I don’t know about you, but when it comes to mouse-clicking I can be reckless. About 21 days ago, in an enraged state, I panicked. That frustration caused a run-in with updates in WordPress when I clicked one too many times, and poof – my blog theme was gone. It was apparently no longer supported by WordPress.com?
I wanted to scream. I paid for the damn thing, and now it’s not supported, by WordPress? W T ___?
I didn’t stop there, I clicked to update Jetpack (my plugin for backups) because there was a message to do that too. I think there was a WordPress update that triggered all of it?!
And poof – an alien user appeared, with Admin rights. That pesky mojo hung around until yesterday.
Then I just wanted to vomit. Or eat more?
Thank goodness the weather was nice for a couple of days – fresh air and sunshine gave me hope for Spring. And I planned a vacation away from everything – coming up in April.
It was hard to choose whether to use the weather as an excuse for not figuring out what to do to fix the blog issues, or not, so I tried to take a short-cut and ask for support on a Facebook page for fellow non-techies. They’re for WordPress.com users, not WordPress.org users. A nice group of folks though.
They ultimately suggested that I contact Jetpack. So I did that. And Jetpack suggested I contact Blue Host since I’m a self-hosted website owner, aka, WordPress.org user. Who, by the way, has had plenty of run-ins by simply clicking around and haphazardly surviving somehow, someway, to become a screwed-up blogger who goes back and forth between WordPress.org and WordPress.com access. How’s that for a run-on sentence?
Jetpack said to just delete the user or contact Blue Host. They pulled the WordPress.com support card.
So, I tried to delete the alien user.
But, it had more power than I had. It could delete things and change things via my mouse clicks.
There wasn’t a delete function for Me the other Administrator, I couldn’t change anything about the user. So I climbed back into the box of following the suggestions of those who think they know better than me.
I tried ‘chatting’ with a techie named Abhishek the Web Advisor of the moment at Blue Host.
After a 30-minute round of back and forth chatting, I suspected he/she was thinking, “That lady has lost it!”, and I finally get the friendly reply that Abhishek needs to chat with someone else.
So, I waited again. It’s been quite mentally exhausting to say the least.
Sometime during the month, I played around with trying out a new theme, a free theme. Since no matter how many times I tried my old theme, it wasn’t coming back as I had customized it before. I wasn’t going to pay for another one that won’t work or wouldn’t be supported. Not yet, anyhow. This new theme is WordPress.com friendly and so-so friendly to WordPress.org.
I had essentially changed so much on my blog, I didn’t recognize it as much as I hoped I would. It felt kind of like being 2021 Joe meeting with Joe of 2016. Is that really the same guy?
I left the fantasy land of MSM make-believe and headed to the kitchen to help Mr. prepare a meal. A glorious meal was devoured while we watched Road House and toasted wine to my misery loves company mode.
I toasted to another weekend of not blogging while I got my mindset switched into some a**-kicking mode. I told myself next weekend I’ll contact Blue Host via the phone. I can sound way more desperate that way.
That brought me to yesterday. And my desperate phone call to Blue Host Web Advisor that did include a run-in with a wise-crack comment, shared with me in a very polite way.
“If you want to learn more about Jetpack, there are plenty of YouTube videos you can watch. We don’t support WordPress.com or its plugins. Your site is hosted in WordPress.org.
Ron who may be someone else in disguise?
I thanked Ron kindly for his patience. And here I am, back in the blogging saddle again, albeit via a free-theme that isn’t the one I prefer.
I learned valuable lessons in the 21 days of abstaining from blogging. I also learned about persistence and to start out with a desperate phone call instead of emailing back and forth or chatting online.
I think I’m ready to come out of hiding.
I know now that I MUST login to my WordPress.org account first, then I can click my way over to the WordPress.com access. And that WordPress is a complicated blogging place when you have more than one access to it.
Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “run.” Use it as a noun, a verb, use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
PS – Thanks for stopping by! If you notice anything that doesn’t seem to be working when you try to comment or read the blog, please let me know. I’m not sure if I’ve fixed everything or not!
OMG! What a mess! I cannot even imagine! Welcome back!!!
The thing I noticed was that I received the email about the new blog post but the post doesn’t show up in the WordPress Reader under sites that I follow.
Yes, it was a mess (and still kind of seems like one?). Thank you for the welcome back.
Hmm … I’m not sure why it’s not showing up under Reader? And I’ll have to research how to fix that!! Thank you for sharing what worked and didn’t. And for the follow, it’s nice to hear from you!!
I’m glad you’re making progress. It’s stories like this that keep me in the land of WordPress.com. I’d rather pay them than have to resurrect the career I retired from. These things just should not happen.
