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An Unexpected Opportunity

An Unexpected Opportunity | How To Instantly Get More Traffic

An Unexpected Opportunity

An unexpected opportunity seems to have fallen in my lap. And when I say unexpected, I mean extremely unexpected. You know how most of us always complain about how WordPress never listens to its users? And also about how the themes on WordPress straight up suck and lack imagination/creativity? Well, recently WordPress introduced a feature where you can create your own theme from scratch. I don’t know if it’s available to everyone or just those on the Business Plan.

Anyway, it was available to me and I decided to try it out because I thought it was a good idea and would help my blog look exactly how I want it to look. However, although the idea to allow users to create their own theme was great their options were not. It was difficult to navigate and pretty much impossible to customise much. So, I decided to stick with my current theme.

Now, this is where things get interesting. WP asked for some feedback and I answered the form to leave the feedback. And recently, I got an email asking to do an online meeting to further discuss my experience and how this feature could be improved. I know, I was shocked too. Maybe WP is turning over a new leaf and trying to improve? Anyway, I said yes to the meeting.

This is where you come in…

The reason I created this post though is to ask if you guys have any suggestions on how this feature could be improved. If I see any good ones in the comments I’ll let them know during the meeting. Since WP is finally asking our opinion let’s make the best of this unexpected opportunity. It may help us get better themes and a better custom option. There are no stupid ideas, just stupid people, so please share anything that comes to mind!

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Posted by:

Pooja G

97 responses to “An Unexpected Opportunity”

  1. Lincol Martín Avatar
    Lincol Martín

    It is not available in mine, maybe it will be available later; However, the idea is good and with practice you will be able to master it in a short time.

    Hugs from a distance, I hope to hear from you about what you tell us.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks and yeah I think they want to consult with bloggers before introducing the feature to all users.

      Thanks so much, I’ll share after the meeting.

      Reply
  2. Sadje Avatar
    Sadje

    This is a wonderful opportunity Pooja. I haven’t changed my theme since I started my blog 5 years ago. So I have no suggestions concerning the themes.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thank you so much. I haven’t changed mine either but was told to by a Happiness Engineer because my theme is now retired and causing issues. That’s how I stumbled upon these features.

      Reply
      1. Sadje Avatar
        Sadje

        Yes, a retired theme causes a lot of issues

        Reply
  3. ren Avatar
    ren

    i have a free WP plan, and i have one of the newer themes, but i also have the ability to create a theme from scratch (if i wanted to do that). personally, i find it incredibly easy to customize within the theme that i am currently using. i did, however, have to watch a 20 minute how-to-video in order to grasp how to make changes while working in the new editor. i have lots of technical questions, but i think it has more to do with what is “built into” certain themes and/or who determines what features must be included to be featured as a WP theme (are there even standards or rules for this?). oh, one thing that bothers when i’m customizing, is the pop-up suggestion feature that actually takes me away from what i was trying to do (personally, i know how and what i need and hate that WP takes me on a frickin’ adventure to look at things i care nothing about!)– but maybe those little pop-up features are liked and wanted by the majority of people?? … anyway, so cool that you were invited to brainstorm ideas. go pooja!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks! Lol yes, the pop-ups annoy me too. I think it definitely depends on the theme because the one I currently have is super easy to customise but the others I’ve tried out have fewer features which I found annoying.

      Reply
  4. Daily Interesting Blogs Avatar
    Daily Interesting Blogs

    Yes, it would be best if you tried it. Best of luck for a new opportunity. 😊🥰👍👍👍👍🧿

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much 😊💕

      Reply
  5. Joseph Glidden Avatar
    Joseph Glidden

    I have not changed much other than adding posts and pages. I don’t know if adding pages and post is part of the theme or not. I do find it cumbersome to add a post to the menu if I want to keep it at the top. I am sure you will represent us well. Congrats! Next step Pooja for world president!?

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      No most themes have a post and page option. Thanks so much, lol I’ll be running in 2025 for World President I hope I have your support.

