Strawberry Hill House
Exteriors
10 pics – The house was created by Horace Walpole who was the youngest son of Robert Walpole (Britain’s first Prime Minister). Work began in 1749 and continued in stages over the following 27 years. It was recently discovered that the original colouring was white and would have looked quite remarkable in its day, as it does now. The house is in a Gothic style of the fairy-tale variety and has extraordinary interiors here.
The interiors have been restored to an original state which gives a quite surreal appearance, as if it is still waiting for its first occupant. It’s surreal, but very peaceful character, is aided by some recent artwork.
The house once contained a massive collection of artworks, which were unfortunately sold by a later owner. The collection was so vast that the sale lasted for 30 days. The trust is gradually acquiring more items for the interior but the restored decor, picture glass and paintings are still worth seeing.
The website is here and the Wikipedia history here. Do check the website for opening times and to book a ticket for the house (before 10:30 on the day of your visit). Tickets are half price on Mondays and Tuesdays. A guide-book is provided and essential if one is not to miss some of the rooms and the Chapel. I missed the Chapel but Google images are available here (there are many pics of the house mixed in),
St James’s Park
The Eastern End of St James’s Park
Hiya, welcome to St James’s Park. At this end of the long lake can be found a cafe, parkland, benches, deck chairs, flower beds, geese, ducks, coots and moorhens here. There are also some very friendly squirrels here and pelicans further down this page (feeding time at the cottage is 2:30 pm).
At the western end can be found Buckingham Place, the changing of the guard pageant, more waterfowl including swans and nearby Green Park with the Canada Memorial.
The nearest underground station is St James (although Westminster is almost as close to the eastern end of the park) and it is a pleasant walk beside the lake from end to end.
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The pelicans gather beside this cottage just before 2:30 pm for feeding.
“Perhaps a little pigeon al fresco whilst I am waiting”. – “Oy who nicked my piano ?”
The London Eye.
Buckingham Palace from the Central Bridge
Looking to the west.
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If you look carefully, you can see the Old Man of the Willow, sitting down with his hands on his knees.
Horse Guards from the Central Bridge
Looking to the east.
You cannot view the interiors but there is a small museum and one of these.
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.. and as always, one of these. Doesn’t it make you want to say “you poor ~ “.
At dusk the fountains light up and from the sound of all the honks and quacks there all having a party 😀 .
St James Park – Wildlife Band
At the East End of St James Park, London
So let me introduce to you, The one and only Billy Shears, And Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Ruddy Duck (really)
It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play, They’ve been going in and out of style, But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile, So may I introduce to you, The act you’ve known for all these years, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, We hope you will enjoy the show
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Sit back and let the evening go
It’s wonderful to be here
It’s certainly a thrill
You’re such a lovely audience
We’d like to take you home with us
We’d love to take you home
Oh we would, we would. – Why are you doing that with your leg ? I don’t know, he started it.
More feathers than sense that lot.
Find the Squirrel (its in the middle).
Here’s one. Here’s some more (in a new tab).
I am Moorhen than Duck
I don’t really want to stop the show, But I thought that you might like to know, That the singer’s going to sing a song, And he wants you all to sing along
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
We hope you will enjoy the show
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sit back and let the evening go
Sgt. Pepper’s lonely, Sgt. Pepper’s lonely
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band ~
We hope you enjoyed the show and thank you for visiting.
Beep
Beep, Mole Periscope or Dumb Insolence with Megaphone and two more pics.
Beep – Feed Me Boop – Fir Tree with blossom ?
Happy Spring Time to all.
Climate Change – Divest/Invest Movement Rolls On – We can Help
Divest – Invest and Climate Protection
The Divest-Invest ⇒ movement is being successful in encouraging large groups to divest themselves of fossil fuel investments and switch to investments in green alternatives.
That is only part of the battle.
Consumerism and Climate Protection
For most of us, every time we pay an energy bill we are supporting the use of fossil fuels. As long as that continues, the energy companies will continue to make profit and continue the practice. Even carbon taxes will eventually filter through to the consumer.
As far as electrical supply is concerned, we don’t have to continue that support. Instead we can move our financial support to a Green Tariff or an entirely Green Energy supplier (some also provide a dual + gas tariff). Moving our money from polluting suppliers to green suppliers being of double benefit.
