I’m not usually stumped by what appears to be a common ‘feature’ in WordPress, but I’ve just found one that has me utterly baffled.
This is a screenshot of the Media Library as accessed from the Dashboard:
I have the view set to ‘list’ instead of ‘grid’, but the column heading of ‘Uploaded to’ doesn’t mean ‘this picture was inserted into XX post’ because most of my pictures are shown as ‘Unattached’, despite the fact that I know they were inserted into posts.
The blue ‘Attach’ option doesn’t do what I thought it should either – i.e. it doesn’t insert a saved picture file /into/ a post. I actually tried it out and when you select the ‘Attach’ option, you’re given a list of posts to attach the picture file to:
But…selecting a post and clicking ‘Select’ does NOT place the image into the post. I tried. It doesn’t do anything that’s visually obvious. The only thing that changes is that for that file, ‘Attach’ changes to ‘Detach’.
I tried searching for an explanation of what the ‘Uploaded to’ column means, or what the ‘Attach’ option is meant to do, but found only programming type gobbledegook that sounded as if it had nothing to do with inserting a picture into a post.
To save /my/ sanity. Does anyone out there know what this is all about? -cough- In plain English?
Meeks
Meeka's Mind 
April 11th, 2021 at 4:37 am
I have never tried to do anything from the dashboard, Meeks. To be honest, I’ve never even thought of it. I do everything using the block editor and select what I want paragraph, heading, gallery, etc.
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April 11th, 2021 at 9:39 am
That’s how we’re meant to do it, Robbie. The Dashboard is supposed to be for managing stuff. But sometimes you need more functionality than the block editor provides. 😦
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April 12th, 2021 at 12:22 am
I am a bit of a lazy blogger, Meeks. I rarely check stats or do anything I should do to grow my blogs and see what posts do well. I should do more, sigh, but I just like to enjoy blogging.
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April 12th, 2021 at 8:59 am
lol – I do check my stats, but other than that, I’m a ‘lazy’ blogger too. 😀 Like you, I enjoy blogging for its own sake, not just as some marketing tool. I think it’s what keeps us blogging, that desire to communicate.
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April 12th, 2021 at 10:37 pm
I think you are right, Meeks.
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April 9th, 2021 at 9:16 pm
I’m closing my eyes and holding my ears tight and saying “nononononono!” Don’t tell me anything- ask me anything. Word Press USED to be user friendly. Now when I go on there to post I cross fingers/toes/eyes and hope against hope that it works. Why have they made it more difficult to use, instead of easier? Don’t answer, because only those in the inner reaches of hell know the answer. Ha. Sorry, I’m being a bit hyperbolic, but really….. ;-0
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April 9th, 2021 at 10:05 pm
lol – fear not! I think we’re all suffering from ‘what the hell-itis’. I blame mobile phones, and young people with prehensile thumbs. 😦
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April 10th, 2021 at 1:04 am
I like your blame list – may I copy it? 🙂
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April 10th, 2021 at 7:11 am
Please feel free! I’m putting it out there, free of copyright. 😉
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April 10th, 2021 at 7:24 am
😚👍
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April 14th, 2021 at 4:45 am
I consider my thumbs prehensile enough, yet I hate this new app-looking web sites, especially when they used to be real and user friendly web-sites. Phones are great for having fun and doing work only when you can’t actually use a PC/Laptop. So, blame WordPress and all those companies that try to save money by turning their websites to user unfriendly app-looking, bad imitations of a web site 😜
And just to give you a hint of the insanity, my Media menu looks nothing like yours and! I don’t even have an option to chose list view, or any other kind, if that matters 🤪
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April 14th, 2021 at 9:45 am
Yes, everything you say is true. I think WordPress is trying to ‘future proof’ the platform but may have misjudged its target audience. Or who knows? Maybe the majority of WP users now /are/ people who access the internet via phone. 😦
When I was teaching computer literacy to older people in a retirement village, many of them appeared more comfortable with their smartphones than I was.
Nevertheless, I believe there is a need for a platform that focuses on the written word. I just don’t think WordPress is that platform any more. 😦
No list view? Hmm…I assumed that the recent changes meant that everyone was now using an updated version of the old Dashboard. Doh. 😦 Maybe it’s just us crusty old time users who refused to let go of it?
Do you have an option down the very bottom called Admin something?
With the old new interface, clicking that option used to bring up the Dashboard. Now /my/ WP goes straight to the Dashboard.
