Hi Folks,
Piglet is having a strop!
Yesterday, I noticed my “subscribe by email” button had disappeared and the words “Sign me up by email” replaced by a rather insignificant blue circle with a white cross. Being a bit of a techie-muppet I immediately thought I had inadvertently twiddled with something and broken it! Unable to discover the cause, I slept on the problem overnight, as you do, and hoped it would rectify itself by this morning.
No such luck. So much for positive thought.
After pondering as to the cause for a further hour and still totally mystified I logged out of my WordPress account and pressed the blue button.
Ha HA, only when you select this button do the words:
“Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.” then appear. it also tells the world the number of subscribers you have to your blog.
Has the world gone “social media” button mad? How many ordinary people would actually know they had to use this button to subscribe by email? Is it just me who objects to this change or should we as bloggers be at least given the choice?
Please WordPress can we at least have the old-fashioned option?
After wasting time trying to resolve a problem I did not create I discovered this post on the word press forum:
http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/email-subscription-button?replies=8#post-684836
OK Rant over!
Piglet in Portugal 
With help from PIP, i made this post with information about the ” follow button ” and ” my subscriptions button.”
I hope it helps people understand whats going on with the buttons.
http://dribblingpensioner.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/wordpress-subscription-button/
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Thank you pip thats some thing i have learnt, now i’ll play around with them 🙂
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You are back in and thank you, WP members do not need to put their address in they just click subscribe, the wording is for outsiders, but i put a new widget in to make it the same as yours, i changed the other myself.
The problem is i cannot find where to unsubscribe as i always thought you could not.
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Hi DP,
I received a subscription confirmation only when I entered my email address.
Ponderous..
To unsubscribe from a wordpress blog
View the wordpress blog in question
then look at the grey toolbar at the top of the page and you will see various buttons.
Me,
Blogs
Info
Follow (if you are not subscribed to the wordpress blog)
or Unfollow if you are.
Like
New
etc etc
There is also a manage your subscriptions tab on your dashboard. Where you can view all the blogs you are subscribed to. However, I was 30mins trying to view this last night and gave up. That is when I remembered the other option as above.
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No, you are missing from my list, but i have found out i’m not the only one with the button and counter not working, i have put in a compliant about this anyone else want to complain about the button here is the link.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/
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OK, I’ve just revisited your blog and added my email to the subcribe box.
My signup is worded differently to yours.
My subscribe box reads
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications
(I take it you have to enter your email) then press sign me up button. Otherwise what email address will people have? If it is another wordrpress blogger you can just press the “follow” button on the grey toolbar at the top of the page and I “assume” dangerous I know LOL that it will pick up your address used for wordpress.
You don’t ask people to do this.
I’ve now entered my email – have I now subscribed? If so this is the problem and you just need to change your wording.
Ponderous
PiP
Please could you unsbubscribe to my blog, enter your email address in the box and then press the signup button.
We can then test the theory
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The problem with this new ” stupid ” button is if you go to another site it will not say if you are subscribed or not. And yesterday someone subscribed to my site and the button did not work, so its still a failure as far as i can see.
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Hi DP, I will have to test this. I will unsubscribe from your blog later and then subscribe again using the new method.
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Let’s know when its done and let you know how it turned out.
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Hi DP I’ve just unfollowed your blog. But could only do this from your web page as my subscriptions info would not load. Not sure if it works that way, but we will now see.
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I’m often baffled when wordpress make some alteration to the way the sites work, and end up floundaring and wondering whats happened. I’m glad I’m not on my own
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Hi counting ducks, you are definately not on your own. 🙂 LOL
For the most part I’ve found WordPress to be pretty good, but I can’t follow the logic behind this change.
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Now they tell everyone how many followers you have – WHAT – Why do they do that????????????
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I can’t see the number of followers you have…did you delete this?
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You can remove the number if you wish.
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I wonder if it is a good or bad to show the number of subscribers…anyone have any thoughts on this?
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It has been changed again, what is going on, or are they just trying different things out.
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Hi DP,
Perhaps they did take notice of all our rants plus the tweets on Twitter!
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I discovered this weedy little button this morning when I tried to suscribe to a new blog. I’m with you and most of the others here, it’s not very good is it? it really annoys me when internet stuff gets changed without any warning, like my msn for instance which seems to think it owns my inbox (which it probably does really) and decides what mail I want to read. it bugs me too when adverts start appearing on things based on what i’ve been reading or looking at – too much big brother and I feel like i’m being watched and not being consulted. Have we no choice anymore? Now I’m ranting….
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@ nuggetsandpearls, that is one of the reasons i left msn chamges over this past years , its gone downhill, you can’t miss my follow button 🙂
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Thanks DP (what a cracking name you’ve got there..) I agree but have had my msn account for so long I feel obliged to stick with it. I shall check out your follow button…
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There’s a new violation of our freedom on the internet called the “filter bubble”—it’s personalized search information displayed to the user by major websites, gathered by analyzing what the user searches for. Many major brands such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Huffington Post, etc., employ filter bubbles with the user’s personal information, giving users less control over what they see rather than more. All this does is decrease exposure to alternative viewpoints and continually reinforces what the user already believes. I see it in use on my homepage—and didn’t ask for it. There is an anti-filter bubble movement, thank goodness, but don’t expect much. They’re watching us all.
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Hi Find and outlet. That’s scary. Do you have a link to this movement, please?
