I haven’t written in my travel blog since before Word Press switched to Jet Pack for its mobile platform. I am unable to create various photo layouts (gallery, slideshow, etc) using the Jet Pack app on my iPad. I can create them using the website with my laptop, but I’ll only have my iPad when I travel. I had no trouble with creating displays on my iPad prior to Jet Pack. jet Pack tech support (AI) keeps telling me to go into my settings and do various things with plugins. But my settings in JetPack don’t show plugins. Similarly it tells me to change various settings within the writing setting, but those settings aren’t showing up in the writing setting tab. I tried installing the app on a different iPad but continue to have the same problem with the settings not showing up. The jet pack tech support pages say I should be able to create the various displays using the icons on my tool bar, but the specific icons (for gallery, etc) aren’t showing up on my toolbar. It’s impossible to talk with a human at Jet Pack….just an endless circle always returning me to the tech support bot. I tried talking with live support on Word Press, but the person I spoke to didn’t seem to know much about Jet pack and finally told me what I wanted to do couldn’t be done and I’d need to create my blogs using the website. That doesn’t make any sense. Has anyone else had this problem….or because yet found a solution? Thanks!
Posted by
Los Angeles
666 posts
I manage a WordPress site on my desktop, so no experience with the app. However, it appears that the original WordPress app is still supported:
https://wordpress.com/blog/2023/02/15/switch-to-the-new-jetpack-mobile-app/
Did you try downloading the WordPress app again and using it? Maybe Uninstall the Jetpack app first?
Posted by
OP
Ithaca, NY, USA
671 posts
Thanks for the suggestion, markcw. I did re-install the Word Press app, but am experiencing most of the same challenges— I can upload photos but am limited in how much I can rearrange them, and am unable to create slideshows or other displays I’ve used in the past.
After more time in the chat bot circle of hell, I’ve tried contacting Wordpress tech support. Their bot was slightly nicer than JetPacks but still couldn’t help me and suggested I contact JetPack customer support. Aargh. I’ve sent them an email and am hoping I might reach a real human that way.
In the meantime if anyone else has had this issue and solved it, I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
I also run a WordPress site for my personal blog. I have not had the same issue that you describe, but have had pretty good luck reaching a live human (via chat) when I ran into other issues (not that the level of technical expertise the agent exhibited was very high, but at least they were responsive, live and human, which is about all one can expect these days). Have you tried their support forums and chat options?
Then again I manage my site 100% from a desktop computer, not a mobile device (my site works for consumption on phones/tablets, but since it's heavy with large photos and uses a customized theme, I'd never expect its content to be manageable on a phone or tablet).
Backup (twice...), then wipe clean, then reinstall from your backup...always a time-consuming, inconvenient PITA but often does solve many technical issues. Good luck.
(Note to self: backup the blog...)
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2344 posts
I have an Android device so not going to be much help, but have you looked at the reviews of the app on the Apple App Store? Sometimes people complain about things that are similar to your situation or provide better clues about how to contact tech support. Also make sure you have the minimum version of iOS required to run the app. Not sure that will help but worth a shot maybe.
I will say the transition to Jet Pack took a bit of learning for me, it wasn't smooth transition but I don't do complicated things. Also, worst case scenario, try setting up some draft pages on your desktop with the photo layouts you like to use pre-populated (you can change the photos later) then see if you can access to them on your iPad. I often set up dummy placeholder pages so I have less work to do on the road. Good luck!
Posted by
OP
Ithaca, NY, USA
671 posts
David, I’ve had decent experiences with WordPress support in the past, but they seem to know little about this because it’s a JetPack issue. And it’s impossible to reach a real live human at JetPack. Like you, I have no trouble creating various displays on my laptop. But the iPad is another story. Which is super frustrating because it was relatively easy to do in the past.
CL — thanks for the suggestion of creating dummy posts with various photo displays. I’m going to try doing that on my PC ahead of the trip, saving them as drafts, and then swapping out the photos and text later. I’m really hoping I hear from them and there’s actually a fix, but if not this is a good fallback.
Thanks!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
Ruth, all I can suggest is what has worked for me. Last time I was experiencing whacky glitchy stuff, it was just one "post" (albeit, a long, full-of-big-photos one). I simply scooped up and copied all the content from that post (copying the unformatted raw HTML code, not the WordPress default view that hides all the formatting and other code), created a new post, and pasted in all the code to the new "container", saved the new (replacement) post, deleted the old (bad) post, and things worked fine. No guarantees, but maybe worth a shot if you haven't tried that sequence.
I'll admit that WordPress makes it easy to get started and produce something that looks pretty slick. But once your site grows and you want to customize things beyond the canned designs, I've found that over time it gets harder and harder to manage, because (I suspect) so much is "hidden" from users (to keep it simple and keep people from meddling in the code), so you kind of lose control and things can go sideways. I can only imagine the spaghetti-code inside some users' sites that they have had for many years and just keep squeezing more content into. A recipe for disaster waiting for many longtime users when their site finally breaks.
I wish there was a more professional-level/prosumer level tool widely available that offered most of the ease and feature set, but without so many "training wheels" and limitations (if anyone knows of one, please send me a PM). I don't mind learning new tools/systems, but the juice has to be worth the squeeze. Good luck with yours.