Dan Antion

Like This Post (if you can)

Just a quick update on the “Like” button and it is mostly good news!

I updated my still-open issue with the Like button on Tuesday. Thanks to all of you who added comments to my post on Monday. The WordPress engineer who received my email agreed that, even though he could not recreate the problem, it obviously was widespread – Thank You!

We exchanged a few emails, he made some changes on the “back end” of their servers, and the problem I was having with Liking posts from my browser dis-a-peared! I checked one blog on my phone, and it seemed to work. It was late, and I went to bed.

On Wednesday, I continued testing, and I was not able to Like posts from my iPhone from Safari (the default browser) or from Chrome. This seemed odd, because, on my laptop, Chrome always seemed to work. I was seeing the same sad story. The post would shrink into a dark background and emerge unliked. I would login and be able to Like, but I’d hav to login again to comment.

After a few more emails, the engineer asked me to see if the setting “Prevent Cross-Site Tracking” was turned on on my phone. It was. He asked me to try turning that off.

That proved to be easier said than done. My phone and my iPad are both subject to the security control of the company I work for. Not only was that setting turned on, it was protected – I couldn’t change it.

Fortunately, our security guru is a member of my department, and he’s a reasonable guy. He modified our “back end” settings to default that setting to be on, but to allow the user (me) to turn it off. A few minutes later, I was notified that a new security profile had been downloaded. I found the setting. I turned it Off and I could like and comment with ease! I could visit, comment, like, tweet – WordPress on my iPhone the way it should be!

For the technically inclined, cross-site tracking is, as the name suggests, an ability for one website to track you as you move to other sites. It sounds like a horrible invasion of privacy, but it’s not…always. In the case of WordPress, it’s a good thing. As you move from WordPress blog to blog, the third-party cookies retrieved by WordPress allow it to know who you are, which allows you to Like, comment, Reblog, etc. Without that tracking ability, you are a new face at every WordPress blog you visit. Apple is getting a lot of flack for adding this feature. Hopefully, in future releases of IOS and MAC OS, they will let us choose who can and cannot use third-party cookies in this manner.

Note: If you think about it, this explains why the problems only manifested themselves on sites with custom domains – https://nofacilities.com = problem https://nofacilities.wordpress.com = no problem. The whatever.wordpress.com is not a different domain, so cross-site tracking isn’t required.

I tried to include a couple of screen shots, but the upload of the images failed.

  1. Settings (iOS only, I don’t know how to do this on an Android device)
  2. Safari
  3. Prevent Cross-site Tracking
  4. OFF

Once again, thanks for your help. Without your comments, I think the engineers would have been (understandably) inclined to thing the problems were all just related to me and my equipment (which some were). I also want to thank the WordPress engineer who read my email, read your comments, recognized the problem, changed their settings and explained what changes I needed to make.

66 comments

    • You may only have to login once. I had to log into some of my regulra sites, but now they seem to recognize me. If you get a message asking to you to accept the fact that they use cookies, you will probably have to log in. If you don’t get that message, it should be OK.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. Turned cross-site tracking off. Had to logon although I am always logged on to the app. Was then able to like from Safari.

    Thanks to your sticktoitivness and to the engineer who helped.

    Also had to fill in email and name even though I am a follower.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Maggie. I hope you only have to log in once. After I made those changes, I rebooted my phone. I’ve had to log into a bunch of places once, but now I’m starting to see the “Following” tag at the bottom, which I hadn’t been seeing.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. opps. I’m so sorry Dan. I actually knew this but for some reason I never correlated your problem and the one I had several months ago when I learned of this solution.

    I’m surprised the Happiness Engineers didn’t suggest earlier. They’ve known about this Apple related issue a long time ago after Apple put in a software upgrade that created that default setting.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  19. Hi Dan – well done is all I can say … and for showing us the variations that can occur. I’m glad it’s sorted – cheers Hilary

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. From what you stated, you are more of a Mac user. I wonder if the same problems are having on devices that use Windows. It’s just something I’m curious about. I don’t have a cell phone because I’m usually at home where I can use the desktop or laptop. I’ve thought about getting a tablet or iPad but wonder if it’s worth the cost.

    Do you use your iPad all that much?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I am primarily a Windows laptop user. I have an iPhone, and an iPad (I develop apps for them for the company I work for). I use the iPad a lot when I travel, and for some features that are only available on a mobile device, but I write on my laptop. I was having a different problem liking posts on my laptop, but only with Firefox. The changes the engineer made on their side, fixed that problem.

      I read a lot of blogs on my phone. I like the freedom of being able to do that wherever and whenever I have some time. I can’t write anything on my phone – I’ve tried, it’s awful.

      The iPad is nice for travel, and for being away from a larger device. It has a long battery life, and it’s pretty easy to work with, as long as you get an external keyboard (usually built into a case). If I had to choose between the iPad and a laptop, I’d take the laptop, for sure.

      I have things set up so I can easily move from device to device, but it’s what I do for a living. I’m not sure how much I will maintain after I retire.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Thanks for the info. and your opinion. Husband and I talked it over and we decided to just keep the one cell phone and not get a tablet or iPad. Why spend money on something we won’t use that often?

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  23. No problem here:) Am glad, because I am not as patient as you are- I would have simply let some water run over my computer and ditched it in the trash, lol! Oh, I forgot I came here for Thurs. Doors…crooked smile

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. I Liked it. I can always like it. Here from my laptop, on Chrome, or is it the sofa? Magical sofa, ah.
    So glad you got some of it settled!
    I think I shall imagine I have another 5000 or so people who want to like my posts and simply cannot ;)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I was once of those (but I went the extra mile for you). Maybe it is the sofa. Don’t be surprised if you find a bunch of us lined up outside for a sit.

      Like

      Reply

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