Blog Quirks?

Okay, as y’all have figured out, we finally upgraded our WordPress after like two years, and we won’t do that again (I think it will automatically update now.)

I know we lost the emoticons and folks seem to have gotten really attached to those, so I’ll work on getting those back.

Is anyone else having any problems/issues with the new format?  I feel like the threads are a little less obvious than they were; the color scheme is different.  And didn’t they used to be boxed?  Is this an issue for anyone?

Also I think someone mentioned they stay logged in now, which is nice … I’m always logged in anyway when I comment.  Have you noticed a difference?  I assume the commenter meant you don’t have to type your personal info in?

Does anyone want gravatars, like NST has?  Gravatars are fun but they take up room in the comments, I can’t say I missed them when we switched to WordPress.

We may hire someone to do a little cleanup, so if you have questions/gripes/issues, dump them in here.

  • violetnoir says:

    Gravatars? Emoticons? Walmart ads????

    Woman, I just want to be able to log on, read your entertainingly warm posts, make a comment that may or may not make sense to anyone but myself, and move on with my morning. I love to look back later on to see all of the comments and responses. It makes me feel, well connected to you guys.

    But, just as I was able to post again, I am now stuck in Dirty Girl purgatory! I could not comment on the new format (the area for posting a comment is narrower than the allotted space to comment, if that makes any sense), so in a stroke of “genius” (more like desperation), I changed to the Dirty Girls (I always loved those gals!), and now I get no text at all and a note appears stating that I made a fatal error.

    So, I’m afraid I won’t be reading or posting as much anymore, and will have to wait to participate later on in the evening from home…after everyone else has posted.

    If you can do anything about this, I would be most grateful, darling. If not, please do not think that I am ignoring you…I’m just out in space with the Dirty Girls!!!

    Hugs!

    • Joe says:

      Holy crap! I just barely escaped from purgatory with my life!

      After reading violetnoir’s comment above, I switched to the DirtyGirls screen and couldn’t find my way out until I completely cleared the cache and restarted my browser. Baaaad karma over on that DirtyGirls screen. Wow. I’m going to take it easy here from now on. No fiddling with *anything*.

  • Gretchen says:

    I’m using Internet Explorer on a pc, and have had no encounters with the W*lm*rt ad. No problems commenting, either.

  • Shelley says:

    It’s Monday am, just opened the site and took a gander at the Bois 1920 reviews…and there was the Wal-Mart ad. Blast. When I click on “comment,” though, and the page switches to just that article and its comments, the ad goes away.

    However, as I look up at the address bar, I see the page I am on is still highlighted as loading. THAT might be a Safari/Mac thing; the Wal-Mart ad, obviously, isn’t. Still no clue to help you with, but I am asking…

    Thanks, Veuve Amiot, for the hint…http://perfumeposse.com/smilies/yahoo_rotfl.gif…I have no right click…that was a drag and drop…

    oh, look…done loading!!! Alrighty, such is life with the mechanics of the Posse here in the a.m. Thanks again for all you guys do…

  • veuve amiot says:

    Just a FYI-slash-workaround for the emoticons: if you highlight an emoticon in the comments, then right click, you should find the actual code under “search google for…”

    >-) @};- :)) =))

  • Joe says:

    Regarding emoticons, someone might want to explore the following page:

  • Anne says:

    I didn’t shop at walmart before but now you’d have to pay me BIG $$$$ to go there. I have a Mac and that ad shows up on your blog on Firefox only. I have NEVER had any pop-ups before. I do not have it when I go to Safari. Annoying when its there but only shows up half the time. I thought Firefox had a pop-up blocker built in but maybe time to switch to Safari. 🙂

    • carter says:

      I’m also using Firefox on a Mac and getting the damn thing sporadically.

      As for Walmart, there is just too much to hate…

    • March says:

      I am SICK with envy. Can we hire you to recreate the list? I need barfing guy, the pig, the clown, the Happy Birthday guy … 😉

      • Musette says:

        March, I don’t know ALL of them, alas and I certainly can’t do code – it took all my brain cells to remember the blasted rose (note my earlier missteps)

        but a lot of them give visual clues ……….but for the most part you will probably have to get somebody code-worthy to reinstall the emoticons. I do know a few, though, and will pass them to you via email, as they will only show up here as the image, not the code.

        xo>-)

        ps. Happy Birthday guy left me awhile back – I would click on him and only get the symbols (in fact, that is how I first started noticing the symbols, when they would stick it to me in a post, the bassids).

        ^:)p (let’s see if this one comes up as HBG)

        well, at least you have the rose (I will send it to you) and winkie!

        xo

  • Kim says:

    okay – I take it back. With the new colouring, I totally lost the threads once there were more than a few replies. AACCKK

  • Maura says:

    Thanks Patty…you rock! I needed to change browsers to post and Firefox is working fine 🙂 Blasted Explorer…can’t use it either to browse TPC…grrrr…

    ~~gracias~~

  • Aparatchick says:

    No problem at all except for that Walmart ad. “Roll over for a deeper experience.” Uh, no thanks. I know the economy’s bad, but just what are they trying to sell these days?

