Dan Antion

Weekend Repairs

Blue jay is trying to figure out how to get the peanuts before the squirrels.

This weekend saw repairs, both physical and virtual, being made around here. During two significant storms this winter, high wind removed most of the top course of my new vinyl siding from my newly sided garage. When I purchased the siding, I opted for a type of top-course treatment that didn’t require nails. I wasn’t convinced it was a good idea, but the salesman assured me that this “undersill trim” clamping strip works really well. When I was installing the top course, it felt snug, but I was tempted to add some construction adhesive. I didn’t. It looked great, but of the eight pieces of siding along the top course, three came down and one more tore loose. None were damaged. All were replaced this weekend. Construction adhesive was added.

The virtual repairs offered less of a success story. I’ve been dealing with the WordPress Happiness Engineers (that is what they are called, not a snarky nickname I’m giving them).

Earlier in the week, I had reported two problems.

1) Galleries assembled in the Guttenberg editor don’t show captions when viewers hover over the images in a tiled-mosaic arrangement. In addition, the “Descriptions,” which do show if the viewer clicks to invoke a slide-show, appear so far below the image that people don’t see them (unless they know to scroll down).

2) A majority of the blog sites I visit while using Firefox, do not present me with a “Like” button. When I finish reading the post, I see the word “loading” but the page has completed loading, and the button never appears. I have to reload the page in order to see the like button. In addition, after reloading and liking the page, if I write a comment, I can’t post it. Reloading the page doesn’t help. I have to copy the comment I wrote – exit the page – reload the page from the email – paste my comment back in before I can post it. I’ve cleared cookies, my cache and I even went so far as to uninstall and reinstall Firefox.

Success

I posted these issues via email.

I received a “Success” screen.

That’s it.

 

I never received any follow-up emails…until Saturday. On Saturday, when in addition to not letting me Like or comment on Cheryl Pennington’s post, the page wouldn’t let me Tweet her post. So, when I manually Tweeted the URL of Cheryl’s post, I tossed a jab at WordPress.

The Happiness Engineers (HEs) responded.

As expected, following the mantra of all social media administrators, the HEs tried to direct me to move the conversation out of Twitter. They prefer email, because it allows for longer messages, AND because it takes the conversation out of public view. I continued to respond via Twitter. I explained that I had already tried email and was ignored. I have a Premium account; I’m entitled to a response. Finally, they asked me for my blog’s URL and they emailed me.

I must say, the people I’ve been dealing with are nice, professional and they seem determined to help with the Like/Comment/Tweet problem. We have not made progress, but I feel like they are working on the issue. I have not received a response about the Guttenberg Gallery issue.

I’ve been using these Monday posts to highlight my journey through 40-plus years of technology, as a systems developer/designer/manager. Three things bother me about this situation from the perspective of that experience:

1) Re: Guttenberg – you do not replace a system with a new version until you can replicate all the desired functionality of the previous version. Galleries in the Classic Editor work really well. The Guttenberg versions are not yet ready for production (our term for Prime-Time).

2) Re: Like/Comment/Tweet – You need to listen to the people who are complaining. I have exchanged multiple emails, answering questions about how the problem manifests itself. All of these questions were included in the information I sent in my initial email.

3) Re: Like/Comment/Tweet – Test everything, everywhere! The issue I am fighting is that I experience this problem in Firefox (and Safari) but not in the Chrome browser. This observation is frustrating – it’s as if they’re saying “well, just use Chrome.” I prefer Firefox. That’s not the point of frustration. The point of frustration is that many developers only test web-based applications in Chrome. If it works there, they release it.

The problem could be with the WordPress developers, or, perhaps even more likely, the developers who created the theme I/you use. I have other problems with the sites I visit when I try to view them in Firefox that are likely related to those themes. For some of you, I can’t see your pictures, and for some, I can’t make a comment (even when comments are working in other sites). For you guys, I load your site into Chrome.

