WordPress is beginning to move several blogging features from the individual blogs to a main WordPress area. If you know anything about cloud computing (a web-based software environment that replaces desktop computing, which at this point removes much of the customization we now enjoy on our personal computers), and if you are more than a little familiar with WordPress blogging, you will suddenly have the aha moment when you recognize what the WordPress team is doing. They are in the beginning stages of implementing site-wide cloud computing for WordPress.
They are launching the new platform by removing the blog stats page from the individual blogs to a WordPress page, and in the process we lose layout customization as well as the left dashboard menu. Below is my objection written to Andy Skelton, the WordPress author of the blog post, “Your Stats Have a New Home”.
Andy,
Point 1 I checked out the new stats page. You’re right: it is a lot faster but it’s not customizable. You have removed the personalization factor for which WordPress has become so well known and appreciated. Sure, I can move each stat section up and down, but the efficiency of arranging them side by side is now gone. What once required only a quick swipe of the scroll wheel to see every stat section, now requires I scroll, and scroll… and scroll.
Point 2 The side menu is gone which means I can no longer access all of my blog tools from this screen.
Point 3 You have reduced an already small font to an even smaller size. I don’t have microscopic vision and I should not have to use a magnifying glass to comfortably read my blog stats. And yes, I am wearing corrective lenses.
Point 4 Washed out baby blue with very little contrast doesn’t get it. I feel like I’m taking a walk through wispy clouds without a tether tied to earth. The page is stark and has no warmth. Okay, so it goes fast and incorporates new functionality. Would you enjoy driving a feature-rich, smokin’ fast Lamborghini if it had non-adjustable seats and mirrors and boasted a washed-out baby blue interior color scheme? I wouldn’t either. But for some reason you think that’s okay for a Lamborghini blogging site.
Point 5 I tested the New Post feature from the WordPress.com page (same area to which you plan to permanently move the stats page). The Live Preview feature would certainly increase productivity, and that is certainly a bonus. But, I write all posts in HTML format, bar none, and you have removed the HTML tab. If your removal of the HTML tab is a permanent change, and if – as you are currently doing to the stats page – you also permanently move the New Post page from the individual blogs to the WordPress page, I will no longer be able to use WordPress. This is one of many missing features I found while testing the new page: So disappointing.
Point 6 I will soon have to leave my blog and go to someone else’s webpage just to view the stats I now conveniently view on my own blog. It’s like buying stock but having to use my neighbor’s computer to see how it performs on the market. It works, but his computer is not my computer. He has a different browser, different screen resolution, unique toolbar and menu settings, and his mouse has no right click button. I can work my way through it but the whole experience leaves me feeling miserable and counter productive.
Conclusion You said, “We hope this makes it easier for you to keep tabs on your traffic!” Easier? This is not about ease and you know it! You most certainly know it: that is, if you too have a blog of your own and regularly study the stats. The only reason for this move is to initiate the migration of all WordPress blogs to a single, centralized, WordPress area. It is obvious that you are in the beginning stages of implementing site-wide cloud computing for WordPress, where one size supposedly fits all. Remember, you can’t pound a square peg into a round hole without damaging the peg and the hole.
I am sure you have some valid reasons for making these changes, but for every productive feature you add you end up removing at least one from before. That is not progress. You know it; I know it; and so do the rest of the frustrated WordPress bloggers whose objections you regard as mere fly buzz. Sure, you added some great features and increased the speed of execution, but you simultaneously removed customization and made the gravatars into an oval keyhole shape, thus obscuring portions of the image. Would you enjoy watching a round television screen? No, I wouldn’t either: it would hide portions of the movie. That’s why we have rectangular screens, not oval.
The bottom line though, you have already made up your mind. It wouldn’t matter to you if the entire WordPress community posted on how much they dislike the new ‘feature’. You’ve made your decision, and in your mind we need to simply get over it. If I remember correctly, a few days ago WordPress conducted a site-wide blackout protesting the new internet ‘censorship’ legislation. You voiced your contempt and the politicians listened. They realized the public is against that legislation in its present form and consequently cancelled the move forward. We are against your decision to move the stats page. Will you cancel your decision in response to our protest, as did the politicians in response to yours?