There is an additional and important benefit. Consumer choices are observable trends which result in forecasts and forecasts create business plans. It will make a yet greater impact if you if you let people know what you have done, and why, as an encouragement for them to follow and more still if you tell your old and new supplier why you have switched.
Here are some links to advisory sites, from which a choice can be made, but do check they are certified genuine green suppliers.
UK – Ratings – http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/energy/greenelectricitysuppliers.aspx
UK – Price comparisons – http://www.ukpower.co.uk/home_energy/green_energy_suppliers
USA – http://apps3.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/buying/buying_power.shtml
Australia – http://gpap.greenelectricityguide.org.au (You can skip the sign up – last line)
Canada – There are several companies but I could not find an up to date guide.
The above is just an example. Other countries also have green energy suppliers but difficult to find in English.
Energy supplies are likely to increase in cost. Heating being the greatest user of power, it makes sense to invest in insulation.
Good wishes to all in your pursuit of protecting our climate for ourselves, those who follow us and everything that lives on this extraordinary garden planet.
The amazing 2015 London Climate Rally ⇐
Extremely Rare
Thanks to a friendly park keeper at St James Park, I was able to photograph twin Graylag Geese. Born from one egg, that would otherwise have been a double yolk, they rarely survive and these two have another special feature. Ethologist Konrad Lorenz did his first major studies into the behavioural phenomenon of imprinting using Graylag Geese and, according to the park keeper, these two have imprinted on one another and are inseparable.
They are so rare that you are unlikely to see anything like this until next April 1st. Yes, I am disgraceful and ingenious abuse is welcome and probably deserved. Here’s wishing you all a fun day. 🙂
The WP New Editor Protest
These posts are from March 2015 bu continues to receive views. The Poll below is still open and shows a a vast majority of protest. Some further articles/information on the WP changes are here.
Add Your View and Please Share the Opportunity
This Poll, in response to the New WP Editor, has a gathering momentum (2,500+ votes) , it is independent, the results visible and well worth a moment of your time to add your vote. There is nothing to lose, it may help and it might deter any further nuisance. Please click on:-
http://www.poll-maker.com/poll277402x1D5c4173-10
With credit and thanks to blogger “imperialtwilight” for the initiative.
It is also worth leaving a comment on the most recently active forum thread. Please click here:-
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/disappointed-in-new-wordpress?replies=11
The previous forum thread of 32 pges (now closed) is here.
If you would be kind enough to Share, Post with a Link or Reblog, it will help to spread the opportunity to others. Spreading the word is very important if we are to avoid further problems.
The Poll is spreading well enough that, if WP ignore it, then it will be obvious to all that they have made a wrong turn. On that basis, maybe they will not ignore it.
Workarounds are here.
Some further articles/information on the WP changes are here.
Canada Memorial
The Canada Memorial (London) was opened in 1994 and is dedicated to the Canadians who served in the two world wars. It can found at the bottom of Green Park very near to Buckingham Palace.
When I visited it was a very hot day in July and children were very happily using it as a water slide. Despite the “keep off” sign, nobody wanted to stop them and everybody was having a great day in the sunshine.
This little pigeon decided to join in and enjoy cool feet. A lot of wild life around London seem to have become so accustomed to a human presence that they can allow themselves to indulge in curiosity and even participation. The squirrels of St James Park being a great example. Here is one cool pigeon.
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The colours of the opening picture are so intriguing that I couldn’t help tweaking it a bit.
Gas Lamps and Penny Farthings
The first gas lighting appeared on Pall Mall in 1807 and began to spread from 1812 when the London and Westminster Gas Light and Coke Company was created. Early gas was created by heating coal which then released mainly hydrogen. More about present day London’s Gas Lamps and where to see them. The best place being the broad avenue of Kensington Palace Gardens. The gardens do close at dusk but there is information about turnstile exits here.
A more intense light could be created by directing an oxyhydrogen flame upon a cylinder of quicklime (calcium oxide). The resulting light was commonly known as limelight and used for stage lighting. Hence the term “being in the limelight” is used to mean being the center of attention.
These gas lamps are just outside the British Museum with a Penny Farthing bicycle further down the page.
