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.
Gail Gardner
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Hey Gail,
My nephew just installed his first blog last month and he’s on Genesis. I installed GASP on his blog and he has hardly any plugins and so far I’m being told that on Chrome and Safari that they can’t see the checkbox. They’ve sent me screenshots too so sure enough, they’re right.
It’s a brand new blog so everything is with the current versions. I asked them to clear their cache but that didn’t help and we don’t have a caching plugin installed. Not yet, I mean it’s brand new.
Do you have any other suggestions I might try? The other issue I have is the check box is above the wording saying that you need to check the box so people are having a hard time finding it too. It’s really weird.
Hope there have been recent developments since this post.
~Adrienne
Adrienne would love you to read ..Inside Scoop On A Really Cool New Blog
Hi Adrienne,
Andy @CommentLuv actually created GASP so since I know you know what you’re doing the best way to diagnose it is to open a support ticket at https://commentluv.zendesk.com/anonymous_requests/new
That is strange as this blog and many others are on Genesis. Maybe it is the particular child theme he is using? The fastest way to contact me is Skype (username growmap). I can often get someone more technical than I am to lend a hand.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..How to Get Recommended: Recommendations ARE WHAT WORKS to Grow Your Small Business or Blog
Hey Gail,
I had a friend look at it and it has to do with Genesis theme and their coding. There is a specific code that needs to be changed so I’ve contacted the creator of that theme and he’s going to send an updated version.
Thanks though, at least we now know it’s probably their theme if they’ve done everything else.
~Adrienne
Adrienne would love you to read ..Inside Scoop On A Really Cool New Blog
Thanks for the update, Adrienne. Every issue I’ve ever seen with GASP not working immediately has been a theme issue, but usually free themes that are poorly coded. Had not seen that with a Genesis based theme before. Marj and Josh say there is a great variety of quality between specific child themes, so bloggers should choose wisely.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Bloggers Hiring Bloggers: Kinds of Work You Outsource or Get Hired to Do
Thanks for the heads-up! I was just about to upgrade WordPress so it’s nice to know what problems I might encounter.
Thanks for looking into this; I too was having trouble after the upgrade and up until this point, was unable to find anything. I think it may be time to upgrade to the Premium version though to forgo any future headaches.
Thanks for the post about the fix. GASP is one of my favorite plugin after commentluv.
I did have some problems with the plugin on my old site (it was invisible for some reason; it didn’t work). But, now it is working fine for my new site. I think it was some kind of plugin conflict or something (so I had to use Akismet instead of G.A.S.P on my old blog).
Glad that you wrote this post too. I will surely contact you if I have any issues in the future (I should have done that with my other blog; I regret the mistake).
Thank you,
Jeevan Jacob John
Jeevanjacobjohn would love you to read ..Are you going to write an eBook?
this sounds a brilliant pluggin, i so hate it when when plugins clash with each other, do others have the same problem?
I always used this plugin and never got any problems still this plugin is great
WordPress updated is really confusing. Though the new plugin I think is good. This anti spam bots tool will help a lot, especially will eliminate spammers!
well, i didn’t face that problem still updated my gasp. and thanks for the quick action for the problem.
It really gets my goat when plugins clash with each other – and I’m happy to have found your blog here to help me with these issues. Just a relative newcomer in Australia working on a Sport related wordpress sits. I’m too afraid to upgrade to the v3…. wordpress software for compatibility reasons ;(
Jock would love you to read ..Jock’s Locks for 2012 #6 – Nick Riewoldt
This plug in looks good, I think i wanted some plugin like this for my blog. Being new to the blogging and managing things online, iwould like to ask you a small question, i have been suing Akismet, Is this GASP a good replacement for Akismet?
J Armstrong would love you to read ..Conservatory quote
Even I was confused with the WordPress 3.3.1 version when I saw GASP has disappeared. It is very important for security of our WP login. But after reading your post it relieved me. You have explained all the concepts in a well structered way. I followed your instructions and was relaxed! Thanks for sharing it!
Upgrading WordPress and GASP still will be present is the good news. GASP and WordPress really make wonders when combined. The new version of WordPress would not be that much beneficial if GASP disappears from it. Thanks for informative post!
This is a bit strange, I haven’t face any problems with GASP during update, or probably I have update when there was already fix.
I just have to say that GrowMap Anti-Spambot Plugin, when combined with the kind of support that Gail and Andy provide if things go wrong (even when it is not the fault of the plugin), is a dream combination for any WordPress blogger.
A simple and efficient WordPress anti-spam plugin supported by caring and responsive people, is just about as good as it gets.
A big thank you to Gail and Andy. That inspires me to look more closely into CommentLuv Premium, which includes GASP 🙂
Cheers,
John
John Rocheleau would love you to read ..In True Love We Trust and Give Space
Technically challenged people find your site the Bible. These are the words my friend Manuel, who is also technically challenged told me. I was also a technically challenged and must agree that he was right. Your ability to explain clearly and in detail the entire working of the online world is very encouraging. Here again too with the spam prevention software you have managed to do the same thing. I would like to say a big thank you and God bless to you for it.
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That is true. As an author and business man, I can relate to how you said, “The first thing to ask yourself is have you made any recent changes? “. I hope more people discover your blog because you really know what you’re talking about. Can’t wait to read more from you!
Thanks for explaining information clearly and in a way which you have choose here, so easy that even an absolute beginner as I can understand without feeling overwhelmed by the dark terminology of experts. I’ve really learned from browsing your blog & reading post.