Girl on unicyle rolls by motel door
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: #Red and #Pink, the Colors of Life

Welcome to February’s monthly color challenge! As we approach Valentine’s Day, I thought we could explore two popular colors associated with the holiday, red and pink. The featured image demonstrates the two colors together, as shown by this little unicyclist we saw one day.

Girl on unicyle rolls by motel door
Pretty in pink and red!

About the Colors of Pink and Red

According to various sources, shades of red are associated with a variety of elements, from blood, fire, and rage, to love, passion, and courage.

Red Dahlia
Red Dahlia

“In my mind, I see all of my passionate memories in bright, burning Red.” – Taylor Swift.

The color pink, on the other hand, is associated with love and femaleness, tranquility, and kindness.

Pink Cabbage Roses
Pink Cabbage Roses

“My parents told me I’d point to a bed of flowers and say ‘Pink. Pretty,’ before I knew any other words.”- Joni Mitchell

Pink and Red in Nature

Even during the somewhat dreary month of February (at least in the northern latitudes of the northern hemisphere), the colors of pink and red make an appearance in nature.

Weather

The sunrises are inspiring in shades of pink!

December Sunrise
Pink skies create amethyst snow
Pink skies create pink snow
February pink snow
Pink Snow Glow

“Pink is a beautiful color because it is one of the colors that the sun makes at twilight and in the dawns.” – C. Joybell C

Sunsets, too, with some red thrown in for good measure!

February pink snow
Pink Snow Glow
pink sunset on white winter's day
Winter’s Pink Glow
Rosy sunset
Delta Sunset

Tree Blooms

“I like pink…It’s just red’s sorry, weak cousin.” ― Beth Fantaskey

In Northern California, pale pink almond tree blooms and rosey quince made their appearance just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Spring brings clouds of blossoms
Almond Trees Bloom Mid- February
Macro white blossom
Almond Blossom
Rosy Quince blossom
Quince Blossoms

I still miss February’s arrival in early spring after seeing the blooms for over 40 years in Sacramento. It will be May before we see dogwoods in bloom where we live now:

Dogwood Tree Blossoms
Dogwood Tree Pretty in Pink
Dogwood Tree Pretty in Pink

For now, I will enjoy my Valentine’s Bouquet ❤️

Tulip Bouquet
Valentine’s Day Tulip Bouquet

“Where there is love, there is life.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi

Can Rocks be Pink and Red?

Antelope Canyon is carved into the Navajo sandstone, a sedimentary rock formation that dates back to the Jurassic period. The sandstone is known for its vibrant red and orange colors, which are intensified by the sunlight filtering through the narrow openings above. ~ Geology Science

Once again, the red rocks of Antelope Canyon cry out to be seen in another post. The winter sunlight adds an ethereal color effect to the canyon walls showing off shades of pink and rose.

pink and red rocks of Antelope Canyon
A little red and pink in Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon pink sand
Pink sand on the canyon floor

Walking on pink sand is kind of amazing.

Seeing Red with WordPress

Thank you for sharing your experiences last week with the issues many of us are having with comments. I discovered a WordPress Meet-Up scheduled in Spokane, WA last Wednesday. I attended with the promise to readers I would ask for his assistance. There were only three of us including the meeting coordinator, who is a website developer. He deals mostly with WordPress dot org and knew very little about the anonymous comment issues we’ve experienced.

My encounter with the Happiness Engineers yielded nothing helpful. Three different engineers made suggestions including logging into your WP account on your desktop and/or laptop, re-launching the Jetpack App, or changing the blog’s theme. Some bloggers are still using the Classic editor instead of the block editor. If you encounter problems leaving comments that come up as anonymous or see anonymous comments on your post, or you are continually prompted to log in whether via the Jetpack app or on your computer, try those suggestions. 

Other bloggers, Colleen Chesebro and Hugh Roberts are continually communicating with WordPress about these issues and more.

pink flower border

Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week

Each week I find inspiration from my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. If you choose to link to Sunday Stills, please also leave a comment on my post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers, poets, artists, and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their photos of the various shades of RED and PINK. I add these all week as new links are posted.

I can’t wait to see how you interpret the various shades of PINK and/or RED this week! Join me next week as we explore “iconic places and spaces.”

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125 comments

  6. Hi Terri, yes, I’ve seen a big improvement in the recent comments and anonymous comments issues. I use both Chrome and Gmail and am not experiencing any problems at all with WordPress apart from not always getting pingback notifications, but that seems to be from bloggers who are still using retired themes. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the recent problems with commenting are gone for those of us using current themes. It’s important that all users ensure they’re using the current version of WordPress.

