Whacky WordPress
I don’t know what’s going on with WordPress lately, but I’ve been getting some weird results. First, for no particularly good reason that I can readily decipher, I quit receiving email notifications from some of the people that I regularly follow. Even though I haven’t made any (known) changes to my account in weeks, suddenly odd things have started happening. Duplicate post notifications on some, and none on others. Today’s bizarre anomaly takes the cake. When I sat down at the computer today and opened my email, I found I have been inundated with repetitive email notifications for comment replies.
I follow over sixty blogs, and it appears that now I am getting an email notification every time anyone comments on any one of these blogs. I knew something was up when I had over four hundred emails when I checked my email this morning. I promise you I’m not that popular.
No, really.
So, is anyone else experiencing this craziness? I feel like I’m trapped in some kind of WordPress vacuum, where the hallucinogenics are plentiful, and my In Box is stuck in some kind of weirdo time warp. The good news is lots of you are writing interesting and thought-provoking and giggle-inducing posts, and even better, that you are receiving plenty of comments. The bad news is that my eyes are spinning in dizzy circles from weeding through legitimate new post notifications versus all the unexpected and unsolicited comment notifications. The only saving grace that is keeping me from pulling my hair out in fluffy chunks of consternation is that, thankfully, not every blog I follow is a WordPress blog. For which I am very grateful.
If anyone has any magical cures or worthwhile chants or special potions, or can share the secret handshake that will bring my email back to reality, the blog fairies will bless you abundantly. For now, I’ll just pretend I’ve been Freshly Pressed, instead of Freshly Stressed.
.
somebody please help me pick up all these spilled marbles
just kidding … I kind of like spilled marbles
they keep us hopping from one place to another
.
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about me: I’m a fifty-ish person that has lived for many years with major depression, as well as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), DID (dissassociative identity disorder), BPD (borderline personality disorder), BAD (bipolar affective disorder, sometimes known as manic depression), and a host of other equally inconvenient labels that persistently get in the way of me living a quiet and otherwise normal life.
Generally speaking, these conditions can mostly be traced back to my ongoing journey of recovery from a very abusive and humiliating version of childhood that left me feeling unlovable and damaged and broken. The psychological and physical damage have carried over into adulthood, and although it’s often been an uphill battle, as the years have progressed, I’ve learned more and more about how to adapt. I’m always open to exploring new methods that might improve my quality of life, and I believe in sharing information with others that might be traveling a similar journey. My hope is that my blog space might help inspire, or encourage. We’re in this together.
Some days, we simply have to hang on long enough to allow the scenery to change. Those days will pass. Really, they will.
Some of my history: I was married for eighteen years to a man who was mostly kind and gentle, and we shared a lot of laughter and love. During this time, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to raise two uniquely different sons who are now grown and married, and still surprise me on a fairly regular basis. Despite being raised in a home affected by a parent struggling with psychological issues, they have matured into decent and kind young men.
I’m also lucky to have two daughter-in-laws that are both excellent moms and very strong women. They are what every mother hopes for when their son finds a life partner. Additionally, I’m blessed with three beautiful grandchildren, who are all three nearly grown now, even though Nana tends to forget that they aren’t babies anymore. To me, they’ll always be my precious sweeties.
These days I do what I can to continue in my determination to survive, (and thrive), and in the process try to appreciate the beauty that surrounds me. I make an intentional effort to keep an open mind and an open spirit. Despite the negatives or challenges that can punctuate any life experience, I spend a considerable amount of time being grateful and appreciative of my overall life journey. I like to learn, so I’m always asking questions. I believe if we can help someone, we should, and that a generosity of spirit is not a sign of weakness, but rather, a gift of love.
In the end, I expect to pass from this life with more questions than answers, and I’m okay with that. Really.
I chose the photo above as a reminder to notice the beautiful, and because the energy of the vibrant colors contrasted against the delicate wings of the butterfly speaks to my sense of continuity and balance. Thanks for visiting my blog today.
you can send an email to: ntexas99 @ yahoo dot com
please take note:
visitors:
click on “analyze your writing” to try this for yourself :
YES I am too! I’m getting EVERYone’s comments on EVERY blog I follow. Not too difficult to delete but then I stop to read them all so it’s time consuming. Funny, no-one else has said anything today. I thought I’d hit a button while one a couple of my favourites but sounds like WordPress has gone ‘global’. Would that be a sorta-kinda-close-description?
It does seem as if I’ve identified it happening on only those blogs in which I have left a comment, so here’s what I think is happening … now, whenever you leave a comment on anyone’s blog (that uses WordPress), the system is set up to automatically check that little box at the bottom (near the comment box) that says “send me a notification anytime anyone posts a comment to this post”.
I don’t know if it’s going to work or not, but I’m going to try looking for the little box the next time I leave a comment, and make sure I carefully UNCHECK the dang box. Hopefully that will help make the madness stop. LOL
I had that idea this afternoon too, when all this started happening but couldn’t find it anymore—on ANY of the blogs, which were spewing excess comments.
