Dan Antion

Frustration Part-2 – Update

I have spoken to the Happiness Engineers, and while I didn’t get the answers I wanted, I got some that might work. If I can’t be happy, hopefully I can be less sad about this new editor.

I asked the Happiness Engineers if there was a way to indent paragraph blocks. I was told that “indenting is a print thing, not an online thing.” I suggested that it makes certain blocks of text easier to read. I was told “it used to.” However, it seems you can add an HTML block, and in that block, you can change the style. Now I just have to get the font to match and work on some color and format options.

Now let’s see if I can spiff it up a bit. It seems I have to do everything myself. John Holten might not mind, but it’s a pain. By the way, the easy way to remember the order in which the margins get set is TRouBLe or, for us Star Trek fans, TRiBbLE, i.e. Top, Right, Bottom, Left.

Here, I have the color like, the font is bold and italic and indented. I guess I don’t mind this exercise for individual blocks. I will likely store the HTML in a folder. I thought I would be able to use a reusable block for this, but I’m not sure they work the way I think. I need more of a template block.”
This is what that block looks like in the editor. There is a preview option to see what it will look like in the published post. This works for me.

Now I am going to explore the new gallery options. I’m told that the Masonry or Offset CoBlocks Gallery blocks might give me the option to have captions in a gallery the way I want them to be. I was also told that what I want (captions that don’t block the image) might be considered unreasonable and that I should write shorter captions.

  • Looking out over the honeysuckle.
  • “What?” Maddie is lounging on her Scooby Doo blanket (which is currently on our bed).
  • “We should head back in, Maddie, before we can’t find the house.”
  • “Look at you. Sitting at your desk in the shade while the sun is so nice and warm. Humans…”
  • It’s been a crazy week. We had mornings in the teens and mornings in 60s.

OK, that really doesn’t look like anything I want to show my readers.

  • Looking out over the honeysuckle.
  • This day just wasn’t getting any brighter.
  • I think this sign should say “Caution, this hotel is run by lawyers.”
  • “I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Aerial views? Pffft, that’s easy.”
  • It’s been a crazy week. We had mornings in the teens and mornings in 60s.
  • Hi Smokey :-)
  • We had to wait until it stopped raining, but Maddie got her walk,
This is the new standard Gallery option. Shorter captions required.

Of course, for now, you can still insert a Classic block and within that block, you can add a Gallery that looks and feels like the Classic Gallery. This might be the way I go.

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.
“I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Aerial views? Pffft, that’s easy.”
It’s been a crazy week. We had mornings in the teens and mornings in 60s.
“What?” Maddie is lounging on her Scooby Doo blanket (which is currently on our bed).

If you read this far, I’ll give you 100 bonus points for your patience.

Thanks!

89 comments

    • You can fix the picture centering issue by adding some CSS – Hugh (Hugh’s Views and News) posted that solution a while back. It’s not easy, John, and it should be easy!

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    • I agree. They could easily include the option to have the features we used to have. In the developer forums, people have suggested exactly how easy it would be, but they’ve been shutdown.

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  4. PIA! That’s all that’s to it. Why do things always have to get more complicated? I’m number one a photographer, secondly a writer. I do not know my way around Word or any other kind of editor. I like Classic. It’s simple and it works for me. If this keeps up, I just may decide to shut down. I don’t need headaches in my life, Dan.

    Liked by 2 people

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  5. I think I’ll stick with the classic. I don’t need more complications in my life, I still have to finish laying flooring that we started laying last March! Oh how I dread moving more furniture and making more mess. I need a magic wand, or a genie, or a new house.

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. The green paragraph is not indented, is that your choice? I’ve given up on trying to place photos. I just add them to top and bottom most of the time. It is irritating when you can’t get to the right of a photo to go under it and add things. I’m used to it but still irritating. It takes much longer than it should.

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  9. WP continues to do strange things that so far this year I haven’t had a chance to research – so bravo for you for trying! It’s only going to get into the upper 40s out here in NorCal. Snow expected for the Marin Headlands!

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    • We might get some snow tonight. It was 55 today.

      I have tried to use the block editor several times. I’d like to be able to settle in and just worry about writing, but every time I try I end up spending more time messing around with the post than I did writing it.

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  14. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, comes to mind. The way wp worked was perfect, and you could make any changes you wanted without breaking anything. I’ve given up messing with it, it’ll have to stay as is. It’s not exciting or what I really want, but that’s the way it’s going to be. Kudos for your attempts and I hope you get to where you want to be with it. The changes were to bring “business” into it and “younger ppl” lol cause we ALL know younger ppl wp! It’s the snapchat of the era don’t you know! not!

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    • Ha! Very good points. I mentioned above that the reason they don’t seem to care about the hover-captions is because you can’t hover on a phone. I reminded them that some people still use laptops. It would also be very easy to implement a touch-to-reveal for the captions and touch-an-arrow to scroll, or swipe to scroll.

      I understand that the changes are driven by business customer appeal, but they could implement a “Pro” version – they could even charge for it.

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    • They don’t seem to remember or care, Judy. I called tech-support about this problems several times last year, and they were trying to help. This time, they were trying to tell me to change the way I was / wanted to do things. “People don’t indent online” “people can’t hover over a picture on a phone” “You should write shorter captions” etc. I wasn’t impressed.

