I ran into an interesting problem after updating my blog to Wordpress 2.1 (code name “Ella”): When creating or editing a post using the updated AJAX WYSIWYG editor, the submit and cancel buttons were not showing up in Firefox 2 - but were in Internet Explorer 7!

No Buttons In Wordpress 2.1!

Some Background

When adding links or images in Wordpress 2.0.7, a JavaScript powered popup dialog appeared and let you enter the URL. In Wordpress 2.1, they moved to AJAX powered popups.

What’s Really Happening

This isn’t actually a Firefox related problem - it’s a browser problem. It happens when your browser caches an older JavaScript file and uses that instead of the one that shipped with Wordpress 2.1. It was happening to me in FF2 because it’s my default browser. I don’t use IE7 to make posts. Since IE7 hadn’t cached that script, it read the updated JavaScript.

How To Fix The Problem

We need to clear your browser’s cache:

Firefox 2

  1. Click Tools on the toolbar and click “Clear Private Data . . .” or use the keyboard shortcut: CTRL + Shift + DEL
  2. Make sure that “Cache” is the only thing checked
  3. Click the “Clear Private Data Now”button

Clear Your Cache!

Internet Explorer 7
Deleting IE’s cache is a little more involved - surprise right?!

  1. Click Tools on the toolbar and click “Internet Options” (sorry, no keyboard shortcut!)
  2. In the “General” tab, under “Browsing history”, click the “Delete” button

    Almost There . . .

  3. In the “Temporary Internet Options” section, click the “Delete files…” button

    Not There Yet!

  4. In the next dialog that opens, click the “Yes” button
  5. Close all dialog boxes

Internet Explorer is a pain in the ass! Use the better browser: Firefox 2!