I wonder what’s going on?
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April 14th, 2021 at 10:20 am
My WP goes to Dashboard for about two months now. I don’t remember the first time it happened, but the first post of February was done with the previous interface, then the new one came up.
Maybe it’s the “local” server that hosts my site that hasn’t changed yet to your even newer version? I’ve noticed on Twitter that some bugs – or updates, if you like – appear in the UK a few days before they come here, so maybe it’s something similar.
No Admin anything option anywhere. Settings, maybe? The only place I can find the word, is under my username 🤣
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April 14th, 2021 at 10:36 am
Ah. So you do have the Dashboard. Interesting. And don’t worry about the Admin thing. That was only available when the old new interface was around. lol for us die hard dinosaurs who HATED the lack of control of the stripped down interface.
I hope you do get all the new features because they all increase our ‘control’ of our blogs.
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April 6th, 2021 at 8:44 pm
Unattached images occur for one of two reasons, Meeks:
1. They were once used in posts that were either deleted or have lost their links between their posts and images.
2. They were uploaded directly to the media library before any post was made and either not attached to a post, or, attached to a post but lost their link to it somehow.
Best way to attach images seems to be: first do your post text, then use the Add Media button to go into the library, THEN use the Upload Files tab to find the images on your pc or device, and upload them into the library, then allocate them into the post.
See:
https://wordpress.com/support/media/2/
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April 7th, 2021 at 10:34 am
Thanks, Chris. That’s actually the method I normally use. The only time I really include images from my Media Library is when they are recyclable. I think I’d better check back over my older recent posts to make sure they still work properly. -sigh- as if we didn’t have anything better to do. 😦
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April 7th, 2021 at 10:42 am
p.s. something weird going on. My earliest posts [2011 and beyond] all have the images attached, along with how many comments they have. When I checked a post from about a week ago, the image was there, but no attachment shown in the Media Library list view. AND, comments are shown as ‘ -‘ as well. I think the list may be a work in progress. 😦
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April 7th, 2021 at 5:13 pm
👍
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April 6th, 2021 at 5:49 pm
Reblogged this on Books & Bonsai.
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April 6th, 2021 at 7:27 pm
Thank you. 🙂
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April 6th, 2021 at 5:48 pm
There has been a lot of changes on WP lately, some so small you hardly notice them. What would be lovely, is advanced warning of change, instead of playing detective all the time!
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April 6th, 2021 at 7:27 pm
Yes, I’ve noticed that too. On average I post twice a week and I’ve been noticing a lot of changes. Some I like, some have had me pulling my hair out. Some advance warning would be heaven.
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April 7th, 2021 at 12:57 am
Same treatment here; No list view for Media. Maybe there’s a special url? I’ve got the minimum $ version w/domain, maybe it’s an advanced $$ feature.
I see there maybe multiple authors, perhaps this is the admin view. If this is the case, then the uploaded to would indicate which sub/site/author, perhaps.
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April 7th, 2021 at 10:17 am
Hmm…that is strange as I’m not subbed at all – just the plain old WordPress.com.
I wonder, maybe the list view is new and hasn’t been migrated out to paid customers yet?
WP has a habit of using us Plebs as guinea pigs.
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April 6th, 2021 at 5:19 pm
well, that’s interesting – I can’t change my view from thumbnail to grid at all! I wonder if the upload is to allow you to upload it to cloud storage? My media library would allow me to link to google photos if I wanted, thereby (I assume) avoiding the need to use all my WP storage with photos. Something for me to consider if I get to the point where I want to add extra, or consider paying for the service
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April 6th, 2021 at 7:23 pm
That’s odd. Let me see if I can change back.
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April 6th, 2021 at 7:25 pm
Just changed from list view to grid view. Try it again. If it doesn’t work, try clearing out the cache of the browser.
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April 6th, 2021 at 1:51 pm
Yes, it is not very intuitive.
I rarely add images. And when I do, I find it confusing.
If I try to add an image to an existing post, it does show my media library, where I can select something. Or there’s then an option to upload a new image.
The last time that I tried this was before they forced the “blocks editor” on us. So it might have all changed since then.
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April 6th, 2021 at 2:01 pm
Hi Neil. There have been quite a few changes, and reversals, recently. As far as I know, you can only insert an image from within the post/block editor. But if you have a lot of images, finding the one you want can be a frustrating task. I was hoping there was a better way…but apparently not.
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