6. andrewspittle
    Staff

    @um2010 When I load the URL you link above directly I see a 404 page, the file that's hosted on WordPress.com is no longer accessible.

    However, this is not to say that Google does not have a cached copy of it. You mentioned that you found the link through a visible Google search. If you use a browser that you don't normally use (Safari, Firefox, and Chrome are all options) does the file load if you just click that link directly and not loading it through Google?

  7. teufeldevildiablo
    Member

    @raincoaster
    I tried that. Even if I am signed out, the pdf shows up.
    @tandava108
    Private or not, if one clicks on the above mentioned URL
    it shows up, ALBEIT I have deleted it (and any other media file).
    @andrewspittle
    The Google URL is not cached.

    I think there is only one explanation: WP has not actually deleted the file.
    I can still see it, after cleaning all temp files on my machine (Windows and temp Internet).
    It also shows up when I use a browser I normally do not use (Chrome).
    I use Firefox.
    I cannot delete the entire blog, because I need it for domain management at this point in time.

    What now?

  8. timethief
    Member

    Is it in your Trash? If so then locate it and click "permanently delete".

  9. tandava108
    Member

    I can assure you that I cannot see it, when I look at the link I get 404 — File not found.

  10. timethief
    Member

    When I click the link I can open and read the PDF file.

  11. teufeldevildiablo
    Member

    @ timethief No it's not in my trash either.
    You can see and open it. See?
    Why would anybody be able to access a DELETED file in WP??

  12. timethief
    Member

    I don't know. :(

  13. macmanx
    Happiness Engineer

    To keep things running quickly around here, files are held in multiple caches through a separate system.

    These caches are always cleared within 3 days, and in this case it looks like one instance of this file on just one of caches was holding on until the very end (which is why some folks could see it, but others couldn't). I have purged it from the system.

  14. timethief
    Member

    Yay! The solution has been found. :)

  15. timethief
    Member

    @macmanx
    Oh no -- I can still access the PDF :(

  16. teufeldevildiablo
    Member

    @macmanx File is gone. Thanks! Problem solved. And thx to all who tried to help. Much appreciated.

  17. macmanx
    Happiness Engineer

    @um2010, you're welcome!

    @timethief, it's definitely gone from out system. Have you tried clearing your browser cache?

Topic Closed

This topic has been closed to new replies.

About this Topic

Tags