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WordPress Stuck in HTML Edit Mode

August 25, 2008 by Karen Swim

Written by Karen D. Swim

I have an update to my issues with the WordPress 2.6.1 fiasco and wanted to share the solution with you.  After reversing my attempted upgrade, my WP Admin dashboard still had issues.  Two of the most troubling were:

  1. Inability to edit publish date (I could save as draft or publish immediately)
  2. Visual editor did not work. Visual was highlighted but it was stuck in HTML mode

After doing some online surfing I was able to determine that the visual editor issue is not new and can be traced to the TinyMCE file.

I found jerrydrussell’s forum answer helpful:

edit /wp-includes/js/tinymce/tiny_mce_config.php find the line that says ‘compress’ => true and change to ‘compress’ => false.

I found my answer in the WordPress forum. There are a series of helpful steps to help you diagnose and fix the problem.  Fortunately, I did not have to go through all the steps because I had my old tinymce file. I was smart to backup before attempting the upgrade. I actually did two backups to two separate locations. Now that I knew the problem file, I went to the folder on my server labeled wp-content/includes/js/tinymce and deleted the entire tinymce folder. I then uploaded my original tinymce folder and my visual editor is now working! So I can once again post images without coding or using a workaround. If you are not comfortable using FTP or working on your server, have someone do it for you.

I still cannot edit the post date so I’m off to work on that issue next. The moral of this story is back up your files before doing anything! If you screw something up you can restore yourself to ground zero.

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Filed Under: Insights Tagged With: Add new tag, TinyMCE, visual editor, WordPress, wordpress 2.6.1 upgrade

Word Press 2.6.1

August 23, 2008 by Karen Swim

Image representing WordPress as depicted in Cr...Image via CrunchBase, source unknown

Written by Karen D. Swim

I spent the better part of the day in WordPress purgatory. As is typical with all things technical,there is no chicken exit. Once you start you are all in until the deed is done or you have broken something and need to call in an expert.

I thought that Saturday would be the perfect day to tackle the WordPress upgrade. I was relaxed and could take my time. I don’t post on weekends so did not have to worry about blog visitors. It all began so innocently.

Initially I was going to use the WP Auto Upgrade plug-in. I got it loaded up on my server and came back to the WordPress dashboard to activate and enter my FTP info. It logged in but I soon got a red error. It could not find a file. Uh oh. Now, a smarter mind would have stopped right there but um I’m not that smart!

No big, the easy way did not work, I would just install the files myself. I backed up my files and then proceeded to go through the upgrade. It was fast and easy and everything was in place. That is when the real fun began. I could not log into my WordPress admin panel. I entered username and password and got the white screen of death. No error message, just a blank white screen. I still did not panic. I’d read about this issue and knew it was common so I surfed the forum for the fix.

After seeing messages on the WordPress Forum that insinuated idiots should stick to wordpress.com, I was both insulted and still without an answer to my issue. Oh plenty of people had the issue but rather than answers I was treated to a thread of tech in-fighting. While slightly entertaining to watch techies raise their configs and .htacess in bloody battle, I needed help and preferably in something close to English.

So, I turned to Google where I knew real people would have real answers. After adding lines to the config file, altering my phpfiles and clearing my cache so often I was sure my computer would scream in agony, I could no longer deny that I was in wordpress purgatory. Some fixes resulted in my blog disappearing. I was able to quickly bring it back but never able to log in.

I finally threw in the towel and restored my old version of WordPress. The result? I can log in but my dashboard interface has changed.. I cannot edit publish dates, insert pictures or work in visual mode.

So my advice, if you are like me and a real person who is comfortable with technology, don’t upgrade to 2.6 or 2.6.1. It is buggy and the answers out there do not work for everyone. If your blog is working fine, well don’t break it! If I find the solution I will post it in English and if you have the solution, feel free to share!

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Filed Under: Insights Tagged With: WordPress, wordpress 2.6.1 upgrade

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