Dan Antion

WordPress et al. Update

Russian white lilac.

Several weeks ago, I posted a series of articles about the ongoing struggles with the WordPress ‘Like’ button and the difficulty with organizing a tiled-mosaic gallery in Guttenberg that includes captions. I thought I’d give you an update today, because…OK, you want the truth? Because yesterday was Mother’s Day and I didn’t want to spend a lot of time writing. Anyway, I don’t have many answers. I am making a few assumptions and a giant leap of faith, based on my having worked as a systems developer for over 40 years and my being an optimist – two traits are at odds with each other on this.

“Who are you to be Liking this post?”

When my problem started, I simply couldn’t like a post unless I loaded the page a second time. The Like button wasn’t even there. The Happiness Engineers were able to reproduce that error, and I think they’ve been working on it becasue, it has A) gotten a little better and B) gotten much, much worse.

Better – The Like button is now visible when I first encounter a blog page.

Worse – I have to login to the page. Sometimes, I have to login to push that button and almost always, I have to login to leave a comment.

I have to login to EVERY SINGLE PAGE I VISIT! That’s if I’m using a web browser on my laptop. If I’m using my iPhone, I have to log into the page in order to Like and comment. If I don’t, when I push the Like button, the page appears to drift backwards into the Twilight Zone and returns unliked. I have to scroll around until the “Following” widget at the bottom right appears. And then I have to get my fat fingers to push the three dots next to the word “Following” to open a menu that allows me to login. I have to do that to like the page or any comments on the page. This was a huge pain as I was trying to like your comments on Teagan’s story. This is going into an update to the still-open-item with the Happiness Engineers. My big question…

How do you (WordPress) know that I am following Teagan’s (and all of your) blog if you don’t know who I am?

“I came, I saw, I went back to work.”

Guttenberg – the gallery issues I opened on Github have been read, responded to and closed. If you recall, I opened two issues. 1) The captions for my photos don’t appear if I hover over them in the mosaic gallery, and 2) If I give an image a custom title (something other than the file name) the Description appears below the visible portion of the screen. In the many good responses I received on this issue, I learned that a photo gallery has at least two complex parts.

The gallery itself is a JetPack project that is actively being worked on. The “Lightbox” (the thing I refer to as the slideshow) is another JetPack project that may or may not be being worked on. Both are being affected by ongoing design and development decisions. I can’t summarize them all, but here’s a couple that make sense (to the 40+ year programmer in me).

Captions are hard in Guttenberg. The idea was to give the galleries a fresh new look. I get that. Instead of the kinda-sorta-pop-up-partial-text-light-gray captions, they wanted to show the entire caption on the image. But the font is so big that it covers the image. Or the font has to be so small as to be unreadable. We were fine with saying, “If you want to read the full captions, click on any image to begin a slide show” – but no, that’s not good.

Captions aren’t displayed in the slide show/lightbox because it displays “Descriptions” – hang on, this is important. Lots of people who administer web pages for multiple clients are big time PO’d at this because to fix that, you have to copy ALL the captions and paste them into the Description field.

Therein lies the root of the problem. Captions and Descriptions are metadata associated (by you) with each photo. The Classic editor gallery reads the metadata to display both the hover caption and the caption/description under the image in the slide show.

Guttenberg galleries don’t read the metadata.

The idea is that the caption/description should be separate from the metadata so you could reuse an image and give it a new caption – I would like that feature! But it isn’t working (yet) so they turned the feature off. The best suggestion I saw was that the gallery should read the metadata by default but allow it to be overwritten for each post.

Good luck to the developers on this. The take-away is this (opinion) – This is a complex problem. They are working on it. They are aware of the issues. They are trying to make the product better. Wish them luck.

Note: If you’re experiencing these problems, and if you don’t mind possibly getting test comments from a WordPress engineer, you can mention your experience in a comment. I am going to suggest they read this post and your comments. This has helped in the past. If you have time, please mention how your viewing (laptop, phone, etc.) – Thanks!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Dogwood blossom
MiMi likes to watch me work. I was trimming bushes along the driveway.
It’s getting hard to see the sun.
After celebrating Mother’s Day (with Faith), Maddie is tired.
I don’t do much grocery shopping. I wasn’t aware there were so many choices for cold cuts.
That cup on the left is supposed to feed 6-8 people? Earthlings? We’re talking potato salad here.
That lump of fur is MiMi. I’m trying not to wake her.
It’s been raining again, but some of these guys venture out for food.
The lilacs are in full bloom now.
Russian white lilac.
To login, I have to press the three dots in the lower right.

