Known Problems in Public Website WordPress

Problem

On certain screens at certain resolutions and magnifications, the elements in the edit screen in WordPress appear to slightly vibrate. This happens inconsistently, is independent on browser use, and may not happen on every page that a user works on.

The vibration is associated with the user being unable to get the Insert/Edit Link tool to work properly.

Cause

The problem is related to the math the browser is doing behind the scenes to render the page. WordPress itself is responsive, meaning that it resizes its elements and menus based on the screen/window size. This is usually useful! However, in this case some combination of elements (as yet unidentified) in an edit page cause a “content jumping” error, meaning that the browser is trying to render the elements at two different sizes only one pixel different. This attempt is why the elements jiggle or vibrate back and forth, they’re trying to settle into the correct size for the screen but are being given conflicting instructions by the styling of the page. This constant “resetting” of the screen size is also why the link tool doesn’t work – the focus on it is also being constantly reset.

Workaround

Resize the window or use the zoom in or out functions (Ctrl-+ or Control–) to slightly resize the screen. Once it’s at a resolution/size where there is no longer problematic math for the styling, the vibration will stop and the page will work as intended.

Problem

When more than one of the listed panels (below) is used on same page (including more than one of the same panel), the displayed “Filter” tool on the page only works for the first list.

Panels affected:

• Flexible Learning Courses Listing
• Programs Listing
• Program Availability

Cause

All of these panels add a “Filter” tool at the top of the resulting list, which allows users to type to filter the resulting list.

Because all of these panels use the same javascript to make the filter work, only the first one on a page will work. All subsequent panels will display the filter, but typing will not work to filter the list below them.

Solution

Only use one of these panels on a page.

Problem

You’re editing a page (or a revision of a page) with content in an Accordion panel. You may make various edits, or not, or click to different rows, or not, preview, or not. At some point, you realize (either by previewing or by clicking through the rows themselves) that the content in a row has been duplicated to all subsequent rows.

Cause

We don’t know! This problem happens very rarely (there are sometimes months between instances) and we have been unable to replicate it on demand. As a result, we don’t know why it’s happening or how to fix it.

Workaround

Although it appears that the content has been replaced, this is not yet saved as a revision in WordPress (unless you’ve unknowingly already saved it accidentally), which means that it’s possible to go back to the correct version of the content with a little bit of trickery.

Important: Do not save a current draft prior to doing this.

To trick WordPress into giving you the correct version of your content back:

1. Click the Browse link in the Publish sidebar, next to the list of current revisions.
2. Click the Previous button to navigate to the previous revision and click the Restore this Revision button. You’ll be taken back to the Edit page.
3. Again, click the Browse link in the Publish sidebar, next to the list of current revisions.
4. Click the Previous button to navigate to the previous revision and click the Restore this Revision button.

Check your content. It should be restored to the correct version, without the replicated row content in your Accordion panel.