British Museum
Sutton Hoo Treasure
Sutton Hoo Helmet
The replica helmet and mask are part of the Sutton Hoo Treasure (Wiki) with more at Sutton Hoo Site. The original find is further down together with more artifacts from antiquity.
The Museum
The British Museum (for details, admission and location) is probably the largest in the UK and contains artifacts from all over the world, from antiquity to more recent times. Whilst there is some controversy about ownership of some items (e.g. the Elgin Marbles), the museum has preserved what otherwise might have been lost and is free to all visitors. There is a an extensive cloakroom and non-commercial photography is allowed.
Of similar interest is the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is dedicated to design from across the world. More from the British Museum:-
Cosy
Nefer Teapot Nefer did
Rar
Raaaar
Moo see um
What time do you call this then. ……………………………………………………………….Oh mum, it’s only XXII o’clock
The Horniman Museum
20 pics – The Horniman Museum and grounds are free to enter and include the lower gardens and wonderful flower beds⇐ with more spectacular flowers at the upper gardens⇐.. The museum is a mix of natural history, unusual artifacts from around the word and a small but unusual aquarium (there is a charge of £4).
The museum and grounds are located just south of London near Forest Hill rail station and make a good day out at little expense. Please click on information/events⇒ and/or the getting there map⇒. The map shows the route from station to museum as quite short. It is a bit longer than it appears and is better to take one of the buses (listed on the map page) up the steep hill to the museum stop. The museum stop is just past this clock tower at the prow of the hill.
The Museum
The Aquarium
This chap has all the appearance of gnome doing a high-five. You can even see a face.
Pretentious, moi ?
Doh.
Horniman Museum Gardens
12 pics – A view from the upper gardens of the Horniman Museum across London’s Canary Wharf and the Shard of Glass (the tall pointy thing). For a range of quite extraordinary flowers from the upper gardens please click here, for the museum interiors and artifacts please click here.
The dye garden.
I didn’t post process these. They really are this bright.
Alright now I’ve got a pearl of wisdom, what do I do with it ?
I you think I’m strange, wait until you see what’s inside the museum. I was thrown out for being too normal :-D.
The Temple Church
16 pics – The Temple Church dates from 1185 and can be found amidst the Temple Court. More pictures of the Temple Court and how to find it here⇐.
Flowers of the Temple Court here⇐,
Admission to the Temple Church here⇒ (do check for admission dates/times) and its History here. It has some of the most intricate stained glass that I have ever seen and there are pictures further down.
These are four separate windows.
The Temple Court
9 pics – The Temple Court was established in the twelfth century by the famous Nights Templar. Later given to the Nights Hospitaller, it has changed hands frequently but mostly provided chambers for barristers throughout the centuries. It is still one of the centers of English law.
Many of buildings were damaged during WWII and rebuilt. More of its history here⇒.
The Temple Court is haven of peace hidden away amongst the bustle of London. The nearest underground railway station is the Temple. On leaving the station turn left and proceed until you see this portico on our left.
Within the court there are many delightful small gardens and the Temple Church. More flowers here ⇒ and pictures from within the Temple Church here ⇒.
Within the court ⇓.
The Tower of London
The view from Tower Hill (just outside Tower Hill underground station). Click here for more about the Tower History, Events Tours and Admission and here for the White Tower Interiors (Armour and Weapons) and here for nearby All Hallows Church (the oldest in London). Visitors can photograph most places except for the Jewel House (home of the famous Crown Jewels). There will be queues for exhibits such as the Jewel House and it is better to arrive early.
Tower Bridge and the Tower itself. The bridge was originally raised by steam powered hydraulic engines but in recent times by an electrically powered hydraulic system . Visit inside the bridge here ⇒.
There is always one of these standing guard.
The tower once had a menagerie.
Those accused of treason would be transported to the tower by river and entered via traitors gate and might then go to the Bloody Tower. Below the tower is the remnants of a torture chamber. Visitors were queuing up.
There are a number of tour guides, all happy to be photographed.
The cage holds some of the tower’s ravens. They are not all let free at the same time. The legend is that England will fall if the ravens ever left the tower. They are very well cared for and locked up at night. They also think they own the place.
