Don’t ask me: I’m having enough trouble with my posts…
Today I’ve received messages on site and off from frustrated commenters. This isn’t new: periodically WordPress has decided it wants to make an example of a particular commenter, or something, who knows? Poor mermaidmary had every comment “eaten,” as she put it, for months; now she’s AWOL and I’m worried that she’s been eaten.
The software keeps changing. Once, I would have to clean out literally dozens or even hundreds of pieces of spam every day. Now spam rarely shows up at all—it’s culled before it even gets to my spam file. “Pending” is what is supposed to contain comments from aspiring new commenters who have not gone through moderation, but occasionally veteran participants have their comments end up there for no discernible reason. If I am away from the blog—and believe it or not, I have other obligations now and then—the unlucky writer won’t see his or her comment show up for hours.
It is clearly time for a discussion about what is going wrong, who is suffering from it, and who has figured out what solves the problems. If you can’t get your contribution posted, send it to my email.
I’m sorry about this.
Ethics Alarms 
As I indicated last week, I could not post from my phone or tablet (even using a different browser).
But, my desktop appears to post fine.
That explains my relative absence of late.
-Jut
Sometime last week I stopped being able to comment using my Iphone12. When I hit reply the standard comment screen appears but when I try to type anything the edit features disappears and the comment box borders turn into light shades of gray.
I have no problem using my desktop other than the occasional comment pushed to moderation. I don’t know if it a problem with the Iphone or WordPress. I don’t use the Word press app in either case.
The upside is that I can better proofread my comments and have fewer sentence fragments and typos.
I don’t use the WordPress application; I pull up the blog on my laptop and post my comment, and it always goes through. If the comment has two or more hyperlinks in it, it goes to moderation for approval.
I also just use the web, not the WordPress app, and I’ve never had an issue getting a comment on here.
I also don’t use the app. I have repeatedly had problems posting comments. I will check that I am logged in. I will see this message:
Tom P – Logged in via WordPress.com.
I then post the message, WordPress says I am not logged in, and my post gets eaten. My workaround is to log off. Input my message then login again and then post. It seems to work so far.
I have often lost comments to WordPress’ machinations. Most of my recent posting difficulties also arise when attempting to comment via my iPhone or iPad. Just now, on my iPhone, I clicked on the “Leave a comment” section to begin a comment, and this entire field, including the tool bar, blanked out and my keyboard did not come up.
Usually, when I have a problem on any of my devices, I type my comment and when I hit the “Comment” command, I then get the WordPress login screen. When I log into WordPress, the comment might send normally, or it might disappear into the ether. If I try to resend it, it will tell me that the comment has already been sent, even though it doesn’t show up on the blog until Jack rescues it.
Also, after I’ve logged into WordPress for EA commenting, if I later comment on other WordPress blogs in which I participate, my comments are always (so far) submitted trouble-free.
On my PC, I have had little trouble posting in recent months.
Jim you described my I phone problem much better that I .
Commenting on android phone using brave browser.
I never login but always enter name and email adres.
I’ve always just used the website to post and it appears immediately the vast majority of the time. I have noticed that including hyperlinks often delays it in moderation, but I’ve also seen where multiple links to Ethics Alarms itself doesn’t create a problem.
This post is more-or-less a test for me.
–Dwayne
I’ve always just used the website to post and it appears immediately the vast majority of the time. I have noticed that including hyperlinks often delays it in moderation, but I’ve also seen where multiple links to Ethics Alarms itself doesn’t create a problem.
This post is more-or-less a test for me. It also, I suppose, marks the end of my self-imposed exile because of the clunky way WordPress handles accounts and logins–where for many years prior just providing name and email was sufficient.
That’s not Jack’s fault, and I shouldn’t hold it against him. I apologize, Jack.
–Dwayne
Okay, third try now using a different account.
–Dwayne
Fourth try now, going back to the original account.
As of now, I officially hate WordPress.
–Dwayne
Well, this worked, at least. I’m sorry. The fact is that the software changes all the time. Usually it just makes my life miserable.
I’m 99% sure that I’ve got it sussed out now, using the WordPress account option rather than the email option–which is something I was trying to avoid doing. My trial-and-error here seems to just lead to a conclusion that the post-using-email option flat doesn’t work anymore.
You have my sympathies on the dealing-with-WordPress front.
–Dwayne
So, most of my comments seem to go to moderation or spam. Jack usually rescues them unprompted, for which I am very grateful. I generally attempt to comment when I just go to http://www.ethicsalarms.com. I have a WordPress account, and it asks me to log in every single time from my personal computers. I use Windows 11 and Firefox, though I think I have the same results with Google Chrome and MS Edge. On my work computer, which is still Windows 10, I successfully comment probably 9 out of 10 times. On the rare occasions I try to comment from my iPhone (which is miserable; I love using a keyboard), I also see the comments go into moderation until Jack rescues them.
If I go to WordPress (which never asks me to log in, because at the official site, apparently it can remember me), I can usually get a comment to take, but I really hate the way WordPress displays the comment format. Grumble.
Just rescued one of your comment just now!