      Liked by 1 person

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  18. I’m so glad you found something workable Dan. If you could see my face right now…it has the same expression it did whenI asked my program writing son what difference it would be for me to write in classic format or HTML..😳😂

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  21. I’m cheering you on for your perseverance and that you actually got to talk to a HE!! I agree with you about the options/looks you prefer. Way to keep on keeping on. Thank you for sharing your tips too. You’re brave to go into the HTML mode, that’s scary turf for some of us!

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    • I’m going to look at that post. I hope WP hasn’t dropped me from your notices. I always try to read your posts.

      The tab key only indents one line. I’m trying to indent the entire paragraph. I was told that “even indenting the first line is not recommended, because line spacing is automatic.”

      I guess I’m old :(

      Liked by 1 person

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      • Dan, I checked in the ‘block method’ and you CAN indent an entire paragraph. If you want both the left and right side indented, depending on the theme you’re using, you can do it by using the ‘block quote’ tool.

        I was wondering why there wasn’t at least a ‘like’ from you. WP has done this before unintentionally. Just another frustration.

        Liked by 1 person

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        • Thanks for checking. I used to use the block quote but every theme seems to implement it differently. My current them puts a dark bar down the left side.

          I sometimes delete emails if I fall far behind, but yours is in a group I do not delete. I’ll check in from time to time. In the past, I’ve had to stop following and follow again. I’ve had to do that with over a dozen blogs this year.

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  23. Hi Dan, Yay! Bonus points. Sorry you are frustrated. I’m still ignoring the new format. Adobe Creative Cloud is the bane of my existence right now. Ah, technology, when it works it’s grand, when it doesn’t, out comes the cussing.

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      • I thought I’d drive myself crazy and take a Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop class. I’m learning Bridge and Camera Raw at this moment. The book we are using is for 2018 version of CC which doesn’t always match menu items and icons we now see in CC 2020. Why not make this painful learning curve even more painful? My current go-to programs are Lightroom and Luminar. Lately I’m shooting raw along with JPEG and need format conversion software for my Nikon camera files, hence Adobe Bridge. I’m finding Camera Raw’s functionality very similar to Lightroom. My main problem right now is lots of conflicts on my PC after major updates with Adobe, Windows, Norton, MalwareBytes, and whatever else decided it needed to update itself. Thankfully, my laptop is working. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop and take a deep breath. I sure hope WordPress doesn’t decide to force us to use the Block Editor anytime soon.!!! :)

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  25. These old eyes like the bigger photos in your first set. We’re you unable to add a space in between as you went on? Why is all this so hard to do when it shouldn’t be?

    I have an ongoing issue with not being able to reblog from my phone or tablet. After too many conversations with WP to count, they acknowledge it is their problem… still no solution. Hmmm…

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    • I’ve tried switching to a stack of big pictures, Jennie but the post just hoed in forever. I like giving people the option of a collage they can glance at quickly or a slideshow if they want larger views. I guess admitting that it’s their problem is the first step.

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  26. It sounds like WP has adopted the motto ‘what worked well before is no longer available’.

    My efforts in the past of trying to go back and forth between the Classic and New Editor has been rocky. Once I got into the Classic Editor I couldn’t get out. When I contacted the Happiness Engineers, their response was ‘I don’t see why not, but button is clearly there’ … except it wasn’t on my end. They were completely unhelpful.

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  27. Okay, I was lucky I guess that the block editor wasn’t forced upon me until this fall. The classic editor is no longer a choice for me, and I’m irritated. If I want it, I have to upgrade to business and pay $200 or was it $300? a year instead of my $100, install the plug-in, hope it works, but how long until it’s not an option and I’m left with my big bill for crap I can’t even use and I just do not think it’s worth that. I hate the block editor and I’ve seen plenty of complaints on WP forums and it seems they do not care. I’m not moving, but I’m not as happy as I could be. Those first captions are terrible! Terrible! They’re obscuring the photos! Ugh! Who wants that? WHO?!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • At least for now, you can add one “Classic” block to your post and write like you always did, including the photo/gallery options. They say there “are no plans to remove the classic block as an option” but I’m not sure I believe them. That’s how I added the nice looking gallery at the end.

      I was not happy with the responses. Don’t tell me how to write – “indenting is only for print” and “maybe you should just write shorter captions.” Maybe you, Mr. Happiness Engineer, should get some manners.

      Liked by 2 people

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    • I’m very unhappy with WordPress charging $300 or $200 for a business plan when I’m a personal blogger. I wound up abandoning my former blog because I reached the image limit for the $100 plan. I forgot that they automatically charge $100 so now I need to plead and fight to get a refund.

      I remember the good old days of WordPress.

      Liked by 1 person

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  28. So can I blame it on young software peeps who love to have a job changing things? Can I be old and curmudgeony? I found a way to go back to the old editor still, but when they get rid of that then I will take a hammer to the computer. We should NOT have to learn html just to make a nice post — WP worked just fine @%$*head “happiness”-not engineers..

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  29. I feel your pain. I hate it when they make me write shorter captions as they cover the photo. I hate it even more that they are unable to put together one gallery format that works and looks good. But I see that you’ve found my kind of colourful background, but with invisible captions… One of these days everything will come together. Maybe.

    Liked by 2 people

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