We should all test our blogs in every browser we can. On laptops, on tablets, on phones. If we don’t have access to these devices, we should ask for input from our readers.

“We should get over to the park. The field should be dry soon.”
“It stopped raining. Once this fog burns off, we can play ball.”
Maddie’s park is starting to get green.
The branches are shadows. The leaf is from October.
Fake owls and piped in jungle music is being used to try to scare birds out of the pavilion.
“The fog is starting to burn off. We’ll be playing ball soon.”
“The game is delayed. At least until this fog burns off. We should just hang here.”
The apple tree is starting to sprout.
Yeah, it rained last night.
This is the sound machine that pipes in jungle sounds.
The field still has some drying out to do.
I’m still working with the close-up feature.
This tree is starting to bud, but got a good soaking the night before our walk.
“Did I hear peanuts? I’ll be right down.”
“Thanks for the peanuts.”
The blue jay is trying to figure out how to get to the peanuts before the squirrels.
Watching the squirrels, chipmunks and birds.
This guy looked like he was living the good life before heading back up here.

110 comments

  2. I received what I assume will be my final reply from WordPress. They said they tested the sites that I am having trouble with, and found no problems – basically “it works in the lab” – and we know what that means.

    They suggested that I run WordPress without any extensions – which I already told them I was doing.

    They asked me to try on a different network – which I had previously told them I already had done.

    They also suggested visiting the sites in Private mode – which means I’d have to log in to Like and comment – so not much help.

    I guess I’ll be switching to Chrome :(

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    • Dan – you forgot to include the HEs happy ending clause. And everyone blogged happily ever after or at least until the next upgrade. I just never manage to realize I am trying to do happiness in a compliant way. At least that is what the HEs keep telling me. Fortunately there is the “we will forget to fix that in the next release. And besides by that time you will be used to the cumbersome and quirky work around. Don’t applaud it is just our regular job description at HE.” And once again progress is delivered. Oh and lest I forget and everyone blogged happily until the next release and their expectations were readjusted.

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        • There is nothing quite like the proximity to the latest almost usable technology to hone ones appreciation how great things nearly are. Autographs of the great and supreme Oz are available down the street. Just listen for the small barking dog outside of the green curtain. Oh and go to the end of the line and wait patiently.

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  4. Chippy looks chipper! Great photos. As for the rest, well, first thing this morning I had an email notification of a comment on my most recent post, about the lizard. It was someone who is not a follower and said ‘This is a test comment’. Upon clicking the view comment button I was directed not to my post but to a page that said No such page exists. I got out of the link and went directly to my blog and the post is there. This might explain why I have gotten so few views and hardly any new followers. Every week or so a regular follower’s post is put into my spam box which I hardly have time to check. A few of my regular blogging friends are having the same issue obviously, because when I try to go to their pages I get this same screen. It happens a lot with Kate’s posts, Dan. Thanks for all your diligence. Have a great day!

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    • Thanks Cheryl. I think the test post was from the Happiness Engineers. They replied to me saying that they had tested accessing your site in Firefox and “had no problems” – I would think they would have left a better message and left a link back to a WordPress page that explains why they might be testing.

      Many people have chimed in here, and on Twitter, reporting the same problems. I’m not sure if I am going to get any additional help, as they cannot recreate this problem.

      I hope you have a good week.

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      • Your tenacity is admirable. Your company will miss you. I tried replying to this guy, even visited his direct site and left a reply there but he never answered. I just tried to comment on Pam’s new post only to have it send me to one of those ‘sorry’ pages. The Happiness Engineer was wrong. He did not under any circumstance successfully post a comment to my blog. It only came via email and did not appear in my comments at all. He successfully irritated and confused me though.

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    • Your blog may get a visit from them, Pam. Your site is one where the Like button appeared, but I had to reload the page in order to post a comment. I was all: “What do you mean I can’t post a comment?”

      I’m not sure they are happy with my persistence on this issue, but something is clearly not working as planned.

