home

The Error (Technical Characterization)

ReferenceError: switchEditors is not defined post.php:1

The above is what I saw in the browsers' JavaScript Console (control-shift-J in Chrome and Firefox).

Workaround / Solution

Make the WordPress user experiencing the error an administrator rather than an editor (or other non-admin).

The Error (As Seen By User)

When one tries to edit a page, the page is blank and the editing buttons are gone. Switching between text (HTML) and visual may cause this blanking-out to happen.

Other fixes

There are a handful of other solutions I've seen on the web (2 - 3 other solutions in ~7 articles). I did not try the others because I was not able to reproduce the bug for this write-up. There may be several paths to the same error message with different solutions, or perhaps those other solutions will work.

Background / More Details / Reproducing

This was in WordPress version 3.9.1, observed 2014/06/29.

I suspect that several conditions have to happen before you see the bug. I reproduced the bug immediately in June, but I tried for hours on November 10, 2014 with no luck. When I downloaded wordpress-3.9.1.tar.gz, I noticed that in the Dashboard, the version showed 3.9.2. That ambiguity might be part of my problem with reproduction.

Fixing the Bug? / Future Work?

It would not take much persuasion for me to fix the bug. I think I could do it in a few hours. First I have to be able to reproduce it (again). If anyone can give me a scenario, let me know--see my resume for contact info.

Other Characterizations of the error (for keywords)

edited page goes blank, cannot edit.

Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict