I need help about the catagories
-
I made 5 catagories and it says it on my dashboard but not on my blog? what now?
-
-
~ waving to arifsali
@diabloking
Empty categories have no contents to display. Until you actually publish posts that have those categories assigned to them there is no data to be displayed. -
I like WordPress, have enjoyed it much, and it is quite elegant. BUT it is true that it is NOT easy to set up, and use.
Which I just heard a published author on social networking sites, and blogging, say today in a writer’s workshop.
She was right.
Just tried to set up categories as a sidebar widget on my blog. I’m bright, educated, and computer-comfortable.
No go.
First, on my computer when I ‘open’ the arrow on the categories widget bar, the small box that appears is not the same one on WordPress’s tutorial video.
Next, there is no clue, no direction, no visual indication to the computer user what their next step should consist of. So I went to support and read the bits of help on using the category widget. Tried it again. Didn’t work.
Blogs CAN, and SHOULD, be easier to set up, change, use, and construct than this. (This isn’t the first time I’ve had difficulties like this on WordPress.com.)
First, there should be explanatory material that comes up when one clicks on the categories, or ANY, widget: how does it work, how to you ‘set it up’, what can it do (can you categorize posts already on the blog, or just new ones as you do them??)
Second, there should be visual clues that lead a reasonably alert user through the process of creating the sidebar widget. (Think Apple: this is something they do superbly.)
I’m going to mess around with it some more, but not put much time into it. And may well take the advice of the speaker I heard this morning, and try blogging elsewhere. I just don’t have this kind of time to ‘work through’ your instructions, which are often not that helpful. (Check out your ‘thumbs up/down’ comments on them.)
Also, I have found the entire Support section extremely cumbersome to use. Some areas seem redundant, others very hard to find. BUT, most importantly, I can find no place to post a comment or question UNLESS I jump in on an established thread, like this one.
Thank you for your time. As I said, WordPress has much going for it, but needs to make itself significantly more blogger-friendly if it is to become a truly viable site for blogging.
-
“BUT, most importantly, I can find no place to post a comment or question UNLESS I jump in on an established thread, like this one.”
Across the top of the forums are these titles:
“Latest Discussions — Add new topic » Post Count Last Poster Freshness”The people who answer questions here are your fellow-bloggers who volunteer to help other bloggers. Staff stops by one in a while, but mostly its just us: we don’t have much authority to alter the design of WordPress.com.
As for categories, you write your post, select categories or tags at the same time. When you publish, the categories are there for wp to use as part of the global tags which help the public (search engines and people with wp.com accounts) find your blog.
If you want to display categories in your sidebar, just drag the category widget (or category cloud) into your sidebar. You don’t have to do anything else.
You can also edit your categories, to make them heirachies, to add new ones, or delete those you don’t want. You do this in your dashboard under posts.
The original poster did not have articles or posts for his/her list of categories so there is no reason for the category title to be displayed. When there is a post in a category, the category will automatically appear in the widget.
-
@wellcraftedtoo
I notice that all of your posts on your front page of your blog are assigned to the default category “Uncategorized”. Did you know that you can create another default category to assign to your posts and get rid of Uncategorized if that’s your pleasure?I also noticed that you use many tags on some posts on your front page. I’m thinking you may benefit from reading this support entry. > http://en.support.wordpress.com/global-tags/#missing-posts
I also see that you have the default tagline “Just another wordpress.com weblog”. Did you know that you can either delete or replace it with one of your own here? Settings> General
I read your post titled “The World of Dew ” dated April 6, 2009 and noted that you stated then that this is your third try to set up a blog and expressed that you were tired of how tedious the setting up process was then despite all the well-meaning attempts to make it easy. Well, almost a whole year has passed since then.
Thank you for your time. As I said, WordPress has much going for it, but needs to make itself significantly more blogger-friendly if it is to become a truly viable site for blogging.
