This is my own version of a weekly book haul and all things new on fuonlyknew.
I’m also linking up with The Sunday Post hosted by Kimberly @Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
~~~~~
Some chit chat.
I spoke too soon last week. LOL I needed to do an update on my blog to keep my Jetpack so I updated to WordPress 5.3. So here’s the problem. It took me two days to make my first draft post look right. What a nightmare learning just the simplest things on how to use this. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it sooner or later but I don’t think I’ll EVER like it. I’m really sorry I haven’t been visiting many of your posts. All of my time when not working has been spent trying to navigate this mess.
A huge favor. If anyone knows how to get images to go side by side in a row using WordPress 5.3, please reach out to me. I’m not getting anywhere with figuring that out!
Have a lovely Sunday everyone.
~~~~~
My new books this week. I have a bunch but I can’t figure out how to insert the covers the way I want in a post.
~~~~~
No Freebies this week. I can’t figure out how to put the covers side by side. Anyone know how I can do that with WordPress 5.3?
~~~~~
This weeks reviews. Click on the covers to view them.
This weeks other posts.
Magical Beasts Series ~ Excerpt and Giveaway
Cozy Food Giveaway ~ 128 Cozy Mystery Authors share their favorite recipes
The Dog At The Gate by Sunny Weber ~ Review and Giveaway
Turkey Basted To Death ~ Spotlight and Giveaway
Spotlight and Giveaway ~ Fate by Kirsten Weiss
Traceless by Meli Raine ~ Spotlight and Giveaway
Hurricane Dog by Sunny Weber ~ Review and Giveaway
FyreSyde Publishing ~ Sale Blitz and Giveaway
Let Me Go by Willow Rose ~ Spotlight and Giveaway
~~~~~
Leave your link and I’ll come visit you.
Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!
For a list of my reviews go HERE.
For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE
To see all of my giveaways go HERE.
I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.
Aw sorry to hear about 5.3. Formatting issues drive me nuts! It’s one reason I don’t switch to WP- I don’t have the patience or coding chops for that kinda stuff lol. I need simple. 🙂 Anyway hope your week is good and have a great Thanksgiving!
Greg, I know just enough about this stuff to make a mess. Now I have to fix it. LOL
I’ve been putting off the upgrade in the hopes that WordPress will come to its senses and hang onto the classical version for those who like it. It happened with Hotmail when Microsoft took over – so… fingers crossed! In the meantime, my profoundest sympathy, Laura!
I don’t think they will get rid of Gutenberg. At least I got the classic editor back. Still have some kinks to srt out and it still looks a bit different when doing my drafts.
Ahh man, I haven’t updated yet so now you have me worried!!! 🙁 Now I don’t want toooo! Hope you get things figured out.
Have a great week!
Stormi
Week in Review
I’m avoiding Gutenberg, I have tried it but it feels so clumsy to me, I will stick with the classic option as long as I can.
Wishing you a great reading week, and luck figuring out the update
Ps your comment box is currently in the middle of your comments instead of at the top or bottom.
Oh boy. One more thing I need to sort out. Sigh!
I waited as long as I could and then I had to do the update. Not fun at all, Stormi.
I stick to blogger for that reason-it has issues but a technophobe like me can work with it easily! I hope you can work it out soon!
I was so worried about this update and now I know why. Why can’t they just leave a good thing alone. I would never have done the update if I didn’t have to.
Sorry you are having so much trouble with the update. I hope you are able to solve your problem soon
I’m working on it but I know it will take time. Thank you:)
Ugh, that update!!! So I don’t know if you’re self hosted or not, but I got a Plugin called “Disable Gutenberg” which allows you to keep using the classic editor. (the new WP editor is called Gutenberg) I think that’s what you’re talking about, right? The new editor is terrible and I immediately downloaded the plugin so I don’t have to worry about it. If you aren’t self hosted I’m not sure how you solve that problem, but you could go to the WordPress help center and see if there’s a way to go back to classic. Good luck, I feel your pain!!
Thanks I did get the plugin to disable Gutenberg but still having problems with images. My sister had similar problems so I’ll reach out to see how she fixed them.
Oh I hate that sort of thing. This is why I use a blogging software and they do my hosting so I don’t deal with any of that. And I am hopeless with graphics. I wish you the very best of luck. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and hopefully you have some time off to get everything sorted and some time to read & relax!
Anne – Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post
I dreaded doing the update but I had to to keep my Jetpack. This is a very time at work so I will have to make time to play around and sort out the kinks.
I actually don’t mind the new “block” method that WordPress is using. It takes some time to figure out, but it’s made a few things easier for me. My only beef with 5.3 is that they moved around a few of the options, so I had to spend a couple of minutes looking for a few of my usual layout choices.
If you’re looking to just put a series of photos in a row, I think you might want to look at the gallery settings. They have an option to arrange gallery items in columns.
