Text widgets showing up on the wrong pages since WordPress 4.4 update

  • Hi,

    This is a weird one, which I just can’t figure out. I searched the forum, but I can’t find anyone else with the same problem, so I thought I’d ask.

    Since I updated to WordPress 4.4, I can’t create a text widget (the basic kind that you insert your own HTML or text into).

    When I go to Widgets to slot some HTML or text into the sidebar (using the standard ‘Text Widget’ that comes with WordPress) it all looks normal. Then I assign the widget to the new page I created and have a look. The widget I’ve created doesn’t appear. Instead, a random one from somewhere else on the site does.

    Example: I create a widget that says ‘Hello world’. But when I assign it to the page, a widget from somewhere else on the site appears instead, which says: ‘I am something else’. I’ve even seen my logo appear instead of a widget on one occasion, which is odd because that isn’t even a widget as far as I know.

    All I can figure is that the database has gone out of alignment and the ID numbers for my widgets are all jumbled up, but I’ve no idea how to check if I’m right about that.

    It’s worth noting that I’ve only tested this on new pages and creating new widgets for them so far because I daren’t mess with the pages that are still working until I find a fix for it.

    It’s also worth noting that I’m using a Rockettheme theme, so there is a lot of Gantry in the mix.

    I also have a plugin called ‘Widget Areas’ in my Appearance menu, but I don’t think I’ve ever used it. If I have, it’s empty right now. Here’s a weird thing though, I tried to deactivate that plugin, but it’s not in my list of plugins. It’s also not my plugins folder, so I’m curious how it exists in my dashboard without existing in my folders. I’m pretty sure it isn’t bundled into anything else because I vaguely remember installing it, but I’ve no idea where it is now or how to get rid of it for testing.

    If anyone has any tips on this problem, it would be really helpful.

    *Edit: Another thing is that all my other widgets work perfectly fine. It’s only the text/HTML widget that this is happening on.

Viewing 14 replies - 16 through 29 (of 29 total)

  • Hi,

    PLEASE MAKE A DATABASE BACKUP IN CASE IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG

    When you copy/install this snapshot upon first front end refresh, Gantry will clear all of it’s caches to match the new baset64 encode method and will execute Widget Fixing script. Some widgets that have bad data might disappear and you might need to place them back again. Rest should be fixed just fine.

    Gantry snapshot : https://cloudup.com/cDWuIJ0-oU4

    Please report if it’s working fine so we could make it public.

    Thank you and one more time sorry for the issue.

    Jakub

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    Hi,

    I’m running a backup now.

    Is it likely to break things on my site? I’ve never restored a backup before, and I really don’t want to have to fix this site again if the backup is a nightmare (In my experience, restoring, moving or copying tends to break everything anyway.)

    Assuming that it’ll only mess us a couple of widgets at the most, which I can live with, How do I install this zip file, as a plugin?

    Hi,

    Nothing besides couple widgets gone shouldn’t happen. Even if something would go wrong – database backup should be sufficient.

    Thanks,
    Jakub

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    Okay, good stuff. It’s backing up at the moment.

    Could you tell me what you want me to do with this file? Do I install it as a plugin or paste the contents somewhere…?

    This is a full plugin package so just replace your wp-content/plugins/gantry/ with new gantry dir.

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    Okay, so cPanel, rename Gantry to ‘gantry-old’ and unpack this as ‘gantry’ instead. Then activate it in WP dashboard?

    If it’s already activated you just need to replace the dir.

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    Okay. Still backing up. The first backup failed.

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    Hi again,

    I ran it, and it appears to have worked. The menu that was missing has reappeared. The weird symbols on roksprocket have finally gone, and I’m just going to create a widget now to test it out.

    You said you needed log files. Do I need to get them for you from somewhere?

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    Yep, it 100% worked. Widgets looks normal again, and i just setup a new one, which is displaying perfectly. I <3 this update. I can’t see a problem with it on my site.

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    Oh, no. Okay so, it did remove some stuff:

    Missing:
    Gantry logo
    Main menu
    The tick boxes on the widget to select a widget
    The spinny ball thing when you hit save on widgets

    That’s so far. I’m trying to add them all back now.

    However, it did fix the problems. I just don’t know how many it created.

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    Default widgets were emptied by the update, but the individual ones seem okay so far.

    Thread Starter taela87

    (@taela87)

    I don’t know if you need anything else, but it’s 11:45pm here, so I probably won’t be around much longer. Here are my results so far:

    -The update fixed all the original widget problems.

    -However, Default widgets were cleared out, so they need putting back in.

    -The tick boxes on the widgets screen for Default Settings are missing. It doesn’t stop you adding a widget though. (Note: Tick boxes appear on all over overrides).

    -The arrows on each widget (to open them) are missing on every override except Default Settings. So it’s like on Default you get the tick box, but on everything else, you just get the dropdown arrow.

    -The spinny ball thing that appears when you save a widget is missing on Default Settings.

    *Note about results: The issues listed above are disappearing and reappearing every time I click on something. It doesn’t stop me using my site though. I just keep getting ‘tickbox, no tickbox’ syndrome. If I click on something the ticks or arrows appear, and if I have a sip of my coffee, they disappear.

    Overall, your update fixes the sitemares, but there are some less important, niggly issues that occur too.

    Hi,

    1. Default widgets shouldn’t get emptied besides widget with wrong data, but definitely not all of them.

    2. Tick boxes in Default Settings ? Do you mean tickboxes next to the position names ? They should be only in the overrides. If they aren’t in Default Settings – that’s good.

    3. The arrows to open widget positions in overrides should be there only when you check the checkbox next to the position name.

    4. I agree, the spinner is gone in Default Settings. We’ll have to take a look at that.

    If you have a backup and want me to go over the procedure one more time to see exactly what you mean contact me on Gitter Gantry 4 chat at this url : Gitter (nick newkind).

    Thanks for your help!

Viewing 14 replies - 16 through 29 (of 29 total)
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