The guards are not allowed to interact with anybody but you can stand beside one and have your photograph taken. Should anybody get too familiar, or just because the guard feels like it, he will let out a blood curdling scream and present the pointy end of his rifle. Then there is vigorous marching up and down. It has the desired effect.
Flowers at the Horniman Museum
These pictures were taken at the upper garden area of the Horniman Museum in mid August of 2014. There will be more about the extraordinary Horniman Museum later.
WordPress Changes – Poll – Kept in the Dark ?
Others in this series are Start – Herded ? Kept in the Dark ? Valued Customer ? and more to come. Workarounds are here. My standby blog is http://freedfromtime.blogspot.co.uk/
Purpose
It is now evident that WP management will not pay attention to customers disquiet and have opted for obstinate. It also evident that they have kept some motives hidden (see below).
The only option left is to seek a change of management by alerting investors via the tech-media. The forums and this opportunity to vote is a means of doing so.
1. Behind the Scenes
The recent changes are not just about the appearance on mobile phones. There is further enterprise involved and perhaps the real reason for being so stubborn and rash in it’s implementation.
The following applies to any WP hosted blog and any using Jetpack.
A system known as Rest-Api is being installed. The system plants a Rest-Api cookie bundle on your computer. The new user-interface does not work without it.
The the Rest-Api system provides three facilities.
- Publicly available access to your posts/comments/likes. There is nothing new there, except that some further information is provided (e.g. the ID’s of visitors).
- If you give permission, remote access to your blog/image-library for the purposes of allowing a service (e.g. a printing company) to download content.
- If you give permission, remote access by a developer. Access may include your statistics, the ability to create/edit/delete posts and whatever else you provide permission for.
Further information is available in sections 2 and 3. Otherwise jump to sections 4-6 .
2. Public/Limited Access
You might try clicking on some of these (I’ve kept it to the 4 most recent)_:-
Revealing my 4 most recent posts, or anybodies.
https://public-api.wordpress.com/rest/v1/sites/freedfromtime.wordpress.com/posts/?number=4&pretty=1
Revealing my 4 most recent comments, or anybodies, with information about the commenter.
Revealing my 4 most recent Likes, or anybodies, on a post with information about the Liker. The Post ID for this is “1” (my About page but may not be the same for you). Otherwise you will need a Post ID which can be obtained from the first link.
Each of these will open in a new Tab. You can change the Blog name and you don’t have to be logged in to your account in order to use them. However, Private and Password Protected are not shown unless you are logged in and add “&status=any”. Note: Pretty=1 makes it readable.
Further content is available, when logged in and/or for a developer who has a Blogger’s permission. (see Section 3).
2.1 Whats the problem.
This does provide further information such as numeric ID’s for Blog, Post, Author and Comment relating to yourself and your visitors.
2.2 A Greater Concern
One might consider this point a breach of security. Usually half the battle for a hacker is knowing one’s Log-in name/User name. With WordPress one’s Display name is often the same as one’s Log-in name/User name. However some have wisely hidden there User name behind a different Display name. The above Links reveal any hidden Log-in/User name.
To test this I have temporarily changed my Display name. Take another look at the first Link and you can see my Display name (Graham With Hats) and the hidden Log-in/User name (grahaminhats).
It is of course too late for me to hide my User name, as this is already attached to previous posts/comments. But, those who took that extra precaution, from the start of their Blogging, have been let down.
I debated whether to release this information but, considering that the content is now publicly available, it seemed better to make it known to Bloggers.
Given the present situation there seems no point in changing one’s User name (you can’t change it back) or Display name. Therefore, we must rely on strong Passwords. One form of strong Password, for recent times, is a phrase of three or four words that has a personal meaning.
3. Full Access
With a bloggers permission a remote service provider (e.g. printing company) or developer may have a limited or complete access to your site using the Rest-Api system. That access relies upon a new cookie bundle “public-api.wordpress.com” on your browser. None of the new UI (Stats, Editor and Notifications) will work without it. However, unless you are adept at cookie management, I don’t recommend trying this. One can lose the ability to comment/like on other blogs if one cannot fully restore cookies.
The full range of Gets (view) and Puts (create/change), available with a Bloggers permission, can be found by clicking here. Full access can include Private and Password Protected.
Some Gets (as with the links above) are available to anyone.