    I love not having to log in!

  • Joe says:

    Hi March… all has been absolutely fine. I would hardly have noticed you upgraded if y’all hadn’t mentioned it… except the emoticons are gone (I can live with it) and now the system doesn’t fart anymore when you’re trying to reply to a thread and it makes a brand new entry instead. Yay for that.

    My screen has not been possessed by that evil Wal-mart succubus-thingie, I am happy to report.

    All is looking good… hope it’s not a nightmare/headache on your end. Thanks to all of you for the great work. It’s always a pleasure to see what you come up with.

  • Love the new look, just takes some getting used to. I got the Wal-Mart ad the first time, too. As a Mac user, I’m really protected, and I was cranky. It vanished and was gone. If it’s a trend, though, I think marketers are underestimating the power of consumers. (Cf: Facebook and owning your artwork.) I digress. I have a gravatar, but I’ll vote for faster loading over cute design.

  • KellyV says:

    Techie stuff is vague for me but I do have a MAC. I will need to call the nephews. I do love this site and I have no idea why the Wal-Mart ads pop up here. But I can close the site and re-open easily enough! Carry on and thanks for all your hard work. Keeping up a blog takes major major effort.

  • Shelley says:

    First and foremost, love the blog, always always, so the most important thing is that you guys make it work for you. Like Louise said, the worst thing would be if you went off the air, so to speak.

    That said…I vote no gravatars. I have too much trouble feeling comfortable with one identity, anyway. 😉

    And, I’ll see if I can dig up info on those pesky ads, which I *do* get, and I am using Safari, and I thought pretty well blocked/protected.

    LOL and too true for the time stamp if you are at work… <:-)
    (just playing to see if I can retrieve an emoticon; don’t have Musette’s brain available at the moment…)

  • Olfacta says:

    I luurrve not having to sign in to comment! I wish Blogspot would figure that out. Of course, if they had I wouldn’t know because I never have time to sift through the “help.”

    I don’t see the Wal-Mart ad, so it must be a spamblocking thing.

    I think the site looks great.

  • Charlotte_V says:

    The page takes a long time to load, that’s my gripe. My guess is it’s the ads, or more specifically, the ones that use Flash applications to create movement, if your computer is less than brand new it tends to slow down a bit when it encounters those. (And I’m not seeing the pop-ups, I’ve got those blocked). I should probably look for a plug-in that can speed things up before I b**ch, but since you asked.:)

  • Kim says:

    love that I don’t have to log in – too many log-ins to keep track of in ‘real life’ so love that it doesn’t impose into the important stuff!

    miss the emoticons but not a big deal

    not used to the new colouring but will get used to it, as with most changes it just takes a few days

    have never seen a Wal-Mart ad and don’t care for gravatars so vote no for them

    main thing? KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!

  • Trish/Pikake says:

    Looks good to me!

  • Patty says:

    I’ve never see the wal-mart ad, and I do have a pretty aggressive pop-up blocker on all of my computers. I remember a weird ad like that would show up a long time ago, and then it went away.

    I’m blaming Google, but I’ve checked all settings on our google ad, and can’t find anything that would allow that or turn it off, so I’m stumped.

    • March says:

      Thanks P. Sounds like Kelly needs some anti-ad-ware… I’m trying to remember what I have installed. I think it’s called something boring like Ad-blocker.

    • carter says:

      I just got the ad for the first time, and I am hermetically sealed in pop-up blockers, or at least I thought I was…

      • March says:

        Huh. I have tried provoking it, including logging in on IE, turning off google pop-up blocker… I have no idea. The fact you can’t close the ad is super annoying.

        • carter says:

          Like QuinnCreative below I also have a Mac, and the ad just popped up that one time and then quickly disappeared. Very odd…

  • carter says:

    So not what she said ’cause she’s mad! Lovable, but mad!

  • Musette says:

    ps..

    you know what’s cool about the non-’emoticons? (only to me, I’m sure) Every time I sign in my sig alien, he does the ‘Alien’ thing, where he busts through the :-O guy! Creepy – but cool!:-))

    xo>-)

    • March says:

      Okay, how are you doing that? Do you remember all the old combo codes?

      • Musette says:

        Yes. I am a painter, so I look at stupid stuff like that. I also love that stupid old card game “memory” (I used to love the little bunches of violets:-)

        Some of the emoticons I don’t remember but a lot of them I do because I actually would look at what codes were used to create them. And I would certainly know how my beloved you know who was created, ‘just in case’

        xo>-)

  • Musette says:

    I think you’re right about pop-up blockers. I’ve never seen the Wal-Mart ad and bless the blocks for that. I see enough of Wal-Mart as it is!

    Miss the emoticons but would miss you way more – the site is just fine. Don’t stress. We’ll work around whatever is wonky!

    xo >-)

    • carter says:

      What she said, with a double-down on the not having to log in gratitude from the other commenting heads. It’s all good 🙂

  • joliefleur says:

    Braving my awe-struck-and-intimidated-by-y’alls-wit-and expertise lurkdom to say that I love the blog, have no complaints at all, and hope you do what is easiest for you!!! Oh, and I have never seen this Wal-Mart ad, if that is useful info.