98 comments

  1. Your photo of the cold cuts section is priceless. We Americans are a little crazy. :D I just returned from visiting my daughter in Connecticut, and as we drove around the State, I noticed building and doors … and sent hellos your way.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Gwen. Each thing I asked for, the clerk asked me “which kind? I was hoping “turkey” and “roast beef” would have been enough. I hope you had a nice visit. I’m glad you got to see our doors firsthand.

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  2. If things are difficult for you, Dan, then it must mean progress. WP is an example of “If it works – fix it anyway!!” (at least that’s how it’s been for me).

    Liked by 2 people

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    • I think you’re right, GP. I know they’re on a mission to make it better, but I have to agree with the developers who are suggesting “as a default, make it work the way it does now.” You can add more features; I’d like that, but try not to break what we have.

      Liked by 1 person

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      • Hi Dan back in April I advised WordPress of the problem. I had several emails asking for information, each from a different “Happiness Engineer”, and on occasion asking for informing had already supplied. My last message from them was this:

        11, 17:27 UTC

        Thank you for that information. I chatted with some colleagues and they were able to replicate the problem. We have created an issue around what is going on, you can see that issue here https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/32186 Our developers will take a look at what is going on and hopefully they will be able to get a fix going for it soon.

        Since then nothing, apart from an evaluation request. Needless to say the feedback I gave wasn’t particularly favourable as the problem continued to persist.

        For about a week it seemed like it was a bit better, and then it returned.
        You’re right that at the moment it seems worse than ever, particularly as now I have to log in each time I want to do respond to a post.

        I have my fingers crossed this is a sign they’re working on it but I’m not that hopeful given how long the problem has being going on.
        Although, it’s gotta be bad for the WP business. I’m sure there’ll be others like me who are finding the whole thing quite frustrating and spending less time on WP.
        Right now I’m thinking Twitter is so much easier to engage with. Different, but easier. There’s less platform “friction” anyway.

        Liked by 1 person

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        • Friction is a very good term, Jill. It takes energy to overcome.

          Thanks for the reference. I’m hoping to get some information this week. I’m living in work-arounds but it’s frustrating.

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  4. I still use a laptop and have periodic issues but nothing like you have outlined in these posts. If someone is going to have them I’m glad it is you because you at least understand what is going on and how to maneuver around it. All I know is that it works or it doesn’t. I checked my lilacs over the weekend to see if I could grab a photo. They are still stuck in early bud stage because of the cold dark weather. Who knew we’d still have the heat on in mid May.

    Liked by 2 people

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  6. I just tried to like this on my phone and…
    Ugh. Insead, I’ll do this, Dan…

    LIKE!!!

    It’s silliness and annoying to log in on every blogger’s web page. Who has the time and patience?

    Liked by 2 people

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  7. Omg, that is beyond annoying… I don’t know how you stand it. Very glad I’m not having those issues, if I did I think I’d have to give up WP.
    Jealous you already have lilacs. We’ve been so wet and cold we don’t even have buds yet!

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Dan, I give you full marks for tenacity. WP needs users like you to give them feedback because it’s sure not going to come from someone like me. My general response to something that doesn’t work is ‘oh, I’ll try something else then’.

    The only problem I’m having right now (knock on wood because I sure don’t want to jinx myself) is that I don’t get responses to my comments on certain blogs. Right now it seems to be happening with only self-hosted sites, but it is annoying.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Joanne. This is one area where I feel like I can contribute something meaningful to the engineers. I can get around most of this if I would switch to Chrome on my laptop. I don’t know what I can do about my phone. If I clear all the web information, I have to log into every site at least once, anyway, and then the problem starts again.

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. I never seem to experience this problem. Does it make a difference if the site is WordPress.org Vs. WordPress.com? I generally use the WordPress Reader for all the blogs I follow. The only odd thing I noticed was one day the like and comment icons in the reader switched places.

    I am also curious if all sites have Jetpack installed and if there could be a theme compatibility issue between the plugin and the theme and the core.

    I can see how this might be complex. I go back to my old programmer logic. If it was working and it broke, some change broke it. (“Nothing changed, I swear!”) Now to find which change is the culprit.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I don’t have problems with the Reader, Maggie, but unfortunately, I follow a few people who post multiple times per day, so the Reader fills up. I really like following via email.

      I think the problems with Guttenberg are related to themes not being ready for it, but I don’t want to change themes until they settle into a stable version of that editor.