      Reply
  6. Poet of the Light Avatar
    Poet of the Light

    Great news. Think of yourself as the bridge between consumer and developer. Just don’t let them take advantage of your good nature.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much and absolutely, I’ve gotten better at boundaries so hopefully it should be okay.

      Reply
  7. John Avatar
    John

    Please do take advantage of this opportunity, Pooja! Wow, perhaps WP is actually listening to the huge blogging community here!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      I will and I know I was shocked too, but happy they’re at least trying!

      Reply
      1. John Avatar
        John

        Yes! 🤙🏻

        Reply
        1. Pooja G Avatar
          Pooja G

          😊🤞🏽

          Reply
  8. Quantez Xihuitl Avatar
    Quantez Xihuitl

    Seriously surprised you didn’t see WordPress coming, you and your generation are the future of blogging. The big Social media companies are about to get hit so hard by the government due to its connections to mass shootings, depression, suicide, human trafficking, political hate and other poor social issues. WordPress needs Blog Princess Pooja on its team, if they want to profit off social media’s inevitable downfall.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      It’s true, I’ve also seen social media platforms having meetings with content creators. But I didn’t think WordPress cared enough to do that. That’s why I was caught off guard.

      Reply
  9. Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle Avatar
    Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle

    That’s so cool! I have a Premium plan but maybe that will encourage me to upgrade

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks and maybe you’ll get the feature even with Premium soon! I think they’re waiting to introduce it to everyone.

      Reply
  10. Milena Alien Avatar
    Milena Alien

    Last time I tried to change the theme I ended up using my very first one since there was nothing better. So hopefully you can create something new and fresh, appealing to the broad audience. I wish I could put my vision in words but I don’t know how to say it. I want something simple yet elegant, not cute or cheesy. As I’m writing this I see how it doesn’t make much sense or conveys the idea clearly lol I should probably write a poem about it

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      I really hope that happens, I also ended up sticking with my original theme as I don’t like the new ones. I prefer simple themes too as they’re easy to navigate. I actually know exactly what you mean lol.

      Reply
      1. Milena Alien Avatar
        Milena Alien

        Awesome

        Reply
  11. CurvyElvie Avatar
    CurvyElvie

    Good luck in the meeting.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much.

      Reply
  12. dfolstad58 Avatar
    dfolstad58

    Hats off to WP for responding. It’s important when these opportunities arise to also understand their perspective when making suggestions in my experience. If they know you are also listening to their concerns, it helps !
    Suggestions that are easy to implement and have a big payoff go far! You could become a regular consultant for future ideas being considered. Bravo for you for being our advocate. I don’t post often or have a business account but I still applaud that you spoke up!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thank you so much! You’re right, easy to implement ideas which go far are always best. I have some I’ve written down already which I think could be a game changer for them.

      Reply
      1. dfolstad58 Avatar
        dfolstad58

        They should be grateful for your type of thoughtful feedback and ideas, I think they will be.

        Reply
        1. Pooja G Avatar
          Pooja G

          Fingers crossed it all goes well.

          Reply
  13. WordBeSpokenith Avatar
    WordBeSpokenith

    Nice!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks!

      Reply
  14. muktaverma Avatar
    muktaverma

    Wow, As for suggestions, I think it would be great if they provide more customization options so that users can truly make their blogs unique and reflective of their own creative vision. I hope your meeting goes well and that your suggestions are taken into consideration. Thank you for sharing this update and giving us the opportunity to contribute our ideas as well.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      I’ll definitely let them know about that as I agree being able to customise your blog more would be a game changer.
      It’s my pleasure.

      Reply
      1. muktaverma Avatar
        muktaverma

        Thanks

        Reply
        1. Pooja G Avatar
          Pooja G

          My pleasure.

          Reply
  15. byngnigel Avatar
    byngnigel

    Fantastic opportunity..
    Shows they’re listening to some of their consumers.
    I’ll think of some suggestions and get back to you.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much, no problem let me know before Monday if you have any suggestions.

