There have been reports so far from two bloggers involving three blogs that after upgrading to WordPress 3.3.1 the checkbox for the GrowMap anti-spambot plugin (G.A.S.P.) goes missing.
Blogs affected so far are all using the FREE version –
not CommentLuv Premium.
Bloggers using CommentLuv Premium who have upgraded to WordPress 3.3.1 including Donna Fontenot’s (@DonnaFontenot) ebusiness coaching blog and Ron Cripps’ (@AffiliateXFiles) MakeItYourRing do NOT have the problem.
Kristi Hines (@Kikolani) – a wonderful person who supports other bloggers and wrote the Ultimate Blog Post Promotion Guide, dropped everything and upgraded a blog using the free version to 3.3.1 to test for issues.
The GASP checkbox was still visible, so the good news is there
is not a major problem with upgrading to WordPress 3.3.1.
The problem was first reported by John Rocheleau on his popular self help thoughts Zen Moments blog. He believes that “for some reason the plugin is not recognizing the presence of java even though the Java works fine on any other site and in Java tests online at sun java, etc.”.
John Lefler also had this issue just after upgrading to WP 3.3.1 on his existing Help for Tinnitus blog and his new Chameleon Lovers blog. Problems on both blogs have now been resolved and I have received no new reports of issues.
WHAT CAUSED THE CHECKBOX TO REAPPEAR?
When John @ZenMoments saw that Andy had uploaded a new version of the plugin, he upgraded to GASP 1.1.1 and his problem was resolved.
GASP MISSING CHECKBOX DIAGNOSIS:
The first thing to ask yourself is have you made any recent changes? Did you upgrade WordPress, change or upgrade your Theme, install any new plugins or update any existing plugins?
Any recent changes are the most likely cause of a new issue.
What to check if your GrowMap antispambot checkbox is not visible:
- Are you logged out of your blog? You can only see it if you are.
- Clear your browser cache and cookies and retry.
- Try different browsers. Sometimes problems occur in one browser and not others: fails in Chrome but not in FireFox or vice versa.
- Ask others to check your blog from different PCs, using different browsers, and using different Internet connections. (You want to eliminate anything your tests have in common to diagnose where the real issue lies.
- Try deactivating and reactivating your GASP plugin.
- If there is a new version of GASP upgrade to it.
- If all else fails, you can delete GASP and then reinstall it – but you may want to check for plugin conflicts first.
PLUGIN CONFLICTS
The most common conflict issues with plugins involve caching plugins and plugins that use javascript (such as the Ajax edit comments plugin and GASP). Any time you upgrade WordPress or any plugin it could potentially affect other plugins.
- Clear wp super cache caches after every upgrade.
- Try disabling plugins starting with those most likely to cause a conflict.
Caching plugins are the place to start. They can be challenging to configure properly so if you make any changes FIRST RECORD EXISTING SETTINGS.
You may want to get assistance with configuring from someone who prefers the Caching plugin you have installed or even temporarily leave it turned off. Sometimes caching plugins cause more issues than the resolve.
WHEN DIAGNOSING ANY TECHNICAL ISSUE:
- Record existing settings, status of plugins, and if you are going to do updates get a fresh backup.
- KEEP A CHANGE LOG – all that means is write down each thing you do in sequence so you can reverse them if necessary – and to share with anyone you end up needing to assist you. THIS IS CRITICAL!
- Do NOT start changing everything all at once – You don’t want to complicate resolution by creating multiple issues where you originally only had one! If something does not fix the issue, change that back and THEN change something else.
YES, you MIGHT need to change more than one thing, but multiple issues are very difficult to diagnose so don’t create them where they do not already exist.
I encourage bloggers to connect with other bloggers in their location
and/or niche so they have a built-in support network for both sharing
your content and testing and resolving any technical issues you have.
If you don’t know any other bloggers yet, do not despair. I will be working hard to put together new formal and information blogging collaborations all throughout the year.
For more details, see Blogging Collaborations and Best Practices
and add your blogs to the Promote Your Blog post.
As always, if you have tips to share or related posts please comment and leave relevant links. Thank you.
