I woke up to a strange sight/site this morning: my blog had lost all of my customization. Mercifully, all content seems intact (mental note: don’t forget those backups). I tried changing the background and removing superfluous menu items, but nothing: it’s stuck in its default settings.
At first I thought it had to do with the Chateau theme, but others mentioned similar problems, so it was more widespread than that.
Anyway, this is just a brief note to let you know that I’m aware of this, and as soon as I can get hold of someone on WordPress, I’ll ask for their assistance in sorting it out. In the meantime, it’s business as usual, so read on, leave your comments and I apologize for the inconvenience!
Update:
I have now reapplied my customizations (basically, background, header images and menu), and it works fine. Whatever it was, it seems to have been fixed 🙂
You can read more about the problem on the WordPress Forums, courtesy of Rachel, the Happy Linguist.
As it says there:
“Our team launched a change earlier today that caused problems for customizations you made to your site’s appearance, such as custom header images, custom backgrounds, and custom menus. We’re very sorry for the disruption in your site’s appearance. We fixed that problem, and most sites are now back to normal.
If any of your site’s customizations are still missing, you can open your site’s Customizer and re-save those customizations now.
Please note that if you are previewing the Custom Design features on your site, you will see a message like this in the “Colors & Backgrounds” section of your site’s customizer:
“This feature is a part of the Premium Plan. Purchase to make it live or exit the preview.”
You don’t need to upgrade to Premium to change your site’s background. However, you will need to exit that Custom Design preview before you can save changes to your site’s background color. You can do that with these steps:
- Open your site’s Customizer
- Open the section called “Colors & Backgrounds”
- At the top of that section, look for the text “This feature is a part of the Premium Plan. Purchase to make it live or exit the preview.”
- Click on “exit the preview” to exit the Custom Design preview.
- Open the “Colors & Backgrounds” section again and set the custom background for your site.
- Click “Save & Publish” at the top of the customizer.”
Sue Vincent said:
Mondays….
Hope it sorts itself out, Nick. The content is still here thankfully!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
My feelings exactly. You can imagine my relieved sigh when I realized nothing had been lost 😀
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elsa@serendipity said:
I can imagine that!!! thank God it is all safe …
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Sue Vincent said:
I can… I’d have been crawling up the walls… !
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Chris White said:
I have a similar problem. My site has defaulted to its original header and I can’t restore my custom header. Probably a WP glitch. All the best. Kris.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Interesting to see I’m not the only one. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Chris White said:
Yes. It seems to be a problem n many themes as well.
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/customization-has-reverted-to-default?replies=13#post-2433848
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Many thanks for the link!
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Richard Ankers said:
I’ve seen others saying the same, Nicholas.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Good to know! It means that WP should fix it soon enough. Thanks for that 🙂
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Richard Ankers said:
Welcome, fingers crossed.
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kathyrollinson said:
Nicholas, I hope you sort out your problem.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks, Kathy 🙂
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bhalsop said:
I hope you work it out. You scared me enough that i checked mine. It’s okay, so all systems go in Vermont. Best of luck!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – sorry for the scare 😀
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Helen Jones said:
I have the Hemingway Theme and I’ve lost my header image too – luckily all the other content is there. Haven’t tried to restore the image yet as I’ve just noticed it’s gone! I’ve seen other bloggers saying they have problems too, so it seems to be a WP glitch. Hope they fix it!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Huh, interesting. Let’s hope so 🙂
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Helen Jones said:
Well, I’ve just tried to restore my header image and even though it shows it as being in place and saved on the Customisation page, when I go to the site it’s still the farmland image you get as standard. So I guess whatever the glitch is, they haven’t fixed it yet. Could be worse 🙂 At least all the content is still there. I imagine you’re having the same result when you try to restore your settings too.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Same here, re. the header image 🙂
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Helen Jones said:
Chris Graham had the same problem and, when I commented, advised me to reload my header image at the recommended pixel size. I did that and it seems to have worked (for now). Might be worth a try? xx
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
My images were already the recommended size 😦
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Helen Jones said:
Oh no! Well, I guess that won’t work then. I wonder what WordPress has done, as this seems to be a problem for a lot of people this morning. 😦
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Ali Isaac said:
Oh no! All the work that goes into personalising your site… It’s so important! Hope those happiness engineers get their skates on and sort it out double quick!!!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! I’m sure they will 🙂
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beetleypete said:
It doesn’t happen often, but when WP has a glitch, it tends to be stubborn, hard to sort out, and very irritating as well of course.I trust that it will get sorted for you soon.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Oh dear, not what I wanted to hear 😀
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beetleypete said:
My problem was related to unseen comments, and comments going into spam. It took about a week to rectify at the time. The edit post feature is unreliable too, often clumping all the spacing and paragraphs together.