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  6. Damn, you are one dedicated blogger to go through all that hassle to like and comment. But I agree, why the hell are they releasing it if they only tested it in Chrome? I use Firefox as well… and am not looking forward to losing class editor. If it ain’t broke? Don’t fix it. They’ll be flooded with complaints once it rolls out for everyone.

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  7. Geez, this stuff is everywhere. At work we use IE and Chrome. No one at work likes Chrome. When I told our IT guy, I was having problems viewing a video, his response was, “View it in IE. Nothing works in Chrome.” So why do we even have Chrome? Did the happiness send you their little survey? Yes, I know you’re a fan of surveys.… Good luck, Dan.

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    • You might be the only person I know who is being told to use IE – when anyone here has problems visiting a site, we tell them to load it in Chrome. I don’t like that browser, but…

      I’m not officially done with the Happiness guys, so no survey yet. Also, no reply at all to my two emails about Guttenberg galleries.

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  8. I’m staying out of Guttenberg. I hope this is not going to be the disaster that was New Coke.

    I have trouble liking posts on my phone. Sometimes I can, sometimes not. Sometimes it wants me to sign in even after I’ve just left comments on your post. It’s frustrating, so I tend to wait until I get home for major liking and commenting.

    Little chippie is so darn cute nd that’s a great photo.

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    • Thanks Mary. I have a different, periodically recurring problem liking and commenting on my phone. It seems to totally forget that I am me. Every now and then, it goes so far as to tell me that there is no Dan on WordPress :(

      Chippy is cute, but he’s a pest when it comes to begging. We fear that that wood rack is full of peanuts, and we need to stack some firewood in there and use it next winter. He’s shredding the velcro on that cover (and those covers aren’t cheap). He better keep that cuteness factor working – he’s gonna need it when the Editor inspects the firewood.

      I sincerely hope they can work out the remaining issues with Guttenberg. So far, they aren’t replying to my help request.

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  9. So no solutions about these Liking problems and Commenting problems? Is that the bottom line from the Happiness Engineers? I don’t try to communicate with them. They don’t care that their system is deteriorating in front of me. I even pay money to WP… at least for one more year… then we’ll see.

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    • Despite not wanting to follow their instructions to try things I already tried, I did. I did what they asked and I reported back to them (twice) this morning. I hope they can make sense of what I’ve submitted – it’s beginning to make sense to me, but I might be jaded. I do pay them, and I probably will continue to pay them, but only if people like you stick around – the best part of WordPress is the community, not the technology.

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      • Dan, have you gotten anywhere with the WP Happiness Engineers? I just reported my problem about commenting/liking and got the run around. I thought of you. I’m discouraged by the Happiness Engineers cavalry lack of concern. As if keeping up with all the bloggers who I follow and who follow me back doesn’t take effort… Honestly, why do they make it so difficult?

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  10. Wow! Being a blogger is like wishing for a major migraine!! Glad I only follow. I applaud your dedication to getting all these flaws in the system straightened out.

    The first photo of the pavilion in the fog, it looks like a watercolor painting. I cracked up looking at the shot of the pavilion ceiling that comes AFTER the explanation of the fake owls and jungle music……their idea doesn’t seem to be working!! Lol.

    I think you and the Editor need to find “diet peanuts” for the squirrels! Great shots of the bluejay and robin.

    And our Maddie, looking so regal on her throne, surveying her kingdom. Priceless!!

    Glad the repairs were only repairs and didn’t become replacements.

    Happy Monday Dan.
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    • Thanks Ginger – They do so much work to keep the birds out of that park, it makes me sad. The spray and clean the fields, so you never see birds trying to eat there, and now they are sticking these fake owls everywhere. At several points in the year, I won’t walk Maddie around the ball fields, as I’m afraid she’ll pick up something through her paws, that they’ve sprayed on the grass. Who cares if some 10-year-old has to swat a few gnats out of the way…

      I wonder if they make diet peanuts? What we seem to be getting these days are hungry mom-squirrels or perhaps mom-to-be squirrels. I hope they push their kids out of the nest and point them to someone else’s yard.