Once you have left a comment the first time, and don’t UNCHECK the comment notification box, then the box won’t be there anymore on that same post. You won’t see it again until the next time you comment on a new post. In other words, once the box has been checked, you’re gonna get all the comments on that post, whether you want them or not. It seems WordPress has been making some updates, and they have generously automatically checked the box for us, whether we want it checked or not. Yeeeeshshshshshhsh!
I had this happen a while ago, so it seems to be a rolling effect. I went into my “blogs I follow” and changed some settings around. Wait… I just noticed that as I type this, the “Notify me of follow-up comments via email” box is checked, and I haven’t checked it, which means WordPress has had a change in their formatting. Unchecking, and hoping I’ll still be kept informed on the things I want to know about.
gracias … sounds like others have been having the same problem … and here I thought I was the only popular one! Just kidding … thx for the heads up.
This has been driving me nuts today. What they’ve done is that, when you leave a comment, they have put a checkmark, for you, in the box, just below your comment box that says “notify me of follow-up comments via email”. So now you have to make sure you remove that checkmark BEFORE you hit “post comment”. I imagine they will be getting a lot of complaints about this. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Joss. (no funny puns intended) After messing around with it over several blog comments, I finally figured out that must be the problem. Guess they like to keep us guessing.
It’s driving me crazy. WordPress is tweaking stuff again…the last time I lost an entire post. Hope the whole things settles down soon. Watch the little box at the bottom of each comment section when you comment (check or uncheck as desired….and keep checking it while they continue to mess around) I like that “Fresh Stressed” label! Nicely written post – great pix
appreciate the heads up, and thanks for taking the time to comment … they like to keep us guessing, and stressing, apparently
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OMG I have been tearing my hair out since yesterday with this same thing .. thought I’d clicked the wrong thing but no .. I changed it, I think successfully .. by going into my settings and clicking “remove” (which they assure me unsubs me from comments, not the entire blog .. all a bit scary, all the same!) .. my mailbox has since calmed down but then again it could just mean everyone’s off having dinner or something
I may give the “remove” thing a try, or maybe I’ll wait and just be sure I’m UNCHECKING the dang box every time I comment now. I’ve already had problems not getting email notifications from people I regularly follow, so I’m not too keen on changing my settings. Maybe. We’ll see how it goes.
Thanks for weighing in and sharing what you’ve found. For a minute there, I thought I was on FB (who changes things around at the drop of a hat, and without ever notifying their users). Hmpphphphphh
Maybe just sit tight. Funny with all this WILD stuff going around, there has been no word from WordPress—don’t you think? Usually, it seems they’re on top of things. Boy, someone must have HIT the WRONG button….ha ha ha
BTW, if you’ll check my comments section below, I left a looooong comment on how to do the “REMOVE” thing without accidentally unfollowing your favorite blogs
I just left a ridiculously LONG reply about this subject on someone’s blog, and am re-posting it here, in case someone stumbles across my blog and is still trying to figure out HOW TO STOP THE MADNESS:
copied from my reply (in Tess’s blog comments): http://letscutthecrap.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/tick-tock-tick-tock/
After I posted the same question on my blog, here’s what I’ve learned:
WordPress is mucking around making changes. In do so, they have automatically checked the little box on the comment page that says “please send me an email update every time someone comments on this blog post”.
If you leave a comment, and don’t realize the box is already checked, then you will automatically receive an email every time someone comments on that blog post. Apparently the trick is to remember to uncheck the box every time you leave a comment (or until they put it back the way it used to be, which was to leave the box unchecked all the time, and give you the choice of checking it).
There is also a way to go into your settings and “quit receiving updates” on each individual blog post for which you’re receiving multiple email updates every time someone comments, but my own personal experience in doing this is that it’s labor intensive, and about half the time I get it wrong and accidentally end up “unfollowing” someone’s blog that I want to follow. I’m just going to wait it out. Eventually the comments will slow down on most of the blog posts. Unless we get lucky enough to comment on someone’s post and they have like a gazillion followers that like to leave comments.
If you want to try the “change my settings” route, here’s a HOW TO:
Go to your Dashboard.
Just underneath the word “Dashboard” there is a list of menu items
Click on the one that says “Blogs I Follow”
When you do that, a new page opens up
At the top of page (under the blue house) you’ll see four categories:
Sites, Comments, Pending, Settings
Click on “Comments”
This will open a new page
Here, you will see a list of blog sites (left) and their blog posts (middle)
(these are all the ones you’re getting email notifications from)
(there should be one for every blog post you’re receiving emails updates on)
Here, you have two choices:
(1) you can delete them individually, or
(2) you can delete them all at one time in one big bunch
To delete them individually:
use your mouse to hover over an individual blog name
you should see the word “delete” show up in red
if you click on the red word delete, your screen will refresh, and *presto*
you’ve just deleted one blog comment notification
To delete them all at one time:
*caution* *caution* *caution* *caution*
before you do this, make sure you’re on the right page
you can tell by looking at the top of your screen
the word “comments” should be bolded in black under the blue house
if so, then to delete all of them at one time:
click on all the boxes on the page
this will put a green check in every box
about halfway down the page, under the blue box, click on blue arrow
(the blue arrow is located directly to the right of the words Bulk Actions)
after you click on the arrow, click on the word “Unfollow”
Then click on the gray button that says “Apply”
your screen should refresh after a few moments, and *presto*
you have now quit following the comments on each blog post
*note – you may have to repeat this process if you are following pages and pages and pages of blog posts … hopefully not … depends on how many
There are variations on how you can do this, but for me, those are the steps that work the best. Complicated, pain in the rear, and like I said, about half the time I get it wrong, so generally speaking, I try not to mess with them.
