WordPress 3.9 Upgrade - Editor not showing your content

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to chime in on a common issue that a handful of folks have been having after upgrading wordpress to version 3.9 the latest version of WordPress. This is a very widely discussed and documented issue with the WordPress 3.9 upgrade world wide - it's not just WA sites.

First let me say that the WordPress 3.9 update was a major one and there are a ton of awesome new features that have been added.

The Problem: Page & Post Editor are Empty

The common issue with this new version of WordPress 3.9 is that many plugins are not compatible with the new version. I've seen many different plugins cause the page and post editor to be empty, thus appearing that your content has disappeared.

Do not be worried, your content is not gone, it has not been deleted, and it's live on your website still.

The editor is simply having a conflict due to a plugin and it's not showing the content to you when you try to EDIT the content.

The solution is to disable your plugins that you have added to your website yourself since installing. The plugins that we install with your website are totally safe.

These include:

• Akismet
• All in One SEO Pack
• Exclude Pages from Navigation
• SI CAPTCHA Anti-Spam

Other than a couple other plugins that are common such as a contact form plugin, or a plugin to create an XML Sitemap, there really isn't anything that you need.

In all of the sites that I've logged into recently that have had this issue, they all have 15+ plugins.

TinyMCE Plugin

The plugin called TinyMCE or Ultimate TinyMCE, is a known culprit for causing this issue of the editor being empty in WordPress 3.9. If you are using this plugin and experiencing this problem, then it's time to say goodbye.

The new WordPress editor is very good and I recommend that people do not use any extra plugins to extend the editor. Everything that you need is included with the core WordPress editor so adding on extra functionality with regards to your editor is not recommended.

Beware of too many Plugins

I've said it many times, but with each plugin you add to your website you open yourself to untrusted code being installed. Most plugins out there offer little to no benefit to your site, but they certainly can harm it.

• Plugins cannot make you rank better
• Plugins cannot make you more money
• Plugins will not get you more traffic
• Plugins can slow your site down
• Plugins can cause your site to break
• Plugins can take your site completely offline

The message I'm wanting to convey is not to go Plugin crazy, because more is NOT better.

If your site loads slow, it's because of plugins 99% of the time.

Troubleshooting any problem with your site only takes a minute and it's something you can do. Since plugins are usually where any problems come from, you can simply disable them to resolve the issue.

Disabling plugins is easy, just go to your plugins page and click on "Disable" next to each plugin you want to turn on.

Once disabled you can then check if the issue has been resolved. Many different plugins will cause this editor issue, so if you've got more than a handful of plugins, or plugins that were not installed with your site here at WA, then disabling them will fix the issue.

Should you upgrade to WordPress 3.9? Absolutely yes, but with any major update to the WordPress platform you run the risk of an unsupported and older plugin not working as expected. The resolution is to disable it and you will be back in business!!

If you would like to discuss the WordPress 3.9 update, let's chat about it here!

Carson