As your problem is with a theme, it may be sorted by the theme designer.
Fingers crossed for a fast resolution.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’ve had the spacing/paragraph problem on occasion. Glad to hear it’s not just me.
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beetleypete said:
By the way, my header photo has disappeared today, so perhaps the problems are becoming site-wide?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Oh my! It would appear that way 😦
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beetleypete said:
Just logged off, turned the PC on and off, and the header photo reappeared! Strange…
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Indeed!
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julietaharoni said:
Good luck with the problem.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! 🙂
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jlmandrill said:
That’s awful — I hope it rights itself quickly.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Me too 🙂
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philipparees said:
This alerted the urgent need for a rapid XML export of a whole site. So infuriating for you and SO alarming! Sorry.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – first thing I did was just that 😀
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lizgavin said:
I can only imagine your initial moment of panic. Hope they sort it out fast, Nicholas!
Loved the little Dalek btw. I’m a huge Doctor Who fan. Haha
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – same here 😀
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Charles Yallowitz said:
This is a disturbing epidemic. I’ve already seen several people mention this happening. Not sure if all of them had the Chateau theme. Hopefully WordPress fixes this for everyone soon. Maybe they’re having a server or system or whatever issue.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Turns out it’s widespread 🙂
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Chris White said:
Mine came back on again OK. How about you.
Kris
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Cool! Mine not yet, but hopefully it won’t be long 🙂
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Charles Yallowitz said:
Like a zombie virus. 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Braaaains…
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Charles Yallowitz said:
On social media? Where?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – very droll 😀
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Susan P said:
That couldn’t have been pleasant. Hope you get it up and working soon.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks 🙂
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Sue Coletta said:
It’s not just your theme. Mine is gone too. And all the CSS work I did–hours and hours of code–won’t override it. Please tell me what you find. I’m freakin’ out!!!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Chris said some have started recovering. Keep ’em crossed. I’m sure it will be fine soon enough 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I reapplied my customization and it worked!
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Sue Coletta said:
I think I have mine straightened out, but I had to reload the header five times. I’m even more upset because last night had huge stats, and now they’re going to think I have a half black/half white/half multi-color blog. Ugh! They’ll probably never return. More and more a self-hosted site seems like the way to go.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
We come for your great content, Sue. The lovely design is just a bonus 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Mind you, it didn’t happen automatically, as I was hoping. Maybe later, though.
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First Night Design said:
What a nightmare for you. Nevertheless, I’m loving the clean, crisp version as it stands!
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First Night Design said:
It was still showing the white when I made the above comment. Clearly you’ve sorted it out!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – that’s funny. Once I read Chris’ comment, I tried reapplying my customization. This time, it worked just fine. Although the clean version wasn’t too bad, either. I just find the white a bit harsh on the eye, which is why I use a subtle background.
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First Night Design said:
I don’t find the white harsh at all! I find it soothing and anything else too ‘busy’ on the eye. Hey ho!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m probably a little photophobic. Comes with staring at a monitor all day ling 🙂
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Jan Hawke said:
Awww – poor Dalek! Hope they sort it soon Nick 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks, Jan! I just reapplied my customizations, and it’s back to normal. In fact, I was just updating the post 🙂
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Elle Knowles said:
As far as I can tell on my phone this morning I am still up and running as usual – knock on wood! Hopefully, the same runs true when I get to my computer. ~ Elle
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Glad you dodged that bullet 🙂
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Valerie Dickenson said:
Glad there was no lasting damage, I look forward to reading your blog.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
That’s so sweet of you; thank you! 🙂
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macjam47 said:
Nicholas, the same thing happened to me a couple of days ago. WP wouldn’t let me reset the customization, so I closed out and reopened it. I did this a couple of times, and it finally all came back. I thought it was just a glitch.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Huh. How odd!