      The problem with the Like button had been affecting sites, with custom domains, but it didn’t matter where they were hosted. It’s still the case that I have the fewest problems with blahblah.wordpress.com sites My site is hosted at WP.com, but people have had problems with my domain.

      The other problem is when there’s a mix of secure (https) and insecure (http) content on the same page. With all the possibilities, it’s hard to narrow it down to one thing. It’s entirely possible that fixing the Like button broke something else. It’s also entirely possible that the problem is on the browser side of the equation. I’m using Friefox and Safari,

      I’ll keep trying, as long as someone keeps listening. I would think they would want WP sites to work everywhere.

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  10. I think you told me to hit the refresh button if a site is constantly ‘…Loading…’ but I have to do that to ‘like’ certain sites, also. Plus (and this confounds me), according to WP, I am not following any sites that appear daily in my Inbox. All the posts I read say ‘Follow’ on the bottom right. What the heck, right?
    I do love the photo of MiMi stalking…..I mean watching you outside. That is the cutest photo.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Lois. Yes, when I visited your site earlier, it offered to let me follow you. Once I login, it says that I am following you. I want to scream “this is Lois for crying out loud – of course I follow her!!!”

      MiMi often gets in that window when I’m working in the driveway. She also seeks me out when I’m working in the house. I call her “Inspector MiMi”

      Liked by 1 person

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  11. Boy, your parents certainly endowed you with “sticktoittiveness” Dan!! But I guess that’s what it’s going to take, along with the HE’s, to get all these problems resolved…. permanently!! I wish you all luck.

    Lilacs are beautiful. None blooming here yet. In fact, it was a poor spring here for forsythia…..small splotches of yellow flowers for a couple of days and that was it.

    What is wrong with this picture? The furnace is still running!! It’s that or freeze!!

    Looks like Maddie had a fun day with Faith….so tuckered out.

    Yeah, the deli section is daunting, isn’t it?! And although that large cup supposedly holds 1 lb, it wouldn’t fill up a teenage boy! Lol.

    Hope today starts you off on a great week.
    🐾Ginger 🐾

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Ginger. I keep trying, as long as I think there’s a chance. We had a nice stretch of warm dry days. The lilacs really popped out, but now it’s cold and wet again. We’ve had the heat on since Saturday night – that is depressing.

      Those container descriptions are laughable. 6-8 people? In my experience, you need a lot more potato salad than that to feed 6-8 people. A teenage boy? That would be a warm-up snack :-)

      Maddie loves the days when Faith comes to visit. This morning, she stayed in her crate until I opened the pack of turkey to make a sandwich for lunch. Once I wrapped the meat and cheese back up, she went back to bed.

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  12. I am ‘sometimes’ able to like on my phone and sometimes not. Weird it picks and chooses. And the gallery captioning is an entity all to itself at this time. Best wishes to the computer gurus.

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Every once in a while, I like to poke into the HTML to see how WordPress works and it is interesting how things change. Some of the features like “Rate this” seem to be farmed out to third party providers. I could see where that would be a stability issue.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • It’s open source, and lots of features are spread across multiple development groups. The “bug” I reported on Github was bounced to two different groups. They explained it, and then they closed my issue. A little like “we got this, go away” but more professional. There also seem to be design differences of opinion among the teams – that’s never good,

      Liked by 1 person

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  14. Some blogs that I used to be able to like right on the page I can’t anymore instead I have to click over to My Reader to Like a page, but thankfully it’s only a few, and I’m still using the old editor. I’m switching til they make me!

    I’m so glad you know how to speak Happiness Engineers speak and are trying to get the issues resolved. Hopefully, by the time they make us all switch to the New Editor, these things will be worked out.

    The Dogwoods and Lilacs are gorgeous!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Deborah. I’m starting to use the reader when I’m using my phone, because the browser is so subject to error. Then I have to manually clean up (reconcile) my inbox for the places I follow. I am sticking with the classic editor, because the captions are often important to the story.

      The lilacs are very pretty this year. Maybe the heavy rains helped.

      Liked by 1 person

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  15. I have to double login to Like and then to Comment on most blogs. You mean you’re not supposed to have to do that? I’m getting the impression that WP is trying to get all of us personal bloggers to give up and go away. Why do they make this stuff so convoluted and inconsistent?

