Weird WordPress Issue

by The Belmont Rooster

Hello everyone! I hope this email finds you well and enjoying the cooler temps.

First of all, I want to say I have no major issues with WordPress. It is a very easy platform to use, make posts, add photos, plenty of good themes, and has a great family of bloggers that is excellent. You are all AWESOME!

Several months ago I noticed something weird and somewhat frustrating. After a while, I contacted support and we looked at the situation. I took several screenshots of what was going on, the guy logged into my blog, got on my reader, and so on. He was pretty thorough and paid attention to my concerns. In the end, he had no clue. He said, “This is indeed weird.” He said he would look further into it and ask other support members and see what they had to say. He said he would follow up with me in a few days by email but I never heard from him. I told him I thought about posting about the issue to see if anyone else has the problem and he said that was a good idea.

So, here it goes…

The above photo shows my blog and you can see the “follow” button in the bottom right-hand corner. I am logged in and using reader but I still had to sign in for the follow button to go away on my blog.

The photo below is a screenshot of Masha’s blog called A SWEETER LIFE. She is a very sweet lady so I am sure she won’t mind if I use her blog for this post. I used her blog as an example because it was the first one on my followed sites (using reader) that shows the issue.

 

As you can see, the follow button appears in the bottom right-hand corner… I am logged in and I follow Masha’s blog. From the “reader”, I can make comments and “like” with no problem. But, if I click to “visit site”, I get the “follow” pop-up and I cannot make comments unless I sign in “AGAIN”. If I sign in again, it means nothing… It still says “follow” and I get the same options so sign up, log in, etc. Even after signing in AGAIN, I can’t “like”. A big empty white box pops up and goes away after a second… This happens whether I log in using my username or email…

So, I clicked on follow on Masha’s blog and it asks for my email address or I have the option to log in if I already have a WordPress account. UMMM… So, I logged in for the fourth time, clicked follow and it says the same thing…

SO, then I entered my blog email address…

Now, tell me… What does this mean? I know what it means, but why does it say that? My subscription did not succeed because my email address wasn’t valid. UMMMMMM….. I successfully logged in four times in the past 10 minutes then this pops up the fifth time.

Even IF you do not follow a WordPress blog, you should still be able to make comments and “like” if you A) are signed up with WordPress, and/or B) if you have a gravatar.

Some blogs are different. I just click on follow and that’s it. But others I can’t follow unless I follow through the “reader”.

Like I said, most of the blogs I follow say I am following when I go to their site. It’s just a few that say “follow” when I am already following.

If I just read blog posts through reader I have no issues at all and I would have never noticed the issue if I hadn’t have clicked on “visit site” to someone’s blog a few months ago and I noticed the “follow” pop-up. Before then, I had no problems.

I have been blogging since 2009 and I have only contacted support a few times. Sometimes something changes and it freaks me out. Trust me, I don’t get freaked out easily, but when something weird happens with the blog… That is different. I use the old dashboard because I am used to it. One day when I got on the blog it was somehow the new version. I contacted support and they gave me a different URL and it went back to the old version. I don’t like the new editor either and I have tried it a few times. I prefer the classic… I learn new things all the time so it isn’t that I am an old dog that doesn’t want to learn new tricks. When I use the newer editor, sometimes the photos don’t go in the right place and I don’t like the way it acts.

Last year when I was writing pages and I added the “USEFUL INFORMATION” and “FOR FURTHER READING”  at the bottom, there were spaces between each line… That never happened before and I had no clue “WHAT THE HECK” was going on. For five years it never did that! So, I contacted support and was told to use the “Text” format when I do that. So, I did and it worked fine. I never had to switch from visual to text before. Good thing it worked…

The few times I have contacted support I have always been satisfied. The “follow/following” issue is the first time they had no idea…

I have made a FALL RESOLUTION to read your blog posts every night and catch up with the day before. I know I am following many inactive blogs… Things have changed A LOT since 2013 when I started my first Belmont Rooster blog. Many former bloggers I followed are no longer active. I don’t promote my blog as well as before either.

