Wordpress

Some Rare Praise For WordPress

~ beetleypete ~ 53 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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Block Editor Looming

~ beetleypete ~ 143 Comments

From the comments on my blog over the last few days, I have noticed that a large number of you have now been switched to the block editor by WordPress. Despite the provision of the so-called ‘Classic Block’ nobody seems to be very happy about having to use the new system. One blogger has already told me via email that she intends to stop blogging now, as she cannot be bothered with the learning curve necessary to continue.

I fear this may be the case with many others, in the weeks to come. I also have concerns that this will not be the last of the changes that WordPress intends to force upon us bloggers in their quest to satisfy their Business and Professional customers.

You will all remember my complaints to WordPress, and the issues I have had with them concerning critical blog posts I published. What you may not know is that I am not alone. Hundreds of other bloggers have been contacting WordPress over the past year, complaining that they want to retain the option of the old editor without having to pay for a plan that allows ‘Plug-ins’. For their part, WordPress continues to assert that the new block editor is ‘easier’ to use, and they have no intention of changing their mind about its forced introduction, obviously.

The plain truth is that WordPress could not care less about hobby bloggers, and those who blog occasionally for relaxtion, or to get their thoughts or writing down online. As far as they are concerned, we are old news, and have had our day. If we leave in the tens of thousands, they will not give a shit, believe me. This is mainly because they currently operate in excess of 40,000,000 blogs through their platform. So even if ten million of us abandoned the dictatorial WordPress, they could still make plenty of money with the remaining thirty million.

So far, I have escaped the mighty shadow of the Block Editor. But this morning while trying to edit my latest post, I received a worrying error message on the screen.
“You can no longer edit in this format”.
I ignored that and carried on, and it went away. But it is a warning of what lurks around the corner, I feel that.

At least I got to finish my serial.

A ‘Just In Case’ Post

~ beetleypete ~ 83 Comments

After being told off by WordPress earlier, (see previous post) it has occured to me that they might well cancel my blog without warning. It’s not as if they need my money, and they do consider me to be in contravention of their guidelines.

So if I disappear, that will be why.

With that worst case scenario in mind, I would just like to say it has been a great pleasure getting to know all of you, and of course considering many of you to be my good friends.

(And if you email me, I will tell you how the current serial ends. But only if they ban me. 🙂 )
petejohnson50@yahoo.com

Pete. x

Block Editor: WordPress Intervenes

~ beetleypete ~ 49 Comments

General information for everyone. You may recall my updated post where I published the email address of a WP employee who is dealing with accessibility of the new Block Editor.

Well it goes to show that WP might occasionally read a post on here, as they have now removed the email address, and substituted a message that I have contravened their guidelines by publishing it. So we can no longer email the gentleman concerned. Sorry about that.

Just so you know.