Thanks, Dan, I’m glad my post inspired you to stay happily retired ;-)! WordPress (.com and .org) is a world all it’s own and the rules are made as they go. I seem to have a knack for finding the holes to fall into. LOL!
So far, the only reason I can see for going the self-hosting route is to save money. I’m not sure how much I can save. The most expensive tier I would ever need (the first with unlimited storage) is about $20 a month. When I was working, I worked with self-hosting with Bluehost and GoDaddy. I’d never go back to Bluehost, and GoDaddy wouldn’t save me much money, so I’ll let the Happiness Engineers have all the technical fun.
Be careful our there 😉
Thank you for sharing your thoughts from a more versed perspective than I have, Dan. You seem as though you’ve got things well figured out, someday, maybe I’ll get to that point too!? I’m being extra cautious at the moment, so we’ll see when I get brave again and try something wild like re-customizing my theme…
That’s the scariest think you do, in my opinion. The previews only help to a point.
Very true, indeed!
What a big mess! I’m glad that you are back, Shelley.
The two WordPress’ are confusing to many people. I had a self-hosted site years ago, you have to check for plug-in updates, theme updates and more regularly when your not on the .com side where they take care of most things for you.
I have the Business plan now and can use plug-ins on the .com side which need to be maintained. This theme renders nicely on my Mac and looks good. I use a free theme, can’t find one that works better than that theme. Sorry about the cat puke, yikes!
Thanks for your feedback, John. Yes, the two WordPress’ are confusing. I need to remember to run updates on the .org login, not the .com one. The BH tech support guy reiterated that many times.
Dessy just gets so darn excited about eating she eats too fast. It’s not my favorite way to start the day. UGH.
I didn’t even know there was a WordPress.org. I haven’t changed my theme because I’m afraid of breaking the whole thing.
Yes, there’s a .com and .org for WordPress. The .org is the route taken when you buy a domain name and self-host and your URL doesn’t have the extension of .wordpress.com on it. I apparently had bigger dreams when I first started blogging LOL!
Horrors! This was terrifying to read! Ugh! Glad you’re back.
LOL – yeah horrors and a bit of defeated feeling going on. I think I’ll take a trip to a sunny spot to renew my spirit. Thanks for the encouragement to keep on keeping on!
What a nightmare and exhausting exercise in persistence. This reminds me of dealing with the cable company…and many years ago with HP. Crazy making. Congrats on your progress. I believe that talking via phone is always the best way to go (if there is a phone number!).
Yes, indeed it has been a nightmare and exhausting. But I think my exhaustion may also be due to an aging deaf and demented dog who thrives on a schedule that starts at 3:11 am…and then he goes back to sleep and I stand here wondering if I’ll make it to the next phase of the day. But that’s a totally different post TBWSD. 🙂
It’s always something! So much harder to do anything when sleep deprived. Ug.
Amen to that!
That is probably why I refuse to do updates…I am just now figuring out how to do the original version. Ugh…so sorry that I am not the only that has to clean up animal vomit…twice this morning…Ugh…
After I accidentally did all of this, I came across an article that described the details on how to avoid what I did. Sigh – too late now. And I’m still trying to figure things out. Oh, well, life goes on. And puke happens. Now my dog is randomly peeing when we don’t recognize his signs of wanting to go out. Ugh, sometimes pet-parenting is challenging.
Pet parenting is indeed challenging and expensive, especially when they are getting older.
Yes it is. I heard yesterday that our vet requires a drop-off system. Put the pet in a carrier and hand it off to the staff and not be present while they’re checking the pet out. That would give Copper a heart attack I think?! WOW… I hope it doesn’t come to that. 🙁
Yes that is what our vet is doing. Mimi is having thyroid issues and I could hear her screaming from outside while they put her in a cage. It was a rough week last week, so I get your stress.
It just seems so cruel… Aw, poor Mimi. I hope they found some treatment that is helping her feel better. I’m sorry you’re having to go through that stress. Hugs to you and your furry pets. xoxo
Thanks.
I am exhausted and totally relate to Copper’s photo 😀
Exhaustion seems to be catchy 😉
Oh my. This kind of story is ONE of the reasons I don’t blog. It really seems that I read this type of fiasco from the hosting sites on the regular. Gotta be really frustrating. And speaking of frustrating…animal vomit. 🤪 I don’t miss that although I realize there are trade offs – like a cute photogenic animal.
Yes, if there’s a nightmare to happen in the blogging world, I seem to find my way to it. It’s frustrating and annoying, but I’m learning to let the frustration go. The vomit, that is a whole different kind of frustration. Now Copper is declining and has peed in spots we’re not too excited to have him do so. Other times he’s a spunky as a toddler. A peeing toddler. Gotta love pet-parenting, right – those cute photo ops warm my heart.
