: welcome to the impasse :

I decided on ‘impasse’ because it’s accurate and grown-up and sounds better than snit, but a snit is what this is. It was brought on by a theme upgrade. Amazing how such a minor change can unleash a full blown identity crisis, isn’t it? Well, no. This is what I do when I start feeling bored or handcuffed or dismissed. I blow up the status quo.

ka-BOOM!

Next thing I know, I’m standing in the smoking smithereens of a once well-ordered life. And, yoohoo, here I am again, right on schedule. Except this time, I’m afloat in a sea of nothingness, a post-apocalyptic world void of life and personality. I had high hopes when I changed themes. I really did. A clean, minimalist look loaded with white space and options sounded ideal, practically made to order.

The reality, however, was quite different.

The NEW, new editor was my waterloo. Even with the cheerful, unflagging guidance of WordPress Support I’m completely lost. Don’t get me wrong, there are a bunch of welcome improvements. Better typography options, for one. More spacing options for text. Lots of great stuff. But navigating the controls is intensely frustrating and, in the end, image placement remains unyielding and compulsory. Blocks prevail.

If I was a coder or IT proficient, there’d be hope. I’m neither. So for the last couple of weeks I’ve cycled through four of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression and that’s where I stalled out. At depression. Acceptance, the final stage, isn’t in the cards for me. I will not accept a homely whirly girl. I can’t. I won’t. I’ll flounder, instead.

I considered having a site built. I looked into self-hosting. I looked into drag and drop technology from another developer. All good possibilities if I was smarter or richer or braver. What I am is back at square one with a bee in my bonnet and a chip on my shoulder.

There’s a solution, somewhere, I know it. I may have to go backward to find it or sideways or make failed attempt after failed attempt, but I’ll get there. Someday. Bloody and battered and dazed, but proud once again. I took my first step yesterday afternoon when I renewed the domain name, thereby assuring thewhirlygirl.com will carry on until at least January 17th, 2024. In the interim, visitors should prepare for outages, disruptions, mayhem, inconvenience, and occasional ugliness. In other words, business as usual.

Thank you for your long suffering loyalty. You are all my heroes, every one❣️

6 responses to “: welcome to the impasse :”

StraddleTheTurtle.com

January 16, 2023 at 3:46 pm

I’m still struggling, too. I write my draft on Pages to get everything just the way I want it and then paste it in. Then all I have to do is insert my images. Should be easy, but nooooo……. Takes F O R E V E R ! ! ! So frustrating. But knowing I’m not the only one keeps me hanging in there. Thanks 🙏

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1. the whirly girl
  
  January 16, 2023 at 4:50 pm
  
  You’re not. And it is. Don’t give up :o)
  
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SilkPurseProductions

January 16, 2023 at 6:40 am

I’m terrified for you! I am still clinging to the past, trying as hard as I can to keep my WordPress pre-block. Had your efforts been rewarded successfully, I would have made an attempt but now I fear all is lost. May the force (or whatever) be with you.

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1. the whirly girl
  
  January 16, 2023 at 1:36 pm
  
  I still remember my first blog. It was a gas to assemble posts there and it showed up in the work. Hooboy, I miss those days. And I’m determined to find them again. Somewhere. Somehow. Keep the faith, kiddo, there’s still a chance we’ll rise again.
  
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stoneyfish

January 16, 2023 at 2:44 am

I’m, first and foremost, a computer guy. Blogging is just a sideline for me. So, I can’t give any specific advice about getting WordPress to do what you want. But I can say that you have exactly the right approach. It boils down to try, try and try again. Until, either you get what you are looking for or you fully understand the limitations of the tool you are using and can find a compromise you can live with.

Keep at it, Whirly, we’re with you all the way. 🍀

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1. the whirly girl
  
  January 16, 2023 at 1:21 pm
  
  Thank you for the encouragement. The biggest obstacle, frankly, is my attitude. I’m not looking at this as an adventure, I see it as a battle with an insufferable, overbearing bully. That’s not helpful. Once I find the right path and begin making progress everything will get easier. You’ve given me hope!
  
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