Wordpress is giving me agita.
February 10, 2008 10:27 AM Subscribe
How can I make Wordpress easier?
I've been using a Wordpress blog for over a year and I'm finding it kind of a pain. I'm supposed to blog daily for my job and, compared to couldn't-be-easier utilities like Blogger, I find Wordpress unwieldy for the novice. I know it's supposed to be great because you can customize it down to the tiniest detail. I have installed IImage Browser to make uploading images easier, I have tried the "Quick Post" bookmarklet to make Wordpress behave more like super-easy Tumblr. It's still a huge chore.
I don't have a WYSIWYG editor, perhaps because I'm on a Mac using OS X; if I want to put a border around an image, I have to code it by hand. Forget making text wrap around an image--I know it's very possible, but certainly not, in my experience, as it is in other made-for-novices situations. Can you give me some help--plug-ins that I can install with relative ease, changes I can make to my Wordpress blog to make it easy and simple?
I've been using a Wordpress blog for over a year and I'm finding it kind of a pain. I'm supposed to blog daily for my job and, compared to couldn't-be-easier utilities like Blogger, I find Wordpress unwieldy for the novice. I know it's supposed to be great because you can customize it down to the tiniest detail. I have installed IImage Browser to make uploading images easier, I have tried the "Quick Post" bookmarklet to make Wordpress behave more like super-easy Tumblr. It's still a huge chore.
I don't have a WYSIWYG editor, perhaps because I'm on a Mac using OS X; if I want to put a border around an image, I have to code it by hand. Forget making text wrap around an image--I know it's very possible, but certainly not, in my experience, as it is in other made-for-novices situations. Can you give me some help--plug-ins that I can install with relative ease, changes I can make to my Wordpress blog to make it easy and simple?
What version of wordpress are you using that it doesn't work on a mac? The wysiwyg editor works on safari, firefox, and opera, in my experience. And the little picture button allows for various alignments, resizing, etc. of images.
posted by shownomercy at 10:49 AM on February 10, 2008
posted by shownomercy at 10:49 AM on February 10, 2008
I echo the advice to use ecto.
posted by birdherder at 12:15 PM on February 10, 2008
posted by birdherder at 12:15 PM on February 10, 2008
Response by poster: I'll check out ecto--thank you.
Shownomercy: I'm using 2.04. I don't know why I can't use the WYSIWYG editor in Firefox.
It looks like something designed by a monkey right now. IImage Browser is a slow, primitive plugin. I hope desperately I'll be able to customize this.
posted by Drohan at 12:29 PM on February 10, 2008
Shownomercy: I'm using 2.04. I don't know why I can't use the WYSIWYG editor in Firefox.
It looks like something designed by a monkey right now. IImage Browser is a slow, primitive plugin. I hope desperately I'll be able to customize this.
posted by Drohan at 12:29 PM on February 10, 2008
Ecto is quite nice. The beta version of 3 is even better (though I'm encountering some minor weirdness with it.
As for coding borders and stuff like that: if you have access to your theme's files, I'd suggest hacking that up with some extra CSS to make your life easier. For example, if you add this to the "style.css" file
That will give you a nice frame around any image where you mark it up as
If you want text to wrap around the image, again, you can do this by hacking the CSS. Add
and then you'd use class="myfloatleft". in your img tag. You can even combine these, so class="myborder myfloatleft" will do what you probably think it'll do. Please note that I haven't tested these, and the might not work as desired depending on your theme.
posted by adamrice at 12:30 PM on February 10, 2008
As for coding borders and stuff like that: if you have access to your theme's files, I'd suggest hacking that up with some extra CSS to make your life easier. For example, if you add this to the "style.css" file
image.myborder {
border: 1px solid #333;
padding: 3px;
}That will give you a nice frame around any image where you mark it up as
<img src="whatever" class="myborder" />If you want text to wrap around the image, again, you can do this by hacking the CSS. Add
image.myfloatleft {
clear: left;
float: left;
margin: 3px 3px 3px 0;
}and then you'd use class="myfloatleft". in your img tag. You can even combine these, so class="myborder myfloatleft" will do what you probably think it'll do. Please note that I haven't tested these, and the might not work as desired depending on your theme.
posted by adamrice at 12:30 PM on February 10, 2008
Response by poster: Adamrice, that's really generous of you. I am checking out Ecto right now and it seems powerful, but things don't look quite the same when uploaded as they do in the Ecto program. The CSS has been coded so an entire website (of which the WP blog is one component) all has the same look/feel. I find that Blogger blogs look more professional than my expensively constructed but not at all user-friendly WP blog.
posted by Drohan at 12:53 PM on February 10, 2008
posted by Drohan at 12:53 PM on February 10, 2008
Okay... big, big secret to working with Wordpress on a Mac. I tend to forget this regularly, so keep it in mind.
There's a problem with Wordpress and the most recent version of Safari. The Safari WYSIWYG editor is SCREWY - it'll mess up carriage returns, images, etc.
Use firefox, or flock or opera or a program like fluid, to do your blogging - it'll be easy as pie. Maybe not Tumblr easy, but... still.
posted by Gideon at 1:12 PM on February 10, 2008
There's a problem with Wordpress and the most recent version of Safari. The Safari WYSIWYG editor is SCREWY - it'll mess up carriage returns, images, etc.
Use firefox, or flock or opera or a program like fluid, to do your blogging - it'll be easy as pie. Maybe not Tumblr easy, but... still.
posted by Gideon at 1:12 PM on February 10, 2008
It sounds like your visual editor has been turned off. If so, it's an easy fix. In the admin screen, click on Users, then Your Profile. At the top is the option "Use the visual editor when writing." Check the box. That should do it.
When the visual editor is working, you'll see the little picture symbol that shownomercy is referring to. It lets you add borders, change alignment, etc. without messing with the code. You'll also have the WYSIWYG experience you're looking for.
I use WordPress on a Mac with Firefox and (mostly) enjoy it.
posted by PatoPata at 3:01 PM on February 10, 2008
When the visual editor is working, you'll see the little picture symbol that shownomercy is referring to. It lets you add borders, change alignment, etc. without messing with the code. You'll also have the WYSIWYG experience you're looking for.
I use WordPress on a Mac with Firefox and (mostly) enjoy it.
posted by PatoPata at 3:01 PM on February 10, 2008
Off-topic, but your comment, "I'm supposed to blog daily for my job," is intriguing -- can you tell us what/how you use a blog for in your job?
posted by davidmsc at 9:37 PM on February 10, 2008
posted by davidmsc at 9:37 PM on February 10, 2008
Shawn Blanc did an extensive review of MarsEdit, that is tipping me towards it rather than ecto.
Let us know what you land on!
posted by prophetsearcher at 3:52 PM on February 11, 2008
Let us know what you land on!
posted by prophetsearcher at 3:52 PM on February 11, 2008
I'll second that recommendation of MarsEdit.
posted by markturner at 8:14 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by markturner at 8:14 AM on February 12, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 10:43 AM on February 10, 2008