Failing that, if you’re using the self-hosted version of WordPress, you can either get a plugin to disable Gutenberg (as Tammy mentioned), or you can check out some other Gutenberg Block plugins that include more layout options. 🙂
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m trying a few different plugins and making some progress.
I am sorry to her the problem Laura! Are you on WP.com or self hosted on WP.org? I upgraded too but as I have a plugin that keeps the old configuration it does not seem that I had the same problem as you! I am on WP.org
I’m not self hosted, darn it. I changed several years ago so I wouldn’t be shut down for hosting giveaways and such. I am back with the classic editor but still have a ways to go in sorting things out. Images still won’t do what I want.
I’m using the new WP editor too, and it’s taken me a while to get the hang of it. I still haven’t figured out some stuff. I’m using WordPress.org on a hosting site, rather than the WordPress.com site; I gather things may be slightly different if you have a blog on the WordPress.com site.
I have not yet found a way to easily insert side-by-side images that are hosted elsewhere (like covers from Goodreads.) The only way I’ve found so far is to code it in HTML in an HTML block, which is a pain and too time-consuming. (You can suck a single image in from another site, but not side-by-side gallery images.)
Instead, I now save each cover to a file and upload them to my Media Library… which means making sure I find a file that’s not too big. Having them in the Media Library lets me use the Gallery block, but even then, I can’t seem to force the images to come out identically-sized. The Gallery makes them all the same width, but the height then varies depending on the image’s height-width ratio. And you can’t add a URL link to a gallery image, so I have to list all the titles below the gallery.
I’m hopeful that there are third-party gallery-style plugins that are a bit more useful, but I haven’t yet found one that isn’t part of an expensive subscription. I’ll keep looking, though.
As for cover images in reviews, thankfully, the Ultimate Book Blogger plugin handles that for me, and I can suck it in from Goodreads if I haven’t already added it to the Media Library.
Good luck as you adapt to WP 5/Gutenberg! I did a lot of Googling just to get this far, and I know I have a lot more to learn. I find I do like some features, like the ease with which I can rearrange blocks within a post, but I’m not crazy about some of the other aspects of the new version, like the limits of the Gallery block.
Thanks for the information. I went back to classic editor but still can’t get my imagines to line up side by side. I will keep at it though. I’m stubborn. LOL
thanks for sharing. i know you are really busy. i didn’t do a sunday post this week. 🙁
sherry @ fundinmental
oh, forgot to say…i updated to the new wordpress ‘stuff’ some time ago and it took me a long time to figure it out. now that i’ve gotten used to it, there are a lot of features i really like. if i can help, just shoot me an email…or maybe we could get together some time. i’ll do what i can to make it easier for you. mostly, it’s the usual…ya gotta play with it and you will get better at it.
I thought about you when I did this. I know you eventually figured things out. I might not be able to get to your place with all the crazy hours I’m working. I will call you though!
It’s one of the reasons I’ve never swithed to WP. I just don’t have the patience to have to learn all the formatting stuff. I hope you figure it all out eventually. Have a great reading week!
I know just enough to get in trouble, which I did. LOL
Good luck with the updating. Hope you are able to figure it all out.
I’m determined and will eventually figure it out. Thanks!
I hope you get it all worked out soon!!
Thanks. Me too:)
My main tip, as a WP developer, installed the Classic Editor plugin and go back to the old interface. The New Gutenberg is fine and all for brand new sites. It is a royal PAIN for all legacy sites out there. Just install the plugin and go back. It’s worth it. (I develop now for both the old and the new. I don’t suggest anyone with an old site use the new interface.)
Thanks. I installed the classic editor but things still look different. Do I need to do something else to get back to the old interface?
Ugh! What a drag! We are using the classic editor plugin and it works well on our blog. Gutenberg terrifies me. I hope that you have figured out some of the issues that you are having.
Gutenberg is a nightmare and I don’t know what they thought was so great about it. I am now using classic editor but still having a few issues. I am determined to figure this out. LOL
Oh, blogging issues are the worst! I hate it when I have problems because it’s so hard to figure out, IMO. We tried to switch the blog over to WordPress a few years back and it was so confusing we gave up. Good luck in figuring things out!
I put off updating until I had to. I’m sure I’ll find my feet sometime. Thanks:)
Updates can be so frustrating – even if they are ultimately for the better, the work to get to know them is so hard. I have no idea what wordpress version we’re using (Michelle manages that). But to get images side by side I usually create a gallery… is that an option for you?
Good luck! I hope you have a great week!
The gallery isn’t going to work as I add links to the images. I think I might have it figured out enough to work now. LOL
I am dreading actually having to deal with the gutenburg stuff. I have the classic editor so for now, nothing seems different to me and that’s just how I like it!
I know to get my images side by side I select “none” in alignment and it will fit them next to each other. If I want them centered on the page next to each other, I had to add a CSS code to create a div class
I think I have it sorted out somewhat. I do select none, but make the images larger so they kind of center themselves. LOL