Orphaned media attachments after WP.com move that I cannot reattach

Okay, four days is enough waiting time for any response from AlienWP.

I’ve chosen another theme with a stronger support response and I will not be using Griden/alienwp.com as a theme developer again.

At this writing, the developer’s last response to any question was 40 days ago.

Theme author should not be held responsible for issue of site transfer.

Also, this topic is written directly to the theme author, that’s probably the reason why no other forum volunteers would jump in and help solving the problem.

I’m sure that if the post were not direct to someone in particular, some of us here would be able to provide help.

Dear Paulwpxp,

Thank you so much for your prompt reply and your thorough response.

In regards to the unattached media, the issues with the attachments took place after I completed my transfer, and continued when I began to create posts on my new site.

I initially called my web hosting company because I assumed this problem had something to do with my own configuration (which is thoroughly possible because I am an idiot when it comes to code.)

Video embeds were also coming out oddly sized no matter the configuration, so the web host folks suggested that I contact the theme creator about this embed/media sizing override in the .php framework (more on that in the minute.)

The web host folks were concerned because this did not seem to be a database problem.

In addition, the web hosts folks found something that seemed odd in the configuration of the functions.php of Origin, which happens to have a size override in the code that changes the default sizes for all media attachments and oEmbeds in full widths. (I hope I am saying this correctly. Please do keep in mind that I am an idiot.)

It was their suggestion that I contact the theme creator because the problems seemed consistent enough to merit a question about the code.

When I wrote this question, what I most wanted to know from the theme creator had to do with that specific section of code in the functions.php, which would fall under the theme creator’s purview. And, as I said, I specifically wrote him at the behest of my hosting company.

I realize now that I was unclear in my initial line of questioning, and I am sorry that my frustration got the better of me.

Technically, my transfer from WordPress.com framework to .org took place without a glitch— in no small part to having access to the comprehensive discussions on the www.remarpro.com forums facilitated by people like yourself.

I will make sure to triple-check where I ought to post my questions in the future. And I will have questions because —ohmygosh—I have no idea of what I am doing.

Thanks again for responding so quickly, Paulwxp.

Best wishes,

Courtenay Bluebird.

Video:

The “oddly sized” you refered to is how ? Do you mean it expands to full width and you can not swipe to navigate when viewed in iphone ?

Image:

Assuming you moved using WP import/export, if done properly, the attachment will still be attached to its parent. Even if it’s not, for whatever reason, you could still attach the unattached via WP media.

Dear Paulwpxp,

A few more notes: Since I am such a technical idiot, I had to re-upload my entire site, from scratch, from the original wordpress.com site, at least three times in a two-week period. These were supervised-by-my-webhost moves because I tried doing it by myself, but had no idea that the WP .xml file was too large for the standard upload size. Then, I proceeded to trash it once it was uploaded, repeatedly. I had to start from a clean database each time. As I said before, I am an absolute idiot in all of these matters— but I am trying to learn as quickly and as efficiently as I can, to the best of my ability.

Video: Please excuse my unclear language. “Oddly sized” as in the videos were showing up in random larger sizes when viewed on a mobile phone after installing Origin. When clicked, the videos did open properly, at the right size, into another screen with stop, start and pause buttons. However, the look of the videos in post-view themselves had no apparent rhyme or reason except that they were larger than they ought to have been, or compressed oddly so that the top and the bottom had huge black letterbox bars.

I tried turning removing and reinstalling Jetpack; I tried deleting and re-uploading Origin: I tried re-uploading the current www.remarpro.com framework. I attempted these three items at least three times in addition to my three fresh starts (complete with database erasing!) On WP.com, I was using the old video embed code, but after the transfer it didn’t seem to be a problem in the Twenty Eleven or Twenty Twelve themes that I used when I first uploaded my site. (Please remember— I had to upload my site from an original WP.com .xml at least three times in two weeks.)

Photos: The attachments were still attached when I initially uploaded them (three different times) into the standard theme that comes with the www.remarpro.com framework. There was nothing odd about the images, nor did there seem to be anything odd about the upload (esp. given the fact that I had to do it more than once because of my own digital idiocy.) What was especially odd is that any new photo files I’ve added also became unattached while I’ve been using Origin. (I’ve been reattaching images by hand, but there are over 600 images on my site. This will take some doing.)

Videos: My original videos were fine as well. Once I changed over to Origin is when all of my media seemed to become wonky (e.g.— unattached media, e.g. video mobile issues.) One of the contributing factors may be that I was using the old embed codes for videos up until, and just after, my move. However, once I started using the proper oEmbed codes, this change did not seem to produce any difference in the arbitrary oversizing. (Once again, I’ve got over 500 video embeds on my site. I am going through them one-by-one to change them to the current oEmbed settings.)

(An aside: My new problem is that the full RSS feed (no shorted links) will not show any embedded videos at all now. I am not sure how often RSS feeds refresh, so I’m trying to sort that out now.)

Possible Solution: As for my hypothetical original problem with the Origin theme, here’s what I’ve done: I have reinstalled WP again and I have moved to a different theme.

What I am considering doing now is this: I have two or three remaining emergency backup .XMLs of my original site. What I might try to save all recent posts elsewhere and re-upload my site one more time.

The only reason I am loathe to do it is that I keep losing recent comments from my friends and readers. This choice would kind of stink because my readership is already pretty thrown by the general rockiness of the move.

I hate to say it, but while the move was fine (all three or more times), it’s been an awfully funky settling-in period for me, Paulwxp. But, I am learning a great deal, which is good— and it’s an upside I can most certainly attribute to reading threads managed by forum mods such as yourself.

I look forward to your response as well as your suggestions on this matter.

Best wishes,

Courtenay Bluebird.

Thanks for sharing more details.

It’s pretty clear that this has nothing to do with theme. There is no code in the theme that can make attached image become unattached.

If not already yet, I would suggest posting this over at WP.com forum or contact the support directly. They are the right people for this, the transfer issue and the Jetpack side of thing.

Also, considering the amount of your site content, it’s worth buying the “Guided Transfer” option. But if you prefer to do it yourself, still you could contact the support and ask for helpful information.