Alain Chamot (1971-2020)

Folks,
The theme update could have gone better, and is not done.  On the “glass is half-full” side, it could have gone much worse.

To avoid such unpleasantness when the theme is updated in the future, I’m setting up a child theme, to which I can make most of my tweaks and then not have them undone when a new update overwrites all the theme files.

The main problem is that the child theme is only taking some of the main/parent theme’s settings, and so we get green color scheme and fonts (even though the setting says blue, black text, etc.) and we get weird footer and sidebar functions. I have a support request in and am awaiting help; I suspect that like I often do, I’ve found a bug and so they will need to fix it and release a new theme version. This is why it was green for a few hours yesterday as I hoped the support person would log in and see the issue and help fix it. Instead, he sent me a link to instructions that weren’t helpful – it’s their function(s) that is not working correctly. It will likely “go green” again today for a while.

Many changes are thus awaiting their help as I am stuck using the Parent theme until this gets resolved. I am making some changes to it, but if I have to load a new theme update to fix this partial-settings issue, then I will need to re-do that work.  So I am trying to get things done while not investing too much time on things that will get overwritten in the new theme update.

Ads, site/page title, and the meta text below a post title are done. Many font, styling, etc. issues should also be resolved. I also figured out how to get the title thing going without having to use Yoast SEO plugin (the theme developer’s suggestion), so there should be a huge drop-off in comments being flagged for moderation.  That alone should make everyone much happier, especially those who post lots of posts with links in them.

Next up is fixing the text below the post, right above the comments, and then I’ll add in comment number. Hopefully by then, I will have gotten support on the child/parent issue!

But first, I have some important errands/appointment to do, so I am posting this in hope that it explains enough that I can go, do my stuff, get back, have some food, and then get back to work without too much grumbling.
Thank you for your patience, I’ll check this post’s comments first when I return.

Site News – Theme Update Is IncompletePost + Comments (54)

Folks,

I just wanted to give you some warning on the upcoming hiccups. I have to update the site’s theme, and that will temporarily overwrite many cosmetic changes I’ve made recently. Don’t worry – I am backing up all my files and will re-apply the edits as fast as I can! I will be doing this Wednesday, so the site may look a little screwy here and there while things get done.

 

Theme Update

In WordPress, the theme controls how the site looks – its layout, features, fonts, colors, borders, etc. – pretty much everything visual about the site. The site you see right now is the “current best”, and once the updated theme is applied, we’ll be many steps back. I will try to return the site to the”current best” state ASAP – I will try to incorporate everything I’ve changed in the theme, but I will likely miss a thing or two, and that’s where you come in! I will post an “I think I’m done” post when I truly think I am done. At that point, I will rely on you to post additional things that I missed.

This update is happening because the theme version we have has some issues, like the sidebar at the bottom of the page when looking at posts instead of the home page.

 

SSL

I will also take the opportunity to enable SSL so Balloon Juice will show up as secure in your browser, and your comments and the things you read on the site will be protected by encryption, protecting your privacy from all but the most-determined forces. This will improve your privacy, and will improve the site’s ranking (and related things).

 

Final Tweaks

Once the updated theme is set, and the site is back to “current best”, I will post a list of open issues so that you know what is still being worked on. Please remember that at this time, preparing for the new comment system will likely absorb much of my “Balloon Juice time”.

My hope is to have everything fully done and put to bed, including some major behind-the-scenes tweaks to improve site performance, reduce bandwidth load, etc. by mid January. Then we’ll leave the site alone until it demands attention.

 

New Commenting System

The last major change coming soon is the updated comment system. I’ve worked hard to tweak the existing system, but it has issues as it is just the default WordPress commenting engine with some plugins and the theme layered on top.

Looking to 2016 and the increase in site load from commenters during the election season, I think that this new system will do a better job, even if it is a bit different from the current system. The developers behind this comment system are actively adding new features, so should something not be perfect at launch, I’d expect improvement in a matter of weeks.

I expect this new comment system to be deployed in 2-3 weeks.

