Site Editor -feedback -questions
-
Hello, referencing an earlier comment, I recently switched from Levin to Blank Canvas – relatively successfully.
I also took Site Editor for a spin.
Below are my observations and questions.
Sorry, I can’t find a Site Editor link that specifically says FEEDBACK.
———————————————————————-Even though it is Beta and so far, limited, for me it is a good addition. Most of our readers are over 40, yet most themes seem to be designed for 18 year olds with 20/20 + eyesight.
The ability to globally set font size, once, is a huge plus feature for me. I would use it for that even if no other features were available~!So far though, most other blocks seem to be better modified through the Block Editor, despite what some on line sites suggest. EG; I read that I can do amazing things with IMAGES, but in reality, for me – just padding I think. That’s not a complain BTW, just an observation.
The Hand Book that comes with it is a bit thin though.
I found this a good resource: https://wordpress.com/support/site-editor/Also many websites ref wordpress.org, so maybe there are some differences there. I tried to comment / question but my WordPress.com login wasn’t accepted by .org
https://wordpress.org/support/article/styles-overview/
https://wordpress.org/support/article/site-editor/#how-to-export-templates-and-styles
————————————————————————-
It would seem all my pages and a random selection of posts still open as they should – more or less given that I have just switched from Levin to Blank Canvas. So I few minor deviations. However Aim2D (my static home page) is still showing my old Levin theme?Going to dash > appearance > customise still displayed ( as well as Site Editor)
Both open to FRONT PAGE – an empty template created by my email address. Although I don’t recall specifically doing so, this could have happened during my experimental stage.
This has now become my default or landing page- not ideal.
Question 1/ Can I SAFELY delete this – will that also delete the Front Page Template, or is that not a stock template?
On several external sites I read (paraphrased) that when I opened Site Editor in the fashion described above, it would display my home page which I could then edit in Site Editor.
However, in my case, this simply showed the default template, with the short intro of how the tool works.
Question 2/ Have I misinterpreted this. Should I be able to see my page or post in Site Editor? If yes, any ideas why I can not? NOTE: this was an issue BEFORE the creation of the blank Front Page template in question 1.
I am hoping that once I delete it my landing page will thus appear in its stead.
Maybe a little off topic, but recently my WordPress site generally has been much slower in loading than usual. Most cases we are waiting for 3 other external links to load, the two most common are:
1/ Bat Tracker
2/ Pixel.wp.com – the most common and irritatingThese seem to be trackers created by CONFECTION a business whose soul aim appears to be generating income by circumventing users browser and PC privacy settings.
They appear to design and provide “work around” to the recent change to cookies, esp 3rd party cookies.A nefarious activity at best, once which I would have thought and expected WordPress to be above? However I have a rather robust privacy screen and so these days my site hangs for several minutes before, maybe, eventually loading. It seems to be exacerbated by use of the Site Editor.
At this point, WordPress is the only site impacted, everything else loads very fast as usual. It is only my site’s edit function that is infected, dash and tools there, eg, stats are not.
Having to wait so long for my edit page to open is counter productive. If this is not some sort of blip or hemiptera in Site Editor we may need to review our relationship.
OK, end – once I have control again I may have other questions – we will see~
Thx for reading this far~
PWP.com: Yes
Correct account: YesThe blog I need help with is: (visible only to moderators and staff)
-
Hi there,
So far though, most other blocks seem to be better modified through the Block Editor, despite what some on line sites suggest. EG; I read that I can do amazing things with IMAGES, but in reality, for me – just padding I think. That’s not a complain BTW, just an observation.
The majority of blocks that exist are intended for creating content in the post/page editor.
The site editor isn’t for editing content, but for editing your theme’s templates, that determine how different pieces of content (e.g. post, pages, archive pages are displayed. In other words, that’s where you create a menu, add widgets, modify your theme’s header or footer, etc.
The Hand Book that comes with it is a bit thin though.