      Maddie had the best day yesterday. She had a nice long walk and then later, sat out on her cot for about an hour.

      As for the Happiness Engineers, they seem to be trying, but it seems I have to start over with each one.

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  12. You have siding down, I have a fence panel down and a toilet leaking. :-) I have had decent response from WP, but I don’t change my theme or sign up for anything new, and I only post from my laptop – old school. I wish you luck because if you get some of your questions answered, it will be good for all of us. I have issues with other platforms like Blogger. I type a comment, try multiple times, and it disappears every single time. I have one blogging friend who I care about, but now I can only comment if I go to Instagram and leave it there. Frustrating. Have a good week, Dan.

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    • Thanks Judy. Spring repairs of winter damage is part of living in New England, I guess. I used to be on Blogger – I gave that up and moved here. I love this community, so I am committed to getting these problems solved. Also, our company website is out here, so…

      Good luck with your fence.

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  13. I don’t know about now but Firefox used to have a serious Adobe Flash Player problem. It would hang for several minutes if you were watching a video or viewing photos. I used it up to May 2015 when I met some UK horror bloggers on Twitter and they shared with me their links in order to visit. I did visit them. However, one of them had posted a horror poem with a large photo of a woman in underwear only in the background. She was lying back in a provocative posture. As soon as the page opened, Firefox had a Flash Player problem and it hung. I couldn’t even close the page, although I tried several times. I was in the office and I found the image inappropriate. And as things happen at such times when you are most vulnerable or most exposed, my boss decided that was the most opportune moment to discuss a schematic wiring diagram I had proposed for a certain project. Man! I almost had a heart attack. I panicked so bad I couldn’t even find the power button for my laptop! I couldn’t think of any solutions in those few seconds. My brain was like a disturbed beehive. My boss saw the image but didn’t say anything. He just stood there beside me like nothing was wrong and brought up the schematics issue. I couldn’t focus, though, and whatever he said I just agreed with him. I swore never to use Firefox again. Never!

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    • I can picture that situation, Peter. I feel bad for you, but you could easily write that as a comedy sketch. I’d like to get this fixed, but if the problem is only associated with Firefox, I may have to just switch to Chrome. All I can say is that someone should fix something.

      I try to be a minimalist with images. I load reduced size versions, and I load them in a gallery at the end so they don’t leave big blank holes in the post if they fail to load.

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  14. “you do not replace a system with a new version until you can replicate all the desired functionality of the previous version.” Dan, this is me with Skype and Pinterest EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Both of these platforms are notorious for constant “updates”, and with each and every one, it either removes a previous function, or just simply messes up the platform’s ability to work at ALL. I’m always reporting bugs and asking why suddenly this option is gone or doesn’t work, and it’s always the same runaround. “We’re working on it.” “Sorry, but this is a permanent change” — (even though there are hundreds of angry users complaining about it.) And most things never get “fixed”, you just have to get used to them. At least until the next update pushes itself through — in three days.

    I really hope that WordPress is sincerely doing SOMETHING other than just placating you, but… well, I’m pretty skeptical.

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    • I am also skeptical, Wendy, but I am trying to respond in a way that keeps them interested in looking for a solution. This can’t be just me – I have complaints from others, I’m using two different systems, different networks, etc. I don’t know what the issue is, or who should fix it, but someone should!

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  15. The problem could be with the WordPress developers, or, perhaps even more likely, the developers who created the theme I/you use

    If one were to speculate, that would explain the problem and WordPress’s lack of action. Still, no responding to customer reports is very bad business.