    I love all your sunset photos. Mother Nature certainly knows how to put on a display. Your Valentine’s bouquet is lovely. We have tulips appearing from the soil in our garden, but the flowers won’t make an appearance just yet.

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    • I’m glad to hear, Hugh! I hadn’t logged out of WP on my desktop in a while and did so as well as reinstalled jetpack, and so far so good. Still several glitches like you mention, but it may be from other bloggers’ themes or self hosted sites.
      Sunset and sunrises here have been dull because of fog but we got 3 inches of snow on Thursday and bright sunny skies to go with it. That’s the kind of winter I like! Once our last frost is done, I plan to plant some tulips and other bulbs. Have a good weekend!

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      • I log out of WordPress every day, Terri. Perhaps that was why I’d never had any problems leaving comments? It kinda makes sense now, especially given that we are often asked to switch something off and then on again to get rid of a problem.

        Our tulip bulbs get planed every November, but they don’t like frost or snow once they bloom.

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  13. […] I am not super romantic, but there is definitely something about nature being romantic–or maybe, it’s just romantic to be out in nature. Either way, I love the pinks and reds found in nature, and since it’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow, what a perfect way to share a few photos for Terri’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge — Red and Pink. […]

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  14. Terri, your post is a beautiful tribute to pinks and reds, which are such cheerful colors.

    It seems many (not all) of my issues have been resolved, at least for now. I still experience issues with commenting on blogs of others. I decided to go through all my posts, one by one, to check for errors. There were some conflicting issues related to my switching from an FSE theme back to a classic theme. Also, since I changed domains, there were many related issues which I discovered by running the broken link online app. There is some good news, per a recent WP newsletter I received, that classic themes will be tested by beta testers for enhancements. IMO, the classic themes are not going away except for those that are retired.

    Though, WP has its issues, I had a bad experience when I was self-hosted. With that said, I am not against being self-hosted but one needs to know the ins and outs.

    Happy Valentine’s Day! 💝

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    • Thank you, Eugi! 💕 I appreciate you weighing in on the discussion. My commenting issues seem resolved on my end for now. This week two bloggers said they had trouble Commenting on my post without having to log in. My theory is the issue is on their end, one is self hosted, the other seems to have an old theme and perhaps doesn’t use the block editor. All these elements need to play nicely with each other.
      I’m glad to hear WP has some beta testers coming up. I agree self hosting works for many folks, I want it simple and since 2016, WP dot com has added new levels of service for bloggers. And a happy Valentines day to you! 💝

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  16. Antelope Canyon again. Lol. It’s so beautiful; how can anyone really resist?  Speaking of beautiful, that photo of the unicyclist is stunning. I love all the contrast; the pink and red really pop. And gorgeous sunsets and flowers too, which I hope are on their way soon. A pretty pink post, my friend.

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  21. Love the unicyler image! A study in colour and concentration. You found beautiful sunsets and flowers in your archives! Thanks again for hosting and working on the WordPress issues for all of us.

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  25. I loved seeing all your red and pink in your photos! The Canyon photos are amazing! It is something to see! Please continue to share your pictures of this magical place!
    I shared red and pink on my blog post today! Thanks for all the inspiration! Happy Valentine’s Day!

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  27. What a beautiful post, Terri! The quotes and the photos are wonderful. I love your dogwood and I’m sure it will be worth waiting for. Thanks for the helpful suggestions regarding comments. They are a sore subject for many of us, and if I’m asked again if I want to subscribe to someone I already follow (or think I do!)… well, I’m sure you know what I’m saying. Meanwhile it’s Shrove Tuesday and my husband will be demanding pancakes later. Happy Valentine’s Day to you!

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    • Thank you, Jo! Our weather casters believe our spring may arrive “early,” whatever that means, but May is the magical month for most of our tree blooms.
      Oh, I know what you mean about the comments and logging in! If it helps, I did relaunch the Jetpack app, and also relogged in on my desktop. That really helped. Some fellow bloggers may have older themes, or haven’t adjusted their settings for comments. I feel like my own experience has improved lately, but if you’re having issues, shoot an email to the WP people. The more squeaky wheels the better! Enjoy your pancakes and a Blessed Lenten season.