A developer console here provides extended access when logged in to one’s account or for a person who has the blogger permission. When using the developer console; to see the full return, click on the bottom left arrow of the brief return.
3.1 The Possible Problems
3.1.1 Security
Access is acquired using OAuth2 authentication. That method has been entirely disavowed by the lead author, who has removed his name from all specifications. His main concerns seem to be that, whilst OAuth1 was a protocol, OAuth2 is a framework that includes many musts and must-nots and requires an unusually high level of expertise to make secure. To read his post click here. An extract below:-
“To be clear, OAuth 2.0 at the hand of a developer with deep understanding of web security will likely result is a secure implementation. However, at the hands of most developers – as has been the experience from the past two years – 2.0 is likely to produce insecure implementations.”
3.1.2 Business Worth
Being able to store images from a mobile phone/tablet, upload them to WordPress and then download them to a service provider might be of use to some. However, serious photographers and/or those creating company literature (e.g. pamphlets, brochures etc) are more likely to upload higher resolution images directly to a printing company.
Most of us, if approached by a developer who wants access to our site, would likely respond with “go forth and multiply- off”.
E-commerce companies might want to make use of a developers services to compete. If they’ve got any sense they will use in-house services provided by people who have a deeper knowledge of their company’s business and dedicated to it.
3.1.3 Business Loss
I believe that the new User Interface has been so badly implemented as to deter users in the new enterprise. For instance the Mobile App fails or crashes on some devices and the New Editor doesn’t even have an “Add Contact Form” function.
Existing customers have suffered considerable and pointless nuisance. It has been shown that it takes less effort to keep existing customers than acquire new ones.
4. A Remaining Mystery
The Rest-Api system is not exactly a secret. Therefore why not tell bloggers what it’s all about. There have been plenty of questions put on the forums and here, including questions to Matt Mullenweg on About WordPress Changes and What We Can Do. All we’ve been told is that it is “Improved or Upgraded” and that it will be “Neat or Nifty” . Why not tell us the whole truth. What are we, peasants ?
What’s the mystery, why are we being herded and why remove the original stats page (as we have been told will happen).
The manner with which this has been undertaken seems irrational and unnecessarily forceful. This leads me to think that there is more to discover.
None of this nuisance seems necessary for the implementation of the new functions. Is it necessary for a fuller implementation or to Beta test it on the present customer base or are there others looking on and want to see it “neat” ? Others like Tiger Global who have invested and also have investments in mobile and e-commerce interests. Or, is it a “Just Do it” or “Plough on” or just plain daft attitude or a need to meet deadlines or are control issues involved ?
Perhaps, with new system, it is possible to monitor the Stats that we take an interest in.
Insights and conjectures will be welcome as comments, together with anything else you might wish to say
5. Did You Know ?
I’ve looked for the below item on the company blog and the the Daily Post. There does not seem to be any mention of it anywhere on WordPress.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2158771/wordpress-com-vulnerable-to-account-hijacking.html
It has probably been fixed by changing to https and the introduction of what looks like a security cookie. But, that login cookie still has a three-year expiry date unless you have a .com, in which case it expires at the end of the browser session.
6. Kept in the Dark ?
Do you feel Kept in the Dark ? This is hardly transparent. There is an opportunity to vote by clicking on a Like in the appropriate comment box below. The third comment box has a link to commentary with replies available.
Please spread the word by Linking, Sharing, Reblogging, or however you think best, so that others have the opportunity to view and vote.
Thank you for taking the trouble to visit.
* Automattic employees may comment but may not vote. * For surety, I have not used PollDaddy because it is owned by Automattic.
WordPress Changes – Poll – Valued Customers ?
Others in this series are Start -Herded ? Kept in the Dark ? Valued Customer ? and more to come. Workarounds are here. My standby blog is http://freedfromtime.blogspot.co.uk/
Purpose
It is now evident that WP management will not pay attention to customers disquiet and have opted for obstinate. It also evident that they have kept some motives hidden (see below).
The only option left is to seek a change of management by alerting investors via the tech-media. The forums and this opportunity to vote will be used for that purpose.
A Free Blog
First let’s dispel a myth that this is free blogging and we should be grateful.
It is the bloggers who have made WordPress a success and very valuable. The last assessment was $1.4 billion.
