Folks,
I hurt my back Thursday morning and have been unable to sit at a computer until now. Even then, it’s only a matter of time before I have to move. So I’m trying to get as much done on the site as I can off and on the next few days.
I’m applying some updates now, and hoping to get a fix for the #$%@q($^ iPad mobile site issue. I sent the company an email two weeks ago but they’ve not gotten back to me. I suspect that the bloom is off the rose of their months-ago acquisition and that they have less staff as many of their support resources are non-functional. I just submitted a customer contact form entry since their support ticket system has disappeared into the aether.
For iPad or other tablet users accursed with the “left blank panel” issue, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the Desktop theme by tapping the link. That’s the only solution for now, which is in fact a workaround.
I also hope to solve the many edit comment bugs. This is likely a side-effect of the caching we’re now doing.
There are numerous complaints about the video ads; I don’t like them either but they pay the bills. Talk to John. I will be setting up a complaint form to submit ad issues so that if, for example, audio auto-plays, you can more easily report it. Do note the advertiser so John can get it taken care of, as well as date/time. Many video ads have controls so you can pause or mute them, and some ads have controls where you can give feedback (such as this ad is of no interest to me) to refine their controls.
I will be updating WordPress and some plugins over the next few minutes.
Finally, since today through tomorrow is Prime Day on Amazon, please do your shopping through the Balloon-Juice Affiliate link so John gets some extra moolah. It won’t increase your bill and helps the site any day, but since many folks will be buying lots of stuff today, do help the site out!
The link again is: 
Amazon Smile Link (also does not affect your donation or price) : https://smile.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fhomepage.html%3Fie%3DUTF8%26%252AVersion%252A%3D1%26%252Aentries%252A%3D0&tag=balloonjuice-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
Yarrow
I click through from Balloon Juice for everything I buy on Amazon. It’s so easy to do!
Thanks for all your hard work, Alain. Hope your back heals quickly.
jackmac
Thanks for the iPad tip/workaround. The blank left side issue is maddening.
Cheryl Rofer
Alain, I can live with the video ads except for one thing. There is a big one on the right side that gets past my adblocker and seems to keep loading and loading and loading and loading… My workaround is to click the “stop loading” x, but that’s getting old. Would be very grateful if you could get the site to stop loading the way it should. Chrome on my desktop.
Elizabelle
Best to you, Alain. Hope your back is on the mend, soonest.
rikyrah
Alain, get better. do whatever the Doctor’s say for you to do.
Alain the site fixer
@rikyrah: I had to leave my home office and come back down to my recliner for a bit. I am better than yesterday, and was better than the day before, so I’m glad I’m seeing progress.
I hope to be able to take my cats to the vet on Thursday, will cancel Wednesday morning if I’m unsure. Right now I couldn’t do it. And that’s horrible. Muscle relaxers are wonderful, I gotta say.
Alain the site fixer
@Cheryl Rofer: I’ll email you later, when I’m back upstairs. I try not to do too much work-type email on my phone and that’s all I have right now.
The Ancient Randonneur
The site was working great for Android until you fixed it for desktop users. But you already know that.
ruemara
I’m sorry about your back. Be really careful. Back injuries can be serious. Thanks for the timely reminder, since I have to go buy special high cri bulbs for a photoshoot for the office & my Kindle is telling me to get off it’s lawn regarding IDK, SHOW ME MY DAMNED BOOKS I’M ON A BOOK ROLL!
EMedPA
@jackmac: Alain, I have the issue in Chrome on my iPad. It’s present if I’m in landscape orientation, but not when in portrait. Don’t know if that’s helpful or not.
Hope your back feels better soon.
Erin in Flagstaff
Another workaround: open posts in portrait mode. Then the posts can be viewed either portrait or landscape. You just have to start from portrait when opening in new tab. That works for me.
chris
Ouch! Get better soon.
Don’t know if it’s important/pertinent but is it a security issue? https is greyed out and has been for a while. Linux Mint/Chrome
SueMcC
For whatever reason, when I access BJ through Internet Explorer, I start getting messages that the page can’t load and the site hangs up. Has anyone else noticed this
Steeplejack (phone)
@Cheryl Rofer:
Is it the Conatix ad (name something like that)? If so, there is a line you can add manually to your ad blocker’s block list. Let me know and I’ll look it up on my computer.
Silvery
Thank you for the Smile link! Could we maybe get an Amazon Smile button over by the regular Amazon button?
Alain the site fixer
@SueMcC: I’ve heard such reports in Windows 8 and I think 7. IE isn’t updated or current in either of those OSes and so I’d suggest using Firefox or Chrome.
Alain the site fixer
@Silvery: I’ll add it, good idea.
Alain the site fixer
Ok, updates applied. I need to eat some lunch and make a contact plan for a bunch of estate stuff. Fun times!
I hope to be back on later, but no guarantees.
Jerzy Russian
Is there any way to make the text of the comments larger when viewed on my iPhone, AND also have the text wrap around so that it is readable without having to scroll back and forth? I use Safari on my iPhone. The “reader view” on the main post works fine, but that does not capture the comments.
Alain the site fixer
@Jerzy Russian: I’ll see what I can do. Reader view does not accept comments and it’s a black box of Apple’s, and I’ve found no clear method to trick it.
Chris Johnson
Or you could boycott them, at least for this week, as there is a massive international strike and ‘Prime Day’ is just a bunch of hype anyway.
I don’t think there’s such a thing as ethical consumption under capitalism, but you needn’t play along with their nonsense all the time. I’m happy to put off some things I might otherwise get from Amazon just to help people make the point. Wait until next week. The thirty cents or two bucks you might have saved is better spent sending a message to the entity that will control your consumption for good or ill anyhow.
Jerzy Russian
@Alain the site fixer: Thanks for looking into this. I have actually started to use Google to look for solutions, and it seems a lot of people have this problem, and there does not seem to be an easy answer.
I just tried Chrome on my iPhone, and the zoom feature makes the comment fonts larger, but the text does not wrap.
On my desktop, if I make the browser window smaller, the text wraps. There ought to be a way to make the browser smaller on the mobile device, then use that device’s zoom feature to make it fill the screen.
By the way, I use Chrome on my laptop (Macbook Pro) to read Balloon Juice now. When I used Safari, the fans would start going owing to the heavy CPU usage. Chrome and Adblock seemed to have cut down on the CPU usage.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Chris Johnson: Clearly, you’ve never shopped Prime Day. The things I plan to order, I’m expecting a minimum of $30 discount per item.
Shana
I’m still getting the “web site is using too much energy” message on my MacBook Pro. Using Safari as my browser.
Gravie
Thank you for the iPad workaround! I’m reading this from our desktop computer at the moment, as it’s the only way I can avoid the blank-panel problem I have with the iPad, but I will try the “Desktop view” as you suggested.
Jody Harris
Shhh… be careful. The first rule of the Amazon Club is don’t talk about the Amazon Club. Just ask Blue Gal and Driftglass.