Can’t see your CSS changes on your Dreamhost-hosted website?

CSS changes on your Dreamhost-hosted website doing nothing? Try turning off PageSpeed:

1. Navigate to panel.dreamhost.com
2. In the upper-left, under Toolbox, click “Manage Domains”
3. Locate the troublesome domain in the list of domains that appears.  Under the “Web Hosting” column, click Edit.
4. Under the “Web Options” section, locate the “Page Speed Optimization?” option and uncheck it.

This was the root cause behind a few of hours of frustration for me.  The only reason I figured it out was because by random chance, I happened to wait long enough between my last change and clicking reload to see that I had done nothing and the CSS, which was previously failing, began to work on its own.  This pointed to a server-side caching mechanism, and I remembered when I signed up for hosting, that I was asked about some kind of caching/optimization feature.  Seemed harmless enough at the time. lol.  With PageSpeed off, my changes appear instantaneously.  I’ll probably turn it back on once I’ve finished primary development, but I’m recording this finding here in the event it helps someone.

If your CSS isn’t working, PageSpeed Optimization was already off, and you’re using WordPress, this page contains a few other tactics to try out.