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I just googled “filter bubble” and got 33 million hits, it’s even on Wikipedia. I don’t think there’s anything regular folks like us can do about it. All major websites use it now, it just feeds you what it thinks you want to hear, buy, believe, etc. They use technology to keep track of everything you click on. It’s dangerous and scary to have your homepage, ads, news articles, etc., personalized for you when you didn’t ask for it. It’s one more step to dumbing the world down.
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I went on an Expat forum last night and the Google banner ad was displaying an Asian girls chat and dateline!
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Hi NandP,
I get cross with YAhoo. They are so busy downloading adverts, it now takes ages for me to check my mail. Think I might change my private email to gmail.
While we are having a rant anyone else fed up with Yahoo and adverts?
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Nooooooooo PiP don’t change to Gmail, it’s worse! I have a Gmail account for my business and the ads are always relevant to the content of the emails. Clearly I’m not the only one reading them. We are not alone…. Have we opened up a can of worms here? I think you should do another blog so we don’t go off your initial subject, but there’s plenty of food for thought here about how we are being controlled by big brother (only my opinion, of course!).
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Hi NandP,
I replied below 🙂
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@ nuggetsandpearls, I thought hard and long over the name 🙂 always happy to help a blonde, btw, there are blonde jokes in my blog 🙂
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What an annoying change… Why mess with a standard English word that everyone gets…? Follow is so vague and irrelevant that most no WP people will ignore it. I have added my voice to the long list of bloggers requesting a return to the old format. Oy vey! 😦
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Hey EO looks like we have a result…well sort of! The email box has been reinstalled!
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It may not take “rocket science” to figure out love- but it certainly takes “rocket science” to figuring out technical technology stuff !!!!! 🙂
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I agree Penny!
I arrived at the internet later in life LOL and I am not the most tech minded person anyway. It’s a challenge to say the least!
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Reading through the forum, it seems no-one is happy about this stupid little button; It’s so small, doesn’t draw your attention to it if anyone is looking to subscribe; it’s insignificant.
If we all write and complain, perhaps WP will take note and give us the option of changing it back.
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Well Barb, just logged on to my blog and now the button has gone but they are now displaying number of subscribers!
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I remember wondering when I subscribed if it had in fact worked.
x
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If you did you will get e-mails about posts, no e-mails means you did not.
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Hi Lyn,
Yes, just checked you have subscribed 🙂
Thank you!
PiP
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They have never listened in the past way should they change.
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I agree Pip, we should be able to have the choice. WordPress is sometimes too helpful on their tinkering around with the features.
I hope they listen to you and give the option back.
🙂
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My motto is “If it ain’t broken why try and fix it”
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I’m sorry you’re having this problem, PiP. You and I have discussed WordPress before. I find it incredibly difficult.
@dribblingpensioner LOVE your clever new instructions!
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Thorny Rose thank you for that, i hope everyone use’s something like it 🙂
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Hi TR,
This is the first time I have really had cause to complain about WordPress.
Great shame!
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Good rant, PiP! I read through the forum comments and it appears that people are rather unanimous about NOT liking the new button.
I put links to the thread on the WP Daily Post since it appears that no one is “moderating” the discussion on behalf of WP.
It will be interesting to see what happens as the result of the outcry . . .
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Excellent Nancy!
I am going to post a complaint everyday on the daily prompt when it comes through and complain. As you can tell I’m absolutely tamping! Many of my subscribers are by email!
grrrrrrrr
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I changed my subscribe title so that people know what its for, let me know what you think.
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how do you do that?
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Jo, go to the subscribe widget and delete everything and save.
The top one is the title so write what you want in there, the bottom one is the blue button write in there and save.
Any problems come back.
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I hate it! Thanks for forum info, I added my two cents as well. Please let WordPress know! Many of us are not on Facebook or Twitter, we just want to write, which is why we have a BLOG!
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Well said FanO! Facebook is a waste of space anyway
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I’m with you both, facebook, twitter, why would anyone waste their time on them.
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Hi DP
Your tweets used to be picked up in the search engines apparently this is no longer the case.
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A good rant 🙂 wordpress have made a few changes over the years people do not like but have not changed them back, so i think we are all stuck with it.
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Hi DP it’s good to let off steam. Perhpas, if enough of us complain and take issue, they will change it back again. I can’t see the benefit of this change.
Lets all make a post everyday on the daily post announcement and complain!
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Eww yukky! It looks very small and insignificant now. I do not like. WP is not Facebook. We have subscribers not followers. This is nothing more than media trends gone mad. WP should know they don’t need to adopt other social network gimmicks. I’ve just been through the forums and plenty of people are complaining, and right so. Maybe WP will change it back. And then maybe buffalo will grow wings and fly!
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Perhaps if everyone wrote a complaint on the daily post they may get the message. What do you think?
You are right, WP is not FB. However, first I learn tags are only picked up on WordPress not google and now this. Jeezh
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HI PIP,
I have been unablet to see my fellow bloggers posts under the follow tab on my blog. I am womdering if this change of the button is WordPress’ way of forcing us to use the email subscription vs the follow button. I have reported my trouble but I have not had anyone respond. BTW, I have the new button on my page as well…not sure I would have noticed the change without your post. EnJOY your day!
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I don’t know what they are doing Jeanne, but everyone is not internet savvy and subscribe by email tells the reader exactly what it is! It is a call to action, unlike the “follow”.
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I just discovered mine this morning. I hate it! I’m all for upgrading, but it doesn’t indicate that you can get emails as the posts appear. I hate it!
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I could not believe my eyes when I saw that pathetic little button! I thought I’d broken something!
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I noticed iyter on mine too. WTH? I don’t like it!
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WTH indeed Brenda…I am fuming as so many of my subscribers actually subscribe by email!
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