A day, in which I don’t like things

If you aren’t into tantrums, here’s your opportunity to skip this post. We will still be friends.

I am not a patient guy, but I try. One of the things I do is give things time before making a judgment. I still have to force myself, but I’m improving.

After much deliberation, and a reasonable amount of time, I don’t like the new and improved WordPress.

I still think it’s the best blogging platform out there, but they’ve certainly made it less user friendly for those who blog. Here are my examples:

• I can’t stand the new and improved stats display. It looks like bad chibi anime to me. I vote every single time I check stats, but apparently it was to placate serious users with no real value behind it. I’ve been clicking to display the old stats page, but now they forced me to swipe through all the new displays to the bottom before I can see any stats that make sense. It has the feeling of a close out sale. “Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
• I am pretty disappointed that I can no longer open a page of my comments, likes, and follows. I am getting a lot of action these days, and the scroll thingie doesn’t work all that well. I would be mortified if I couldn’t acknowledge someone’s comment, and am afraid I might have missed one or two.
• None of the changes work well with iOS. I’m sure there aren’t many Apple fans out there, so why bother. (Rolls eyes.) When I try to respond to a comment, the display actually jerks around, and I wind up hitting the wrong button half the time. The send button isn’t reliable when I do manage to hit it.
• I know it’s old now, but I don’t like the new post “beep beep boop” version either. I always click through to the older one, but wonder how long that will remain. Even it doesn’t like iOS very well. I write most of my posts in Pages these days, and paste them into the new post.
• I want the link option to work every single time. Two thirds of the time, when I highlight a section, the link option greys out. I have to choose a different word to highlight until the link option is available. ( Three or four times, minimum.) Only then can I make the link I originally wanted.
• I want the ability to include a picture when using my iPhone. I usually write these on my iPad, but sometimes it isn’t available. The entire iPhone version is frustrating.

I feel like a hacker whenever I use WordPress these days. Nearly everything is becoming a work around. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going anywhere, but I feel like WordPress developers ought to actually use the software on various platforms before they release it to the masses.

I loved BlogPad Pro, but they decided not to update it when iOS 8 came out. It has a bug now that allows me to type faster than it can think. I’m not a fast typist.

Do any of you know of a reliable app that does WordPress better than WordPress?

Holy, just, Wow!

Last night I wanted to gain two more views to tie my all time record, and three for the win. I woke up to about forty more than that. I’m overwhelmed at the reception my micro fiction is receiving. Many of you went back and read last week’s story too.

I jumped in the shower and lathered up my head and beard. I heard the door open and peeked out behind the curtain.

Lorelei* primped her hair in my mirror. She had on a black jogging suit from the Coeur d’Alene Resort.

“What the– I’ll be out in a minute.”

She looked me up and down. “Relax.” She wiggled a finger toward my nether region. “Cover your little self up, and I’ll make the room coffee. I want to talk to you about something.”

I rinsed my hair and wrapped up in a towel. She was on my iPad and going through my blog stats.

I made a quick dash for some underwear and pants. Lorelei smirked as I dashed by.

I pulled a comb through my hair and grabbed my coffee.

“You’ve been blog wanking.” She gave me that stern look that all women possess.

“Well, um, yeah, a little.”

“That’s a dangerous habit. Your fiction is strong enough to be interesting without resorting to tricks.”

“But I got my extra views, and received more likes than ever too. WordPress even sent me a badge.”

“Really? How old are you? What’s next a sticker and gold star?” She took my coffee and started drinking it. “It’s a neat trick, but the reblog of your friends promotion would have gotten you enough views, and it was a nice thing to do.”

“Okay. I’ll behave.”

“You have to save it for special occasions. If you become like the boy who cried wolf, you’ll lose credibility.”

I poured myself a new cup of coffee. “I need to get ready for work, but I promise not to get addicted to blog wanking.”

“Good boy.” She finished her/my coffee and opened the door. “I have a spa appointment, then I’m going on a lake cruise to look for eagles. Have a good day at work, and behave.”
***

Thanks everyone for the red letter day at Entertaining Stories. Time for work.

* Lorelei is my Muse; my cranky Muse today.

What’s up With WordPress

I decided to change up from the title of last night’s post. WordPress has always been a little bit buggy. I’m used to the quirks by now. We all see it on occasion; you’ve had three visitors from seven different countries.

This week it’s getting kind of obnoxious. I’m not getting the little orange alerts for comments, likes, and follows. I try to respond to everyone, and I may miss someone. I promise you it isn’t intentional if I miss someone. The conversations are some of the best parts of blogging.

I experimented with this a bit. The error is only on the parts that belong to WordPress. If I go to my own blog, or one of yours, the alerts are there. They’re only missing in Reader, Stats, and places like that.