I found this a good resource: https://wordpress.com/support/site-editor/If you’re looking for more resources, we also have a weekly live webinar on how to use the site editor (or you can watch the recording of a past one), and we also have a playlist on our Youtube channel with a number of tutorial videos on the topic:
https://wordpress.com/webinars/sneak-peek-full-site-editing/
Also many websites ref wordpress.org, so maybe there are some differences there. I tried to comment / question but my WordPress.com login wasn’t accepted by .org
WordPress.org is the website where the WordPress community makes the open source software. That’s something completely separate and different from WordPress.com, and your WordPress.com login details won’t work there, no. Instead, you need to register a WordPress.org profile if you want to post there.
But those forums won’t be able to help you – they provide support for the open source version of WordPress, not the modified version we offer here on WordPress.com. So this forum is the correct place to ask for help, for any and all issues you have with your WordPress.com site :)
However Aim2D (my static home page) is still showing my old Levin theme?
Your page at https://aim2dchinabusinessnews.wordpress.com/aim2d/ is still showing the content you added while on Levin, but it’s using the Blank Canvas theme, same as all other pages on the site.
In the Pages list it says “Levin theme” next to the page title, because that page was created automatically when you first enabled Levin, with the default homepage layout for that theme. But you’ve since added your own content, and made changes to that initial layout.
Changing to another theme doesn’t make any changes to the content, including the layout created by the blocks in that content. It also doesn’t change the fact of how the page was originally created, so it will say “Levin” in the dashboard no matter what theme you switch to. You can just ignore that – it in no way prevents your page from working correctly in a different theme.
Going to dash > appearance > customise still displayed ( as well as Site Editor)
Both open to FRONT PAGE – an empty template created by my email address. Although I don’t recall specifically doing so, this could have happened during my experimental stage.
This has now become my default or landing page- not ideal.
Question 1/ Can I SAFELY delete this – will that also delete the Front Page Template, or is that not a stock template?
The Front Page template is a custom template you created yourself, and that only contains the static content you’ve added to that template.
Delete that template, yes. Then go to Settings ->Reading, select the option to show a static homepage again, and select your AIM2D page as the homepage.
If things don’t look right after doing that, let me know and I can take another look.
Question 2/ Have I misinterpreted this. Should I be able to see my page or post in Site Editor? If yes, any ideas why I can not? NOTE: this was an issue BEFORE the creation of the blank Front Page template in question 1.
The site editor shows you the templates for your theme. In some cases, like the Home template or the Index template, it will show your content applied to the template (Home displays whatever you have set as the homepage, and Index should display your posts).
But other templates, like the Page and Single templates, will only show placeholder blocks for the content. That’s because those templates get applied to multiple posts/pages on the site.
To switch between templates, click the template name at the top of the site editor, and select Browse All Templates.
Maybe a little off topic, but recently my WordPress site generally has been much slower in loading than usual. Most cases we are waiting for 3 other external links to load, the two most common are:
1/ Bat Tracker
2/ Pixel.wp.com – the most common and irritatingWhere are you seeing these waiting to load?
pixel.wp.com is for our stats tracking pixel. That element is only 50 bytes big, and shouldn’t add more than a few milliseconds to your site’s load time.
I don’t see anything called Bat Tracker in the network tab in the browser inspector while loading either your site or the site editor, though, and both load in a few seconds for me.
Do you have a domain/URL for that item? And perhaps a screenshot of wherever you see it loading? If you upload a screenshot to the media library on your site, I can see it there.
I did some searching online and found this page referring to Bat.bing, an ad-tracker used by Microsoft’s Bing search engine’s ads service. But we don’t use Bing ads on WordPress.com, so if you’re seeing that it’s likely coming from an add-on/toolbar installed in your browser, or a tracking cookie that was placed by a different website.
-
Hello, thx for that, really, really useful.
The majority of blocks that exist are intended for creating content in the post/page editor.
< blockquote>The site editor isn’t for editing content, but for editing your theme’s templates, that determine how different pieces of content (e.g. post, pages, archive pages are displayed. In other words, that’s where you create a menu, add widgets, modify your theme’s header or footer, etc.