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    • I think it’s the theme(s) overwriting the CSS used with WP’s tracking agent that does the statistics for Likes and Comments. When I do see a problem, it’s usually “waiting for pixel.wp.com” or “transferring data from pixel.wp.com” – I’ve tried to point them in this direction, but they don’t seem all that interested. They asked if this only happens on one site. I sent them a list of five sites where it doesn’t load, three where it does and two where I can’t post a comment. They tested against one site and said “it works for us.”

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  16. I’ve been having the problem of not being able to hit “Like,” but instead seeing the word “Loading…” I assumed it was a problem unique to me or my computer. But, yes, I use Firefox, so I guess I’m in good company. Sometimes I just forego the “like,” but I find I can also go back to the original email that alerted me to the post and hit the like on that–it brings me back to the post and often the like button is once again visible, along with previous likers. I have no desire to change browsers, so I hope WP will fix this soon. Thanks for the explanation, Dan.

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    • Thanks Donna. I appreciate this comment. I’ve been telling them that it just isn’t happening to me. I know they want this to be something about my browser or my machine, but it’s bigger than that. I’ll keep plugging.

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  17. Dan, I am using the OLD system and sticking to it. I am however still having problems staying connected to my blog when I am on “idle”. I am unable to get back on my blog. I then have to close it, quit Safari, and open a new private window, go to my blog and sign in again. It is a major PIA. I’ve complained to the HE’s but got nowhere, zippy, just natta. It was suggested I use another browser. Nope. I like Safari. The problem is NOT on my end! I too am a premium customer here and you would think WP would treat us a little better then they are. I laughed out loud about you going on Twitter. LOL WP deserves that attention and more, darn it! About your gallery ….. your pictures just keep getting better and better.

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  18. Sorry for your trouble on WP. I know from experience the HE’s aren’t too helpful in times like these. I also feel for you on the siding issue. When something that is supposed to work doesn’t it makes it doubly frustrating. I enjoyed the birds sitting in the pavilion in spite of the jungle music and owls. At the coast, I had two plastic owls who were supposed to keep the birds away from the rails. I looked out one day and a dove was sitting on the owls head.

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    • Ha ha – I’m picturing the image of that dove.

      The problem with the HEs is that the issues gets routed from one to another and they don’t seem to read the history, so I end up explaining the same thing over and over. I should have gone with my instincts on the siding, but I tend to overbuild, so I thought I should just listen to the “experts” for a change. I hope you have a good week, John!

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  19. I use the editor Guttenberg on Firefox too – I’m not a great Chrome fan – and I often get the ‘loading’ thing instead of the ‘like’ button on some people’s posts – it’s frustrating but I find I can still ‘like’ posts on the reader, so I do that. I actually thought it was something wrong with my laptop, so I’m glad it’s not just me… bit annoying though :-(

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  20. Hi Dan,
    It looks like there may be a compatibility issue with older themes and WordPress 5.0 and the new block editor? I’ve read several articles that list themes compatible with the new editor. I don’t see my theme, Rosalie, on any of the lists. Makes me nervous to switch. I posted to the WP Forum for my theme to see if anyone has experienced any issues with the block editor. WordPress should be more upfront about potential issues that may occur with existing themes when switching editors.
    I read the following in an article by clickwp: “The first tip is to upgrade your plugins and themes. The new block editor has been in development for the past 2 years. There is a big chance that any incompatible themes and plugins have been updated for compatibility.”
    I’m not sure what it takes to update a theme or plugins or how to know if a theme has been updated. Thoughts?
    Thanks for staying on top of this issue!!!
    Donna

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    • Thanks for the comment, Donna. I do think this will ultimately prove to be related to themes. It’s one of the few things that can explain the experience I have had, where some sites work fine and others chronically fail.

      I wouldn’t want to be a theme developer right now. With the new editor being adopted slowly but also seeming to continually evolve. I don’t think the transition has been handled well. I think these things should be tested in all scenarios, not just “clean” settings. I’m being told that it might be add-ons (which I’m not running) or my security software (which is very popular and I’m not stopping) or my network provider (which I cannot control.

