I’ve been locked out of my web site several times over the past few weeks. Usually, I’m able to access the dashboard to fix the problem. Two weeks ago, I was working on a post about Tootsie’s birthday when an error message came up I couldn’t get past.

Sigh.

Many moons ago, I knew everything there was to know about my computer. Then Windows came along. I’ve been lost ever since. If rebooting doesn’t work, I’m screwed.

Blogging on blogspot.com was a piece of cake. Features were limited, but it was free and surprisingly easy to use. Author pals suggested switching to WordPress for more features, so I did. In time, I upgraded to a WordPress option that required me to have a server.

It’s all very complicated. I didn’t know who to contact when I got locked out. I pay one entity for my domain, another for the server, and another for WordPress and plugins to make it better or easier to use or something.

To be honest, I figured my blogging days were over. I postponed dealing with the issue for more than a week. Yesterday, I decided to tackle the problem, head on.

Upon further inspection, the error message suggested contacting the server provider. I used an AI chatbot that quickly connected me to a real person who restored my access. She said the issue was a problem with WordPress.

Minutes later, another chatbot told me what I needed to do. The problem was a conflict between different versions of several plugins. Deactivating all the plugins and reactivating them turned up an update which rresolved the issue.

Shew! From start to finish, fixing the lockout problem took less than thirty minutes. I never felt stupid, either. Instructions were clear and easy to follow.

I’m back, but a little behind. I hope to publish Tootsie’s birthday post laster this week. Then it’s on to a garden update. As always, thanks for stopping by.