Ok, sorry I didn’t clarify.
I am not trying to edit content, however, i was hoping that the header and maybe the quote etc blocks could be modified in my posts to be different from pages?Ref resources , ta for the links, although Youtube won’t work for me I will check out the other.
Th .com. v/s .org I understood, just looking for more info on how to fix my mess!Theme name -thx for clarification, I was thinking it would show Blank Canvas. No worry!
Will delete that template, just needed to be sure in case I lost everything.
Better to wait a few hours for your reply than spend a few day rebuilding.Am still hazy re other templates and their placeholders, but maybe once I get it sailing again it will become clear. Thx for you detail explanation there though, helpful.
You are correct re those links – I also checked!
I’, using Chromium browser under Ubuntu so the “waiting for pixel.wp.com shows up in the bottom right corner of the screen – footer if you will. For a small script it site is taking a long time to load these days. Although 20 mins back I read that the earth is under solar flare attacks which usually have a negative influence on our coms~Do I have a domain url….
You mean bat.tracker?
No, I have nit seen it for a while, pixel is my enemy at the moment :>)Anyway, I will push on with deletion and cleaning up if needed.
Thx again for your time, sorry to cause a problem.
Hopefully everything else will fall into place now.
Cheers
Bic -
Hello, partial success -thx.
I use “My Latest Posts” as home page. (plural)
After deleting my mess, I now seem to have something that looks like an excerpt of my latest post (singular) Extremely spartan. Miserly in fact.That’s not quite how I remember it~
In my dash under pages, I used to have a very simple layout with (I think) greyed out comments suggesting this is your home page, or this is your current posts page. I also think (from memory) there was an option to reset the Current Posts?Now I have a more complex PAGES errr … page.
How can I set it back to simple form please, so I can then reset my Home pages to latest posts including images etc?Cheers
P -
i was hoping that the header and maybe the quote etc blocks could be modified in my posts to be different from pages?
Ah, okay. That’s not possible at the template level, no. The template lets you specify how posts, pages, etc are laid out, including the size and positioning of those blocks in the template. But how content blocks (blocks representing HTML elements) are styled (spacing, font size, default colors, etc) are handled by the theme’s stylesheets.
So to have those differ on posts vs pages, you’d need to add custom CSS to the theme’s stylesheet. Or customize the blocks manually on a per-post/page basis.
I’m using Chromium browser under Ubuntu so the “waiting for pixel.wp.com shows up in the bottom right corner of the screen – footer if you will. For a small script it site is taking a long time to load these days.
It could be that it’s just showing there because it’s waiting for another process to complete.
A more accurate way to see what’s causing the delay, right-click on your page and select Inspect. In the browser inspector, switch to the Network tab. Then reload the page. You’ll see all the network requests being made and resources being loaded, including the time each takes.
That said, solar flare activity could definitely be causing issues in some parts of the world, and on some types of connections, so perhaps this resolves on its own.
I use “My Latest Posts” as home page. (plural)
After deleting my mess, I now seem to have something that looks like an excerpt of my latest post (singular) Extremely spartan. Miserly in fact.Okay, this one’s a quirk (possibly a bug – it’s been reported already) of Blank Canvas that I only learned of myself a couple of hours ago – the default Homepage template of the theme contains a Post Content block, which causes only your most recent post to show if you set the homepage to “Latest Posts”.
Most other themes use the Query Loop block instead, which shows a feed of your latest posts, like you’d be used to on a classic theme.
Go to Appearance ->Editor, and make sure you’re on the Home template. Click on the Post Content block at the top and delete it. Then add in a new Query Loop block:
You’ll have a chance to choose a preset pattern/design for how posts will appear, and once it’s added, you can also modify the individual blocks inside the query loop block to control different aspects of the posts as they appear on that page.
-
Ok, again, sorry, I did not provide enough info.