      There should be a program where a developer can submit stuff and get a “works with WordPress” and/or “Guttenberg safe” certification. As a user, paying for a premium package, it shouldn’t be my responsibility to determine if a theme or an add-in is safe to use.

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      • Agree, Dan. I also have a premium package and shouldn’t have to worry about my theme working with the block editor. At a minimum, theme developers should state whether or not their theme has been tested and is or is not compatible with the new editor. I don’t want to find out the hard way. Again, many thanks for raising this issue to us and for following up with the WordPress Happiness Engineers.
        Donna

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  21. I’m sure there’s much to be said for Gutenberg and for the WYSIWYG editors (new and old) in general, but I’ve never used them. I messed around a little with Gutenberg when I heard about it, and was suitably underwhelmed by the whole experience. When I tried to switch back to text mode from Gutenberg, I was faced with a lot of unreadable gobbledygook that I ended up discarding. They really fouled up with the rollout.

    As much as I hate to say it, the only browser that seems to work consistently for me is Chrome. I was a huge fan of Firefox, but that seems to have its issues with WordPress. Opera is basically Chrome without some of the more useful features. As for the browsers delivered with the various operating systems (Safari, Edge, Internet Exploder), I find they’re very useful for downloading another browser, and that’s about it…

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    • It’s sad, but very true, John. I know a lot of developers who only test against Chrome. Firefox was good for a while, then horrible. Then they came out with a major new release. It still loads faster than Chrome on my laptops (I don’t run any add-ons) and I like the look and feel. But, it seems to be entering that no-longer-ready-for-primerime phase.

      I write everything in Word. I prefer creating a draft post via OpenWriter, where I can set things without the risk of accidentally publishing my post and without having to chase around sidebars (and now tabs) to set categories, tags and social media tie-ins. Guttenberg might be better for writing (I don’t think so) but it’s more work to publish (in my limited experience).

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  22. Dan, you’re our blogging hero – thank you for your persistence in letting the HE’s know what’s not working well. I’ve yet to test all the browsers, maybe I should now that you’ve identified issues. Thank you so much for your ability to articulate the problems well enough for them to get it and hopefully do something about them!

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  23. I still haven’t used Guttenberg and will probably continue to put it off until I start reading more posts that sing its praises. So far, I haven’t read much on the positive side. New programs always come with bugs… I just don’t want to be a beta tester. I will probably make the change before I’m forced to, but just not now. I really need my own, personal IT department.

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    • I keep trying to use it, but people had a very hard time with the post I put up after using it. I’ll try again in a month or so, or, if they ever reply to my emails. I don’t like being in a beta program, but they release this stuff before it’s ready, and that’s what you have, Thanks for the comment – don’t worry, we still have time.

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  24. I had a psych professor (in the 80s) who said “Misery doesn’t love company. (Who wants to be around a happy person when you’re miserable?) No, misery loves miserable company!”
    WordPress has made sure we have plenty of miserable company. I’ve been having all sorts of weird problems for the past 2 weeks. I’m sorry you have the same kind of misery.

    It’s probably the least important thing in this post, Dan… but that is a fantastic photo of the chipmunk! Love it. And that blue jay looks quite intensely perplexed. LOL. I hope your week gets better and better. Hugs!

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    • Thanks Teagan. I’m glad you like the picture of “Chippy” – he makes us laugh, but he drives us crazy, I hope the engineers at WordPress realize this mess is affecting more people than me.

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  25. I use Firefox and have been having to reload to “like” for the last few days. I’ll make sure to put my comment in after I do that or else I’ll make sure it shows up. That’s so frustrating. It’s frustrating not to be able to talk to a real person as well. I sometimes ask for my husband’s advice, since he’s an IT guy. Sometimes that helps and sometimes looking it up online helps, but certainly not always. I’m not familiar with Gutenburg. If I write my posts elsewhere, I use my ancient (2007) Word. I’d love to update but now you have to pay by the month. Sigh.

    janet

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    • Thanks for sharing that, Janet. I’ve let the HEs know that it’s not just me. I hope they can figure this out.

