Dan Antion

Frustration Index Near 100 – #1LinerWeds

JusJoJan

If you visited my blog yesterday, you might have noticed something odd. Yes, it’s odd enough to find a new post on a Tuesday, but not so odd during Just Jot January. I wanted to offer a tiny hat tip to the authors I’ve met through my blog. It was going to be a simple post, with a simple gallery of images I’ve already used. So, I decided to give the Block Editor a try. That led me straight to today’s one-liner:

“Note to Block Editor – it’s not me, it’s you!”

I thought I was going to write about how I utilized a new (since the last time I looked) feature in the editor, the ability to edit blocks as HTML. I did use this feature, but it didn’t work as expected. I wanted to use it show the JusJoJan prompt, like I show the SoCS prompts – In quotes, in Linda’s SoCS prompt color, italicized, bolded and indented. I put indented in bold, because the people who have been developing the blockhead editor don’t seem to think indenting is something you should do – there’s no option. However, when you opt to edit in HTML, you can also define new styles in the Custom Style Sheet (CSS) that the page uses. In theory, that lets you edit anything.

Frustration step #1:

I wrote a bit of CSS code to define ‘Indent’ as a style element. I edited the HTML of my quote and inserted a call to my newly defined style. It worked! (I thought) The text was indented. Unfortunately, half of the HTML code in the CSS Style spilled into the next paragraph.

Frustration step #2 through infinity:

I’ll spare you the long complicated technical-jargon-laden explanation and just say:

Nothing I did kept the HTML notation from spilling into the text of the next paragraph – it’s not supposed to do that.

The block editor stopped letting me edit my block as HTML. I couldn’t fix the CSS. All I could do was delete the block and insert a new one – without the indent.

The block editor would not let me edit any of the other text I had written, including the option to add the pingback link. I added that to the badge, but that didn’t work.

I previewed the post. It looked OK. I published it.

That’s when the rest of the odd things showed up:

There was no “Like” button.

There were no “Sharing” buttons.

There was no comment box.

The HTML code for the separator bar was visible, but the bar wasn’t.

I returned to the editor but couldn’t edit anything. Since I couldn’t edit, I couldn’t update the post. I discovered that I could change the text that had already been published on Twitter. This had no effect on the Tweet, but it let me update the post and the above items appeared. I’m back in the Classic Editor today.

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. And, given the time of the year, it’s also part of Just-Jot-January. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

Looking out over the honeysuckle.
It’s fun to watch the squirrels run through the maze of our neighbor’s trees,
“I think it’s a little foggy, Maddie.” We stood for a few minutes on the steps before heading out.
This day just wasn’t getting any brighter.
“We should head back in, Maddie, before we can’t find the house.”
I think this sign should say “Caution, this hotel is run by lawyers.”
“What?” Maddie is lounging on her Scooby Doo blanket (which is currently on our bed).

96 comments

  1. You have my empathy Dan. This morning I have a new follower but could neither follow back nor comment on his blog due to WordPress not recognizing my sign in then booting me out after they redirected me to an erroneous page. This is getting less enjoyable daily. For me, perhaps it is a sign. I love your fog photos even though the day was dreary. Hello lovely Maddie!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Well, on a positive note, WP let me like this post today which is a step in the right direction. More often than not, it won’t let me.
    Curiously though, I still had to subsequently log in to comment. I fail to understand WP logic. It gets odder and odder.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • I appreciate the effort, Joanne. The frustrating part is that they know about many of these problems but they can’t agree on how to fix them. Somebody needs to realize that sny answer is better than the mess we have been given.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. I find it highly curious why WordPress would put out the Block Editor and call it something good when even an IT guy gets frustrated when using it. Makes no sense…or perhaps that’s the problem – no common sense when it comes to practicality and ease of use. I hope WP never gets rid of the classic editor because I think then a lot of us would either A) cry, B) get severely frustrated, or C) give up. Yikes.

    I hope the fog has lifted from your house and Maddie can enjoy a sunny respite today on the garage porch. If not, then Happy Wednesday Dog Snuggles!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • They keep urging us to use it, and I keep trying, but I just don’t think it’s ready for prime time. Of course, this time, it happened with a “quick post” that I wrote in the editor (I never do that), so it was publish it or lose it.