But yes, POSITIONING was what I wanted.I know with 100+ post a day you won’t remember, but this began when I tried to move the COMMENT from at the foot of the LEVIN theme up, into my reusable block. Or at the end of the article at least. You suggested Site Editor MAY be useful.
Yes, browser inspector is a very good method, I can also do something similar in the Linux utilities collection. But frankly I haven’t bothered, EDIT page has always been slow, I just drop to another desktop and work elsewhere~
I was just irritated that confection.com (or whatever) were trying to subvert users settings to install tracking surreptitiously.
Anyway, first off, i will try to rest my landing “Current Posts” page as that is an eyesore right now.
Not sure if that will also change my dashboard back to the simple style -hope so.Once I sort the landing page, I have another question re Blank Canvas that arose from your explanation earlier of how change of theme works, , but first steps first.
Cheers
P -
Hello.
Ran onto rocks from the getgo.Appearance > editor loads a default placeholder this time.
Confirmed it is HOME template.
Yesterday it opened to the previously mentioned meagre posts page.
Tried 3 time, 3 times default page.OK, moving on~
.
Umm, guessing that as it is a placeholder there is no content? Either way, this option isn’t available. Ho hum.
Moving on.
Ahh, I’m guessing – again) this is in the TEMPLATES Screen using the little orange box top right that says’: “ADD NEW.”
However, being English ( a cow of a language to try to briefly write in) the above instruction is a little vague.
Do you mean, as I assumed, there is actually a block called : Query Loop back” or I should build / create one in the HOME screen or ????
If it is a block option – sorry, I can’t see it.The most logical option in ADD is TAXONOMY – simply because other options are clearly illogical. Also TAXONOMY ( a rather technical term would be better replaced by something lay people understand) means GROUPING in colloquial speak – which is what I am aiming for. Sort of~
However, my logic has proved incorrect here recently and there have been too many guesses to this stage.
So as I don’t want to do any more damage; at this point, Fatal Error, can not proceed.Check.
Your move
P -
Sorry, ignore the above, for some reason my quoting is not showing.
Will try again in plain text. -
Hello.
Ran onto rocks from the getgo.Appearance > editor loads a default placeholder this time.
Confirmed it is HOME template.
Yesterday it opened to the previously mentioned meagre posts page.
Tried 3 time, 3 times default page.OK, moving on~
Quote: Click on the Post Content block at the top and delete it.Umm, guessing that as it is a placeholder there is no content? Either way, this option isn’t available. Ho hum.
Moving on.
Quote: Then add in a new Query Loop block:Ahh, I’m guessing Again) this is in the TEMPLATES Screen using the little orange box top right that says’: “ADD NEW.”
However, being English ( a cow of a language to try to briefly write in) the above instruction is a little vague.
Do you mean there is actually a block called : Query Loop back” or I should build / create one in the HOME screen or ????
If yes, it is a standard block name, then sorry, I do not have it in my list.
The most logical option in ADD is TAXONOMY – simply because other options are clearly illogical. Also TAXONOMY ( a rather technical term would be better replaced by something lay people understand) means GROUPING in colloquial speak – which is what I am aiming for.
However, my logic has proved incorrect here recently and there have been too many guesses to this stage.
So as I don’t want to do any more damage; at this point, Fatal Error, can not proceed.Check, your move.
P -
Update FYI
Appearance > customise shows the offending content, yet pressing SITE EDITOR option defaults back to place holder text.
Never mind, I will spend the time creating a 404 page – have a feeling it is going to be needed.
-
To save you from bashing your head on your desk:
After playing around with 404 ( I found the colours were being controlled by my theme, not site editor) I went back to the HOME page.
Weirdly, this time the content deleted.
So, now things seemed cl;ear, I added the block you referenced but forgot to place the link https://d.pr/i/Te2ctFAnyway, I have now got something a tad more respectable, but there is no header or menu.
Am working on that.