Blogger’s work either attracts advertising (which you don’t see whilst logged in). Or, as most seem to do, pay $30 p.a. as an upgrade to keep ads off. With several million using WordPress, that’s a lot of $30.
The much vaunted Open Source Code works both ways. This means that Automattic must be sitting on a vast repository of free code.
Respect
Bloggers were not consulted about any of these changes beforehand. The were foisted on us without any warning. Moreover, despite protest, almost all the Links go to the new Stats page and it as been stated that the old one will become unavailable. Moreover it has been increasingly difficult to avoid the new editor and the some of the real motives for all this have been kept hidden.
If one looks at the type of accounts available, what was referred to as “Basic” is now referred to as “Beginner”. It is hardly respectful to refer to Bloggers, who have been publishing for years, as “Beginners”.
A number of Bloggers have complained at their comments to Daily Post being held in moderation and the topic closed before their comment was published.
Forum Topics have been closed by staff without the permission of the originator or any consensus by the contributors. Like this and this, amongst others. This one after only 24 minutes. The latter conveys notions of Customer Service, it must have been an uncomfortable idea.
This is hardly the “Democratized Blogging” that has been much-lauded.
As an Aside
I wonder if WordPress employees know that they are referred to as Auto Matt icians. That is the correct spelling.
Do You Feel That you are Valued Customer ?
There is an opportunity to vote by clicking on a Like in the appropriate comment box below. The third comment box has a link to commentary with replies available.
Please spread the word by Linking, Sharing, Reblogging, or however you think best, so that others have the opportunity to view and vote.
Thank you for taking the trouble to visit.
* Automattic employees may comment but may not vote. * For surety, I have not used PollDaddy because it is owned by Automattic.
WordPress Changes – Your Poll #1 – Herded ?
Others in this series are Start – Herded ? Kept in the Dark (Why this is really happening) ? Valued Customer ? and more to come. Workarounds are here. My standby blog is http://freedfromtime.blogspot.co.uk/
This is your opportunity to vote on the recent changes to WordPress and there are two vital reasons to do so.
Firstly, the survey is unlikely to be published, so this is your opportunity to be heard.
Secondly, it is now evident that by ourselves it is unlikely that we can bring about improvement but, investors and allied businesses do not like mismanagement that alienates it’s customers and fails in new endeavours. They can make a difference and bring about the only solution available to us which is a change of management. With enough support there will opportunity to refer this matter to tech-journalists. The more who attend, the better chance we have. So please Link to here, Share, Reblog, or spread the word however you think fit.
Herded ?
The Reader: However one gets to the Reader, there is no way out except via the new Stats interface. The Reader lost it’s small drop-down menu late last year, which offered a link back to one’s Dashboard and a Sign Out. That loss paved the way to confinement.
The standard login (via wordpress.com) now goes directly to the Reader.
Almost every link to “Stats” goes to the new Stats interface. There is only “View All” beneath the Dashboard graph that still goes to the original statistics page. Other than this, one had to endure the nuisance of scrolling all the way down the new Statistics interface to find the only other link.
The New Editor was almost impossible to avoid until one has loaded it and then chosen “Classic Editor”. Then an opt-out cookie was placed with your browser. But, it expired after six weeks and was only useful if one was willing to keep WordPress cookies between sessions (more on those later). There is was no knowing how short it’s expiry date may be in the future. That option has been removed and one can only access the classic editor via direct links.
Taken all together, do you feel herded by nuisances, towards the new user interface and it’s editor.
How to vote: Beneath you will find two comment boxes.
One is for: Yes – I do feel herded into the new Stats interface.
The other is: No – I do not feel herded into the new Stats interface.
Please click on the small blue . ⭐ Like . in the box of your preference. You can withdraw your like at any time by clicking on it again.
Comments on this topic can be added in the usual way. And, thank you for taking the time to read. 🙂
* Automattic employees may comment but may not vote. * I have not used PollDaddy because it is owned by Automattic. * I regret the loss of Reply levels, but need to keep this simple. * Comments can be a testament to the extent (or not) of nuisance or whatever you may wish to add.
Forum Topic Moved
The forum topic “Classic Stats – How to Set” has been closed. We continue here:- Upgraded Stats ~ for those who are not happy about it.
