It would seem that WordPress has been at it again … trying to ‘fix’ that which was already working just fine. About half the time now we are asked to ‘log in’ when trying to comment on a post, or even just click the ‘like’ button. This, even though we are already logged in. The process also frequently asks us to provide our passwords, which I find concerning, to say the least. On the flip side, some comments are being posted without giving the person the opportunity to provide a screen name or to ‘log in’, which results in comments showing up as “Anonymous” or “Someone”. I hope that WordPress will address and repair this issue soon, but meanwhile, if you see that your comment is anonymous, I would ask that you let me know who you are at the end of your comment, like Keith always does. While I can sometimes figure out who wrote the comment by tone-of-voice or a key word, I am not a mind reader, so I’m asking you to please let me know, even if you just put your initials, first name, nickname, or some identifying note. I apologize on behalf of WordPress and the “Happiness Engineers” who haven’t brought much happiness lately, and I thank you in advance for your help!
Tag Archives: WordPress
DAMMIT WordPress!!!! 🤬
I must admit that I had begun working on a post, but found it impossible to get motivated. “Why bother?” I asked myself. For the past two days, none of my posts have been included in Reader, meaning that my views are down by about 60%, as the only people reading my posts are those who get notifications via email. And even then … at least two readers have notified me that they are having trouble opening and following the link in the emails!
I contacted the “Happiness Engineers” at WordPress tech support yesterday about the problem and they said they would get back with me soon … as of this morning, they had not responded, so I contacted them again, and still have no response. I work very hard on my posts … I put a lot of time, usually several hours, and a lot of … me into them. It’s frankly discouraging to know that more than half my followers cannot read my posts because WordPress techies are not doing their job. In addition, they had the gall to tell me that perhaps I need professional help in designing my blog! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …
So, for today you’ll just have to put up with my grumbling, and tomorrow I will dust myself off and get back to work! Meanwhile, let’s hope the techies can fix the problem before in a fit of pique I cancel my account with WordPress altogether!
Thanks to all my wonderful readers for your ongoing support and hopefully we’ll have this glitch fixed by tomorrow!
Good News/Bad News
The good news is I’ve got my re-blog button back, and I am told that my ability to re-blog other’s posts has been restored as well, though I haven’t tested that yet. Apparently during the muck-up the other night, WordPress installed some plug-ins, unbeknownst to me, and they were interfering with several things.
The bad news is that to fix the problem, WordPress had to restore my blog to a point before the troubles started, which was June 30th, so all my posts from yesterday and today are …
As well as comments, etc., etc. WordPress had me export the data to a file, which I did, then she reset my blog, but when I imported the data, an error occurred, and after working for 3 hours to get it resolved, I finally gave up. So … I can recreate those posts, but I’m not sure I have the energy left to do so. I may re-create “Killing Children”, for that was an important one, but I’m not sure yet.
I shall start fresh tomorrow. Thanks for your patience … hopefully this is the end of this nightmare. Sigh.
Eight Years Ago Today …
This morning, I found the above amidst my comments ‘n likes. My jaw dropped. Eight years? I’ve been writing this blog for eight years, since 2010? Who knew? Of course, in the beginning it was only used as another venue for my book reviews, as I was hoping at the time to work my way into being a paid reviewer. What could be better than getting paid for doing what you love to do anyway, right? But, things happened, times changed, and I somehow … I’m still scratching my head here … gave up doing book reviews, stopped working on my Ph.D., and became a political blogger! In truth, as I went back through my archives, I wrote only one post in 2010, and did not write another until 2012, when I wrote four, three of which were book reviews, including one of my favourites, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.
The anniversary notice and the subsequent realization that it had been eight years already gave me some food for pondering about this blog, my blogging family, and what it all means to me.
Today, I have over 2,100 followers, but I well remember the day somewhere around 2013-2014 when I did a fist-pump because I had progressed to 30 followers!!! I thought I was in the big leagues with my 30 followers. Until I ran into Jason of HarsH ReaLiTy, aka aopinionatedman. Jason had 56,000 followers and counting. He and I have since parted ways, for he didn’t much care for my political views, but he helped me a lot in those early days, explaining the ins-and-outs of blogging, giving me pointers, and re-blogging some of my work, for which I remain eternally grateful. I still don’t know how he does it, for he answers every comment, writes several posts each day, works a full-time job as a computer guru, and has a wife and two small children! I struggle to write two posts a day and answer most comments, usually at 3:00 a.m.! I hope I never get to 56,000, or I shall have to hire a staff.