Thx
P -
Final update for Sunday
Realised too late that link was to a info video~
After watching it about 50 times – you work very fast for a tutorial mate – I managed to get everything up and working. But it is still ugly.1/ I can’t seem to get the reusable content to load
2/ the excerpt spreads the full width of the screen
3/ My pages page is still complex, simple is better.I have given up for now, returned the landing page to my actual Aim2D page, but I still need to improve the posts page.
I will await your feedback, maybe I will re theme back to Levin and then try to set up a totally new look using Blank Canvas.
Either way, this is no where near what it was and a long way short of my standards.But for me, if I can get it back to the original theme feel and look then set up Site Editor just to set a global font size, all the hassle will be well worth while.
Thanks for your help @Kokkieh
P -
Hi there,
I can’t seem to get the reusable content to load
I’m not sure I understood. Can you clarify what reusable content you are referring to? Is this something that can be seen on your homepage or are you referring to another page on the site?
What content are you seeing now, and what content were you expecting to see? Thanks for the additional info!
the excerpt spreads the full width of the screen
One thing to be aware of is that you can specify the maximum width of the Query Loop block so that it is not so wide as it appears by default. This will affect all elements of the query loop block (not just the excerpt) but it can do a lot to help tighten up the look of your blog feed so it does not feel so bare and sparse.
This is difficult to explain in words, so I recorded a quick video to show you how to find and edit the width setting.
You can view the at this link: https://d.pr/v/P7m7ch
My pages page is still complex, simple is better.
I’m not sure what you meant by your “pages page” can you give us a URL to that page (or a URL to where you are working on it on the editor) so we can take a closer look?
What do you feel would make it less complex? Fewer images? Less Text? Do you have an example of a similar page (from a different site not your own) that you feel does a better job of being “less complex?”
Thanks for the additional info!
-
Hello JerryS, thanks for the update.
Sorry , I was talking with Kokkieh in another question which possibly might have been more illuminating for you.
1/ Extremely difficult to explain in writing – best way might be to look at any of my recent posts, you will see the first para, before the “read more,” is a smaller font text using an intro reusable block .
In the posts list page this block is omitted – there is just one short line of std text.2/ Thx- will watch it and work accordingly.
3/ Ahh, I think this was referenced in a previous question – sorry about that.
I am referring to the pages tab in my dash.When open, that “page” lists all my pages – it used to be incredibly simple and easy top manage. Now it seems to have more content. I prefer the original layout. How can I return to that? Take a look at my posts tab and the page that leads to as a comparison.
Kokkieh explained that even though I switched to Blank Canvas, my site will still adopt the LEVIN style settings. I did not realise that – I was hoping with BC I could over ride Levin and begin again – with a Blank Canvas!
So, can you tell me if this work around will, errr work please?
1/ switch back to leven theme.
2/ temporarily start a new site with BC called WORKING
3/ Copy the CONTENT from Levin to the new BC site using my own block settings.
4/ Rename working to the old Levin site ( aim2detc)I can then use Site Editor to fine tune any block positions and set a global font – which to labour the point, is the main selling point of Site Editor for me~
I know the procedure will not be as simple or cut and dried as those 4 points – I know it’s doable in HTML / CSS eventually- just need to know is it doable in WordPress.
Whew!
Cheers
P -
Hi there,
1/ Extremely difficult to explain in writing – best way might be to look at any of my recent posts, you will see the first para, before the “read more,” is a smaller font text using an intro reusable block .
This is happening because the Paragraph block within that reusable block (called Intro) uses a smaller font size than the one used by default on the rest of the theme. To change the font, select that specific block and adjust it to match the size of the rest of the blocks.
3/ Ahh, I think this was referenced in a previous question – sorry about that.
I am referring to the pages tab in my dash.Are you referring to the View Mode? You can change that by clicking on the Screen Options on the top right of the screen. Here’s a screenshot to make things easier:
Kokkieh explained that even though I switched to Blank Canvas, my site will still adopt the LEVIN style settings. I did not realise that – I was hoping with BC I could over ride Levin and begin again – with a Blank Canvas!
