Mostly Harmless

Mostly about my amusement

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June 12, 2009

Sing those upgrade blues!

With every release of WordPress there are always people who have problems. That not unusual since change can bring unexpected issues.

Most of the WordPress forum users are just looking for help and are in above their heads. Those users I can respect, asking for help should be encouraged. Providing help can be satisfying and I refer to it as “therapy”.

Then there are those other users.  You know the ones, the pissed off users. These are the ones who seem to feel like there is an SLA that is not being honored by the “WordPress” guys.

Here is a current sample from the WordPress.ORG support forum:

“It wiped my website completely and it wiped 3 more website hosted on my server. Now really, do you test these things? And why is it still available for auto upgrade if you see what problems people have here ?”

“Who released this Fiasco?… Is this untested beta junk?”

“Who’s responsible for this crap ? Did anybody do any honest and real testing on it?”

“Thanks a lot, WordPress! I always love having my blog borked just for doing an upgrade, per the instructions. I’m in the process of rolling back to 2.71 and never upgrading again.

What idiot released 2.8?”

If I were these users, I would demand my money back. That’s no way to treat a paying customer.

Everyone should understand that the support is all volunteer driven. If you don’t provide details, if you are not willing to provide those details, and/or you come across as a petulant child, then don’t expect anyone to step up and help.

I’m a fan of WordPress software. It’s well written, mostly well documented, and the volunteer support generally is successful. If you provide some details of your problem then you’ll usually get a solution.

With version 2.7 and above, the software provides a built in auto upgrade. But it’s not fool proof and can go awry. When that happens, the blog user must become the blog system administrator. Not unusual: to properly host and appreciate WordPress you must develop some system administration skills.  This is a requirement, it’s not optional.

So before users push that upgrade button they need to have a Plan B for if it goes wrong.  That plan can be as simple as wiping out the installation and restoring the backup up made right before you tried to upgrade.

Here are some WordPress Codex URLs to keep in mind and read up on:

Upgrading WordPress
WordPress Backups
Backing Up your Database
Restoring Your Database from a Backup
Disabling Plugins when you can’t login

Version 2.8 was tested and vetted. But when you have +330,000 downloads, some of those users will have problems. It’s to be expected; the people who ran the beta code knew what they were doing. Many users just have not gotten there yet so they need more help.

So if you are using 2.8 and still have problems, take a look at this 2.8 Problems and Solutions FAQ that MichaelH quickly wrote up. From the feedback it seems like this is working well for the problem cases.

May 31, 2009

Facebook and Flickr don’t like each other?

Update 6/7/2009: Still broken.

Update 6/6/2009: I’ve used Flickr import three times and it looks like Facebook fixed the problem.

flickr-facebook

Facebook has really taken off with the 35+ age group (which I am part of). I have been connecting with people I have not interacted with in 20 years.

As a result, I find myself using Facebook as a means to keep my friends up to date. One of the things I have come to depend upon was the Facebook Flickr integration.  Using this tool, when I upload pictures to Flickr account my Facebook friends get a notice and see my photos.

Normally this works sporadically. For the past two weeks it does not work at all. And I can’t find a link to let me ask Facebook “Hey, am I doing something wrong?” This functionality used to work but now it completely doesn’t.

I can’t really complain or get upset simply because I don’t pay Facebook, so I’m getting my money’s worth. But I wish they could provide something better than “Please try again later”. I suspect that the two site’s API changed but I can’t see any meaningful error messages to help figure it out.

May 25, 2009

What, you don’t say hello anymore?

Sunday morning I had to be in New Jersey before 3 AM to work on powering up the data center there. The company tries to power down it’s data centers once a year to make sure that BCP and DR works.

I got there at 1:30 AM which was okay since we got the building back early and I started my tasks like a crazy person. Except for it being the Memorial Day weekend it was not bad at all. I might volunteer next year for the early shift when we do this again.

When you get to the front door they check that you are on the list and authorized to be there.  They also give you a badge signed by the coordinator that you have to wear. It has your name on it naturally.

After about 10 AM the data center started filling with server and application support staff. I work for Networks and until our equipment is up there is no point in those folks coming in. If they can’t communicate on layer 3 (look it up) then their apps can’t work.

Several times I was stopped and asked/told the following.

  • “Hey Stefan, how’s it going?”
  • “What, you are to good to say hello anymore?”
  • “I don’t understand. Why are you saying your name is Jan?”
  • “WOW. They messed up your first name on your name plate!”

You get the idea. I work in the same team as my identical twin brother and he’s been with the company for about 8 years. Lots of people know him. Even though they are aware that his identical twin brother works here, until it’s spelled out for them they just don’t connect that I’m not him.

Usually I walk back to the person, show them my name plate and explain it to them. I could have a lot of fun with it but by noon I was too tired to play games with people. My co-workers laughed it up though, so it’s all good.

May 22, 2009

Attention Apple: AT&T is hurting your brand

Another day and another 3G outage for my iPhone. Even EDGE is not working today. Voice works, just not data. If the Palm Pre is successful it will not be because of an iPhone issue, it will be because AT&T’s 3G network is a joke.

The iPhone is a great piece of convergent technology. But without Internet connectivity, it’s primary function is crippled. It’s a cool device and works well when the network cooperates but without it I’m left to listening to music and playing games.

I can now play 3 card draw solitaire as an expert and Bejeweled 2 bores me to tears. I would much rather read my RSS feeds via Google Reader but AT&T’s poor network just can’t work. This is why Apple should turn to Verizon or Sprint.

If Apple were to actually have a model of iPhone that works on a non-AT&T network, it would be a bigger hit than it is now. In the meanwhile I look forward to more Android phones and the latest Palm offering.

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Jan Dembowski

Jan Dembowski

I am a software enthusiast who is easily amused and definitely mostly harmless.

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