The name? This blog started as jilldennison blog. Creative, huh? My friend Herb — both of us speak fluent Spanish — suggested I rename it Filosofa’s Word, ‘Filosofa’ being Spanish for ‘philosopher’, and ‘word’ being English for … well, ‘word’! I liked it and so, that is what I named it!
In April 2015, my blog took a turn that was to change its face entirely and it turned into a socio-political blog with the shooting of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. I remember that I couldn’t stop the tears, and I wrote about it as a catharsis, I needed to speak about it. Since then I have written only three book reviews. There goes my dream of becoming a paid reviewer, huh? And then, of course, in June 2015 came the tsunami that would turn this into a political blog – Donald J. Trump announced his intention to run for president. And nothing would ever be the same. Other events in June 2015 also played a role: The Supreme Court upheld subsidies for ACA (Obamacare) and most important of all, they ruled on Obergefell v Hodges, making same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Also in June 2015, a young man named Dylan Roof walked into an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, and started shooting, killing nine people, and we came to realize that the face of our nation was changing.
And so, this blog changed its direction and is what I consider socio-political commentary, though obviously under the regime of Trump, it is more political than socio! A few times, I fleetingly thought of giving it up, but in the back of my mind, I knew better. It was just a debate me, myself and I needed to have to get my head back on straight, for sometimes the topics I write about take a very dark turn and send me down the rabbit hole. So, what does this blog mean to me?
This blog takes up at least half, usually more, of my waking hours, and I would spend even more time on it if there weren’t such petty things as laundry, cooking and household chores to be done! What I do … well, I’m pretty sure I’m not convincing any republicans that Donald Trump is a bloomin’ fool, and as my friend Hugh sometimes reminds me, I am mostly spitting in the wind, or preaching to the choir. But, it gives me an outlet to share my thoughts, occasionally vent my angst. But the best thing to come from writing this blog? YOU!!! Yes you … if you are reading this post, then you are a friend, a member of my blogging family, and you are a very real part of my life. When I started this blog eight years ago, I never dreamed that I would meet such a wonderful and diverse bunch of people and that you guys would become friends. Yes, friends, just as much as any that I see on a semi-regular basis. Sometimes I tell you guys things that I don’t even tell my own family! (No, they rarely read my blog, and then only if I threaten to withhold supper!)
The future? Who knows? Obviously, the best laid plans, etc., etc. I suspect the U.S. political scene will continue to keep me busy for a few years yet, but time will tell. A relatively new reader, Ellen, has suggested that I add an archive section to my blog, which I think is an excellent idea, and I plan to do so within the next couple of weeks. Another reader, rawgod, has asked me twice now to feature myself in a ‘good people’ post, for he thinks I am a good people. I don’t necessarily agree with him, but I love him for thinking so, and he is rather insistent, so who knows?
I love you guys and want to tell you all how very much it means when I see that you liked a post or left a comment. And … well … 🥂 … here’s to another eight years together! Thanks to you all for sticking with me and for being such great friends!
A few links to the aforementioned posts:
- Review of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
- Thoughts on Baltimore (Freddie Gray)
- Nine Years Later (1st post, August 2010)
- Red Letter Week for the United States (Supreme Court decisions in June 2015)
- Racism at its Finest … Charleston, South Carolina 2015 (Dylan Roof church shooting)
Russian Infiltration Of Word Press Blogs
Blogger-friend Xena has written a post that is so important I had to share it with you. You may remember the one I re-blogged earlier today from Gronda regarding Russian trolls and bots. This post details some of the ways in which Russia has infiltrated WordPress blogs, and it is truly eye-opening, so please take a few minutes to read. Thank you so much, Xena for all the work you have put into this excellent post, and for your permission to re-blog!
In spite of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warning Russia to “quit messing around in our elections,” Russians have not stopped. They continue their influence and propaganda. With social media such as Facebook and Twitter taking note and making changes, Russian propagandists have turned to Word Press blogs.