I challenge you to ask yourself, “Will others enjoy these changes as much as I do, or am I merely forcing them to adopt my preference in place of their own?”
Todd Beal
Truth Behind Reality 
I am not much of a computer guy, but I have thought about going to Blogger? Word Press is not friendly for us old, late to the computer guys! And not to mention there’s no way to complain about nasty and vicious comments from bloggers, especially those that pay for their blog stuff.
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Fr. Robert,
If you have any questions about how to do something with your WordPress blog, please email me. I have learned quite a bit about setting up and using the rich features WordPress includes with every blog. This includes blocking foul language (allows you to specify which words disqualify reader comments from posting), limiting the default number of links allowed in a reader comment (allows me to weed out spam but still approve valid comments), blocking repeat offenders of my comment policy (I’ve never had to do this), deleting comments that blatantly disregard my comment policy (I’ve never had to do this), setting the max number of nested comment levels, writing each post in HTML with the free Windows Live Writer blogging software (don’t worry, it is very simple with the correct instruction), uploading photos and placing them into a post, inserting the ‘Read More of this post’ HTML tag for shortening up a Post’s email version, placing a table into a post or blog page to present information by row and column (see the table on my Post History page), plus a whole lot more.
The bottom line, WordPress has gobs of powerful, yet simple to use features, including setting up your blog so that the search engines will recognize and prioritize your blog in their search results. I have plowed through the help files and gleaned the information. If you want to know step by step how to use these features, I will do my absolute best to give you the simplest, most practical instruction.
I extend this same offer to the rest of you. My public email address is on my Contact Me page.
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Todd: Thanks, but I am just not a serious type computer guy. It hard to teach an old dog new tricks! 😉 And in reality my own blog is more like a small journal type, or at least an extension of what I might be reading and thinking somewhat. And I still have a bit of the “monastic” in me, I guess. But thanks again!
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This is horrible. I am new to blogging, and I can’t imagine
My stats or anything else moved to another bloggers page. Where is the privacy? When I started blogging, I lost my entire post. I believe, that our blogs should have a recovery button to retrieve information. As well
as a. Number to contact support staff.
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Janiese,
I’m sorry you lost your post. Fortunately, your WordPress blog has an insurance feature to prevent that from happening in the future. Before you publish your post, click the “Save Draft” button just to the right of the Post Title. The “Save Draft” button is the equivalent of the “Save” button in a word processer. You should also periodically save your post while you are creating it. Saving your post as a draft does two things for you: it safeguards against accidental deletion; it allows you to author a post today, but then publish it at some later date.
I prefer not to write my posts directly within WordPress: that is, physically type text into the New Post text box. I prefer to write my posts in Microsoft Word (LibreOffice Writer, a free downloadable Microsoft Word equivalent, is also a fine choice). A word processor is designed for serious writing, and really helps a blogger develop his/her writing skills. This is especially true with Microsoft Word because it will tell you when your sentence is grammatically incorrect, then it will offer suggestions on how to fix it. Using a word processor also allows you to save your work on your own computer. I have a special folder on my computer just for blogging.
After I finish writing my post, I copy the full text into Windows Live Writer (a free and powerful blogging program). This program allows me to see exactly what my post will look like on my blog before I ever publish it. It also provides an abundance of other features that makes blogging a true joy.
When I am pleased with the look and feel of my post in Windows Live Writer, I switch to the HTML view, copy the code, switch to the HTML tab in my blog’s Add New Post page, paste my post into the HTML text field, assign tags and categories, preview and edit the post if necessary, then submit my post. There is a bit more to it than this, but overall it is that simple. Suffice to say, there are a lot of options at your disposal to make blogging fun. Blogging does not have to be a miserable, fearful chore.
If you have any questions, just ask.