Millions of wordpress.com bloggers, many of whom lack the education that you have had as an attorney, have mastered use of this software. As you have had problems that have persisted for almost a year, then I believe you ought to consider communicating them to Staff so they can make improvements for folks like yourself. http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/
As Tess said above we Volunteers are your fellow bloggers and we would be happy to help you. All you need to do is ask specific questions and we will deliver. Of course, we aren’t expected to and do not provide emotional support. I’m afraid you will have to look for that elsewhere.
Thanks for your time.
-
@timethief and tess: Thanks for replies . Will take a look at your advice when have a bit of time to devote to it.
Yes, did set up the blog a year ago, and did have some trouble with it then, that I worked through. As I said at the start of my email above, have been blogging for some time on WP, and have enjoyed it. I did not say that the problems have persisted for a year (I would not have put up with that)!
BUT, WP is not esp easy to use. Have had other issues with it, and have heard from others the same. As said in my email above, just heard a specialist speak on blogging who dissed WP.
I, like many of your users, have been able to ‘work out’ each issue, but they do take time–sometimes quite a bit. And, to be honest, I do find myself avoiding attempting to set up certain functions because I’m really not sure they’ll ‘work’, and I have found your support problematic.
Sorry if my (or others) complaints are a pain–but that is what customer relations is all about. (Been there, done that, and also do, have done volunteering :).
I just feel strongly that blogging can be set up to flow more smoothly. WP is an elegant and professional-looking blog site. But it does demand quite a bit from its users. I think that with time and effort it could be made more user-friendly.
Timethief’s reply is a good example: You note that you are a volunteer, and then give me a link to contact ‘staff’. I would have contacted staff right away if I could have found a way to do so, but could not. This has happened when I’ve had other problems, and those times too I used the forum for answers.
I would advise talking with staff, and starting with re-structuring your ‘support’ section. There are many ways to make it more accessible. Example: check out the tutorial video for ‘categories’. It is very brief, really not helpful (look at the thumbs-up, thumbs-down review box).
I could go into more detail, but cannot now (I’m at work, and not at all a computer specialist, am completely self-taught!).
Don’t take this personally–it’s familiar territory to anyone setting up a business: Customers don’t complain for the heck of it, but because they care enough about a business or service to really want it to work better.
Thanks for your time, and please feel free to forward my comments to staff.
-
@welcraftedtoo
Thanks for coming back. We Volunteers have no means to forward anything to Staff other than what users have and that’s why I gave you the contact link for them.I’d be glad to help you with your categories set up and anything else you want to do on your blog. If you would prefer to do that by through my contact box rather than on this forum please you can click my username and locate the contact box on my Commenting page.
Also note there are some cool modifications you can make on the Misty Look theme. See > http://wpbtips.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/unwanted-features-in-mistylook/
-
@wellcraftedtoo , i’m 65 and have never done anything like this before , but with the help of timethief , raincoaster and a few more i’m learning very quickly
stop moaning and get on with it and learn and also search here for information
-
@timethief–thanks for alerting me to the whole ‘tag number’ issue.
Had not heard of it. Read a number of the forum conversations on it, and it is counter-intuitive, but makes sense (in search-world terms). Most of my posts are at rec numbers, but have reduced a couple from 11-12 to 6-8 tags.
One person suggested that reducing tag number, after the fact, could be problematic, but thought I’d give it a try.
Will check out advice on categories, and such at later date, when have time.
-
-
One person suggested that reducing tag number, after the fact, could be problematic, but thought I’d give it a try.
I don’t know what problems the person you refer to is thinking of. I can’t think of any. The posts on the global tag pages are displayed in accord with the original date of publication, regardless of how many times we edit them. This prevents those who try to game the system by editing daily in an attempt to keep their posts at the top from achieving their end.
What you want to avoid is having both Tags and Categories that are the same word as that can lead to a cannot edit problem.
@Harry
It’s okay. I understand where you are coming from and I understand where wellcraftedtoo is coming from too. Now buck up and blog on lad because iIt’s a glorious day and we are alive to enjoy it.:)
- The topic ‘I need help about the catagories’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 