My Windows Live Writer problem
Posted by Ellee on Jun 21, 2007 in updates | 11 commentsI use Windows Live Writer to write my posts and it has always been brilliant. But yesterday it mysteriously refused to publish them, though I managed to write my missing post ok. It is so bizarre and infuriating.
I spent ages trying to sort it out, but a message appeared saying there was an error which refused me access. The same happened again this morning. It means I have to resort to using my WordPress template, and I never did get the hang of adding pics and getting the text to wrap around.
As a result, I will have to pubish posts without pics, including those about the missing, which I am very disappointed about. Because my great technical supporter Geoff is away on holiday, I will have to wait until he returns in the beginning of July before it can be remedied. I will then update all the pics on the missing posts.
*Update: My technical problems seem to persist and some of my previous posts now appear distorted. My most recent ones seem to be ok, so I shall carry on and hope for the best. You can download recent posts from my sidebar where they will appear as normal (fingers crossed).
I am now in contact with SureSupport thanks to Joe and am hoping these difficulties will be resolved asap.
That wonderful man from Microsoft is trying to get my access unblocked. I wonder how common this problem is? It must be a pain for Microsoft, as well as us, though I very much appreciate their support. This is the email he sent on my behalf without being asked:
Dear suresupport,
I am writing on behalf of a user whose xmlrpc.php from her WordPress blog appears to be blocked–started a couple of days ago, all requests for xmlrpc.php return 403 Forbidden. Her domain is elleeseymour.com which is hosted on server283.
I was wondering if you could unblock xmlrpc.php for her account, for example adding an .htaccess file as demonstrated in the last post of this forum thread:
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/83587
Thanks.
–
Joe Cheng
Software Development Engineer
Windows Live Writer :: http://writer.live.com
Matt, I am trying to do that, but it is more complicated and time-consuming.
You can do all of the same things in the “back office”, Ellee – uploading images etc. – but it’s probably a bit of a learning curve if you are not used to it.
If they are really blocking xmlrpc.php, then that is going to impact on trackbacks and pingbacks as well.
I’ve just had a reply from Joe at Microsft which I have copied below from the email – many thanks Joe. As Geoff is away for a while and I have no idea how to contact my hosting company, I’ve sent the info to tekkie Tim Almond in case he can help – fingers crossed!!!:
“This answer is probably not going to make sense to you, but if you forward it to Geoff or your web hosting company’s tech support, they should be able to help.
It appears that your hosting company has started blocking requests to xmlrpc.php. This is not uncommon, some hosts do this as a security measure, but it does prevent Writer from accessing your blog. The fix is to undo the blocking, which can be done using an .htaccess file as seen in the last post in this thread:
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/83587
An easy way to test if the problem is fixed is to try to navigate to this page:
http://elleeseymour.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd
If it gives an error or says something starting with “403″, it’s still broken. If it looks like mine, it’s fixed:
http://jcheng.wordpress.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd
Please feel free to have Geoff or your web hosting company follow up with me directly if they need further instructions.”
If you can’t get it to publish photos, why not just post links to the pictures in your “missing” posts, as that way they will still be available for viewing until the problem can be fixed.
Joe, that is an amazingly swift response, and most impressive. I have just dropped you a line and very much hope we can sort my problem out today. Many thanks.
Hi Ellee, I can help you–I’m one of the programmers on the Windows Live Writer team. Just e-mail me at joecheng *AT* microsoft *DOT* com and I’ll reply with the next steps.
Heather, I have tried reinstalling it, but still no luck. I will try again when I have time.
Jim, have a good day, and thank you for reminding me.
Happy Summer Solstice Ellee!
Ellee – I’ve not had problems with Windows Live Writer and like you am a fan of its easy way of uploading pics, formatting etc.
It might be worth you trying to reinstall it if the problem continues. I found it simple to install so I’m sure you wouldn’t need to wait for Geoff to do that.