Dear Friends of the Farmlet,
Has anyone else been hit by the new blog posting format? In it’s latest screw-up er, change-up the very useful add on, Zymanta, is GONE. The ability to make your photographs clickable for a better view also appears to be GONE.
If you have noticed these changes and found out how to get back the functionality we all knew and loved could you please post your findings here for the benefit of all of us?
Thank you! ❤
Lynda
PS: If you have not experienced the changes yet, then please come back when they hit and let us know your thoughts.
Life on the Farmlet 
All I can suggest from how I view the interface is that when you want to create a new post, you should hover over the ‘My Sites icon at the top left of your browser and select WP Admin. From the Dashboard you should click on the Pin icon for posts and and then click the ‘Add New’ button beside the Posts heading. This takes you to the old way of doing things. Never use the icon with the pencil and the plus sign – that takes you straight to the horrid new interface.
When you’re viewing your site and realise you want to edit something, don’t click the ‘edit’ button on the page, again that takes you to the new interface and ruins any paragraph setting you have (at the very least!). Always go the route I’ve described above to get to your list of posts, then click on the title of the post you want to edit.
I’m hoping this helps but I use a Mac and if you’re using a PC then things might be very different. Let me know!
Where is the LOVE BUTTON when I need it? It does work on the IBM cloned PC I’m running!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Annie! ❤ ❤ ❤
I’m so delighted it works for you! Here’s to them leaving our back way in 😉
I had not noticed any of this! Thanks to Annie for the help. I love to write… I do not like the technical aspect of any of this… but I have to say any time I have had a problem, WordPress customer support has been very helpful.
Lori, they never roll out the new stuff to everyone overnight. It takes them time to really get to each and every one of us and to make the software useless and miserable to use. As for customer support, I am certain they are helpful when there is something they can help you with, but the new programming is so neutered that you can’t do anything. Save the instructions from Annie at Animal Couriers, you will need them after the update to be able to post all your lovely photographs. 😉
I’ve never used the new version because I loathed it on sight, and have always used the process detailed above. When moving from the Preview back to the Editing page I use the back arrow rather than going the long way round. Everything good happens at top left. Top right, I only use the notification button and my icon to sign out. I’ve never used Zymanta that I know of, so when it goes, I won’t miss it!
Yes, Kate, it us such a relief to know that the format I understood and really liked is still there! Glad to know I’m not the only one who’s not happy with the changes. 😐
That’s the way I do it too. For now all my photos seem to still be clickable.
Anita, all my old posts have retained their original formatting. It was when I tried to write a new post that I was blindsided by the new format. You can’t do anything with your photographs now, because they have taken it all away. I am very grateful to Annie from Animal Couriers’ for helping me through the maze of back doors to the old format.
It is indeed very annoying. I wrote a complaint about it on the wordpress blog and got a ‘like’ from them!
What is annoying most is that the only alternative seems to be the old way and I liked the one that they’ve just stopped in spite of the annoying bibbity bobbity boo.
Tom, we are being bit by bit channeled into an Iphone format. It totally lacks the robust interface that brought us here in the first place. Hm… maybe it is a ploy to get us to PAY for an upgrade?
I pay a little to avoid ads and get more image storage as it is. I don’t want to pay more not to use a phone format!
Oh no!!! I had imagined that you didn’t have to use the streamlined format if you paid for the privilege. Drat!.
I am very ignorant about things but I haven’t found a good way to avoid it.
Well, I am following Annie’s (Animal Couriers) advice and directions to the original post editor page. I am now able to do what is necessary to get my pictures to post correctly. It is so much easier for me. Soon, I think I will have to start paying too. I am running out of space! Sigh…
You can always delete all your back posts and start again. I have considered doing this.
It is a workable solution, but this is like a diary (albeit a public one) for me. 😉
I feel the same. I will fork out more when I have to.
Have you learned the trick of saving your photographs “for the Web” in Photoshop? That helps heaps!
Yes, I save them and post them at 800px across which makes them a very reasonable file size.
Awesome info. I’ve not had that problem but hate the “new” format for editing. I’ll edit from my posts list from now on!!!!!!!
Check out Animal Couriers response. Doreen. She knows the way around it! 🙂 “Don’t mess with success.” should be the new motto for WordPress. but sadly, I don’t think they will get it.
I bookmarked the link to the WP Admin New Post page back when the first round of idiotic changes were being “forced” on everyone earlier this year, and it’s all I ever use to make a new post. That made me unaware of the recent round of changes until the complaints started showing up on other blogs. I’d advise bookmarking it as well (I also have the old Stats page bookmarked as well since it’s far superior to the new one)…
You were smart to do so, Bill! I got used to the last format change and now there is this. I am definitely not using the latest iteration. It is just JUNK.
i did the same thing, and i forget about the ‘improvements – ha’ until i select ‘edit’ on a finished page, and yuck – i don’t see how anyone would think that’s an improvement when only a tiny sliver of the text shows…. being online for only a few hours each week, it’s discouraging when there are new hurdles, though scanning the new post notices, i see that you’re not alone!
http://enchantedseashells.com/2015/11/20/wtf-wordpress-not-again/
Lisa, I honestly don’t see why they couldn’t make their program more intelligent. Microsoft and others have a smart interface that knows what platform you’re on and serves it up accordingly! Those who want work on their smartphones, well, fine, but don’t force us to work in that format on the big screen. I came to WordPress for the bells and whistles and now they are neutering it all down to Plain Jane. Sad, isn’t it?
BTW, I’m so glad to see you here, Lisa! I’ve been really missing you, and feel the need for a very long visit. Tomorrow morning good for you? See you then! 😉