Common Issues and Troubleshooting WordPress 3.9

photo credit: IronRodArt – Royce Bair (“Star Shooter”) – cc

After the release of WordPress 3.9, I decided to help out in the support forums since they usually become busy soon after a release. Providing support in the WordPress.org forums gives you a clear indication on how well a release is being received and whether or not anything major broke. After spending five hours in the support forum, here are some common issues being reported by users.

Visual Editor Disappeared Or Is Broken

A lot of users are reporting that the visual editor has either disappeared or is broken. Considering the number of changes that took place with TinyMCE in 3.9, this is not surprising. In most cases, having users go through the following process solved the problem.

Deactivate ALL plugins.

Switch to default TwentyFourteen theme.

Manually empty browser cache.

If the visual editor doesn’t work after disabling all plugins and switching to the default theme, there could be a JavaScript issue. Follow these instructions to diagnose JavaScript errors in your browser. Then, open up a new support forum thread and make sure to add the following information:

the browsers that you are experiencing the problem in

whether SCRIPT_DEBUG fixed the error or not

the JavaScript error

the location of the error – both the file name and the line number

the context of the error – including the whole error stack will help developers

This detailed information will help volunteer moderators determine the best way to solve your problem.

Master List Of Known Issues

Themes and plugins confirmed to be the cause of the problem are documented and added to the master list of known issues with WordPress 3.9. So far, the list of plugins is up to eight with at least one in the process of being fixed.

MailPoet Newsletters – Issue with outdated TinyMCE plugin in version 2.6.3, disabling plugin fixed Visual Editor problem. MailPoet is already working on a fix for the TinyMCE issue in the next versions 2.6.4 (for post editor screen) and 2.6.5 (for newsletter editor).

ZipList Recipe Plugin – Version 2.2 has a problem with the post editor in both Visual and Text mode.

Zedity – Version 3.1.0 causes the Visual Editor to break.

Enhanced Media Library – Version 1.0.4 doesn’t show any media in the media library when the Add Media button is clicked

SoundCloud Is Gold – Version 2.2.1 disables the Visual editor and prevents text from being entered

Ultimate NoFollow – Version 1.4.1 doesn’t allow links to be inserted in the visual editor

Admin Tweaks – version 2.3.8 causes the visual editor to white out.

Qtranslate – version 2.5.39 causes the media uploaded not to function

The support team tries their best to help everyone with any WordPress problem even if it’s for a commercial theme or plugin. However, due to the great variety of existing themes and plugins it is nearly impossible to know everything. Your best option is to contact the developer for support. It’s always best to go to where the theme/plugin is officially supported when trying to get support.

How To Create An Audio Playlist

A few users have asked where the link is to create an audio playlist. In order to see the link to create an audio playlist, you either need existing audio files within the media library or you need to add them. It’s worth noting that if you host your media files on a content delivery network that’s not synchronized with the WordPress media library, you won’t be able to take advantage of the playlist feature.

Easy Way To Add Borders and Padding To Images Removed

Although WordPress 3.9 has refined the media editing experience, it did so at the cost of removing a feature users appreciated. In WordPress 3.8, users could easily add a border, vertical, and horizontal padding to images. WordPress 3.9 has removed this from the advanced image settings screen.

Image Properties In WordPress 3.8

It’s not just those who use the self-hosted version of WordPress that are upset with the change. A WordPress.com support forum thread with over 430 posts is filled with users asking why the feature was removed. In some cases, WordPress.com staff are explaining how to use HTML code to add or remove borders to images. It’s possible that a plugin will soon be released that will restore this feature.

Use Patience When Asking For Support

Since WordPress 3.9 is a major upgrade, please exercise patience when requesting support on the forum. This guide on the Codex does a great job explaining how to get your question answered. Last but not least, if a volunteer helps solve your problem, say thank you. During my five-hour support stint, I realized first-hand that providing support is a thankless job. Reading thank you notes and seeing users express joy from having their problem solved gave me the energy to keep on going.

I encourage you to take 15-20 minutes to browse the support forum and help out where you can. Not only will you get a better understanding of problems users are facing, but you’ll learn a lot in the process. To anyone who’s taken the time to answer a support question on the forum, thank you!