WordPress Reader
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Hi there,
Can you mention the link for the WordPress.com site/blog you seeking help for.
Also, mention briefly as to what’s the query for our better understanding.
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Actually, I clicked “Send” before asking my question.
This is a technical issue I’m having with the WordPress Reader — specifically one particular blog that I follow. Their posts will appear several times in the Reader causing it to flicker out of control. I am forced to refresh, or close the browser to make it stop. Their most recent post appeared last night … then two hours ago … and now 8-minutes ago … and always at the top of the page. I have read that reposting is a recommended technique for building a subscriber base, but it seems a bit predatory as well as being a nuisance. Or is something else causing this technical glitch?
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Yes, I just replied to the original query which provides additional details. Here’s the blog that is causing the glitch. This issue happens every time they post.
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… and the same post just reposted again — that’s four times since last night. I either have to refresh, or close the browser. It happens with this blog every time I see their post in the Reader.
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Hi, can you clarify what you mean by flickering? I’m not understanding how re-posting would cause the reader to flicker and crash. If you have a screen capture video that could be especially helpful.
Can you also confirm whether you see the same issue in another browser?
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It flickers like a fluorescent light that is going out, and at the same time it sort of bounces up and down so that I can’t lock the cursor on the post.
It’s just the post that does this not the whole page. It would be difficult to observe in another browser because postings are so random. I would have to be logged in at the moment the post appears in the Reader.
This issue only occurs with the blog mentioned. I’ll be reading the posts on WordPress Reader, and the blog’s latest post will appear at the top of the page.
Two hours later it appears again — flickering like a neon sign — and the post time is one minute ago.
That can’t be possible because it posted two hours ago.
Six hours later, it appears again with a post time of, say, two minutes ago.
This last post actually posted a fourth time — about 16 hours after the first post — and the post time was 18-minutes ago.
My immediate thought was that the blogger was deliberately reposting to increase views.
Every repost displays the cumulative likes and comments.
If the purpose is to draw attention to the blog it certainly does that, but it forces me to refresh, or close the browser. Once I do that, the post is still there, but no longer flickering.
I don’t know if it’s an issue with the Reader, or the browser. I only know that it is annoying. Of the 150 blogs I follow this is the only one that causes the glitch, but I’ve never seen reposts from the other 149 blogs.
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That is really odd. Is there any chance you could get a video of that happening? On my system I use Quicktime’s screen recorder to see that kind of issue.
Also I am aware you’d need to log into another browser to see the issue. I’m wondering if it will help though. It could be bad cache or an extension interfering.
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The cache was cleared the day before and I have no extensions on the browser. I’ll try to capture a video next time it happens.
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Okay, the blog in question posted last night and it has reposted twice since then so I captured video with my camera, but don’t know how to link it here. I did upload the video to my Flickr account, but was not able to link the video to Imgur. I don’t see a tab here to embed a photo or, in this case, video. However, here is the link to my Flickr account which should display the video in my public postings. You can’t miss it as it is the only video posted to the account. I would like to delete the video once you have seen it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/188277622@N07/with/49879091098/
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I notice from your video that background of the page is dark grey, but we don’t offer any color scheme on WordPress.com that looks like that. Are you using some kind of dark mode browser add-on or custom CSS via Stylus or something similar to get that look? Does the problem persist if you disable that?
I followed that site myself, and don’t see the issue on my end. I also don’t see it if I access the Reader as your account. That, along with the fact that the images also aren’t loading for you, based on your video, all points to this being something specific to your browser.
When you cleared the cache before, did that make it stop for a while?
Can you check if this still happens if you use a completely different browser to view the Reader over the next day or two?
My immediate thought was that the blogger was deliberately reposting to increase views.
Republishing a post at a more recent date/timestamp does not cause it to appear in the Reader again. In other words, we actively block this as a method for people to try and get more views to their site. So even if they are doing this, it shouldn’t be visible in the Reader.
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Thank you, yes, I have low vision so High Contrast mode is enabled. However, as long as I have followed this blog, this particular glitch has been an issue.
The browser, Firefox, has always been quirky so I may experiment with Chrome to see if the issue persists.
The blogger told me this morning that they do repost. Their most recent post was published late last night, and reposted two more times before noon today.
The timestamp of every repost is “one minute ago” as if it were posting for the first time even though the cumulative likes and comments are recorded.
As I said, it is very annoying and, quite honestly, predatory to use this technique to artificially increase views.
The fact that you actively block this practice indicates that there is some sort of conflict with my browser as I shouldn’t be able to see the repost yet it flickers as if it were trying to override the protocol and display in the Reader.
If we could, I would like to leave this open to see if the glitch appears in Chrome. Otherwise, there seems to be enough evidence to suggest that there is a conflict with Firefox due to the blogger’s reposting.
In the meantime, I will delete the video from Flickr. Is there a more efficient way to submit files for your review?
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there seems to be enough evidence to suggest that there is a conflict with Firefox due to the blogger’s reposting.
I use Firefox myself, and it’s what I used to check the post in the Reader on my end.
I have low vision so High Contrast mode is enabled.
I don’t see a setting for High Contrast mode in Firefox. Can you tell me where you activated that? Then I can check if I’m able to see what you’re seeing if I enable it on my end as well.
You can go ahead and delete the video. I’m following the site now, so I know what to look for should this start happening on my end.
To share image files with us you can just upload them directly to your own site’s media library and we can see them there, but you’d need the premium plan to do that with video files.
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The High Contrast mode is actually a Windows setting. I posted an image of the control panel in my Media Library.
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The video at Flickr has been removed, but the shot of the Control Panel setting is top row left in the Media Library.
All it shows is the Windows Ease of Access setting — High Contrast. You can find the panel in Windows settings if you are using a Windows computer.
I simply toggled High Contrast mode to On.
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Hi there,
Is it possible to disable the high contrast mode and see if the post is still flickering in the Reader?
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