      Reply
  16. Opher Avatar
    Opher

    Hmmm the troubles with WP don’t seem to be with their Themes so much as the way they operate. They change things (nearly always for the worse) without warning and have messed with traffic. I used to get hundreds of annoying spam but now I get none. They must have applied a filter. Good you might say. But that coincided with my traffic going down to a fifth of what it was. People inform me that they cannot leave comments or interact in any way. I’ve lost the ability to reblog. It’s the operation that is the problem.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      True, I have a big issue with that too. They make changes with no warning and rarely care whether we like them or not. And yes, every time something changes my traffic goes down too.

      Reply
  17. Bookstooge Avatar
    Bookstooge

    “There are no stupid ideas, just stupid people, so please share anything that comes to mind!”

    I couldn’t have said it better myself! 😀

    Best of luck. Personally, I’m at the point in my blogging life where I just want things to work straight out of the box. I pick a theme and boom, done. The block themes were horrible at first. I tried the Masu theme when it came out and it had so many bugs that I gave up. They’ve sinced fixed those and I’m using it now.

    Which I guess does bring up something. All the functionality and widgets I USED to be able to use on my old non-block theme {pen scratch 2} are pretty much toast. Now we just have a very small choice of “block widgets”. Give us ALL the widgets we used to have. I’m on a personal plan, so I can’t mess around under the hood of my site very much, but I’m ok with that. I just want more options instead of less.

    Thanks for listening and thinking of all us small time bloggers.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Lol, thank you 😅

      Widgets is one I wanted to talk about too. So many widgets are no longer working and I have to switch them to the block ones which I hate.

      Happy to, I want to make sure that we all have a voice.

      Reply
  18. Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes Avatar
    Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

    Good Lord, things are looking up! Hopefully, something good will come from this, and well done you for triggering it!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      It seems so! Yes, I hope so. I really hope they listen and make some changes.

      Reply
      1. Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes Avatar
        Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

        I think they must, Pooja… we are all watching now…

        Reply
  19. Eugi Avatar
    Eugi

    I would take advantage of the opportunity, Pooja, even if just for the learning experience. I learned a lot by setting up my blogs using the FSE themes. It is frustrating at first, however, with patience and time, it is doable. What I like most about FSE themes is you can pretty much do what you want. ❤️

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      I really hope too as I’ve had quite a few frustrations with themes too. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with them ❤️

      Reply
      1. Eugi Avatar
        Eugi

        You’re welcome, Pooja.

        Reply
  20. DEVANG UPADHYAYA Avatar
    DEVANG UPADHYAYA

    Well good luck with this

    Best wishes

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much.

      Reply
  21. Destiny Avatar
    Destiny

    a great opportunity, Pooja.
    I think you more than many of us will know what issues to raise.
    all the best 🤍

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thank you so much, appreciate that. But if anything comes to mind do let me know 😊

      Reply
      1. Destiny Avatar
        Destiny

        Will do and most welcome 🤍🤗

        Reply
  22. A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA Avatar
    A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA

    Congratulations! Hope it works out well. Sorry, not sure if I have it or not. It would be nice if you could have it like you want it! Good Luck!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much and hope so too!

      Reply
  23. Janice Reid Avatar
    Janice Reid

    Good for you Pooja! I know you will have some constructive criticisms for them. Wish I had some suggestions for you but to be honest I really don’t require much; I just post and go😊.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much and yes I’ve already jotted some things down. That’s okay 😊

      Reply
  24. David Avatar
    David

    I’m excited for you, Pooja, and really interested to see where this goes. Thanks for sharing about it!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much, I hope it goes well and they take the suggestions seriously!

      Reply
  25. sharonsiconictravelphotographyblog Avatar
    sharonsiconictravelphotographyblog

    I hope they listen to you. They do not listen to me when I contact them about an issue. Thy keep asking and saying the same things over and over and many times it does not apply.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Yeah, I have had the same issue so many times too which is why I was so shocked that they actually wanted to hear my opinion.

