Why does my dashboard data look out of date after switching profiles?

A refresh button in the panel's header now reloads your captured data in one click. The dashboard itself only updates when you export again.

Written By PostSnag

Last updated 29 days ago

PostSnag's panel has a refresh button right in its header for exactly this: one click reloads your captured data on the spot if it ever looks stuck or out of date after switching profiles. Separately, PostSnag's dashboard only reflects what you last sent it with Export To Dashboard, so switching between profiles on Facebook without exporting again, or coming back to a profile later, can also make the dashboard look behind what you actually captured. Both are expected, and both are quick to sort out once you know which one you're looking at.

Why this happens

The panel can briefly hold onto its last view, and now has a one-click fix. The panel is built to keep showing useful information rather than flashing to a blank screen the instant you navigate to a new profile. For a moment right after you switch, you may still see the previous profile's Collected count or details before the panel catches up to the new page. A refresh button sits right in the panel's header for this: if captured data ever looks stuck or out of date, one click reloads it on the spot, with no reinstalling and no losing your place.

[SCREENSHOT: The refresh button in the panel's header, next to the Collected count]

The dashboard updates only when you export, not while you scroll. Capturing posts by scrolling only ever saves them locally in your own browser. Nothing reaches your dashboard automatically, no matter how many profiles you scroll through in a session. If you switch from one profile to another and only exported the first one, the second profile's dashboard page won't show anything new until you click Export To Dashboard for it too. Revisiting a profile you captured a while ago works the same way: whatever's on its dashboard page reflects your last export for that profile, not necessarily your most recent scroll.

Local capture and your dashboard are two separate stores. What you've captured lives on your own device first. Your dashboard is a separate, synced view of whatever you've explicitly sent it. Removing or changing something on the dashboard side doesn't reach back and clear what's stored locally in the extension, and capturing more locally doesn't reach the dashboard until you export again. The two can look briefly out of step with each other because they genuinely are two different places until you sync them.

What to do

  1. Click the refresh button in the panel's header any time captured data looks stuck or out of date, especially right after switching profiles. It reloads on the spot, with no reinstalling and no losing your place.
  2. Give the panel a moment after switching to a new profile even without clicking refresh; it usually updates on its own too.
  3. Click Export To Dashboard again for a profile any time you want its dashboard page to reflect what you've most recently captured, including after switching away and coming back to it later.
  4. Refresh the Facebook tab if the panel still looks like it's showing the wrong profile after using the refresh button.
  5. Refresh the dashboard page itself if a profile you just exported still looks behind. Dashboard pages sometimes need a reload to pick up a fresh export.
  6. Recapture (rescan) a profile if you think its stored details themselves are outdated at the source. Scrolling it again overwrites what's stored locally with a current version.

Keeping the dashboard current

Make exporting the last step of each profile before you move to the next one, rather than scrolling through several profiles and exporting once at the end. Exporting right after you finish a profile keeps its dashboard page matched to what you just captured, instead of relying on remembering to go back and export it later.

Common questions

What does the refresh button in the panel do?

It's in the panel's header. One click reloads your captured data on the spot, without reinstalling the extension or losing your place on the page. Use it any time data looks stuck or out of date.

Why did the panel show the wrong profile right after I switched?

That's a brief handoff moment. The panel keeps showing your last profile's details rather than going blank while it loads the new one. Click the refresh button in the panel's header to clear it right away, or give it a moment to update on its own.

I removed a profile from my dashboard. Why does the extension still show it?

Local capture data lives on your device, separate from your dashboard. Removing something from the dashboard doesn't clear what's already stored locally in the extension.

Why doesn't the dashboard update while I'm still scrolling Facebook?

Only clicking Export To Dashboard sends anything to your dashboard. Scrolling and capturing only ever builds up your local, on-device data.

How do I force a profile's stored details to fully update?

In the panel, click the refresh button in its header for an on-the-spot reload. To refresh what's stored from Facebook itself, capture the profile again; scrolling it updates its locally stored details, and exporting again sends the current version to your dashboard.

  • How do I send my captured posts to the dashboard? (Export To Dashboard)
  • What's in the PostSnag dashboard? (a tour)
  • What is the PostSnag panel?
  • Recent scans: what is the difference between remove and delete?
  • Why do post counts look different across the panel, dashboard, and Facebook?