hope that helps
what a pain, right? thank goodness there are plenty of people more computer literate than me that generally help me figure this stuff out.
Good to know I’m not going crazy.
Yes, I know the craziness of which you speak. I too have been getting all of the comments. Now you have to opt out of follow up comments each time you leave one. Otherwise the box remains checked that you want them. Is that annoying or what? Also, a number of people are not getting notices about posts. I’ve heard this from some folks. I’m assuming it’s the case with others I haven’t heard from in a while. Whacky WordPress world, indeed!
Hugs,
Kathy
WordPress seem to have introduced a range of ‘improvements’ which haven’t been properly tested. They’ve really mucked up the comments functionality and some other functions simply don’t work anymore. It’s a shame. It’s a great blogging platform but I may have to move.
what, Turkey wasn’t far enough?
now you’re gonna move again?
LOL … I know what you mean. WordPress has been getting on my nerves a bit, but I’m trying to give it time to settle back down. I’ve bounced around from other platforms, and WP is the one I’ve preferred over others. Up until now, anyway.
Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?
“Freshly Stressed”! I *love* it! Oddly, I found I was definitely Freshly Stressed when I was Freshly Pressed. My writing has never been the same – too much pressure!
I LOVE the mental image of spilled marbles. That’s the current condition of my brain!
Freshly Stressed … I can only imagine how crazy it must have been to find all those emails in your In Box when you were Freshly Pressed … but I have to admit, The Crayon Fascist was one the funniest things I’ve read in a good long while … it was so cute, and so full of real life moments. I never have to worry about being Freshly Pressed on my blog. Whole different subject matter (much of the time).
I’ll be glad when they get this recent kookiness fixed. My email is crammed.
Thank you for your kind words! I was just telling a story of my childhood…I think I must’ve struck a big ol’ raw nerve with it!
I love your writing – it is so honest and eloquent. Not many of us have the courage to expose our souls like you do – myself included. You help me process my own issues with your posts. You are *always* Freshly Pressed* in my world.
Yep, the same thing happened to me; I noticed that “follow-up comments” box is checked by default, so I just clicked it off (not that I don’t want to read the responses; I just don’t want to get bazillion e-mails).
for a while I thought un-checking the box would do the trick, but now I’m getting notifications on blogs I haven’t even visited in weeks. craziness. I suppose they will eventually get it back to normal, or close enough.
I’m glad you wrote about this; I’ve been getting lots of comments in my email, too, but I don’t have the time to read most of them. When this comment box opened up I noticed the “notify me” box was checked. It must be the new default.
it appeared un-checking the box would work, but now I’m getting email notifications even from blogs I haven’t visited in weeks … they’re driving me a bit bonkers … guess it will get fixed sooner or later
I seem to have stopped getting email notifications from a few of the blogs I follow. I just thought they weren’t posting until I happened upon one and realized how far behind I actually was. I’ve also mysteriously stopped following a couple somehow, but I assumed I had accidentally hit a button somewhere.
I haven’t been flooded with comment emails, but then, I haven’t commented a lot in the last couple of days.
I know … I didn’t realize I had quit getting notifications from a few people until they happened to comment on my blog, which had me wondering how come they hadn’t been having any new posts, and then, when I’d bounce over to their blog, I would realize they HAD been posting, and I just hadn’t been receiving the notifications.
Today I’ve had over 500 comment notifications … they are getting much easier to spot, but it’s still a bit of a pain … oh well, they’ll get it fixed sooner or later
I noticed this as well – even though I am not following the posts…
yep, now I’m getting them even when I haven’t left a comment on someone’s blog … this morning I had over 500 email notifications … what a cuckoo mess … I’m sure they’ll eventually get it sorted out
I certainly hope so…
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I’ve been offline and enmeshed in my personal zombie land. Just came back yesterday. I left one comment on Le Clown On Fire’s blog and then read Dotty Headbanger’s about managing all the emails & playing keep up with all the blogs she follows. She mentioned the comment notification emails too and how to avoid them. I still forget to remember to look & uncheck that box. I went to the settings for blogs I follow and just set it to never get emails. I can use the reader to find the posts of bloggers I like. Someoneentiomrd a way to include non WordPress blogs in the reader.