Earlier this year, I received notifications from Word Press for email followers. I didn’t pay much attention to the first one because there are people who follow this blog via email who do not have Word Press accounts to comment. When I received two more notifications on the same day, and they too had Outlook email addresses, I knew that was not usual. I checked a Word Press forum and found that others were experiencing the same and were concerned about it.
A thread in one Word Press forum began in January 2018. Also in January, a blogger named Ray wrote…
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Another Monday Post …
I am working tonight … have been working most of the afternoon, in fact, on a post about the #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) movement. This post is not that post. I have researched and thought and researched some more, taken a few breaks, baked some homemade honey-wheat bread, took a shower, and I am still struggling to get that one just right. Sometimes I write a post in an hour, and I am satisfied with it. That one, however, I need to get just right. It is a very serious topic and one that I have very strong thoughts and feelings about, one that deserves the extra time and attention to get it just right. So I will not post it until I am satisfied that I have done the best I can do. Instead, I am doing this “fallback” post about my thoughts on writing this blog. A bit of a departure from my norm, but …
I began this blog in 2010. I wrote one post that year, the first of my published 9/11 annual posts and a post that nobody read. I must have forgotten about the blog in 2011, as I wrote nothing. Then in 2012, I wrote four posts and had 17 visitors! Moving up in the blogging world, I was! I don’t recall why I started this blog, what my goals or intentions were, but apparently I mostly intended it to be another venue for the book reviews I write. Interestingly, I rarely do book reviews anymore, except by request, if I receive an advance copy, or unless I read a book that stands far above the crowd. At any rate, by 2015, this blog had evolved into something I took seriously, a venue, an outlet for the many issues inherent in the world today that evoke serious thoughts and emotions within me. By the end of 2015, I was posting 4-5 days a week, had 80+ followers and was receiving an average of 200 visits per month, so I was pretty content with it.
Sometime during 2015, I began following a blog called Harsh Reality by Jason Cushman writing as AOpinionatedMan ( https://aopinionatedman.com ). I’m not sure how many followers Jason has now, as he just switched from WordPress to self-hosting, but last I knew he had 55,000+ regular followers, myself included. I am still not sure if that inspires or intimidates me! Jason works very hard on his blog … far more than I have either the time or energy for, and that in spite of the fact that he has a full-time job, a wife, and children! I admire him, but his level of commitment supersedes mine. Still, we are all different, are looking to get something different out of our writing experience and have different things to put into it, so I don’t worry about it too much. Jason has been helpful and encouraging, giving my blog favorable reviews and honorable mention on his blog from time to time, which always results in additional views and a few new followers. Many thanks, Opinionated Man! One thing I learned from him is that if you want followers, you have to connect with other bloggers. I never knew that before, and it came as a surprise, but I have found there is a great deal of truth in it. I now have followers from around the globe … Ghana, The Netherlands, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Kenya and many from the U.S. I try to respond to all comments, try to read as many of their posts as possible and leave comments when so inspired. I did a happy dance last week when I hit 100 regular followers.
So I ask myself the question: what do I want from writing this blog? I know I do not write so that I can feed my ego by gaining a readership. I am in the preliminary stages of writing a book about comparative education systems around the globe, am writing an autobiographical work, so why do I bother writing an 800-1,000-word blog post every day? Well, I do it because this is my outlet, my venue for the things I see in the world that I want to change, or sometimes the things I see that are good and I want to give them a thumbs-up! I like to believe that I am helping people see another side to some issues, like racism, bigotry, the environment, and yes, political issues as well. I like to believe that … whether it is true or not, I do not know. I rather doubt, but I keep on trying, and sometimes I just like making people laugh. I keep on writing, and why? Because that is what I do … that is who I am. I greatly appreciate it when people take a few minutes of their time to read what I write, but in the final analysis, I write for me, just as every serious writer does. But writing for oneself, writing what one believes in, and writing to gain readership do not need to be mutually exclusive. It just takes some tweaking sometimes.
I am told that I think too much. I am told that I “overthink” things. Both of these are probably true, and that is where my writing becomes my salvation, my outlet. I enjoy writing, love it, some days hate it, but I am always challenged to do better, and in the words of a dear friend, it is all about the journey, not the destination.
Filosofa's Word 