      I can understand features that don’t work, or don’t work well, but when it breaks to the point that you can’t even make changes, it should be put back on the workbench.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. Oh yeah the heavy grey has been here as well, Dan. That grey gets to me! I’m begging for sunshine! I refuse to budge from the Classic Editor. Nope. What works don’t fix. I don’t trust WP as far as I can throw them with their “new and improved”. Your “horror” stories about the block editor prove my gut instincts. Sorry you’ve had so much trouble. My advice? Stick with Classic!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Way to take one for the team, Dan. I still don’t think they have the block editor perfected, as you’ve clearly identified. I’m sticking with Classic too! You should design a badge of honor using the format of the sign in your picture. What would that say…hmm…? Happy Wednesday!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Well, you don’t show up in my inbox again. Sigh. I will hunt for you. I will find you. I will read you. I love Liam! Maddie has the right idea: curl up in a blanket and wait for April!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • As long as you keep posting, we will be connected, Pam. I don’t know why the email stops. I lose people every week, and I still have to refresh the page on almost every site before I can comment.

      Like

      Reply

  10. Yikes! All that trouble and frustration could drive a person to drink!!

    Love the foggy photos! And Maddie in her “other” bed. Now Murphy wants a ScoobyDoo blanket!! Because Lord knows, she’s so deprived! Lol.

    Heavy fog here. Raining on and off. But no snow!

    Happy Hump Day!
    🐾Ginger 🐾

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Aw, poor Murphy. The ScoobyDoo blanket was my mom’s. I’m not sure she’d be happy knowing that Maddie claimed it, but at least it’s being loved.

      I did have a beer at the end of that day, Ginger. We have bright sun and blue skies today. Ms Maddie might end up sitting at some point.

      Like

      Reply

  11. I’m so impressed with your persistence, Dan. You’ve given the block editor at least five more chances than I, mostly because I’m afraid I’ll throw my laptop with that sort of nonsense going on. INDENTED, block editor people. FIX IT.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Laura. I was so frustrated, with the editor and with myself. I almost always write my posts in Word. This was going to be quick and easy, but it went off the rails and into the cornfield. I’m going to reach out to the engineers at WP, but historically, they haven’t been able to help. I mostly get “we can’t recreate your error.”

      Like

      Reply

  13. I sympathize, Dan! I’ve been using the block editor, although not everything I want to do seems doable. However, I’m a fairly simple blogger, I guess, because I’ve rubbed along alright so far. How do you get in contact with anyone from WP? I don’t like that they’ve taken away the little circles on the calendar that show the days you have a post scheduled. If you schedule multiple posts in advance, you now have to go back into the Admin/Posts part and check all the dates, rather than being able to see at a glance which days you already have a post.

    janet

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • If you dig deep enough in the Help option of the admin screen, you can chat. They don’t seem to have the email option. I asked, in the chat, if I could just send an email, but it was suggested that we just chat about it.

      Like

      Reply

  14. LOL. When “progress” isn’t, eh? Miss the ol’ IT career yet!? I’ve been using blocks because I find it slightly easier for quotations and headings. However, it ain’t perfect and the blocks sometimes “lock” and won’t allow you to edit (refresh usually shakes it loose). Still, I’ll put WordPress over any other thing I’ve written the things on for the Web for ease of use. My biggest annoyance is my links default to some dumbass green color, but my frustration level hasn’t risen high enough for me to enter frustration level 100 as I look for a fix :)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • My biggest issue is with the photo gallery options. The “old” or “classic” gallery included captions that appeared when you hover over the image and you could easily step into a carousel slide show. The new options just can’t seem to get the captions working well.

      I also grit my teeth when they refuse to add simple CSS options like changing the margin on a block. They include Blockquotes, but sometimes, you just want to indent or double indent the text, without the decorations of the quote block – I was told “that’s a print thing and you shouldn’t need it online.” Thanks.

      Like

      Reply

      • As a former print editor who’s done online writing for decades, that’s just stupid. Sometimes, one just wants to punch a Web designer in the head. I will also now stay away from Gallery at risk of throwing my laptop through a wall. Could you create a gallery in something like Picasso and then upload? Not ideal, but might be something to work with.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

          • You are welcome, sir (for what it’s worth!). If i ever stumble across any free slideshow type functionality, I’ll let you know. Flipbook would probably work, but it’s pricy from what I recall. You know, random thought that just popped into my head, creating a Pinterest collection could work. You could load images up for each blog into a collection (or whatever they’re called) and then link to that. Simple, free, and relatively easy. No much control on layout would be the downside.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