I’m having the most trouble with default reloads. I follow a ton of blogs. I like to see what the world is up to with my morning coffee. When I log into Reader and open one of your posts, Reader will return me to the very top (most recent) post. It used to take me back where I opened the post I read. This is something like reading a newspaper article, and then being forced to fold it up and place it on the doorstep and start over before being allowed to read the next article.

I can’t put up with this. The world is a bigger place than just Idaho. I have friends in time zones where their morning post happens as I’m going to bed. I have to catch it ten hours later. It’s maddening to have to scroll past a hundred posts to find where I left off, then do it all over again for the next one I want to read.

I’ve seen others who don’t like the new post button and some hokey message it displays. I learned from these posts that WordPress is doing some upgrades. (They don’t feel like upgrades) Here’s to hoping they get it all figured out soon.

In the mean time, if I miss your post, or fail to respond, I’m sorry.

Wednesday Ramblings

Wild Concept is making a few sales. It’s still single digits, but I’m ecstatic. I know what the odds are for a first time author, and what kind of sales self publishing brings for newbies. It’s only been about three weeks.

I checked the international Amazon stores, and I’ve sold a few in Amazon.de and Amazon.ca . Thanks to the international readers out there who gave me a chance.

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I’ve gotten a few more re-blogs and Twitter posts. Thanks to everyone who did that. This includes Laurie Buchanan and Ravenlywrites . Thank’s you guys, I’ll take all the help I can get. (and need it)

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From the number of click throughs on my blog stats, I probably need to tighten up my book blurb. I was in a hurry to get the book uploaded, and should check it out. It’s an important sales tool, and I can probably do better.

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Loralei, my Muse, has been commuting with me again. Last night she talked me into using my fountain pen and notebook to make some character sheets. I’m knee deep in Will ‘O the Wisp, and she’s already onto the next project.

I have a cluster of characters and she wants me to use them all in the next story. I just don’t know if they all fit. If I can come up with a good McGuffin, they might.

I also came up with a seriously bad dude. My bad guys are usually more environmental, or corporate. This guy has potential, and he might even be redeemable. I just have to spend some more time with him. Maybe I’ll have him come to the writing cabin for a day.

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Will ‘O the Wisp is at a logjam for me. My main character, Patty has reached a plateau where she has to go on the attack. This involves a lot of research for me, but I always liked the research. Then I have to weave it all into the mind of a fifteen year old before putting it on the page.

This path also has to fail for her. (Sorry Patty) This will set up the last ditch effort at the end.

This is where I could really use Loralei. The problem with a Muse is that she’s happy if I’m creating. She doesn’t care about quality, just getting something new on paper. I might be on my own to figure this part out.

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Hey, I said it was a rambling post. “Lisa*, where’s that soapbox?”

“Right here, boss,” she said, putting the box on the lobby floor and I climbed on top.

Now that award season is over in Hollywood, I’m going to bring this up. Why does Hollywood have a problem with aging gracefully? So many of the entertainers don’t look like they’ve had plastic surgery – they look like they’ve been to a taxidermist.

I know Hollywood loves the young and the pretty, but give me a break. There is nothing young or pretty about someone who looks like their head was carved from a bar of soap. I think this is a horrible example for the youth of the world too.

I would watch a good performer, no matter what they looked like. I’m sure there would be a winnowing process if all they were good for was visual. On the other hand, I would watch someone like Helen Mirren in almost anything she does.

“Thanks, Lisa. You can put the soapbox back in the basement.”

* Lisa is the main character in Wild Concept. She works at the writing cabin, and is a robot.

Stats are weird

As a newer blogger, I check my stats several times a day. They say this is a common affliction, and that I’ll get over it someday soon. I have a stats question for someone smarter than I am.

How can my stats show two or three views for one day, when the article I published that day has six or eight likes? Six or eight people visited in order to like the article, but the stats don’t reflect that. Can anyone help me out here? (I’m not obsessed, or anything. I’m checking stats after I post this.)

My world map continues to fill in, which I think is cool. Welcome to the new visitors from Romania and Ireland. I’m still waiting for someone from the International Space Station, but they’ve been a little busy this week.

The post about internet safety was pretty popular. I updated it and invited everyone to forward it to their loved ones, or re-blog it. I never thought to suggest it when I posted it. No one should be taken by an online predator, and if even one person is helped it was worth writing.

The WordPress app seems to have a flaw, in my opinion. If I want to include a picture, it doesn’t give me the option to choose from my WordPress media folder. It allows me to choose directly from my hard drive. When I’ve done this, it seems like the images aren’t displaying on other computers. My theory is that the image isn’t going out into cyberspace unless it comes from the WordPress media file. I may have to write with the app, then edit the post to include the images. Any suggestions here are most welcome.