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  28. Hi Terri, You are getting all kinds of responses to your comments about WP. WP.com has some issues, but nothing compared to any other kind of platform I’ve used (Blogger, WP.org, Wild Apricot, Weebly, King Something, and Portalbuzz (Kiwanis). I can work around most of the problems that WP throws at us. It just takes time, but not as much time as switching blogs! 🙂
    Love you reds and pinks. It inspired me to take a picture of my red and pink flowers on my patio. We have a beautiful 63 degree day today. Your Valentine’s flowers are gorgeous. Happy Valentine’s Day on Wed. 🙂

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    • Thank you, Marsha! I like your perspective about the comments. I was self hosted in 2016 and experienced a lot of issues. Other than the anonymous comments, and not receiving E mail notifications from some blog sites, everything else is doable.
      I was struck with how many reds and pinks I already had in my media files. 63F sounds delightful. We topped at at 39 today here, but I bundled up and walked almost 2 miles. Had to work off that Superbowl food. Happy Valentines day to you, too!

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  31. Stunning colors Terri. I especially loved that red and pink canyon! And thanks for sharing what you learned with WP geek. I didn’t expect you’d hear much new, considering, if they knew how to fix the problem it would have already been done, lol. ❤ (3rd attempt to comment)

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  32. Stunning colors Terri. I especially loved that red and pink canyon! And thanks for sharing what you learned with WP geek. I didn’t expect you’d hear much new, considering, if they knew how to fix the problem it would have already been done, lol. ❤

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  33. Of course my faves are your AZ pics…but I also love the first one. Bummer you couldn’t get a real definitive answer on the comments issue. I know people have a hard time with my blogger comments. I allow anonymous because I don’t want to miss any…I just don’t have it in me to switch platforms…at least not without help. I grabbed some red/pink while on vacation here in Hawaii, so thought I’d share. Not as stunning of ones as I’d hoped, but it is winter and I’m in more of a city area.

    https://troyerslovinglife.blogspot.com/2024/02/takin-in-life-around-me-sundaystills.html

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    • Thank you Kirstin, isn’t that unicyclist adorable? I’d forgotten you are in Hawaii and I hope you are really enjoying it.
      I’m curious, do you pay for BlogSpot? Have you reached out to WordPress to have them help you migrate your content to WP? They might offer you a really good deal to have your business and do the work for you. Might be worth it (I know…there have been a few WP issues of late, but I believe these are being dealt with).

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  34. Love this theme! Red is my favourite colour. 🙂 Your photos are all gorgeous, as always. The red Dhalia and the Dogwood tree are especially striking, as well as your sunrise/sunset and Antelope Canyon shots. 😍

    Re: the comment situation: I also think it’s related to the Jetpack app, somehow. I uninstalled, then re-installed it and it seems to be okay now. It’s too bad WordPress considers dot com to be “lesser than” dot org, because, many of you pay them to host your blog, just like those of us using self-hosted. Plus, you’re supposed to have the advantage of not needing to deal with any back-end stuff. Doesn’t seem like you’re getting your money’s worth at the moment. 😵

    https://thedogladysden.com/pink-and-red-sundaystills-on-a-monday-photography-colourchallenge/

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    • Thank you, Debbie! Red is a stunning color and attracts excellent photo ops.
      I began my blog with WP dot com for free in 2011. I fiddled around then got serious in 2014. Not long after that as I met more bloggers and attended some amazing blog conferences, I decided to self-host in 2016. I lost all my followers, then within the year started losing my images, not to mention all the hard work one has to do to keep up with a self-hosted blog. I reached out to WP and they spent a month on the back end reconfiguring my blog, recovered most images and I switched back to WP dot com as a result. I have a premium plan that gives me a large media file, and other benefits.
      I believe I get my $$ worth. That being said, the help desk has been limited. But overall I wouldn’t use any other platform or self-host again. I appreciate you weighing in!

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      • I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience with self-hosted! 😲 For over 10 years, Bluehost has been pretty good for me. There were two website crashes, but one was my own fault. Thankfully, nothing was lost and it was an excellent experience. There’s something to be said for not having to worry about the back-end stuff, though it must be frustrating when you can’t reach a live person for help.

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  36. WordPress has had its support issues worsen in the last few months. On tagging and commenting, I’ve run into several problems with my own account. They fixed some, but they must be understaffed as it seems they don’t respond as quickly or as professionally as they used to.

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  37. Wow to your wonderful images and that canyon and its colours and patterns cannot be fully described in words…and you got to witness it all.

