Wordpress

A WordPress Exchange On Twitter

~ beetleypete ~ 67 Comments

I saw an advertisement on Twitter. WordPress want to recruit more ‘Happiness Engineers’, for Customer Service.

We are growing! Check out our open, fully distributed roles across engineering, design, Happiness (customer service), marketing (and more!). Get all of the details on how to apply here: bit.ly/38guhDF

So I replied.

“Happiness? Give us back the Classic Editor, and I will be happy! Listen to your customers and bloggers!”
8:15 PM · Apr 1, 2021Twitter Web App
Then they replied.

WordPress.com
@wordpressdotcom

Replying to

@beetleypete
If you really want to use something like the classic editor, we recommend sticking with the classic block: wordpress.com/support/wordpr We also have some extensive documentation available at

I answered.

“It’s not the Classic Editor though, is it? Just let us have have the option. What’s the problem? You know it’s possible. So many users absolutely hate Block Editor, and cannot work it out. Look after your users and paying customers. (like me) Do the right thing for once.”

Nothing since then. Not surprised.

WordPress Strikes Early!

~ beetleypete ~ 102 Comments

Well it seems that WordPress understands ‘Late 2021’ to be the last week in March. With no warning, the ‘Classic’ option was removed from my blog today.

I am now stuck with ‘their way or the highway’. In other words, the hated and detested Block Editor. Not-so-fondly referred to by me as ‘Mister Blocky’.

Fortunately, I had already completed the final episode of my serial, and I am using the cheekily-named ‘Classic Block’ to produce this post.

I know many of you have come to love Mister Blocky, so there’s no need to rush to its defence in the comments. But I HATE it, and will continue to do so, whatever you say.

I am hoping to receive a ‘work-around’ that will enable me to use the Old Editor again soon. But in the meantime, if I am not around on my blog, you will know why.

More Help For New Bloggers

~ beetleypete ~ 23 Comments

My recent post about blogging https://beetleypete.com/2021/02/14/blogging-lead-by-example/ proved to be incredibly popular. It is the most-read post on my blog this month, and attracted a lot of very kind comments from new bloggers who took the time and trouble to let me know that it was useful for them.

It also generated a large number of new followers to my blog, which was very gratifying.

Thank you.

However, so many of them have no direct link to their blog. This means I cannot go to their blog, read a post, and thank them. They did all have Gravatars though, either photos or images they have chosen, or generic ones. But they neglected to link their blog to that, in most cases.

So once again, I am posting about how to do this. If you don’t do it, nobody will find your blog, remember that.

It’s important!

On this 2019 post from my blog is a link to a basic WordPress tutorial that shows you how to do it.

https://beetleypete.com/2019/07/19/connecting-your-gravatar-to-your-site/

Some Rare Praise For WordPress

~ beetleypete ~ 55 Comments

As most of you will know by now, I rarely have anything good to say about WordPress. Whether it is the fact that they will not be retaining the Classic Editor soon, or the endless glitches that fling our comments into Spam Folders, the host company of our blogs has received the sharp end of my keyboard on more occasions than I care to remember.

However, credit where it’s due.

This morning, I received conflicting communications about the renewal of my paid ‘Personal Plan’. One message said I had to renew it, and another told me it had been automatically renewed, supplying me with a confirmation invoice number to prove that.

So I used the ‘Live Chat’ system to query the confusion.

They replied instantly. I typed out my question, and received a reply resolving the issue in less than sixty seconds. I know this is not available to anyone who uses the Free Option. But at £3 a month, it has to be worth it. And it gets rid of the advertisements too. Some people pay that much every day for a takeaway coffee.

Compare that to so many years of teeth-grinding frustration trying to contact WP through the help pages and forums.

WordPress Glitches

~ beetleypete ~ 43 Comments

Just to let you know, my blog has been suffering from some WP glitches this weekend.

Some followers have been appearing as ‘Anonymous’ when they have left a comment.

Using the notification sidebar to reply to comments has made those comments disappear, though my reply has appeared on the blog.

A few comments from regular readers have been found in the Spam or Trash folders.

I have been asked to approve comments from people who regularly comment, even if they do not contain links.

So if my replies are delayed, or your comment is missing, you know why.

No More Mister Blocky

~ beetleypete ~ 70 Comments

After all the posts, all the grief, the debates, headaches, and everything and anything to do with the cursed Block Editor, you will be pleased to know that I will no longer be posting about this scourge of the WordPress Blogger.

I have found what seem to be two effective ways to create posts still using the Old Editor, and very soon I will be back to normal blogging, without a Block in sight.

At least until the end of 2022, when they are supposedly stopping all access to anything but Mister Blocky.

The Dummy Is Back In The Pram

~ beetleypete ~ 62 Comments

(Translation for American readers. Dummy = Pacifier. Pram = Stroller. )

When a baby or small child has a temper tantrum here, we say “Oh he/she has thrown their dummy out of the pram”. That carries on into later life, whenever anyone has what some perceive to be an unreasonable outburst, or unexplained fit of annoyance.

As regular readers will know, the last few days have seen me rage at WordPress for forcing the Block Editor down my throat. This culminated in me leaving the world of blogging, with a sad farewell. Prompted by my unexpected departure, some members of our great community decided to send me the simplest of tips that my flu-confused and age-addled brain could actually cope with. I have already thanked them, in a previous post.

As a result, I am able to post this, and barring any sabotage by WordPress in the near future, I will soon be back to blogging in the old way, at least until the Classic option is no longer available after 2023.

So my dummy is back in my pram, and securely in my mouth.

For now.

HELP PLEASE

~ beetleypete ~ 28 Comments

Can anyone help Lorraine with this issue? I don’t know what advice to give, as it is new to me. She is blind, so please be specific.

Oh dear I’ve made a mess! I was looking at Referrers, below the counties where viewers had come from, and there was one that said “reader” and another below it that said, I THINK, google.com but can’t remember for sure. I accidentally clicked on 3 dots, and ended up putting those Google viewers into spam. HELP. I didn’t want to put ANYBODY into Spam. Please help me to get them out.

Sent from my iPad

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