We just finished battling an editing problem in WordPress, only to discover the problem was with Microsoft software, not WordPress. Praise God for open source software. Boo Microsoft. Here’s the basic strategy for blog problems:
- If you have recently modified the WordPress code or settings, remove the code or restore the former settings first and see if this fixes the problem. Always start from your most recent change or system modification. Also, verify your host hasn’t made any changes, such as moving your site to another server.
- Check answers in the DOC files at http://www.worldpress.org. (This generally won’t help much.)
- This step involves using the WordPress forum. But first: this step is like this: Back up WordPress database -> Upgrade WordPress as necessary -> go to the forum ->check for previous postings on your problem -> Post your problem. Before doing anything else you need to back up your WordPress database. I added the plugin DBC Backup. It runs automatically every evening. Run it before tinkering with WordPress. Remember your postings are in a MySQL database. Copying your WordPress software is not a backup. You need to backup the database in addition. That’s where all your postings are located. The plugin backs up only the database. After backing things up, go into WordPress and update your version if necessary. Your Dashboard will tell if what version you have and if another is needed. If necessary, click the link to update and it will start. Forum people don’t like to talk to you unless you are using the latest version. On the forum, first search to see if your problem is there and resolved already. If not, post your problem.
- While waiting for forum answers, disable all WordPress plugins. See if the problem is resolved. If so, activate the plugins again, one at a time, until the problem returns. Some plugins can interfere or can even be malware.
- If the problem is still there, change to the default theme and see if the problem is still there. If the problem is resolved, the issue is in your new theme.
- Try your blog on another browser. If the problem goes away with another browser (such as Firefox), the problem is with the browser. Our problem was with Internet Explorer 8 and went away when we went to Firefox. Don’t call Microsoft on that. They’ll tell you it is an IE8 addon you are using. Microsoft won’t take the fall. I don’t have any addons. (Hooray for open source software like WordPress and Firefox. Boo for Microsoft and other companies that make you pay for a new copy of your software when they update Windows. They require you to purchase a new copy – not an update. Both Adobe and Microsoft pull that trick. )
- If you still have an unresolved problem in WordPress, try your blog on another computer. If it works there, check out your computer – run a virus/spyware checker and register cleaner as a start.
Then there is always the master guru, grand wizard, and dragonslayer at http://www.netadventures.biz.
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