    Liked by 3 people

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  16. I hope you get this figured out eventually, Dan. I enjoyed the idea of 16oz of potato salad stretching to an eight-way divide. I would hope I’m doing the serving. I liked the photos of the beautiful lilacs and dogwoods. MiMi. MuMu and Maddie are always cute. Thanks for the photo of the cold cut section. As you may know, I’m banned from shopping at the food store, so it’s nice to get a peek. The reason for the ban. “Sure give me a pound of that Danish Ham, Prosciutto, Olive loaf, Havarti, Swiss, and Cheddar. Oh, hi dear. just getting some bologna.”

    Liked by 3 people

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    • Ha ha – I can see why your banned, John. But that stuff looks so good. I just wasn’t prepared for all the decisions on things like Turkey and Roast Beef.How many kinds are there? There were two kinds of Prosciutto but the clerk gave me a sample of each. That made the trip worth while :) I bought the large container of potato salad, for three of us. It worked well. I think they will solve this mess eventually. I just hope it’s on the short side.

      Liked by 1 person

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  17. I usually access WP through my laptop because I find it a hassle to sign in on my cell phone and try to type comments on it. If I try to like something from my phone, it always asks me to sign in. Thank goodness, I am signed in now on my computer. It still bugs me that I am paying for my blogs and getting problems and then difficulty remedying them with the engineers. And why should we even want to try this new Guttenburg if there are so many problems with it? I did notice something else recently on the old editor. The ABC editing feature is now missing.

    Liked by 1 person

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  18. I am also struggling with these same issues on WP, Dan. I usually blog from my laptop but I also have to log into each and every page most of the time. I can see the like button but I can’t like any posts. I leave comments on most posts I read so I don’t worry about it to much. I can’t like or comment from my iphone at all.

    Liked by 1 person

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  19. Hi Dan – no comment from me for these hassles – interesting to read about though. Love the lilacs and then the down times … including a visit to the grocery store – was the editor testing you for the free time you’ll have later in the year?! Hope things get solved … cheers Hilary

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  20. Dan, I have the exact same problem with the like button, the post leaves and comes back and I cannot register the like. Also on most posts I have to put my contact info in & a WordPress password to make a comment every time I comment on a blog. I’ve given up many times & just delete the post. Not good for my fellow bloggers! Okay, so now I’m putting everything in so I can make a comment here! Frustrating! 🤨😞🙄Thanks for helping out! 🎶📚 Christine

    Liked by 2 people

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  21. I haven’t had too many issues….I did notice the spell check button was gone (like Judy), but the feature is still engaged…I should know due to the number of words that get red lines under them as I type….I use desk top and Chrome to post….Iphone to respond on WordPress app….

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  22. I had the “like” button problem for awhile, but things are back to normal. I tried the new post form, but couldn’t find things I needed so went back to the old one. I can access WP just fine on my iPad and haven’t had any issues when using my phone, but I don’t use my phone that much. Too small.

    janet

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  24. This is exactly what has been happening to me for months now. It’s so inconvenient and maddening. To keep hitting the Like button and never know it you liked yhe post or not because it just keeps reloading the page. Grrrrrrrrr…..thanks for trying to get someone’s attention about it.

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  25. I can only imagine the frustration, Dan – I can see how, for someone like you who is a prolific blogger and great supporter of we other bloggers, someone who reads/writes on a phone/tablet/laptop would be ready to pull out your hair.

    I blog only from a desktop, and the issue with disappearing “like” buttons seems to be improving (jinx?) ditto the need to log on (double jinx??) – I won’t even load the app to my tablet – no way I want to add another layer to the mix.

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  26. I’ve just started having the same login problem. (Thanks for the tip to go via the Follow button location. Filling in details on the comment didn’t bring up my avatar.) I just tried to post a comment on a blog I’ve commented on frequently and it just came up “awaiting moderation” and without my avatar. And I’m using Chrome. Only a problem on desktop. I can comment okay via WP app on my phone. Thanks for fighting the good fight for us all, Dan.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Previously, on the odd occasion I had to put my details in to comment, it would recognise me and post the comment as from MOSY as usual. This time it didn’t and this has also meant that I’m not getting notifications of replies to my comments. (I’m writing this one in the app so no problem. Well, apart from the fact I hate typing on my phone. Fat thumbs.) Sigh. What are they doing???

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  28. I’ve not experienced any issues with the’ like’ or ‘reblog’ button, Dan, but have noticed recently that many blogs I follow now say I no longer follow them. However, I’m still getting email notifications of new posts from those blogs, so it’s not that much of an issue anyway.

    I’ve still not tried the tiled-mosaic block on Gutenberg, but it’s on my list to try.