* By the way, referring to my post, when I said “someone else’s page” I was referring to the WordPress home page. WordPress is moving the blog stats page from the individual blogs to the WordPress home page. No one can see your blog stats there except you. Nonetheless, relocating the blog stats page means it no longer resides inside your blog’s administration area. And at this point, it also lacks the side toolbar.
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Dear Todd,
Let us know if you hear anything from the fine meddling folks at WordPress. (Blogger is not a viable alternative, in my opinion. Good news is that if WordPress doesn’t get it, a new blogging site that does will rise to take over.)
Aloha,
Doug
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Doug,
It appears that my comment on the WordPress News blog was at least partially well-received. One of the main developers for the new Stats Page personally responded to my comment here. The WordPress team doesn’t appear to be relenting but I think we are getting their attention. I have never seen this much negative blogging community feedback concerning a new WordPress feature.
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Removing any feature from a blogger’s own control may be ‘the wave of the (cloud) future’, but those of us who have not yet mastered HTML will be left – grumpily – in the dust. I have enough difficulty putzing around on my blog trying to get the layout I want; worrying about having my blog’s info dragged away from my own home page is a headache I CAN DO WITHOUT. At the very least, it should be OPTIONAL for several months so beginners like myself can get used to the new limitations gradually.
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Suzykewct,
WordPress has spent the last several years upgrading and improving – truly improving – the World Wide Web blogging experience. WordPress has literally become the internet blogging benchmark, bar none.
However, WordPress’ free price tag does not eliminate the big-business power-hungry mentality. Small or large, every business entity – whether public or private – eventually reaches a tipping point (the point of decision), “Do we now strive for ultimate power and betray those individuals who built upon our original purpose, or do we stay the course and build upon our authentic original foundation?” It appears that WordPress is opting for power, not authenticity.
Once upon a time WordPress was small and humble, but they have grown large and arrogant: “We control the blogosphere. We are in control and you the user should be grateful that we exist, that we even provide you with a free blog.”
Okay, the blog is free – granted. But, WordPress has always been free. WordPress’ whole business model is based on free blogs – the very best free blog available. This is their calling card and claim to fame, but instead of building upon that claim to make it better, WordPress is now using it as their monopolistic trump card, “We’re the best; we know it, you know it, and we will now hold you hostage to it. We are king and will now do what we want, whether it is good for you, our customer, or not.”
The bottom line: Matt Mullenweg (WordPress founder), hence the entire WordPress enterprise mentality, has gone from, “We are creating a better tomorrow by recreating (righting) the ‘establishment gone wrong’”, to, “We are the establishment, and, like it or not, if you want to use WordPress you will use what we give you. We could care less whether or not these ‘improvements’ (new touted features) are truly beneficial; you will like it, and, in return for our efforts, will thank us for doing you this great free favor. Don’t you dare tell us about how the new change has caused you inconvenience, inefficiency, non-productivity, etc. Don’t you know; we are power-hungry and you should thank us for that: truly, you should thank us for that! How dare you say you are ungrateful for all these changes that eliminate your ability to blog efficiently!”
By the way Suzykewct, this is the same mindset – the same twisted philosophy – which self-entitles all dictators to a self-serving unbridled power. See earlier post, Way of the Tyrant. Doug MacIlroy (Truth Behind Reality subscriber) summed up the situation perfectly: “Good news is that if WordPress doesn’t get it, a new blogging site that does will rise to take over”.
The bottom line: Truth always prevails! If WordPress fails truth, truth will provide a better blogging engine to replace WordPress. If you only remember one thing about life remember this: no thing is too big to fail, and no thing is too small to achieve universal dominance. In the end, truth always prevails – Always!
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I start using TAWKLE!
its free secure and unlimited and it offers unlimited uploads and downlaods
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Hi mercer. I haven’t heard of Tawkle. Thanks for the information.
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Hi, I came across differences between private, public and hybrid clouds. Are there any more differences other than those mentioned here?
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Not that I am aware of, but the ‘Cloud’ is a rapidly changing platform and it’s here to stay.
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