Yikes! I know several bloggers who started with dot org then changed to dot com and they are so happy. As far as I know, if you aren’t going to monetize your blog, dot com is the way to go. Was there a reason you went with dot org to begin with?
I’ve created quite the little mess with my .org/.com situation. As long as I follow my rules I do okay. The update threw me a loop – never happened before like that. Oh, well. I went with the .org blindly (and didn’t want the .wordpress.com extension on the quaintrevival.com, plus I didn’t know I did so, just thought that was what I was supposed to do. Then I accidentally got a .com account tied to the .org, so I’m pretty much in both worlds. If there’s a way to mess it up, I’ve found it! LOL
Oh no, I wondered what happened. This stuff terrifies me, which is why I hardly ever touch my blog. (And I really need to save all my posts somewhere–for when I lose access.) That would make me want to barf too, poor cat!
This stuff terrifies me too and it makes me shy to try to keep going. So I shut down my efforts intermittently. My site is backed up, so the posts were still there, just the theme customization disappeared. I could try to fix it, but that takes extra effort that I’m not quite sure I have in me…yet. Oh, don’t get me started on those pets. I feel like we have a bunch of toddlers again! 😉
That is a horror story is it not?! Yikes, but you survived and I will have to come back again and tell you if everything is normal or not because tonight (Tuesday) there is something up with WordPress. I am able to read the narrative, but the photos and other people’s comments are grayed out … it is not my computer or an internet issue because other sites work fine. WordPress has been tweaking/enhancing the site lately. Sigh. More to learn and cram into your brain.
Yes, a lasting horror story. I’m positive the timing of when I did the update contributed to my issues. Oh, well, such is life in the blogging world. It does keep me learning.
Too much to learn sometimes – they keep tweaking WP … I try and do my next week’s posts on the weekend, then from one weekend to the next, there seems to be something new to learn. I started tomorrow’s post yesterday, then couldn’t find my home page today when I logged onto WP to proof/format it. Sigh.
I’ve noticed the tweaking too. And yesterday I couldn’t reply with a comment on Ally’s blog. I could on everyone else’s, so that’s weird.
I’ve found that I have to start my posts in my .org account, but have to publish it on my .com account in order for the new theme I have to show the featured photo of the post. I really need to get my theme problems figured out someday – but first, it’s off to the beach I go to relax.
I hope you’ve been able to get out and enjoy walks in the parks. The weather has been hit or miss here. Hopefully May will be better.
Yes, it is frustrating and it’s been two years today since I first tried out the block editor – the other way was way easier. I’ve gotten a lot of walking in … today I had a dentist appointment so got a three-mile walk and tomorrow I go for my part 2 COVID shot … I would walk there (Meijer grocery store) but I’ll pick up a few things … then the big snowfall. The weather folks are predicting everything from 3-6 inches, to 1-3 inches. It won’t last though as it’s getting to 60 Thursday. I hope May is better too.
It seems we all have to adjust to the forced block editor. The classic editor was definitely easier to navigate.
Glad you’re getting in lots of walking. NO WAY – that’s a lot of snow. You’re right though, it’ll melt fast. We had snow yesterday, but no accumulation. May has got to be better. Take care, and stay well!
Yes, unfortunately. It is snowing now – ugh! Lucky you speeding off to some fun in the sun – have a great time and stay safe Shelley.
I hope the snow has finally departed for several months! Thank you – Yes, I had a wonderful time in the sun. It was chilly when I returned, today was the first day I didn’t have to dress in winter clothes to take a walk.
Yep, yep, yep. A nightmare not of your own making. I’m glad you’re back. I’m sorry this happened, but WP is its own world and we are merely pawns in their games. *le sigh*
Thank you for the support. Well said, Ally!
One more reply – I tried to reply to your reply on your post to my reply and WP wouldn’t let it go through. So yeah, we’re merely pawns in their games!
I’ve been having trouble with WP comments everywhere I go. Thanks for letting me know, wish I knew how to fix it.
It’s a minefield out there. But strangely comforting to know that there are others among us who go through this kind of thing with technology! Take heart: I think you have done well to persevere. And thanks for the touches of humour via family pets (vomit aside! Our pets just have great timing don’t they?) And nothing wrong with a glass of wine at these times, is there? Ps… as to one of the earlier comments here, this post did show up in my Reader Followed Sites
Thank you, I appreciate your words of encouragement. There have been many a post inspired by a glass of wine or two (LOL!) and pet escapades run a close second. Thanks for the feedback that my blog did show up in Reader. Happy Blogging to you!