How To Troubleshoot Visual Editor Issues

  • Okay.. I have seen a lot of people reporting various issues with the WordPress editor after updating to version 3.9.

    Remember… remain calm!! WordPress would not have released this update if there were problems with the core software. The update definitely works. BUT.. many themes and plugins have been affected by the update.

    Main Reason
    TinyMCE version 4. This is the software used to run the WordPress content editor. The framework has completely changed.. and most all plugins and themes which modified aspects of the tinymce editor will have to be updated. Plupload has also been updated.

    There have also been changes with how WP Galleries are handled, displayed, and processed.

    First
    Empty your browser cache manually, and make sure to clear any caching plugin you are using in your WP admin panel. The content editor is notorious for serving cached files. Manually emptying and refreshing your browser cache may be the answer.

    Troubleshoot
    So, what do you do if your editor is not loading properly??

    1. Deactivate all plugins.. yes, ALL plugins.
    2. Switch to the defualt 2014 theme… because we know it works.
    3. Manually empty and refresh your browser cache.

    These steps are VERY important.. and should be followed concisely!

    Now.. with NO plugins.. the default 2014 theme.. and a clean browser cache… go back and see if the editor loads properly.

    If Editor Loads Properly
    Now.. the editor should load properly. If it does not, skip to the next section.

    We have a working editor again; YAY! Now, we have to get our theme and plugins back.

    Testing Theme
    Start with your theme. Go back and switch to the theme you were using. Then, go back to the editor page. Test to see if the editor is still working properly.

    If it does not… you know the issue is with your theme.

    If it does… continue….

    Testing Plugins
    Now… let’s begin re-activating our plugins ONE AT A TIME. Each time we activate a plugin.. we are going to go back and see if the editor loads properly.

    If a plugin was at fault.. you will eventually find a plugin that causes the editor to load improperly. That is your faulty plugin. You will need to contact the plugin author and see if they are aware of the issue.

    Digging Further
    If you are feeling super savvy… you can dig into this further by exploring the browser console.

    99 out of 100 times the editor does not load properly.. it is a javascript issue of some sort. By using our browser inspection tools; we can usually see the issue in real time.. exactly as it is occurring.. and extract useful information for troubleshooting.

    This Codex Page has more information for how to troubleshoot these errors.

    If Editor Still Loads Improperly
    If, after all of these troubleshooting steps, the editor is still loading improperly… and there are no error or warning messages in the browser console… then something MUCH deeper is going on.

    You may need to manually re-update your WP installation… or work out another solution. In this case, I would suggest starting a new forum topic, explain everything you tried above.. and explaining any other important facts you can determine.

    Closing
    I work in the editor extensively. I can assure everyone it works properly in WP 3.9. I see these issues all the time.. and 99% of the time, it is an incompatible plugin or theme.

    Hope this helps ??

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 44 total)

  • Hey Josh.

    What does not make any sense is that I have followed all troubleshooting steps. It does not work on any theme I have switched to and have disabled all plug-ins.

    I even sent the debug code to my theme developer and he suggested a WordPress re-install as the installation might be corrupt. (to make sure I was not crazy)

    “After I check your website your wordpress The tinymce doesn’t work on default wordpress theme or other themes.

    This might be a problem from corrupted file while you update wordpress. reinstall wordpress dashboard the problem should solve.”

    I have tried this by clicking the ‘re-install now’ button and it does not help either. I am totally confused and baffled by this and know I am not the only one having this issue. So much that the creator of

    After I check your website your wordpress The tinymce doesn’t work on default wordpress theme or other themes.

    I even clicked the ‘re-install’ now button in the wordpress updates tab and it still does not help. I am totally baffled by this and know I am not the only one as the creator of WPEdit is working on a special insert link button to supposedly fix the issue.

    Is there anything else I can try?

    thanks for this Josh!

    10-x a Josh (WP Edit) for pation and explanation. Restarting plugins one-by-one in my case the qTranslate/Qian Qin/ made trouble with editor

    Thanks for the suggestions.

    Would someone be willing to tell me how I do steps 2 and 3:

    2. Switch to the defualt 2014 theme… because we know it works.
    3. Manually empty and refresh your browser cache.

    Thanks!

    Thread Starter Josh

    (@josh401)

    Would someone be willing to tell me how I do steps 2 and 3:

    2. Switch to the defualt 2014 theme… because we know it works.
    3. Manually empty and refresh your browser cache.

    2. Simply go to your admin pane -> appearance -> themes. Click to activate the 2014 theme.

    3. It depends on what browser you are using. A simple Google search of “empty MYBROWSERHERE browser cache”, should give you some good matches.

    If you still have trouble, please let us know.

    I seem to be having some similar problems since 3.9 update. I realise everyone is doing their best to get this right but I had no issues before the update and now after, I do. I am a farely new user to wordpress but got around pretty well, it seems that the issue I am having with the text block editor may be theme related but all worked well before update, any help or advice here would be more than good.

    What happens @r6c8p?

    Josh, been trying to get to WPEditPro site and it keeps giving me a 404? Has something happened? I feel strange that all has been so quiet on your end; even to have the websites/forums not working…maybe it’s just on my end that these things are happening?
    I’ve had to deactivate WPEditPro until something happens. I hadn’t heard about re-installing WordPress, so I guess that’s ONE MORE thing I’ll try. Hope all is well with you and yours,
    ~ freida

    You da man Josh! Thank you! Finally a man with some brains and the ability to walk us through step by step and not assuming we are all programmers and speak the lingo. Thanks again. Worked perfectly!

    Hi Josh. The only problem which remains for me is that I can’t get the Lorem Ipsum button back. Is it just me?

    Thanks for this – really helpful, if scary. On a site with a lot of plugins, and complex settings in some of them, I was hesitant to switch them ALL off, but found the culprit (InBoundWriter) by switching off the most likely ones one at a time ?? Where and how do I report this, especially since the plugin in question seems to have been removed from www.ads-software.com? Thanks!

    “What does not make any sense is that I have followed all troubleshooting steps. It does not work on any theme I have switched to and have disabled all plug-ins. ”

    One thing I haven’t seen mentioned here is HOW you are updating to 3.9x. My guess is the vast majority of users are not seeing issues, so the update method may be relevant A lot of people got auto updated which I know from experience can cause some issues which clicking “reinstall” may not fix. Even if you carefully ftp in the files, you may run into encoding problems which can break functionality.
    Another less likely culprit could be incompatibilities with the software versions at your host.
    If you’ve tried everything and are still seeing issues, it might be worth testing on a different hosting account (even a free one) and doing a Softaculous type install to see if they persist.

    https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/trouble-editing-pages-cannot-see-the-text-version-only-the-visual?replies=10#post-5815770

    I’m having some similar problems, and have started another thread.

    If anyone at all has some ideas, I would appreciate it.

    My WP “edit” function apparently works correctly for everyone except me?

    This is the error message I get when trying to switch from “visual” to “text” editor:

    ReferenceError: Can’t find variable: switchEditors post.php:275:143

    Anyone have any ideas on what needs to be done?

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    emanuel39, it would be better to stick to your own thread, rather than hijacking one that’s a few months old: https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/trouble-editing-pages-cannot-see-the-text-version-only-the-visual

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 44 total)
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