      Reply
  26. Steve Avatar
    Steve

    Wow, that’s terrific news that they asked for a meeting with you, Pooja. No doubt WP sees the big following and influence you have on here, so I’d take that as a compliment if I were you. I’ve noticed the Happiness Engineers to be trying harder to please, and saw they even reversed a recent change that I had complained about. So I felt like they were paying attention and acting on issues they were hearing about. That’s really the only thing I’d suggest, is that they keep listening to their clients and making the platform work better, ESPECIALLY when dealing with newbies. When I was brand new on the platform and asked about trackback comments, they gave me bad advice that resulted in links (to previous posts) not working in Reader. I didn’t really use Reader for the first while, and certainly wasn’t reading my posts in it (why would I, I knew what they contain!), and I’m still working on fixing all those (with over 840 posts, and lots of links, it will take a while!) It will be interesting to read about how your meeting goes!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      I know, I was very pleasantly surprised too. Yes, I’ve noticed that too. More recently the Happiness Engineers I have chatted with have been incredibly helpful and have gone out of their way to help improve my blog. I’m glad they listened to you as well. It’s nice to be heard as a user since I feel like we have some helpful advice for them on how to improve this platform. Let’s hope it stays this way.
      I totally understand, I have so many old posts to make SEO changes to and it’s a lot of work!

      Reply
      1. Steve Avatar
        Steve

        😅

        Reply
  27. Manoj Mehra Avatar
    Manoj Mehra

    If this option is available for free-plan users, that would be great. Also, it should be like that anyone can design a new theme with a user-friendly interface.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Those are great ideas, will definitely mention it.

      Reply
  28. Baydreamer - Lauren Scott Avatar
    Baydreamer – Lauren Scott

    I think the meeting is a great opportunity, Pooja, but I really have no suggestions. I only changed my theme once and I haven’t had any issues. You’re probably more tech savvy though, so keep us posted with the outcome. 🤗

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      It really is a great opportunity, this platform is a big part of my life and it’s nice to have something of a say in it. Thanks and will definitely keep everyone posted 🤗

      Reply
  29. clcouch123 Avatar
    clcouch123

    It’s impressive that WordPress contacted you and that you’ll be consulting. I hope something good regarding themes is realized. My biggest problem with WordPress seems to be one of content options. I used to be able to write elsewhere and then move everything over to my WordPress page. A sort of big cut-and-paste operation. Now I can’t do that because WordPress does not recognize my spaces between passages nor when I type them in after moving everything. I have to use Xes or something like to indicate the spaces. I guess WordPress favors creating and moving literal (graphic) blocks of text, but I revise at each phase and place and so find the block unwieldy. If WordPress should ask about content-option issues, maybe you could pass this along, even though I don’t think this is (these are) the substance of what you’ll be involved in. Good luck!

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks, I was pleasantly surprised by it. And quite happy that they’re actually listening to users.
      I have that issue too especially with poetry. If they ask about more general stuff or the editor I’ll definitely mention it to them.

      Reply
  30. Michele Lee Avatar
    Michele Lee

    Kudos to you for initiating the conversation through feedback and for receiving an invitation to discuss further. One question I have about changing themes is how smooth is the transition process? When switching themes, does it only apply to posts created after a new theme has been introduced or does it reconfigure old posts? I’ve been reluctant to change themes, due to this uncertainty.

    I am having some issue currently right now with my updates not showing up immediately and my photos loading too large, following some changes they made. I was told the updates “might” be resolved by activating the hosting configuration, however it seems that could cause other issues and may or may not resolve the issue. 😕 Thanks for asking for our input. Best wishes on a successful meeting.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thank you so much!

      The transition process is actually quite smooth. I haven’t had any major issues concerning changing themes. All your posts and pages change with the theme including older ones. That’s not something you will have to reconfigure manually. But I would still recommend trying the theme before changing it permanently.

      Yeah, older themes have issues like that where things show up too large or small. Changing your theme may help with that.