    • March says:

      Thanks for delurking! Glad to hear the Walmart ad is not pervasive.

    • Musette says:

      Hey! Hi and welcome and don’t be intimidated! At least one >-) on here, who posts ALL THE DAMN TIME mostly doesn’t know anything!LOL! But it’s great fun, nonetheless!

      >-)

      • carter says:

        Musette–
        Are you referring to me? It’s all true, but I didn’t realize it was so obvious 😉

        • Musette says:

          Ha! You’re funny – have I mentioned that before?! I’ve so been enjoying your posts. Have I asked you to marry me yet? If not, it’s official: I’m proposing (DH and your probable DH will just have to get ovah it!LOL! – UNLESS YOU ARE MESSY, in which case the proposal is off! I have 3 ginormous dogs and one really messy El O – my next spouse will be Felix Ungerish, I swear!)

          erm, no….I was referring to moi, and you know it;-). I’m still such a piker about notes, etc in perfume. I just know what I like. Missy March tells me, mostly, WHY I like it, bless her heart! @}~ (I canna’ remember the Rose, alas – perhaps this is it?) ^o^

          Btw – I love that Shelley thinks I have a ‘brain’ regarding those emoticons – hecky naw, Shell – certainly not! It’s just one of those absurd little visual things that works for me when so many others don’t! (this is in reference to the post down at the bottom of this blog but as you can see, carter, I’m a lazy one!)

          xo>-)

          • carter says:

            You DID propose and I accepted and I’ve been waiting forever for you to get me the damn ring. My two wee squirreldogs and DH probably won’t even notice I’m gone, much less miss me. But I think it’s moot ’cause yes, I’m messy.

            That’s okay, darling…I forgive you 😉 Hmmm…I wonder if this is why I’m getting all those lesbian Facebook solicitations…

  • Louise says:

    No probs for me, sis. I guess I miss the emoticons a little, and would welcome them back 🙂

    Otherwise, I would only be upset if you, Patty, Lee, and Nava went the way of the emoticons!

  • ggs says:

    I’m having no problems so far. I vote NO on gravatars. Just not necessary IMHO. Distracting even.

    People logging on during the workday might prefer that the time not be part of the comments, just the date, perhaps 😉 but I think you told me once you didn’t know how to change that…

    Bless you for not requiring a password to log in. I don’t comment on some other sites very often because I’m on password-overload, and it’s too much trouble to keep track of them.

    KellyV –you need a good pop-up blocker. I’ve never seen a Walmart ad or any pop-up ad on this site, and I use several different computers.

    • March says:

      You know what’s weird/funny? I can see people’s gravatars when I login on the WordPress dashboard. I guess they’re just not installed. Patty, I can see your old gravatar from Peppermint Patty!

  • Mrs.Honey says:

    I also noticed I was automatically logged in. I find the new threads to be a bit harder to follow visually, but I imagine that is just because its a new look. Although I didn’t use the emoticons, I miss seeing them in other people’s posts.

    • March says:

      That’s a good point, maybe we just need to adjust our eyes to the new look. The colors are softer but it’s not hard to read.

      I promise I’ll work on the emoticons! I’ve gotten several requests.

  • KellyV says:

    I love this website. Is the Walmart ad really important to keep this website on? It is intrusive and you can’t click it out or move it to the side. It comes up almost every time I try to read your blog which makes me leave the blog. What do you think?

    • March says:

      Kelly, I SWEAR THAT IS NOT OUR AD. I double checked with Patty, she has no idea what I’m talking about. I got it once — the first time I logged on via another computer — and never got it again. I couldn’t get it to go away either, I had to close the page.

      I am not the techie here, Patty says maybe it’s google? Do you have some sort of ad pop-ups program you could turn on? I use my home computer for work stuff so it’s fully loaded with anti-ad-ware, maybe that’s what is keeping it gone. Sorry I can’t be more help — again, I promise it is not OUR ad, but not sure how to tell you how to get rid of it.

      • Carol Sasich says:

        I just heard on NPR or somewhere , these new ADS travel down the screen and can’t be closed out…a new marketing technique . I didn’t know they were legal to just pop up anywhere !!

      • March says:

        It looks like I have something called Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal installed, and something called Spambayes keeping the spam out of my Outlook.

        Any other suggestions from people are welcome, I know nothing about this stuff.

      • Marilynn says:

        The Wal-Mart ad was on your landing page when I accessed your site just moments ago. I have all kinds of pop-up blockers and this ad appears about 50% of the time when I come to your site.
        I right clicked it to see if I could find any information and I did see the following:

        Allow speed.pointroll.com to access your camera and microphone.

        Have no idea if that’s the origin of the Wal-Mart ad or not. I doubt it. Strange how it affects some users and not others. I’m using Firefox but not on a Mac. Other than that I’m happy with your upgrades. 🙂