> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.magicpages.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Why is my SocialSpec profile empty or out of date? - URL: https://www.magicpages.co/help/features/why-is-my-socialspec-profile-empty-or-out-of-date/ - Published: 2026-11-09T15:18:45.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-09T15:18:45.000Z - Description: What to check when about.md, contact.vcf or following.opml is missing, empty or showing yesterday's version. - Author: Jannis Fedoruk-Betschki - Tags: Help Center & Guides, Features and Benefits An empty or outdated file almost always comes from a setting in the portal or in Ghost. Find what you're seeing below. You can rule out your DNS, and if an app reports that it was blocked or shows a CORS error, the cause isn't on your side either: we serve the files ourselves, with the header those apps need. To see your files the way an app does, type your domain into [Social Browser](https://sodir.org/?ref=magicpages.co), or run it through the [SocialSpec validator](https://brianschrader.com/other-projects/social-spec-validator/?ref=magicpages.co). Comparing with a site where everything works helps too. Here are [ours](https://sodir.org/profile.html?d=magicpages.co&ref=magicpages.co). ## The address shows "page not found" If the address shows "page not found", we aren't publishing the files for your site. That happens when: - You haven't switched on **On your site** in the SocialSpec section, or didn't click **Save changes** afterwards. Under **Your files**, each file shows **Off** until the switch is saved. ![The SocialSpec section with On your site switched off. Under Your files, about.md, contact.vcf and following.opml each carry an Off badge.](https://www.magicpages.co/content/images/2026/11/socialspec-switched-off.png) - Your site is private. In Ghost Admin, **Settings → Access**, **Who should be able to browse your site?** is set to **Private**. Sites on a free trial are private until you pick a plan, so they don't publish the files either. - Your site is paused or cancelled. If only `following.opml` shows "page not found", **Include sites I follow on the social web** is off. That switch decides whether the file exists at all. ## about.md is just a heading `about.md` uses the text in Ghost's editor for the page you picked. Some themes build pages like `/about/` from a template and ignore the editor, so the page can look full on your site while the editor is empty. Open the page in Ghost Admin to check. If the editor is empty, write your profile there. Your theme still decides what the page shows, so your site looks the same as before. `about.md` gets the text a few seconds after you save. Our own About page works this way. The theme draws it, and the text in the editor is only there for [our about.md](https://www.magicpages.co/.well-known/about.md). ## about.md shows your site description instead of your page The page you picked isn't published and public any more: it went back to draft, became members-only or was deleted. `about.md` then falls back to your site title and description, so it never publishes a page you've taken down. In the portal, the picker shows **Unavailable page** with a note underneath. Pick another page, or publish the old one again. ![The about.md menu showing Unavailable page, with the note: This page is no longer published and public, so about.md is generated from your site instead. Pick another page to use one.](https://www.magicpages.co/content/images/2026/11/socialspec-unavailable-page.png) ## contact.vcf has no email address or no social links We only put an email address in the card when you enter one under **Public email address**. We never take one from Ghost, so a blank field means a card without an address. Social links come from **Settings → Social accounts** in Ghost Admin. An account that's empty there isn't in the card. ## A site is missing from following.opml The list only holds sites we found a feed for. A recommendation whose site doesn't offer an RSS or Atom feed is left out, and so is a social web account we can't find a feed for. Accounts you follow only show up while the social web is on in Ghost (**Settings → Network**). A recommendation or follow you added today may simply not be in yet. The timing is below. ## A change isn't showing yet The timing depends on where you made it: - In the portal: straight away, when you click **Save changes**. - In Ghost, for the page, your title, your description or your social accounts: a few seconds after you save. - For recommendations and the accounts you follow: at the nightly rebuild, 04:45 UTC. Ghost doesn't tell us when those change. Apps can keep a copy of a file for up to five minutes on top of that. ## A validator says about.md needs front matter Some validators expect `about.md` to start with a block of settings between two `---` lines, holding a `summary`. The SocialSpec specification doesn't require it, so you can ignore that warning. Apps like Social Browser show the file without it. Ours gets the same warning from the SocialSpec validator, and passes every other check.