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macjam47 said:
No Nicholas, not odd. When anything strange happens on my computer it is time for a serious breakdown. I have called my computer, software programs, internet connection, etc. words you have NEVER heard.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – I used to do that when driving. I must be mellowing in my old age though – or probably just driving less 😀
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M T McGuire said:
It all looks OK to me. Hope you get it fixed, anyway.
Cheers
MTM
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! Yes, I think it’s fine now 🙂
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noelleg44 said:
Clearly, you are more than digitally competent. As a digital immigrant, I think I have reached the end of my learning curve and now just call my son-in-law to take over my computer and fix it!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – I need a son-in-law 😀
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utahrob said:
My reader was doing this flashing thing the other day, but it went away on its own. Glad you’re back up.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Me too 😀
WP’s been mucking about the reader for a while now. I think I like the old one better.
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shehannemoore said:
Word press changed their readers and the slagging they’ve had , you think they’d put the old mode back. I cannot work the new mode. I can’t find drafts after I’ve written them But fortunately I once saved an old mode post to my favs so I just go in that way. There’s been a ton of probs with wordpress lately
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Ah, now there’s a thought… Just favorite one of the old posts!
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shehannemoore said:
I think I had saved a version I was editing.
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Kylie Betzner said:
Sorry to hear that, Nick. Glad you’re back up! From my end, your page looks great!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Good to know! Thanks 🙂
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familyrulesbyplainjane said:
I am sorry to “like” a post in which you tell of your distress. But…any post featuring a picture of a Dalek deserves at least a like 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – absolutely true 😀
That’s the problem with Like, isn’t it? We use to convey so many emotions, sympathy being one of the main ones 🙂
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D. Wallace Peach said:
I think I would have had a heart attack. Glad your back in the game 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Me too 😀
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shehannemoore said:
I think there’s been a lot of probs lately for some wortdpress users/ At least you got it sorted
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Yes, thank goodness. Although I’ve been meaning to move the blog for ages, so this is just a reminder I should just do that 🙂
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dgkaye said:
Nich, read the story ape’s blog on this, he has suggestions. Apparently wordpress’ latest update hit many blogs. 😦
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Many thanks for the tip! I’ve already fixed it, but am curious to find out more about it. Heading over now 🙂
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dgkaye said:
Happy to help. 🙂
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Tara Sparling said:
Same thing happened to me yesterday, Nicholas! But I managed to fix it through the very latest in high-brow quantum technology.
What you do is, attempt twice to fix your header image; fail each time; google the problem to see if anyone else has it; make coffee; do some real work; forget about WordPress; remember you had a problem; try to fix your header image again; sigh; and notice that your customisations are, in fact, back where they were. It’s very complicated, but I can talk you through it if it happens again. You’re welcome.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Wow, I bow to the mistress of tech support! Where were you all my life??
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Tara Sparling said:
Need you ask? Making the tea, before I broke free of the misogynistic shackles of my forefathers. Etc.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Good for you, love. All that shackle-breaking is pretty impressive. You know, for a woman :b
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Tara Sparling said:
Touché 😉
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cav12 said:
I wonder sometimes why WordPress needs to make so many changes. So of the upgrades are great, others meh.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I know what you mean. I still prefer the old Stats and Posts page. Sigh…
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cav12 said:
Me too!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
On the other hand, the comments are much better now 🙂
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Problems With Infinity said:
Ahh! That would be terrifying if everything were missing! I have only a few modifications to my theme, but I would hate to have to redo all of them. That reminds me, I should probably make a more recent backup 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Hey hey, good to see you here 🙂
To anyone not familiar with Sarah, she’s the brains (and paint-smeared fingers) behind the hilarious Problems with Infinity – one of the funniest blogs I’ve ever seen. Definitely worth visiting.
Indeed. There’s no such thing as a too-recent backup 🙂
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