  16. Dan – haven’t the happiness people explained to you that you should be enjoying these improvements ? I must admit there have been a few quirky moments when I have sent the block editor off into a tizzy. I think I got so desperate to delete the post and start clean. And I was not truly doing anything creative or strange. It was just a straight post. Then again my Windows 10 machine has been doing enough to keep me frustrated. It used to be that I could scrub html out of a text string by pasting it into windows notepad. Surprise those days are gone. Notepad has been upgraded. The utility icons for the battery life remaining and sound bar control drift back and forth without warning or functionality. Then again this gives me the opportunity to view frustration as a feature and thereby increase the overall quality of my drinking time. Give yourself a 10 on the fog pictures. And advance token to the nearest Cheryl bar. Collect lemons and limes as you sit down for a Corona…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks for the support, John. I hope to be able to get a few things working the way I like – I’m told I shouldn’t want things my way, that I should use the look they decided is best. Maybe I can get it to work while I’m still sober.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

          • I know what you mean. Things should be less complicated instead of the other way around. I mentioned to you a while back concerning the problems I was having with Corel. Well, I’m still having them. I upgraded for new and better features but for the life of me I can’t get any of them. It’s been nearly a year since my last upgrade and I just gave up messing with Corel. With every upgrade I lose more than I gain, so I stopped upgrading. I wish you success with WP, Dan.

            Like

            Reply

  17. I’m sticking with the classic editor until they force me to move! I didn’t understand your coding language at all. I just need a program that lets me type, inserts images, and post! I hope they don’t make it any harder than that.

    I love the foggy images, and Maddie cuddled with her blankie.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  18. That’s a long one liner😁. I quite like the Guterburg Editor, ( block editor) I love the size of text variations, the colours , everything really but it does take some getting used too. And I am not keen on the way it shows the “verse block” I have learned to get around that niw. Do give it another try Dan it getting better. Loved the photos 💜

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Dan, I have steered clear of the block editor. I find myself dipping into the HTML tab on the classic editor because of some weird glitches there. I think that is the problem with knowing how to code something natively then using some wraparound technology improperly.

    I have used the Divi WP theme (block oriented) for several sites (it was indeed my nemesis yesterday) and I found it too heavy handed. Have you considered that your theme might also be getting in your way? I always go to to Chrome’s developer tools to sort out who is breaking the code.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  21. Thanks for sharing your problems with the block editor. I’ve tried it several times and thought I was the reason it didn’t work right. I gave up trying. WordPress needs to figure out something better than block editor if they expect people to use it. It’s a royal pain. As usual, I like the photos; especially of Maddie. She seems like a sweet dog. I grew up with an Irish Setter named Pat. He was the best dog any kid could ask for. Even now I still miss him. I’m pretty sure all dogs go to heaven when they leave this earth.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Sandi. I have a second post today. I might be making progress, but it’s not easy.

      Maddie is our 4th Irish Setter. They have all been different. Her predecessor, Mollie was the sweetest dog ever.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I hear you. No two dogs are alike. Pepper is our sweetest dog where as Bella has a mind of her own. We can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to do. When it’s raining she will not go outside; she’ll just hold it or we have to take her out on a leash. But she’s loving and very protective over our great-grand kids. So she’s a keeper.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

          • I think Bella has something neurological going on and that’s why she ended up in the pound. She is the most difficult dog to handle that we’ve ever had. I’m afraid to walk her because I fear she’ll make me fall (she has several times in the past) and I can’t afford to break a bone. After 4 years she’s just now learning to behave a little better. If I didn’t care for her so much she would have been long gone. But she’s the type of dog that needs special attention and I’m afraid that someone else may mistreat her.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

  22. Dan, from everything I have read, I am only going to use the Block Editor when I absolutely have to. My patience is not the best under normal circumstances. Adding Block Editor into the mix may cause my head to explode! :)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • That’s how I write my posts, too, Janis. When you past into this editor, it splits each paragraph into its own block. It works pretty well, but subsequent editing is a pain if you do something that would merge paragraphs.

      Like

      Reply

  28. Oh now, see, I wasn’t going to get all technical about it, but “The block editor stopped letting me edit my block as HTML. I couldn’t fix the CSS. All I could do was delete the block and insert a new one – without the indent.” I have had that! Not the indent, but the HTML! And also, go to edit and the whole thing deletes! I end up undoing and backspacing and it’s time consuming. I hate it. Hate it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I have had that same thing happen. It seems that, at best, you get one serious edit and then you better be happy. Galleries are the worst. If you change the layout twice, you lose pictures and cannot get them back.

      This thing isn’t ready for prime-time.

      Like

      Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.