    I am no longer blogging using anything related to wordpress…I had an independent blog hosted on a web site which has become redundant and took the chance, after over 11 years, to stop the blog. Back then I was not able to comment on some other bloggers’ pages because of ‘whatever rule’ the plug in they were using blocked me. I really dislike it, as I can sense in yours and others works, when ‘big’ places don’t really here what their users are saying.

    I have signed in to WordPress.dom and used my credentials of a password etc to be able to comment…so fingers crossed.

    And I am liking my new writing and sharing space on Substack. The inconvenience there is that anyone who follows my substack needs to open a substack account and not everyone wants to do that. My husband is one.

    It was great to look at my reds and pinks for this addition to Sunday Stills….thank you

    https://denysewhelan49.substack.com/p/pink-and-red-memories

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    • Thank you, Denyse! And for sharing my post on X. I saw your post on Substack too but I couldn’t log in. I’m not ready to join that, but I did enjoy your post and all the beautiful reds and pinks you shared.
      Since you have WP dot com, have you considered blogging there? Even if it’s just occasionally, your posts would reach a lot of people. Despite WP issues for now, you might think about it. Glad all is well with you.

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      • I understand not wanting to join up to comment. Thanks for your suggestion but no I am not returning to another blogging platform. I am enjoying the writing where I am now. So far, works well for me! Warm wishes Denyse

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  38. Terri – Those pink Cabbage Roses are beautiful. At first I thought they were Peonies! There is nothing like Springtime when the pastel-colored blooms erupt from the flowering trees, usually all at once. They only seem to last a day or two though. My neighbor’s Magnolia bush is very confused and bloomed multiple times in one season the past few years. Your Valentine’s Day bouquet is very pretty. And the pinky-red hues of Antelope Canyon are out of this world!

    I’m sorry the WP powwow wasn’t very helpful. I use the block editor but have a 2010 theme. I hope they don’t send me an e-mail to find a new theme, not that it couldn’t be enhanced a tad. I created my blog 11 years ago today. I wonder if the old theme is suspect in causing my issue commenting on other’s actual posts (not via Reader). I only read/comment from my computer.

    Here is my post for this week, from a 5K walk from last July – I am still cherry picking my archive of walks to match your Challenges. 🙂

    Have a heart.

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      • We have some wintry mix coming on Thursday after a long stretch of mild and dry weather. I will remember that – I hope I don’t have to do it for a while. I have to get a new work computer and we have this office move coming up, so things are a bit hairy right now. 🙂 Thank you Terri!

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  44. A lovely collection of pinks and reds Terri and I could look at those canyon shots all day, they are spectacular! Well done on trying to get the anonymous comments fixed up but not good news that he didn’t seem to be much help!
    Your reds and pinks are all fabulous and another great prompt for us to work on. I enjoyed taking a different approach – I didn’t even think of the upcoming Valentine’s Day connection!
    https://debs-world.com/2024/02/11/red-dancing-jellyfish-for-your-viewing-pleasure-sundaystills/

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    • Hi Cheryl, I’m glad my post was in the Reader, I’ve heard there have been issues with tags there.

      I suppose as humans, we simply stand in awe of of places like Antelope Canyon, or Yosemite. I will share these until people quit reading 🤣

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  46. That dogwood tree is spectacular! We are just starting to get spring tree blooms here… I hope the excessive rain doesn’t make them drop too soon.
    I’m still getting anonymous comments and it’s frustrating. I hope WP gets it sorted out soon. I’m sorry the conference was a disappointment. Just 3 people?

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    • The WP meeting was a little slow. I’ve seen this before when I attended a few in Sacramento. Oh well. I’m glad you are getting some spring blooms already. We had some snowflakes today, spring blooms are a few weeks away!

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  52. Well Terri, first of course I loved your post of pinks and reds (and yes, especially the antelope canyon!), and thanks for featuring some weather for us! It seems WP is failing everyone these days. They killed our L-A Tag one week which really caused chaos, then blamed it on us, then figured out the issue was on their end. DUH! Poor Egidio, on his first hosting as a team member they killed pingbacks on his site. I suppose it’s too many users, too many iterations of the software and too few support people. Sigh. I suppose the real issue is, for those of us who have been at it for a while we’d have to leave our followers behind to start over elsewhere and we’re not going to do that. So keep on keepin’ on girl, we’re all in this together!

