So you don’t think that the WordPress Block editor is geared toward business users rather than casual users who blog for fun? Well read on my friends.
When I opened my browser on my iPhone and logged on to WordPress.com to write a post, the Block editor opened up with instructions to “Start writing or type / to choose a block” as shown here.
I tapped the + icon and this screen showed up.
Blogging is a hobby for me. I don’t run a business or blog for commercial purposes. Yet the first “blocks” I see displayed are “Business Hours,” something called “Calendly,” “Contact Form,” “Newsletter Sign-up,” “RSVP Form,” “Registration Form,” “Appointment Form,” and “Feedback Form.” Why are these blocks, which are clearly meant for business users, presented first? I have zero need for any of them.
I have to scroll down the screen until I see “Browse All,” tap that, and continue to scroll down until I find any blocks that I would find even remotely relevant.
Of course, if you’re using a laptop or a desktop computer, your screen is much larger than it is on a smartphone, so maybe you don’t have to do all of that scrolling to find a block that would be useful to you.
I am retired. I don’t have a business. I don’t try to sell anything on my blog or to make money from it. Blogging is just something I do because I enjoy writing and interacting with other bloggers. But now we hobby bloggers are being forced to use the Block editor or to jump through hoops to use the WP-Admin classic editor, which is actually an older version of the recently decommissioned classic editor that many of us preferred.
It appears that WordPress doesn’t really care about casual bloggers like me. WordPress wants business bloggers. The rest of us can just go fuck off. As a result, for me, anyway, blogging on WordPress using the business-oriented Block editor is no longer fun and enjoyable, so why bother?
Okay. I am sure that all of you are probably tired of reading my whiny rants about how WordPress is screwing those of us who blog for fun and not for profit. So I promise that this is my last whiny rant on this topic.
I’m sure Donald Trump and his Republican ass-kissers will provide me with plenty of other juicy topics to whine and rant about.
WP and DT are both acceptable topics for ranting.
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Yes they are. 😉
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👍
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It really does annoy that WP charges so much for SEO which means most of us cant even get seen on search sites for organic traffic. They never answer help emails and messages either.
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I certainly won’t whine about your whining, as I feel the same.
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I always thought it just listed your “most commonly used” blocks.
When I open that box, I am offered: paragraph, embed (I never consciously used this but it might be what happens in my Flashbacks), Image, YouTube, Quote, and Heading. Plus that “browse all” button.
So you might find that those things change, the more you use the BE.
Or, they might just be trying to piss you, personally, off!
Incidentally, I know that different block types are available depending on someone’s platform because I explicitly checked this once. I have more choices of block on my PC than I do on my Droid.
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It could be that they put the blocks in the order you use them, but since I hardly use them, I guess they just put them in the default order.
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It certainly gives away what they think the “defaults” are. I think you’re right that the general thrust is “let’s make more money”. Things like plug-ins, they disable unless we bough up. Same with videos, say.
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I just received a suggestion to change my plan to business because of the volume of pictures I post in my blog. I’m near the limit of space allowed in my premium plan. I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford that. I’m also blogging for fun, and I like to share my pictures, but I’m not a business. I don’t know what to do.
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You could always use some free storage site elsewhere and use the link from the photograph yiu want to share from there and put it in that way. So basically the photo will load from the site you saved it on and not directly on WordPress itself.
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I didn’t know abolirana that Solutions, Thanks
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Your welcome. There’s many out there. I used to use Photobucket many years ago when I needed the extra space and when ever I need to again, I would probably use them again.
I have not used it for WordPress, but I imagine it would still work by putting the link in the htm page of your post and then when you preview, to see if it works, you should hopefully see your image in your post.
I used to do it on Blogger when I needed the extra space.
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thank you for your ideas, you’re very helpful
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The business plan is $300 a year, which is too rich for my wallet.