WordPress Navigation Links – Improved
Using the Old Facilities and Avoiding the New
Revised 11th April 2015.
A roundup of other methods, which includes using a redirect script in your Browser is here.
____________________________________________________________
Using Bookmarks is quite simple once you get the hang of it. By creating and using a few Bookmarks/Favourites you can move from anywhere to anywhere without delay.
All that you really need is to open your Dashboard (WP-Admin) and keep it open in a tab so that you can return to it.
- Log-in to your WP Dashboard:-
Type or paste the following in your browser’s address bar, placing your blog name where indicated. Then you can Log-in to your dashboard.
https://YourBlogName.wordpress.com/wp-admin/
You only need to do this once and then Bookmark/Favourite it for future use.
- Using the Dashboard and keeping it open
Right click on a button/link/menu item and choose “Open in new Tab”. Thus:-
For the usual “classic” facilities such as the Editor, use the left hand sidebar and Right click your choice for “Open in a New Tab”. You might then Bookmark/Favourite anything for future use (i.e. Dashboard, All-Posts, Classic Editor, etc). It is better to use the left sidebar for all functions except switching blogs. You can reduce the left sidebar to icons by using the small arrow at the bottom.
For the original Stats page, Right click on “View All” (beneath the graph) and select “Open in a New Tab”. For the older “Stats” page, Right click “Site Stats” from the menu of the small dial at the top left. Whatever our preference, you might Bookmark/Favorite for future use. If it is slow to load, refreshing/reloading often works.
Avoid the top left “My-Sites” because, on this page, it will go to the new UI.
To restore the your Dashboard or navigate/switch to your other blogs. .
Use your WP-Admin (Dashboard) Bookmark.
Or, from the original Stats page, choose a Blog from the top right drop down menu and click on the small blue house (home) icon.
Or, if the black left sidebar is available hover your mouse pointer over the small dial at the top left and select “Dashboard”
Or, use the top left “My-Sites – Switch Site” which has more options
But, beware the “Stats” links on that menu will take you to the new UI (User Interface) and the “Blog Post – Add” link will take you to the New Editor.
To Log out hover your mouse pointer over your Gravatar and use the drop down menu.
- To add the Reader, without getting trapped, whilst you are logged in Right-Click on a link to the Reader and choose “Open in a new tab”. Alternatively, click on:-
and might Bookmark/Favourite for future use or repeat this method.
Again, “My-Sites” on this page will take you to the new UI.
- To add the Notifications Archive, whilst you are logged in click on:-
https://wordpress.com/notifications
and might Bookmark/Favourite for future use:-
Again, “My-Sites” on this page will take you to the new UI.
If you would like more direct Links (e.g. My-Stats, older Stats, All Posts, New Post etc), please see:-
https://freedfromtime.wordpress.com/2015/01/27/help-with-wordpress-changes/
With thanks and credit to all those on the forums who initiated Bookmarking.
WP Changes – an Appeal to Reason.
To help move things forward in seeking remedy, below is my recent response to Matt Mullenweg’ s comment on About WordPress Changes and What We Can Do .
“Present feedback has been mostly complaint or attempts to tweak the new UI to meet desktop needs. This is surely not helpful to the new [Mobile] enterprise.
Conversely, relieving users of their concerns would certainly result in feedback that will help the new UI rather than compromise its purpose. Co-operation between us and the restoration of a community spirit, being a lot more productive than a conflict that nobody wants.”
and continues:-
“One of the issues that has caused a lot of consternation has been assertions, by staff on the forums, that the old stats pages will be “phased out”.
I think it has been fairly assumed by some, from your statement “I can say that the wp-admin interface will also be there for you or anyone else who navigates to it directly or bookmarks it”, that this includes the continued existence of the old stats pages which are part of that interface.
Perhaps it has been a been a simple glitch in communications that has caused a large part of the consternation . Such things do happen even in the best of organisations. A simple confirmation would, I’m sure, restore a more amicable, co-operative and productive approach.”
At this stage, I think it is in the best interests of WP users if I allow time for reason to prevail. But, I will be back on this in 4/5 days.
Addition: The response from CEO M. Mullenweg being unsatisfactory, there will be more activity on Sunday 8th February 2014.