Starting now, I am going to visit all the blogs I am following to make sure I am following both on the reader and your actual site. So, if you notice I have just followed your blog and thought I was already following, you are right. 🙂

At the end of our conversation, I quizzed the guy about random readers of my blog pages being able to”like” or make comments. I don’t just write posts… I have all the pages right, around 450-500 (who’s counting), that get anywhere from 75-250 views per day. They are views from people doing research about certain plants and my blog is on the list. The click, they read, but they cannot “like” or comment unless they enter their email address or whatever. Seriously, I am not sure what they have to do… Once in a while, I get a comment from someone but very seldom. I am the same way, though… When I am doing research and I can’t make a comment unless I go through some kind of hoop, I don’t make a comment. If I need to contact someone, I look for a “contact” link and send an email. You would be surprised how many people never reply because the websites are not maintained… I understand the need for an email or something because of spam… I get this same spam comment from different people every day promoting prescription drugs. A while back it was some bible deal and their comments were almost a page long… Of course, they are in my spam because they have links attached. It is interesting how you hover over the links and it says “page not found”…

OK, I am going to post now… It is almost 2 AM… I am working on a cactus and succulent update which will be in several parts.

I am interested in your comments about the issue and to see if you have the same problem. Until next time, be safe and stay positive!

 

32 comments on “Weird WordPress Issue”

  1. Helen says:
    October 19, 2019 at 7:07 AM

    Hi there! I haven’t had the same issue as you but there are a few funny things going on with WP. Your post does, though, perhaps explain why someone I thought was following me comes up as just recently starting to follow. So maybe you are not alone with your issue.

    Regarding your blog, the posts never appear in my reader. It could of course simply be a matter of timing – I look on Reader between your posts. In any case, I have come to this post now after clicking on your name when you have posted on another blog I also follow.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • The Belmont Rooster says:
      October 19, 2019 at 11:34 AM

      Hello Helen! Come to think of it, I remember someone’s follow showing up in my notifications not long ago that was one of my first followers. Then there was another blogger that once told me she thought she was following but apparently not because she was getting my posts. I went through several followed sights after I posted and there were quite a few that that had the issue. I could not follow or apparently log in. Because if the login was successful, so would “follow.” Which is weird, because I was logged in… LOL!

      So my posts are still not showing up in your reader. That is weird, too. I am sure there is an explanation for what is happening and I woke up with a theory. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!

      Like

      Reply
  2. Jean says:
    October 19, 2019 at 10:44 AM

    Here’s some more data for you: When I clicked on your blog this morning and read this post, I noticed the “follow” button in the lower right corner. When I switched over to your “hello” page, it went away and did not come back when I went to “home” or this specific post. And it didn’t make me log in in order to leave a comment (although it shows me as logged into my WordPress account). BTW, I like the old dashboard better, too. If you find yourself in the new one, just scroll down to “WP Admin” and click to get to the old one. I have never liked the WP editor for composing posts, so I use the open source version of the old Windows LiveWriter and then do final tweaking in the WP editor.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • The Belmont Rooster says:
      October 19, 2019 at 12:03 PM

      Hello Jean! Earlier I was checking a blog that said to follow so I clicked on log in then clicked where it said to “continue as The Belmont Rooster. That time when it went back to the blog it said “following” and several posts in a row said “following”. So, I thought maybe that was the key. Then several other posts were back the same way and no matter what I did it would never say “following.” That is very interesting how the follow was on my blog and when you switched to the hello page it changed. I will have to see if that works on some of the blogs in question. Maybe it is slow and needs to catch up… I did notice where you can click to switch to change editors. Thanks for the comment and your input.

