If you follow this blog via email, you’re likely to have gotten a few [New Post] ones. And if you’ve been following me for a while, you’re likely to be confused, because those posts look old. For instance, I did not just release a film called Beyond; that happened 9 years ago.
They are old posts. It’s not you. This one, however, is a new post because I need to explain myself.
Messing around with the site
I’ve been tinkering with my site. Over the course of the last year, I’ve
- Moved it off a self hosted platform onto the managed WordPress.com one.
- Gone through a long period where I decided I wasn’t going to blog anymore, and locked all of my old posts.
Of course, I now regret both of those actions. Because:
- Being on a managed platform like WordPress.com —as opposed to installing WordPress on a self hosted site— means I can’t tinker with the theme the way I like to. I’ve become fond of stripping everything except the bare essentials from my site. Having to go back to using out-of-the-box themes with limited customisation, and inevitably garish (to my eye) embellishments ability drives me nuts.
- I need a blog. I meant to turn this site into a portfolio-only site. You know, like the real photographer I’m not. But the part of me that likes to write, demands to be read.
Which brings me to the crux of this post.
Why are you getting New Post emails for old posts?
Because in WordPress.com, there’s no way to turn new-post emails off for your followers.
My entire eleven-year archive of posts is currently set to private. the WordPress.com logic regards making them public as the equivalent of publishing them anew. And it wants to let all of you know about it, which is why you have emails to that effect.
There’s a certain logic to this formula. It’s one of the reasons I like the WordPress platform. I’ve been using WordPress since 2007, from a free blog, to a self hosted site, and now reverting to this managed incarnation. It’s great. The site owner? Not so much. Tinkers far too much with things she doesn’t need to tinker with.
And so now I’m stuck with either spamming you all with 600 “new” posts email notifications, or keeping my archive locked. And what’s so bad about keeping my archive locked, you ask? It means my story will remain forever incomplete. And that drives me nuts too.
This user comes with a lot of errors.
Will you keep getting new post emails?
If WordPress Support can’t find a way for me to disable New Post emails, then you all might get a few more. They’re trying though, so stay tuned!
charlene winfred 
Your pain, our growing email inbox is worth it. I know you mentioned it a while back that you were refreshing your site. I keep checking in to see if there is new content. I for one am happy to receive these emails.
I believe pelople follow you because of your work, your photographies and the way you are asxa person. It never gets old.Although weird ( the possibility to receive 600 plus emails), you have explained cristal clearly the situacion. I would never give up following you, your work/ideas and writtings due a little inconsequent accident. Just, dont give up.