WordPress: WYSIWYG editor missing after upgrade

Posted on September 17, 2009 | Category: CMS, Informational, Wordpress

As the title of this post suggests, after upgrading WordPress from 2.8.3 to 2.8.4 my WYSIWYG editor was missing from the Visual editor. I followed this list of potential fixes and found that the addition of the code below to the top of your wp-config.php was the fix for me.

define( 'CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false );

I need to conduct a bit of research why this actually works before trusting its implementation on one of my sites.

5 Responses to “WordPress: WYSIWYG editor missing after upgrade”

Leanne Boyd Says:
October 8th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Hey there… I am having quite the time with the WP 2.8.4 upgrade, so I googled this mess with the WYSIWYG editor. Your site here was up at the top of the results. IMHO, WP is now playing the Microsoft game of releasing software long before it’s properly tested. My blog is quite a mess. The upgrade did something major, not only to the Editor, but to some of the pages. I have fiddled around for HOURS now, and have gotten my About-Me page and my Blogroll page back to where there is SOMETHING there… but not the original pages. Basically wiped out the “content” on those pages, plus any images…. leaving just the script-run stuff.

I followed what you said here. And yes, that did add back in the tools in the Editor (the top row for importing were already there… but read further… none of the links are working!!!!) … so now, the row of tools (bold, li, ul etc) are back and seem to work at least in the HTML editor. BUT….. NONE of the links on the page work. You cannot edit the published/draft/etc, nor the DATE, or anything!!! And like I said, the links to import images, media, etc, do not LINK/go there.

SO! Once you publish a post on a certain date, it is set in stone.

And the WP support page you mentioned? What useless info. Reinstalling did not do a thing.

And they wonder why people don’t upgrade? I let this go since 2.7.1 … BECAUSE upgrading causes such furor.

The hours and hours spent on this blog. And it is beautifully knit together, custom. And then when the you-know hits the fan when an upgrade comes along, they always manage to make YOU feel like the newbie/dummie. And I would put my 20 years computing, and online since 1994 with business, two advanced online degrees, teaching online and building courses, up against their background, anyday.

The truth is… there needs to be tighter control over a product launched. And there needs to be MUCH tighter control over plugins. These need to have proven backgrounds for compatibility, or a severe warning that it won’t work with any given upgrade.

On this issue? Everything appears to be working in IE. I haven’t played with that side at all, as I use Firefox. But this SEEMS to be a Firefox issue. Again… would it be too much trouble to have some major beta testing in the browsers (ALL), before they release what ends up being a mess?
Leanne Boyd Says:
October 8th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
ps. I just discovered that you CAN use Quick Edit to change date, published status, etc. But the main Editor, those side links are not working. And the “Visual” link at the top of the form is grayed out and not working, and like I mentioned, the 4 upload/insert icon/links are also grayed out and not working. It’s time for them to fix this. Version 2.8.5.
admin Says:
October 8th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Leanne – This problem has caused many issues for people operating WP sites. As I read through your post, I realized that the only site that experienced this problem was a site that I coded and maintain for my employer. It is hosted with Bluehost. I host short of a dozen other websites at my residence, some WP some not, and they have not experienced this problem.

The browser war/difference is interesting. Usually it is the other way around with IE and FF. I cannot offer any other insight to this problem aside from what I mentioned in the first paragraph.

With that said, I hope that you have archives and backups!!!

~Mark
Leanne Boyd Says:
October 10th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Hi Mark and thanks for your reply. I agree that usually it is the other way around … I am a recent, feet-dragging convert to Firefox, specifically for the awesome tools it offers. Well, so does IE, but after a couple decades with IE, it was time to take on the contender. Actually started with Mac and Netscape, and really thought, up to about 1998, that they would win. But then they employed a bunch of junque (that Firefox is continuing in the tradition) that ZAPPED most of the abilities with Javacript and early forms of DHTML. I’d spent most of an academic career, and a couple of “big boy” webbie positions that were based in my early abilities in “interaction” and “multimedia” and etc…. still online in various places, and still NOW won’t work in the very environment I built them in. I have no pity for Netscape.

I still haven’t had time to open my blog in IE and see the level, if any, of damage by WP 2.8.4. I went there long enough to see that the wysiwyg editor had all its tools intact.

Why did I hang in with IE so long? You know? I am one of those “color coordinated” freaks. And have raised two girls who, by age of two, HAD to have everything in their life, very color coordinated. So I think this is an element of DNA. lol. And I LOVE IE’s ability to color coodinate the darned scrollbar! Which is a waste of effort with FF. So, again, it falls back to a LACK in the Mozilla environment for many of the “fun stuff” things that are available.

If you go to my main site, http://www.1WebDiva.com, you will note a couple of things right off…. oh, go there in FF. First, the DIVs do not line up, so the primary logo is a mess. And of course, no color coordinated scrollbar. And other things out of line by about 6 or 7 pixels. Infuriating.

You will also see a small icon, top left, of the FF logo with the “NO” insignia of red circle and bar. There, if you click, was my “take” on the FF “mess.” And although I still hold with most of it, my redhead ire got the best of me, and about 6 mos. ago, I switched to about 90% living and developing/designing in FF. I am bound and determined to “win this war.”

This with WP 2.8.4 threw me for a loop. For now, I’ve gotten the few pages back into a semblance of order. I intend to soundly ignore the whole thing, and wait for WP to listen to the crowds, and FIX IT. And I won’t be upgrading the blog very quickly, going forward.

I am a WP fanatic. Intend to put up ALL future sites with a WP base. I believe in it, that much. But like all things Internet… wow, there is NO such thing as perfection. Pretty hard for this Type A gal
Jeremy Says:
June 11th, 2010 at 11:09 am
Thank you soooooooo much. I have spent the better part of two days looking for a solution and this worked on both my implementations that use WordPress 2.9.2.