      Like

      Reply
  3. skyeent says:
    October 19, 2019 at 10:46 AM

    This is not something I’ve noticed to be honest, although there do seem to be a few glitches recently I’m not concientious (or annoyed) enough to try and get them sorted! I do tend to visit sites rather than just view in reader, so I’ll keep a look out for this issue.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Jim R says:
    October 19, 2019 at 10:46 AM

    This has never happened to me. Usually, when something weird occurs, it resolves itself eventually. I’m glad for that.

    PS: You are staying up too late. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • The Belmont Rooster says:
      October 19, 2019 at 12:13 PM

      Hello Jim! I am glad you aren’t experiencing the issue. Some things do work themselves out eventually, but this issue hasn’t worked out. It really isn’t a big deal if I stick to using the reader. It is strange how I can like or make a comment on the reader and I go to the blog that says “follow” and see the like and comment I made are there… So, why does it say follow when I am following? I have an experiment to do… Yeah, I know I stay up too late but I can’t stand going to bed and not being able to go to sleep right away. Thanks for the comment!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  5. vw1212 says:
    October 20, 2019 at 4:32 PM

    I’ve gotten so much issues at times with the blog, I just go along with it and then it disappears. It might fix itself after awhile. vw

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. indianeskitchen says:
    October 20, 2019 at 11:20 PM

    OK I may have found a way! I changed my browser to safari and then went in through my reader and it has been working.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • The Belmont Rooster says:
      October 21, 2019 at 1:31 AM

      Hmmm………. Safari is my browser. 🙂 Yes, with the reader everything works fine here, too. But, when I click on “visit site” is where the issue is. I checked every blog I follow today. Out of 144 followed sites, 64 say I am following, 64 I cannot follow or log in from, and 10 give no option. I follow the 64 sites that say “follow” already. Before today, your blog said “follow, then this afternoon when I clicked follow it worked but none of the other 64 sites. In my favorites, I have saved the link to the dashboard and one saved to go to he home page. Usually, I go straight to the dashboard so I can work on the blog. If I want to go to the homepage, I click on the other link… I have no problem logging on when I use the dashboard link, but not the actual site. Since I have had this computer for about a year, when I go to my actual site, it doesn’t show I am logged in. Miraculously, last night it worked. Then after I cleared website data and restarted, no… So, from the reader, if you click on “visit site” to the blogs you follow, do they all say you are following? Just curious…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  7. The Snail of Happiness says:
    October 21, 2019 at 4:21 AM

    I’ve been having similar problems. I can’t like this post (or posts on many other blogs) and I too get the big white box. I’m already logged into WordPress… I’m in the middle of writing a post, but still I can’t post this comment without clicking on the ‘Click on an icon to log in’ thingy below this comment and choosing WordPress. I do seem able to like posts from my reader window by clicking on the star under the little preview.
    I too see the follow button for blogs I already follow, but until now I had just ignored it. However, I tried what you said and yes, was instructed to log in again, even though I already am.
    I thought the problem was Microsoft Edge, but I’ve got the same issue with Chrome.
    I have had no joy from the help desk either… it’s not just you and clearly it’s an issue that they are simply ignoring at the moment.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • The Belmont Rooster says:
      October 21, 2019 at 12:29 PM

      Hello Dr. Jan! I kind of ignored earlier but then it became annoying. To have an issue and not finding a simple solution. To be logged in and not logged in at the same time was just too odd to ignore. Then when I contacted support and spent around an hour with the guy and in the end he said, “This is indeed weird.” The issue is happening on 64 of the 144 blogs I follow. Some bloggers haven’t posted for 1-2 years so yesterday I clicked to unfollow a few. Guess what? I can’t unfollow. Now that I know this isn’t an issue that just I am having, I am going to contact support again. Maybe I will get someone this time that will have an answer and I can post a follow-up that will solve our issues. Your blog is one of 64 that I am following but when I go to your site it says to follow. Thanks for the comment!

      Like

      Reply
  8. gardeninacity says:
    October 23, 2019 at 3:16 PM

    WordPress can move in mysterious ways. I’ve not had this problem, but I have had some others. None at the moment, knock on wood.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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