WordPress

Dear Seniors, don’t give up on WordPress.

~ Ron Walker ~ 34 Comments

Someone once said, “Change, is inevitable”. I’m sorry change has come so late in our lives, but we can do this!

No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.

– Tony Robbins –

There are many great bloggers saying they are ready to just quit, mostly due to the Gutenberg Editor. We older folks don’t take to change very well. We are tired, or we are retired and just want to enjoy simple blogging. Yes, many of us were the startups when WordPress came along, but the world turns, things grow, and growing takes money. So the platform has gone from simple typing, to basically WYSIWYG web page building. It can still be your blogging platform. You don’t have to use all the fancy do-dads (is that even a word anymore?). Find your basic tools to type, arrange and continue to share your world.

“It’s just blocks”

I know, many will say I’m over simplifying it. Look at it as just a square that you have to use now. You type what you want, you hit enter, you have a new block/square for your next paragraph. You can still do quotes, lists and all the things most basic bloggers need. I’ve composed this using one special block for the “quote” I clicked the plus sign, selected “quote” and pasted my text. Not much different from the old way of clicking the quote icon on the toolbar.

No one wants to lose blogging friends from simply giving up. I don’t blog as much as many others do, but I do love the friendship and meeting new people. If there is one thing WordPress has, that is still great for us seniors, it’s the ease of interaction with the community of other bloggers. I still get frustrated, but I refuse to just give up on something that is enjoyable, even if I blog infrequently.

Maybe, some of us are tired of blogging. If that’s the case, just say so. There is no shame in getting tired of something, at least you’ll be remembered as a great blogger that retired, not someone that was beaten by change. I’m 68, some of you are older or younger than I. Sometimes I stumble into a wall on the way out of the office, that doesn’t mean I am just going to sit in my chair and never venture into the other rooms. I may forget why I ventured to the other rooms, but I am going to try. Perhaps one day, I will need to wrap the door frame with bubble wrap.

Let’s pull together and support one another. If there is anything I can do to help explain something that I have learned, let me know. I for one, don’t wish to lose bloggers to a challenge. That said, it’s time for me to stumble down the hall for a cup of hot beverage. I do love a good adventure in the morning.

#Seniors of WordPress 🙂

Comments, always appreciated.

Don’t fear the Block Editor.

~ Ron Walker ~ 36 Comments

Well, here we are. More and more speaking of the block editor just around the corner. They’re right, it will soon overtake us, and we just have to adapt. I’m not happy about it, but WordPress is ever expanding, and to do that it has to make money. Hobby and professional bloggers, made WordPress what it is today. That’s not what’s important in today’s business world. When you step up and get larger, you have to continue to step up. A vicious circle that oft-times consumes the memory of where you came from.

Most people use mobile devices

When asked why a block editor? The mantra of “Most people use mobile devices”. Tablets, smartphones, etc. While this may be (according to stats) true, it’s more like a politician deflecting the issue. Yes, the majority (statistically) use mobile devices. You can bet Grandma’s girdle, they don’t use smartphones to design sites. They could, but in this world of high production it’s too slow. WordPress has grown from its humble roots as a blogging platform, to a commercial business for products and services. Websites have to look good on tiny devices. Thus, the “block” editor. Stick your website components in a block, no worries about formatting bugs causing wonky pages. So the move all along, was for catering to commercialization of the platform. No real need for interaction on a human level. Just read, place your order, and done. Blogging is about sharing Websites are for displaying.

It won’t last forever.

You can take comfort in knowing it probably won’t last forever. It may last through our lifetime, but we can take comfort as old wise ones, that we have seen this type of change come and go. Over the last few years since Gutenberg was adopted, it’s been stumbling, changing, aggravating bloggers AND those who build websites for companies. Believe me, when a commercial site has a few customers questions wind up in the spam box, that could cost some venues thousands in sales. Right now, it’s a cheap alternative to paying for a hosting service, website developer/maintainer. Those who maintain these business sites, are going to start to charge more due to the constantly changing/problems of the interface.

Hang in there

Don’t give up. That is my Mantra back at them. I’m 68 this year, I made this post, simply by hitting the enter button for my next paragraph, just as I always have. The headers above some paragraphs took maybe an extra 3 clicks. Most of us don’t use a header, it’s just fluff.

We can do this, many bloggers are making videos and written tutorials on how to use the block editor on the simplest level. We can all band together, help on another and then laugh if a better platform for bloggers comes along.

Keep blogging friends!

Comments, always welcomed.

In search of the perfect blog theme.

~ Ron Walker ~ 31 Comments

My Eyes, are tired. There is a headache screaming to escape the confines of my cranium. I have spent the last two days testing, searching for a blog theme that has what I need. The conclusion? It doesn’t exist for me. Just give me something between simple, and versatile.

In years past, you could find a free theme, with a sidebar. Nothing overly flashy, yet not so simple that you couldn’t dress it up a little with plugins or widgets. WordPress 2011 was the last one I ever used that just worked. You could customize it with a few bits of code. Of course, back then they weren’t cranking out an upgrade to the core every few days.

Today, the theme ecosystem is just a commercial catalog of themes that cater to businesses, or those that need a website instead of a blog. Giant in your face banners (just go ahead and call them pictures). Nearly taking up two-thirds of your screen, before you even see the first post is the new norm. Twirly, flashy, fading in and out graphics. Then the despised popup blocks as you start to leave the site, or heaven forbid, while you’re just sitting there trying to decide if you like the posts.

Give me that Money!

Yearly charges anywhere from $25 to $55 or more, just so you can get the update, if one of the numerous upgrades of the core breaks your theme. No, thanks. It would have to be a hell-of-a good theme, fitting all my needs for me to fork over the support money. Already paying domain fees, and hosting fees is enough. Of course, we all saw this coming years ago.

What little blogging I manage to do, is for fun and sharing with others. I don’t have a business. I have tested around 30 themes, and they all come up lacking in my basic needs. Maybe I’m too picky.

Perhaps, I should stop griping and learn to build a theme myself, but I want to enjoy it, not work on it all the time. My theme I currently use, is “Graphene” It does most of the things I need.

Share what theme you use, why you like it. What you look for in a blog theme.

Thank you, my blogging friends.

~ Ron Walker ~ 44 Comments

On a beautiful Friday morning, I wanted to take a moment, and let you all know how great it has been to meet all of you. I can’t begin to tell you how my days have been brightened by reading your blogs. While I have been a very infrequent blogger lately, I do appreciate you hanging in there and not writing me off. You’re all a great group of bloggers from all over the world and I’m fortunate to know you.

March 2017 is when I found the WordPress community of bloggers. For four years before that, I’d been just using the software mainly talking to myself, with the occasional comment from family of someone that stumbled across the blog. Then one day I installed Jetpack to play around with it, and needed to register my site on the main WordPress. That is when I met all of you wonderful bloggers. So while I may be an infrequent blogger at this time, I still cherish all of you.

Stay safe, stay true. Above all, keep blogging!