There’s no need to create a new site and migrate your content. If you want to get Blank Canvas homepage layout you can switch to Lenen and then back to Blank Canvas. The moment you switch back to Blank Canvas you’ll be presented with an option to select that theme’s homepage layout.
-
Hello, thanks for your reply.
1/
Agreed, BUT hehe, I don’t want to increase the font. I set it small deliberately, this was not an issue for the original Leven theme.2/
View mode? Have no idea. I just know I did not physically change it. I will find view and experiment. Thx for that.3/
Yes again, agreed. But doesn’t that lose everything?
I don’t mind rebuilding the style, but I’d rather nit have to rewrite all the content again. Esp if it impacts posts, I have over 200, small spuds I know but I don’t really have time for that. My idea was to cut and paste the content from Levin to BC.
Cheers
P -
1/ Extremely difficult to explain in writing – best way might be to look at any of my recent posts, you will see the first para, before the “read more,” is a smaller font text using an intro reusable block .
In the posts list page this block is omitted – there is just one short line of std text.You’re referring to the “Hello again from Aim2D a real time…” paragraph, correct? I see it’s just the two most recent posts on the front page not showing that. From “Remembering Shanghai” that paragraph is included. I’m afraid I have no idea why it’s missing from the first two posts, though, as it’s visible in the post content in the single post view.
Both those posts were published before you switched themes, though, so can you check what happens with the next new post you publish? If the posts page excerpt still won’t show that reusable block, let us know. But I’d recommend you start a new thread at that point, so we can handle just that one issue in its own thread.
But doesn’t that lose everything?
Selecting the Blank Canvas homepage when switching themes will create a new homepage on your site, with the default content from the Blank Canvas demo. If you have a static homepage set at that point, that page will be switched to draft, but the content of the page will still exist. It won’t otherwise impact any of your content.
-
Hi Kokkieh, yes, correct, that para.
Interesting theory, but bear in mind, those last 2 posts are the only ones I used the reusable block for. Today’s post was a repeat of an old one – playing with Site Editor consumed my time~ I will update with a full post Friday, we can see how it goes. I will start a completely new topic question as I am confused now.Yep, the view mode fixed the pages tab. Thx @fstat
Re BC” are your really, really sure about that?
I have a vague memory of doing this when I first began with WordPress.org maybe a decade back. The new theme translated it’s own dummy content.
I can’t remember how I resolved the situation back then.I shall close this and come back if I still have first para issues. Despite the drama, I am still a fan of Site Editor. It would seem from surfing that the.org version is further advanced so I will be keen to see how the .com version develops.
Thx again
Cheers
P -
Morning, in ref to the above query @kokkieh wrote:
‘You’re referring to the ‘Hello again from Aim2D a real time…’ paragraph, correct? I see it’s just the two most recent posts on the front page not showing that. From ‘Remembering Shanghai’ that paragraph is included. I’m afraid I have no idea why it’s missing from the first two posts, though, as it’s visible in the post content in the single post view.
Both those posts were published before you switched themes, though, so can you check what happens with the next new post you publish? If the posts page excerpt still won’t show that reusable block, let us know. ‘Sorry to confirm but the issue still exists.
On the surface it looks as if it is either a ‘reuseable block’ issue, one related to font or position.We can probably eliminate reusable block as I also use one towards the foot of the page (not in the footer though) and that works fine. I also use a variety of block settings there as well as font types. Same size.
So we are left with either an issue with font size, small font in particular, or position.
Cheers
Bic
p/s any thoughts on my question: https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/embed-and-related-post-may-be-lost-after-site-editor/WP.com: Yes
Correct account: Yes -
Up-date: Sorry ignore my conclusions.
Clearly the issue is with the index or archive page which only shows an excerpt.
The reuseable block toward the footer has no bearing on this as it is not shown in the excerpt.Over 40*C here, brain is boiled, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it~ :>)
- The topic ‘Site Editor -feedback -questions’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 