Like many other sites on the internet, Glow Blogs is subject to hostile traffic from bots and hackers. We are now blocking access to some countries outside the UK. This should improve the resilience of the Glow Blogs service.
The rules we use follow the ones already implemented by RM on the Glow Login Screen and Launch Pad. The rules have been tested to ensure that legitimate UK traffic is unaffected.
In addition to their rules, Glow also uses other bot protection measures to keep the service up and running.
There is a problem when editing images in Header Template part in theme templates in the site editor. We are aware of the issue and hope to fix it soon. There is a simple workaround.
If you have set an image in the header template. It will appear as expected when visitors view the site.
But if you edit the template again, typically via the Edit Site button on the Admin toolbar, you will see the image is missing in the editor.
Screenshot of the Site Editor showing a missing image icon
By selecting the Cover Block in the editor you can replace the image; the correct one will be already chosen in the media library. This will fix the issue in the editor until you edit again; the image will again show as missing.
Workaround
Ignore the issue in the editor. If you need to work on the image you can replace it while you do, but you can leave it as missing and it will not affect the public view of your site.
Enquire on GLOW – Enquire is the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning.
A clear and straightforward news site. Using the Twenty Fifteen Theme.
Glasgow CREATE supports Primary, Secondary and Early Years establishments across the city to provide high-quality learning experiences through creativity and the Expressive Arts.
Great looking site using the Twenty Twenty-Four theme.
As a precautionary measure, the Glow Blogs platform was temporarily taken offline.
This decision was made to allow our technical team to apply urgent security updates to protect the platform. These updates address recently discovered vulnerabilities in PHP – the foundational programming language that acts as the “engine” behind the scenes to make our WordPress websites run.
You may have seen news coverage regarding this software issue, as many other service providers globally have taken the exact same preventative steps to secure their systems.
We rolled out the necessary updates and conducted thorough testing.
All services are back online and access is restored.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we prioritise the security of the platform.
A recording of a webinar for teachers interested in building more complex learning.
The video explores content containers such as game maps and branching scenarios designed to encourage interactive, gamified education. The First Game map example is aimed at 9 year old pupils and the second for adult learners.
It provides a good workflow for creating content. The video does not show the editor in WordPress but the standalone editor uses has the same interface.
There are some great tips for designing and planning content.
The H5P Group provides a whole series of videos on their vimeo channel.
There has been a new release on Glow Blogs, dealing with some issues, updating themes and plugins.
Fixes
The Tiled Gallery Block is again available on Classic-themed sites. See the Tiled Gallery information on our blocks information site.
Problems with the appearance of widgets in the editor have been fixed.
A problem where raw HTML was displayed on some posts listed on Local Authority home pages has been fixed.
Jetpack blocks which are not suitable for Glow Blogs have been removed. These would have required linking with a WordPress.com account, involving payments and or external data storage.
Jetpack Custom Content Types are again available to activate. The activation process has changed a little, we have details on this post.
Plugin Updates
The following plugins have been updated, mostly minor bug and security fixes. These updates should not affect functionality.
Display Posts Shortcode
3D Flipbook Lite
Classic Editor
Contact Block Form
Google Translator Widget
MegaMenu
Simple Local Avatars
WordPress Importer
WP Accessibility
WP Post Ratings
Embed Plus for YouTube
Translations
Google have changed their permissions to limit the use of their translation widget limiting it to non profit sites. This had stopped the translation service working in some cases in Glow Blogs. We have now updated the Google Language Translator to the most recent version. This has fixed the problem. Details of how to use the plugin are here Google Language Translator.
Themes
Nearly all of the Twenty series of themes have been updated to the latest versions. Again, this should not affect basic functionality. Accessibility has been improved for some themes.
We remind everyone about our recent Theme Advice. We advise people to choose from the Twenty series of Themes.
There can be a problem with changing privacy levels on a site with a lot of media (photos, video, audio etc.).
We are planning a change to Glow Blogs to prevent this. In the meantime we have some advice around changing site privacy.
The problem only affects sites with a lot of media.
When you make a privacy change all of the media files are moved. When there is a lot of media this can take some time. If you delete media from the Media Library while this change is taking place the process can become stuck and will need intervention from our developers.
You can avoid this problem by waiting until the media is all moved. You can view progress in the Dashboard setting page where you change privacy. A banner appears explaining that you cannot change privacy until the media has been moved.
Media is currently being moved to/from the public area, so Blog Visibility cannot be changed at the moment.
Revisit the page later or refresh your browser periodically, and wait until the notice disappears before you edit media.
If you are planning to remove media and change the privacy of the site, delete the media first. This will avoid problems and speed up the media move.
It also helps to change the privacy setting as infrequently as possible.
If you are changing privacy to hide a post or page while you do some editing there are simpler and less risky ways to do this:
Set the status for the page or post to Draft. You can work on the page or post and preview it while it is a draft.
Set the status to Pending Review.
Password protect the page.
You can change the status of multiple posts or pages in the Dashboard (Post on the Posts screen, Pages on the Pages screen). Just select them and use the Bulk actions dropdown choose Edit and click Apply.
Tip: When working with multiple posts and pages you can change the number of items on the screen in the screen options at the top of the page.
Expand that section and change Number of items per page: to 200 (The maximum)
And press Apply. You can now edit 200 posts or pages at once.
Even after applying the fix about there may be a problem with any YouTube Videos in the Safari browser. There is currently not a fix for this. But there is a workaround.
Create and embed your content or edit the content. Make sure all the Display Options are ticked.
View a page with the content on it.
Click Embed and copy the code. This embed code will work when added to a post. You can replace the original code.
This will fix problems with any YouTube videos in Safari. It may be worth doing if you are providing H5P video content to learners using macs or iPads.
This screenshot show the original embed code and the one copied from the content. Do not use both in the same post.
If you are seeing this problem and have trouble fixing it, please get in touch, fill in the form.
We remind everyone about our recent 