    Liked by 3 people

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  29. Hi Hugh. If it appears on the page that you’re not following them, it’s likely because your login is not being recognized. That’s what’s happening with me. If I actually log in, it quickly turns to “Following” which, of course I am.

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  30. I’m having the same problems whether using my iPad or android phone. Trying to comment pushes me off to log in again and again, refollow again and again. And my email is also acting up putting everything in spam even though I’ve tried correcting it many times. Seriously, it’s too frustrating.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks for the comment. The engineers are looking into this. I don’t know any more than that. The Reblog button is part of the same widget as the Like button, so they come and go and work and don’t together. It is frustrating, and I don’t have much hair left :)

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  32. You’ve gotten a great comment thread going on this post, Dan. Gutenberg has been sounding like a horror story. I still haven’t tried it, and I won’t until there is no other choice.
    I can imagine about the captions. I have low vision, so I zoom my screen size up to 150% at least. Since I’ve been having this long lasting allergy problem, my eyes tire even faster, so even bigger zoom. That means I can’t see a lot of things on any screen. Sometimes text goes bonkers the way you describe the captions. But that’s beside the point.
    I usually view on my laptop, but sometimes on my Kindle, occasionally on my android phone.
    Recently I tried to do a quick simple edit to my post using my Kindle… that did not go well.
    Thank you for championing this with WordPress. Hugs on the wing.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Teagan. I was hoping to get a good group of comments so the engineers can see that this isn’t limited to me.

      Your other point, about the visual aspects, are something that a lot of designer don’t even consider. Font size, color (I’m colorblind) visual obstruction, visual confusion, lack of contrast, motion, pop-ups, videos, sounds – all these things make it hard for some users. There’s too much emphasis on “what looks good to me” the designer.

      Sorry, you touched a nerve ;-)

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  33. I have given up on the WP app. Yes, it wants me to login over and over and over, even though I am liking posts that were specifically in my “Reader” (!!!) and no one has time to do that. However, I have logged in via Google on my phone and pretty much every Friday, I stop what I’m doing around 3pm and see what the prompt for Saturday is and I have no problem commenting or liking from my Google browser a la iPhone. If I have time, I may even roll on over to Flowers of the Day. Also WP sites. In Google.
    IF my WP app worked at a decent pace, I would read more blogs during the day when I have breaks. That is the only reason I prefer Instagram to WP on my phone — it’s more efficient. Reliably efficient.
    And, after my horrid vacation post incident of 2014, I will never again attempt to schedule a post from the WP app. Oy.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • I do find that that browser does not suffer the problems that Safari does. It is frustrating and it does reduce some activity, because who wants to fight that hard. Thanks for this comment. I’m hoping the range of comments will help someone figure out what’s going on.

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  35. I’ve been having the Like issue on and off for years, but now WordPress decided to up the ante and I’ve “Unfollowed’ tons of bloggers, without my knowledge or permission, so if you all see me ‘suddenly’ following your blog, sigh, I never really unfollowed. As for Gutenberg, I’ve done one post so far and I haven’t done another…
    This is another great post, Dan, I’ll pass it along. :)
    Hope this day treats you kindly. :)

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Thanks Donna. I have been noticing that as well. I’m not sure what’s going on with that one.

      I have had contact with the engineers and they made some changes which seem to have “fixed” (he says cautiously) the Like/Comment issue from my laptop, but my phone is still almost useless.

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  36. I don’t even bother Liking or commenting on a blog using my phone or iPad. The Like buttons don’t work at all and too many comments have disappeared since WP apparently doesn’t recognize me. I just wait until I’m on my desktop (as I am now) so I don’t get frustrated. I’ve love to have an answer to this problem as it is extremely frustrating. Good luck with your quest!

    Liked by 2 people

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  37. The sign-in request for every like and comment is a MAJOR pain in the behind and it would severely diminish my joy of blogging. Luckily I have never had this problem.

    The captions are indeed different in the new editor. I do as you say: copy/paste each to both fields, file name and title, so that they are visible both in normal view and in gallery view. I don’t mind doing that as much, because I can also choose to alter them for each use if necessary. I don’t like some other things: the dark green colour of links in the captions that I can’t change, the fact that my theme doesn’t seem to have the slideshow option (even though it was shown in the presentation of the theme), that it doesn’t make the cute mosaic any more but rather offers only one, two or three photos per line, and some other things but nothing really bad. I only blog on my laptop and read other people’s blogs there too more often than not. The phone is too small.

    You’re doing a great job for them. It is their job to do. You should get some of their salary. ;)

    Liked by 1 person

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