Some of the improvements include:

• Improved/enhanced support for HTML in posts
• Many additional buttons for comments so you can underline, italicize, include in-line pictures, etc.
• A notifier that new comments have been made in the post you’re in
• A refresh comments/load comments button to update the comments you see
• Longer time to edit posted comments
• (optional) voting on comments
• “lazy load” comments on page scroll (reduces initial page load for posts w/lots of comments)
• a “read more” button for super-long comments (can you say mclaren?)
• “load more comments” button/link when appropriate
• less need to reload the entire page; the notifier and refresh control only load new or changed comments, reducing the overall load
• All-new layout and appearance; these can and will be tweaked, but the current comment look will not endure
• You will still be able to comment without logging in, just providing your name and email address.

On the down-side, I’m sure one or more features that either works right now, or used to work before the site was redone, won’t work, at least initially. But be patient; we’ll get through this and after the dust settles, it will be better for all users, and that’s an unqualified good!

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Feel free to use this post to ask questions, etc.  I will try to monitor it a bit this late afternoon but I’m busy IRL away from the pc, so I won’t be hovering!  As for any issues already reported, I’ve got a big list and some things (like the alternate approach to  block quote visuals) I decided to postpone until the final version of the theme is in place.

 

Thanks to John, and all of the Balloon Juice community, for your patience, encouragement, and enthusiasm for making this site better. We’re getting so much closer!

 

Happy holidays to all,
Alain

 

 

ETA: Sorry to stomp your post Richard!

Site News – Hiccups Coming Soon!Post + Comments (95)

We’ve setup a new menu item, under About Balloon Juice, for all future issue reports and suggestions about the site. That way, we don’t miss important things because we aren’t monitoring the comments 24-7!

We are still working through many of the things listed in John’s post from late last week, so please hold off a few days on re-reporting issues. We are still working through a number of back-end issues, accessibility issues, RSS issues, and mobile refresh issues. And yes, we’re looking into bringing back the arrow navigation functionality that so many mention. Besides many small tweaks, there will be a new commenting system implemented in December, as soon as the plugin we’ve chosen has the functionality we need.

Although this post shows up on the main site, it will be permanently viewable  under the About Balloon Juice => Site Maintenance menu. Please note that putting up this permanent post for your suggestions and issue reports is not a guarantee that anything will happen, but it makes more sense to have a central location for this information.

This post and its successors will be checked semi-regularly, so don’t be surprised if your comment isn’t responded to immediately.  If we need further clarification, we’ll email you at the address you supply in your comment.

Thanks for your help and support,

The Balloon Juice team

 

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Helpful Info to Include in Your Issue Reports

1. Device (PC/Mac/Tablet/Mobile/Screen Reader/etc.)
2. If Mobile/Tablet: iOS/Android/Windows Mobile/Blackberry/etc. as well as (for tablets) size
3. Operating System/Version
4. Mobile Theme or Desktop theme on a mobile device?
5. Using Ad Blocker or other content filtering technology?
6. Is this is an RSS issue, what reader/OS are you using?

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Some quick help for refresh issues

Issue: Old content showing, new content is not showing up.

• Platform – Desktop: In a desktop system, shift-refresh/reload will re-request the entire page and should show the most recent content.  This should only need to happen once; if you continue hitting refresh issues, please submit a report.
• Platform – iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod): Many users of these devices have seen issues with the Mobile Theme not updating content, but when you switch to the Desktop View (at the very bottom of the page), the current content shows.  This is a Safari caching issue and should be quick to solve. Close all tabs that have Balloon Juice open. Then, close the browser (click Home button once, then when you see the Home screen, double-click it and swipe to close Safari). Re-open Safari and open a new Tab and go to Balloon Juice. You should be good to go!

 

Again, if these refresh issues are just temporarily solved by these techniques, please let us know. We are finessing the settings on our caching tool and so in solving one person’s issue, we may inadvertently cause another user an issue!

 

Site Issues and FeedbackPost + Comments (125)