      Reply
      1. Michele Lee Avatar
        Michele Lee

        Thanks so much for the info! 👍🏻

        Reply
        1. Pooja G Avatar
          Pooja G

          You’re totally welcome! 😊

          Reply
  31. David Avatar
    David

    Oh, hey…something came to me. Does WordPress use algorithms in Reader? I seem to “lose” some of the people I follow, and then I have to go find them again, only to learn they’ve posted several times since the last time I saw anything from them. It’s weird.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      I think that’s a glitch not the algorithm. Unfortunately, sometimes the posts from blogs we subscribe to don’t show up on the Reader. I’ve mentioned it multiple times but they never listen.

      Reply
      1. David Avatar
        David

        Worth a shot…

        Reply
        1. Pooja G Avatar
          Pooja G

          Will definitely mention it just in case they listen.

          Reply
  32. R Carter Avatar
    R Carter

    Thanks for sharing hopefully they will make your great ideas come to fruition

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks and hope so.

      Reply
  33. Shaunelius Sterns Avatar
    Shaunelius Sterns

    It should not be hard to navigate, and customize. I haven’t seen it though. What plan do you have to have to use it? I think it should be available for all plans, paid and free. I think the design options should be endless. Thanks for sharing, and congratulations! Have a great week.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Absolutely, it’s quite tough to customise at the moment. I have the Business Plan. I agree, it should eventually be available to everyone when the feature is perfected. But I don’t think that will happen considering that at the end of the day WordPress puts profits first and this feature may incentivise some to upgrade.
      Thanks so much and have a great week too.

      Reply
      1. Shaunelius Sterns Avatar
        Shaunelius Sterns

        I just hope they will consider it.

        Reply
        1. Pooja G Avatar
          Pooja G

          I hope so too.

          Reply
  34. Cindy Georgakas Avatar
    Cindy Georgakas

    Wow, this is great news Pooja!
    🤟🏽💞💞🤟🏽
    First up:

    -Add likes in the order of when posted so we can go back to where we left off instead of them being added randomly.

    -Have all of your likes show up, not just the first 100 on your computer. Show all like it does on the phone. The phone is too small.

    I know there’s more like make sure you post me on reader.. that was one huge debacle.

    -Chat box should be bigger with the ability to chat live.

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Yes, will definitely mention those since I’ve had those issues too especially with the likes! I don’t understand why they’re not in order and not more than 100 😩

      Reply
      1. Cindy Georgakas Avatar
        Cindy Georgakas

        Oh yayyyy thanks and let’s hope they listen. Show them all of the requests from everyone too!💕

        Reply
        1. Pooja G Avatar
          Pooja G

          Fingers crossed and I hope to! 🤞🏽

          Reply
          1. Cindy Georgakas Avatar
            Cindy Georgakas

            👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

            Reply
  35. Belladonna Avatar
    Belladonna

    I’m speechless!!! And definitely have to think about this one

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much!

      Reply
  36. jesusluvsall Avatar
    jesusluvsall

    When they suddenly change things, it is a hassle at times to figure out the change.
    I hate the Blaze thing. It is something WP should be doing for paid blogs anyway

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      True, that can be quite annoying especially because they never give us a heads up about any changes.
      Absolutely, Blaze isn’t even necessary. They should be pushing sites on paid plans anyway.

      Reply
  37. An Update On My Meeting With WordPress – Lifesfinewhine

    […] I mentioned all the points I had noted down as well as the suggestions I got from you guys on my last post about the meeting. The meeting was related to themes and in particular the new feature of making/creating your own […]

    Reply
  38. Jason Lawrence Avatar
    Jason Lawrence

    Hey there! We really enjoy reading people’s blogs and the entertaining content that creators like you publish. Your personal voice enriches the diverse online community that we all value . Keep writing and empowering your audience, because your ideas can make a significant impact on the world. We can’t wait to discover what you’ll produce next!

    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Pooja G Avatar
      Pooja G

      Thanks so much!

      Reply
  39. Jason Lawrence Avatar
    Jason Lawrence

    Hey there! We really enjoy reading people’s blogs and the entertaining content that creators like you produce . Your personal experiences enhances the engaging online community that we all value . Keep sharing and empowering your audience, because your words can make a lasting impact on the world. We can’t wait to see what you’ll produce next!

    Thanks – pomeranianpoppa

    Reply

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