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    • Thank you, Tina! Pinks and reds are so visible in nature and it’s so easy to capture these colors with our lenses. As for WP and its issues, I will hang in there as long as possible–as I told someone, until I lose the love for it. I, like many, enjoy our blogging community and it brings me joy and many friendships. I don’t use the Reader, never really have, but I do tag my posts appropriately. And you are right, we are in this together! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, my friend, we’re driving over to a family Superbowl get-together for the rest of the day.

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  53. Another wonderful chance to use pictures of those caves. Your images are so beautiful, I can not even imagine the awe you felt when seeing them. Did they make you cry at first glance? Or is it just me that gets like that?

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  56. this felt like such a warm and joyful post to come across, Terri. And before I forget, go on you for going to the Meetup. It is just too bad it is the same old thing we experience with our Happiness Engineers on line. Oh well.

    Oh the flowers and Antelope Canyon so warm and wonderful . Tulips are my favorite flowers so I am glad you included your Valentine bouquet, and I smiled to think how can you NOT include a quote from Taylor Swift. She seems to be symbolic in every sense of the season…Valentines, Super Bowl and love.

    My favorite photo was of the unicycle.

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    • Thank you, Donna! Ms Swift is in the news right now, but I don’t follow her any other celebrities–but her quote was apt today.
      I may go to another meet-up–this person is just starting, but we’ll see. It would be nice to meet other Spokane bloggers but I’ve only read one person’s post who said she lives here.
      Enjoy your warm days in AZ, my friend! Winter is still far from over here, as it should be.

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  58. I love seeing all the pinks and reds you shared. The Canyon images are so fascinating, I never tire of seeing them. I like to imagine what it would be like to see them in person. 40 years in Sacramento…I guess I didn’t know that. The early spring trees are gorgeous from what you shared. Thanks for asking for feedback for the blogging community. I can vouch for the JetPack suggestions as I use the .org WP for my account too. I don’t think I show up as anonymous, but then again I don’t check often. Happy Valentines to you and your hubby. The tulips are gorgeous, I hope you have plans to plant them in your garden when the weather officially turns to spring! 

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    • Hi Shelley, thank you. I think I “met” you when I was still living in Sacramento. Spring blooms really peaked in February there, unlike here. I’m typing this as snow is falling–a little but it makes it COLD!
      And yes your avatar shows on the comments on my desktop, but your link did not. Sigh…

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      • Yes, I think you’re right, that is when we met. So many spring blossoms under our trees since that first meeting!
        We have cold weather again, but no snow. I don’t really want snow, but I think we should have some before spring so the birds and the animals have natural water sources.
        Sigh is right. I don’t know if it is because I had other links in my post instead of just to other blogs? There’s gotta be an answer somewhere about how to solve this mystery! 🤨😆

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  61. Terri, firstly, let me tell you much I enjoyed your photos. I never wore pink ever… but now that I’ve gotten older (and bolder) I’ve started seeing the value in the color pink! I like red now too! LOL! Next, thanks for letting us know about the WP Meet Up. From what I know, WP dot org runs separately from .com. We are the peons and not on the “TRUE” WP! Yes, I’ve read this in many forums. It’s sad but true. There are different forums for the .org folks as well. Their open issues are as great as the issues with .com. If you stop using the JetPack app, the majority of your issues will go away. I think the problem is that the app doesn’t sync well with the online version or the app version of WP. I’ve been told so many things by the HEs that I don’t believe any of them anymore. It’s all conjecture. I had 650 emails stuck in GMail junk on Friday. I’m not sure what to do, but Gmail is dumping everything. I’m set to receive no comments on WP, but I still get the messages. And, if I go to the comments section on our dashboard to answer comments, WP slow types! If Chrome is causing the issue, then I’m back to the same problem I had before. I’ll keep trying to figure it all out. I think the new editor has caused so many problems. It’s very sad to see all the issues we’re having. ❤️

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    • Well first, Colleen, thank you! I too have embraced more wearable pink as my hair slowly fades into white. My mom would approve! 😁

      I knew going in to that WP meeting that it would unlikely they could help. I had attended many in Sacramento years ago and you’re right that dot com is way different than dot org.

      I use chrome exclusively but do not have Gmail, as I prefer outlook. This week, when I logged out and back in to WP on my desktop many issues straightened out.
      BUT, that being said, I also believe my outlook email may be the cause of why I don’t get your post emails or others that I’m sure are self-hosted.
      I have to pick my battles with Outlook because my email needs to work for my entire life, not just blogging.
      Yes, this is so frustrating for us all. Thanks for your comments, Colleen 😁

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