      One thing I have learned – if you write your comment and post it, the page reloads and the Like button appears. So, if I’ am going to comment, I do it first now. Then, hopefully I don’t forget to press the Like button.

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  27. I never thought of piping music outside to scare birds away. We have trouble with woodpeckers hammering at our home. They are pretty but hateful creatures — at least for us. :)

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    • We had those guys pecking away at our porch before I changed from wood siding to vinyl. They did some serious damage. We also had Carpenter Bees putting holes in everything. When I stripped the wood siding, I didn’t see any evidence of insects (other than the bees, and they weren’t where the woodpeckers were digging). It’s like they were just being jerks :-)

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  28. I just don’t have the patience or know how to be Beta Tester. I’m still using the classic editor, and I use Chrome. Firefox started being buggy several upgrades ago so I’ve largely abandoned it for Chrome and Brave.

    Your Oakleaf and branch shadows is a cool image. It’s nice to see the bird team have a nice clubhouse to hang out in til the fog and rain lift.

    Chippy and the Blue Jay both nice images I hope they both get their peanuts!

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    • Firefox has had its ups and downs. I like it, but I may have switch to Chrome for WordPress. Still working with the HEs.

      I’m glad you liked that image. I was trying so hard to keep Maddie out of the puddle.

      All critters were fed.

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  29. I’m having technical problems with PaintShop Pro. I upgraded to 2019 mainly for the plugin, Pic-to-painting. Two years ago I upgraded to PaintShop Pro X9 Ultimate for the plugin, ParticalShop. Neither are working. For the past three weeks, I’ve been playing cat and mouse with Corel doing all the technical stuff on my end they’ve suggested I do. Nothing works. Today, I told them to either fix the problem, give me a similar replacement or a refund. Frustrating!

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      • I’m just about there! Every time I upgrade I have problems with it. Photoshop is not user-friendly at all and way too costly. I keep checking around for other programs, but haven’t found one that doesn’t cost a kidney to get it.

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        • Have you ever tried “GIMP – Gnu Image Manipulation Program” ? I used it for a few years before going back to PhotoShop. It’s free, and there’s a download for Apple and Windows. If you want to download it, make sure to go to http://www.gimp.org because other sites offer the download but install a bunch of junk with it.

          I liked it a lot, but since I deal in batches of photos for almost every blog post, I really wanted Adobe Lightroom. I signed up for the “Photographers pack” from Adobe that includes Photoshop and Lightroom. It’s more than I want to pay, but…

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  30. Hi Dan – well done fixing the garage repairs … frustrating to do it twice after the salesman’s inadequate advice. Love the blue jay … as too the rest of the photos – just glad I’m not battling with Guttenberg – cheers Hilary

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    • Thanks Hilary. I’m glad that blue jay hung around on the branch for a few pics. I should have gone with my instincts on that siding. Oh, well, at least is was an easy fix. The days with the high winds were warm enough that the siding didn’t crack.

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    • Thanks Kirt. The repairs were pretty easy, since there aren’t any fasteners in that course. I actually took all the pieces down in that row, and put construction adhesive behind all of them.

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  33. I admire your persistence and tenacity, Dan. (The Twitter exchange made me giggle. Serves them right.) I’ve stayed away from the new editor. (Who am I kidding…I’ve stayed away from any editor lately…but hoping that will change). Any time technology says to me ‘we see you are using the old xx, would you like to try the new xxx?’ that’s an emphatic NO from me. Not until you’ve ironed out all the glitches I know are there, boys and girls. I’ve been helping a friend with her website and she had switched to Guttenberg. Don’t like it. Had to switch it back to Classic to actually fix the problem.

    Fake owls and jungle music?? Okay, that’s a new one on me.