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same over here
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I can understand your frustration. It’s just an alphabetical list and it will disappear from your choices as you you go forward as you will not be using it. I use image and verse more than anything and they are always at the top of my list. I upgraded to a business plan from what you had fairly early on because I liked the options included. I am not a business but the plan gives me instant chat for help which I needed in the beginning and more choices of websites and photo storage, plug ins etc. It works for me. There is no conspiracy! ☺️
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No conspiracy? And I thought I was surrounded by assassins! 😉
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So you did watch the Republican convention last night!! 🤣 I can’t wait to watch Melania’s speech about the Rose Garden she has renovated. Over 170,000 dead from Covid but thank goodness she took care of the rose garden 😳
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No I didn’t watch it, but I have seen a lot of clips on my newsfeed.
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Tonight is no better. I used to think Mitt Romney was weird because of the planet Kolob. That’s nothing compared to planet Trump
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I have a feeling that, had I watched it, I would have thrown the remote control at the TV screen. I heard he pardoned someone.
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Yes he did! I couldn’t believe it! Worse was he had a naturalization ceremony for 6 people in the White House while thousands are forced to wait so they won’t be able to vote in November. Shameful.
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🙄
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I only have the free plan. In order not to jinx anything I may or may not have had any changes. So if it does change, I’m blaming you, Fandango😅
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It’s always my fault. 🙄
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My 17 yr old grandson has a tshirt saying that😀
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I can now literally see why you are frustrated. That would drive me batshit. You rant on sir. It’ll save on the medical bills up the road when you potentially stroke out from suppressing all that anger. It saddens me to have it confirmed that hobby bloggists are useless though. F*ck the greedy bastards.
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Please don’t stop blogging here. 🙃
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I’m hoping to find a way to continue.
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I know you hate the app but I use it unless I need something special.
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I hate it on an iPhone. It’s not bad on a laptop, but I use my iPhone for my blog.
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I do too.
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You blog on an iPhone and you like the Block editor? Wow. What’s your secret?
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I don’t have block editor here or on my computer. 🤷🏻♀️
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Let me look at my settings
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I wish I could send you a photo. In the app under the gear settings there is an option to turn on or off block editing.
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On your iPhone or your laptop?
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iPhone
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Maybe it is the theme? I’m using penscratch2
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It seems like, when companies get bigger, they forget the regular users who actually used and built up their platform. This will bite WP in the ass.
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And they deserve to be bitten in the ass, as far as I’m concerned.
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I actually love the updated WordPress. However, it does seem that bigger companies end up ruling everything. x
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Do you not get a “search” prompt at the top of the block list? If you do, just type “classic”, choose it, and write your whole post within that block just like the old editor.
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I have tried that several times, but I have found it to be unstable on my iPhone. It has given an error message or has frozen up. I can’t say for sure that it’s a WordPress problem or an iPhone problem, but it’s very frustrating.
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Ugh!!
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They seem to have added all these business related blocks rather recently.When I started to use the block editor the first thing you would see when you went to add a block was useful stuff, Heading, Paragraph, Image and Gallery. These are the blocks I use and now they are buried somewhere after all the stuff I don’t want. If you just want to type a paragraph you can avoid the list by just typing. Paragraph seems to be the default (for now). I type my headings that way too and change the block style later. Now I also make use of the search function at the top to take me straight to the blocks I use all the time. It does annoy me though. I agree that they only seem interested in promoting business blogs now. I always thought that was what WordPress.org was for.
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They made this just for you https://wordpress.com/blog/2020/08/26/seedlet-wordpress-theme/
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Yeah, no.
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I agree it is so obviously aimed at commercial users. They haven’t even bothered to disguise it the fact that bloggers are considered expendable in this brave new world of blocks.
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Honestly, my major commitment is to the amount of work I’ve put into this blog. But I am weary.
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Me, too, Marilyn. This whole thing is so frustrating and disappointing.
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I understand your frustrations. At one time you helped rally us together to fight TigerPress (I think that was the name) and it’s sharing of our blogs without our knowledge. Maybe you could lead a fight we could all follow on returning the classic editor? With even just a third of you r followers helping that is a minimum of 1000 bloggers add their followers and so on… it is just a thought.
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A good thought, but while I have 3000+ followers, I think I’ve only got a few dozen real readers.
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