Sometimes, just sometimes, the commands on the toolbars in the WordPress post- or page-write screens decide they’re not going to work.
As frustrating as that is, particularly when you’re trying to get a post published by a deadline, the fix is usually pretty simple.
But that didn’t stop me taking 5 hours today, doing all sorts of investigations, before I was reminded of the first step in WordPress trouble shooting …
Deactivate all your plugins and see if the problem still exists.
A friend I was helping had a problem: every time she tried to insert an image using the ‘Add Image’ button in the Visual View, she was presented with a question: ‘Are you sure you want to do that?’
When she clicked ‘Yes’ she got taken straight back to the post-write screen. No insert image dialogue, no other error messages, nothing.
Frustrating.
I went everywhere in my search for the problem.
The theme she’s using is Thesis, and Thesis has some image insertion and customization capabilities. So I went through all those to eliminate any possible clashes.
I inserted a database management plugin and searched for problems there. I updated a whole bunch of plugins which had available upgrades, verified she was using the latest version of WordPress and even re-installed WordPress.
Nothing.
Inserting and positioning images manually, through the HTML view, worked fine. So I started to write out step by step instructions.
But that wasn’t going to fix the problem. It was just avoiding it.
So I turned to Google. And half way through the first thread I pulled up were the magic words: ‘Deactivate all your plugins and re-activate them one by one until you find the problem’
The 9th plugin I reactivated was the culprit. It was a contact form plugin so I installed a different one, activated it and everything immediately worked like a charm.
Boy did I kick myself 
That should have been my first step and I’d wasted nearly 5 hours with all that other messing around.
Good thing I wasn’t busy today – not!
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{ 8 comments }
Thanks Martin for the clue. Just found out your article from Google for the same problem: cannot insert image in post-write toolbar.
I try this tip.
.-= Fatih´s last blog ..Malaysia Claims Jemur Island =-.
You’re welcome, Fatih,
Hope it solves your problem
Cheers,
Martin.
Hi Martin,
It turns out it hasn’t solved the problem. In my case, it happens after I move into another hosting services.
I give up now. And ask webhosting provider to solve the problem.
.-= Fatih´s last blog ..Malaysia Claims Jemur Island =-.
Fatih, hi,
Yes – that’s a good idea. Often you have to keep digging away at a problem – there are so many things that can cause them!
Cheers,
Martin.
You saved me hours! Your post was the first I found with a solution. I removed my most recent plugin, and I’m back in business. Thank you!
You’re very welcome – happy to help!
Cheers,
Martin.
Thanks Martin,
I disabled the Contact Form plugin first and that fixed it!
This article saved me much frustration and worry.
So, do you have suggestion for a different contact form plugin?
Thanks again Martin.
You’re welcome – glad it worked
You may want to try Contact Form 7 – see how that goes. I’ve also used cforms11 but that’s a bit fiddly, especially with upgrades.
Cheers,
Martin.
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