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    • Thanks Heather. I try to move to new stuff after the “bleeding” edge problems have been worked out. That’s what I’ve always done at work. We’ve had to roll back a few times, but generally, it’s been a good approach. I never want to be in the “you have to upgrade bu Monday at midnight” position.

      I’m getting a good response from the HEs now. No real progress, but I think they accept that the problem is real.

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  34. So true, your points about tech. But then, you are rather an expert on it. Just as a user I don’t like being told what browser to use for anything. Certain government … data entry points are only accessible through IE. Yes, IE, and that’s ridiculous.
    I work in a field where people ask the same questions over and over and if/when that makes people mad, there’s a speech about how important it is to provide the same answers consistently. I am compassionate about it, as I myself have a strong penchant for being listened to and understood. It is deeply frustrating to repeat anything, especially problems.
    Glad you fixed your physical issue so easily in comparison. Again, you may be an expert with that as well.
    Great shot of the blue jay and the leaf, those are my faves here today :)

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    • Thanks for the comment (I’m really glad you liked the leaf picture). I get upset when I have to repeat things, like when you have to type your account number into the phone to get help, and then the guy asks you for your account number. I program our voice mail system, and I work with our outside answering service, and I know why this happens, but it doesn’t make me like it.

      The thing about giving consistent answers is important, but it’s also difficult. By the third time I’m saying something, you’re getting the Reader’s Digest version.

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  35. Hi! We have definitely not given up on your issue. I’m a Happiness Engineer looking into this more. And I can tell that now there is a very long note on your requests detailing the steps you have taken so you won’t have to repeat yourself.

    The links to these posts are helpful so we can read comments and see how others are having the troubles we have not yet been able to replicate from our end. That information is very valuable. When you say, “I’m not sure they are happy with my persistence on this issue, but something is clearly not working as planned.” … please note that we are very happy when people are willing to work with us to test things and provide details. We want our product to work as seamlessly as possible, and people like you help make that happen.

    I did also read the comments on lack of action, and want you to know there is still action on the back end as we try to figure out why this is happening.

    My last half hour was spent reading this issue and notes and reading through the comments on this post. I have not yet read through your other post or Twitter yet so I still don’t have answers for you, but I felt it was pertinent to let you know you are appreciated, and so are the rest of the commenters here. This is definitely a tough issue for us to pin down on our end since testing scenarios have not replicated it yet. But we are still trying :)

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    • Thank you very much Chrissie. I appreciate the effort you guys have been making. I understand that something like this is hard to diagnose, and I’m not giving up hope. I Look forward to your success!

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  37. I am also getting the ‘Loading Likes’ but only on my WordPress app on iphone. Loads just fine on macbook Firefox. I kinda like Firefox.
    I’m going out in the morning to buy a fake owl and pipe some jungle music to get rid of the dozens of noisy starlings that surround our deck. Who cares what the neighbors think…

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    • Ha ha, thanks Annie. It didn’t appear that the owls or the music was working all that well. I have begun to see the Like – loading message on my iPhone, but it still remains on most pages in Firefox. The folks at WordPress do seem to be working on the problem, so I am optimistic.

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  38. Am I the only person using Guttenberg? I have no problems with it … but then again I’ve been largely absent from blogging and don’t post photo galleries.

    I learned a long time ago that I’m on my own and the HEs are not going to help. As so many others have already said, their pat response seems to be that they can’t find anything wrong and just clear the cache.

    My frustration these days is with FB which has made my blog a persona non grata. Apparently they’ve deemed my blog to be ‘abusive’. Go figure.

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    • Abusive??? WTH? That’s absurd.

      In terms of text, I don’t mind working with Guttenberg. There are some missing formatting issues, but I hope they add them in. If not, I could live with it. The gallery problems are a show-stopper for me, at the moment, because some people follow for the pictures.

      I am working with the HEs on this issue. They are trying to figure out what they can do, or what I can do to work around the problem. I’ll take either solution, and I’ll pass it on if I can.

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