Flowers at Temple Court
18 pics – To brighten up the winter gloom, a few flowers from the Temple Court gardens, London.
In southern England the kink in the old jet stream has been weaving about all over the place and forecasters have been having a hard time. The other day, thinking it was going to be wet, I took to wearing Wellington boots. The locals were so surprised. It was my own fault, I should have put some cloths on.
The Temple Court Flowers
A big hats off the Temple Court gardeners. There are many flower beds dotted around the place, a very nice little enclosed garden and a beautiful rose garden. They are all in pristine condition and somehow a considerable diversity thrives happily alongside one another.
There will be more from the Temple Court later, in the meantime, here are the flowers photographed in early July of 2014.
The plant (?), in the first picture, ate a corporate banker. I don’t want to say what the second did to a stockbroker. 🙂
This last one is from a small garden adjacent to the Temple Court.
I’ve been saving, what I believe to be, the best flowers until mid February and there will be more about the Temple Court and the Tower of London soon.
WP Changes – Improved Workarounds
Sorry to redirect you but there have been developments that makes this easier at WordPress Navigation Links – Improved
No longer as relevant :-
This approach will, I hope, restore more enjoyment to blogging. More about WP Changes and What We Can Do to seek restoration of original function is here !
Meanwhile, the biggest problem is that the Reader is a catch-all. Log-in to it or click on any link to it and the Reader opens in the current Tab, then there is no way to the better Dashboard except via the “My-Sites” blue Mobile orientated User Interface. This approach solves that.
Note 1 : You can choose to Right-Click on any link and, from the pop-up menu, you can select “Open Link in new tab”. You might then need to select that Tab. A similar approach for Apple Mac.
Note 2: Everything here opens in a new Tab. Note:3 The “Refresh” button is usually found to the right of the address bar.
With the following approach it is possible to get away with using only one Tab, two Tabs to keep your Notifications Archive available and an occasional extra Tab for use of the Reader and/or Stats. Once one is familiar it becomes a new habit.
- Log-in to the your WP Dashboard:-
https:// {YourBlogName} .com/wp-admin/
You only need to do this once and then can Bookmark/Favourite it for future use. Once you have logged-in, you are automatically logged in to all of your UI pages. You can also log-out from there using the drop-down menu that appears when you hover the mouse pointer over your Gravatar.
- From there you have access to all the usual functions and can Right-Click “View All”, just beneath the graph, to open the better Stats page in a new Tab.
You can return to your Dashboard by closing the Stats Tab. Alternatively clicking on the Dashboard Tab, which keeps the Stats Tab open and saves reloading pages (although you will want to refresh Stats occasionally).
You can also choose a different blog from the drop down list adjacent to the small blue Home icon (top right) on the Stats page. Clicking on the Home icon automatically opens an Admin page in a new Tab.
- If you would like to add your Notifications Archive (the more useful view), open and Bookmark/Favourite the following for future use:-
https://wordpress.com/notifications
There is the option to keep that one extra Tab open for whenever/wherever the little bell lights-up. Just click on the Notifications Tab and refresh the screen.
- To add the Reader, without getting trapped, use the Note 1 tip above, or open and Bookmark/Favourite the following for future use:-
I’ve found that this approach works well but does require a small change of habit. If stuck, then one can always revert to the first Bookmark/Favourite (Dashboard), which you are still logged-in to.
If you would like more direct Links (e.g. My-Stats, older Stats, All Posts, New Post etc), please see:-
https://freedfromtime.wordpress.com/2015/01/27/help-with-wordpress-changes/
With thanks and credit to all those on the forums who initiated the idea.
At this stage, I do not think that these Links and/or this method will be tampered with. That would prove the intent to coerce and be contrary the CEO Matt Mullenweg’s own comments on About WordPress Changes and What We Can Do.
That post is still open for comments on the subject, which can be directed to the post subject or as a direct reply the Mr Mulenweg’s comment. The later, providing an opportunity, perhaps more useful.
Lastly; avoiding the new UI may well be helpful as any clicks to/from the new UI may be used to signify acceptance. The thrust of debate is that it is going to be better, for each endeavour, if the Mobile friendly UI is kept separate from the Desktop friendly UI.
Freed From Time 