Text that is unsuccessfully posted is too easily lost.

I couldn't think of a better title for this. It's not always easy to explain.

You type a load of text, in a thread or PM, then click to send.

If you were the last person to post on that thread, you lose that text.
If the topic has been closed, you lose that text.
If the message recipient's inbox is full, you lose that text.

In other words, if any number of things stop your post going through properly and you rech an error message page, you can't click to go back and find everything you wrote still there - it is lost.

Important questions:
Does anyone else recognise this as a problem?
Are there any simple answers other than copying everything you ever post onto the clipboard before clicking send?
Is there anything that can be done to stop this problem from happening?

never had that problem..

I know what u mean. I've had that but it's not only here. I did it on Hotmail today. I wrote an e-mail to be proud of in Polish and my connection screwed up and I lost it.

U r not alone on this one Osioł

maybe u people are doing something wrong :P

If I've typed a load of text I usually highlight it all and copy (takes two seconds). Then when I know the text has gone through properly I can get rid of the text, if it hasn't gone through properly I can paste it somewhere until I can use it again. I use this not only on PF.

I hate it!!!!! Your so right, if you type a bible on a subject and accidently hit backspace or something you lose the whole text when you click back. The same also happens if you click 'Post' and it does not post and takes you to another page telling you it cannot be posted, you go back to where your text was and there is an empty box.

I tell you it nearly starts a fit of throwing the computer at the wall!!!


I've actually started doing this myself ever since i lost about five paragraphs of text!!!

It's not about losing the connection.

Let's say you type something to post on Random Chat.
As you type, one of your previous posts is moved to Random Chat, where is becomes the last post on the thread.
You can't repeat post on the same thread until something like an hour has passed.
You don't yet know that your post is the last one on the thread.
You click "Post Message"

An error page appears, giving you the option of editing your last post or returning to the thread.
Anything you had typed has gone.


Alright, what are you doing right?

joking joking...

Good advice from PD. If my connection is a bit dodgy, I usually press Ctrl+C to copy it, then Ctrl+V to paste it. It's worse when you lose a university essay, trust me.

Tornado understands completely!


It is just not practical to do this every time. I use my clipboard a lot and I can't copy everything I ever type? Have you seen how much I spam this forum... I mean contribute to this forum?


Maybe joking is the answer. Damn! I've lost a novel but I can laugh...
tears of a clown!

There must be a better way. Maybe Admin could have fun installing some new feature that solves all these problems. He might not want to, but a bet he'd enjoy a bit of tinkering!

Okay, next step - copy...

Testing it now

Always happens with a time consuming long text. It's like the post function gets fed up with waiting.

One more time for a test

that's why i don't like to write long e-mails...and e-mails in general...and i'd find a few more reasons but it's off topic...

:D

Yes it is. You're only copying (not pasting) a block of text until you know it's gone through. If it goes through you're not even pasting it anywhere else.

I just tested it and i know what you mean.
It used to happen to me but I usually don't have conversation with myself (that's a lie)

Some people are using their clipboards for other things at the same time. It is not practical. Posting should be simple. Why should it be made more difficult or complicated than it needs to be?

Not it isn't.

DOH!

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I thought the reason for this was to stop people spamming?

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You must go to confession.

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I want to do a new version of an old thread. Now that I have a better grasp of how to use this forum.
The thread should be in three parts but i am afraid I will have to wait for someone else to post before I can do the other two parts.

I know Toronto but am not overly familiar with Canadian geography. So, u speak English better than Polish?

With the repeat posting, yes you are right. However, if rather than bring up a whole new page, maybe a message could appear whilst the original page remains, or the error message page could contain a box with the text it it. I'm no expert, so maybe someone familiar with other busy fora might be able to explain how this works elsewhere.

With PMs it is particularly annoying. I once wrote someone a huge long message, all of which I lost due to her inbox being full. Since then, I have always remembered to copy long PMs, but I don't always remember. I think copying every post and every messge is just a little too much to demand.

Copy? Nah! I've got an important web address on my clipboard and I'm not opening another Word document just to temporarily paste it.

I don't get that. I'm not saying post anything to your clipboard. I'm saying, once you've typed a huge amount, highlight it all and select copy but not paste. Then hit the send button. Seconds later you'll know if your message went through or not. If it went through (as it does 99% of the time) you have no need to paste anywhere. If it hasn't gone through then you can just paste the text you copied (therefore you saved it) to another message box, or if you like, clipboard/word whatever.

My clipboard has something on it already. If I copy this, I have to paste what is already there somewhere or I lose it. Edit: okay, so you've got that bit, but the point I am raising still stands.

Why should it be necessary? It is just more hassle. You seem to be trying to tell me that there is nothing wrong with the current system. What I would like is to find out whether something can be done to make the forum just a little bit more user-friendly.

Is it not worth looking at?

I see what you mean


Forget about your clip board, just copy it, send the message.
It'll be saved in the ether of the computer (how do you like my computer speak)
If the message doent work you have it saved (but not anywhere)

You don't have to paste it anywhere unless your text didn't go through. As long as you don't copy anything else while you're waiting the few seconds to see if your post posted or not then you won't lose it. I use that method often when writing long posts, long PMs, long emails.

If you are the last poster on a thread and the edit time has ran out, can't you then post even if you are the last poster?

As I've already said, if it is a long time consuming post, then the answer is... (usually) no.

The reason I never bother any more with long texts.

I would like to make my own suggestion.
When your mail box is full (30) it could tell you in red, just to stand out?

I don't always know what I'm about to type, and sometimes I do type quite a lot all in one go.


So I keep reading. How about this idea: find more ways to make this forum slightly more tricky to use.
Then think about this idea: find a few ways to make it a little bit easier to use.


So you know that I know how to get around this problem. Getting around the problem is not the issue. Solving it is the issue.

I look forward to seeing what Admin has to say on the matter, although I'm not always an optimist.

The forum is easy to use. I just suggested a way to NOT lose a large amount of text. It's a system I use elsewhere and not just PF. I use it because of a bad Internet connection at times. I was providing you with a fix until hopefully something else could be sorted.

Imaginary Mod or not, I was reading yours, SeanBMs and Wroclaws points and wondering whether there was a way to solve it.

Not always. Read my first post again.


This is a user-unfriendly suggestion.


I know that you mean well. I need to feel as though I have raised the point and brought to attention just how annoying it can be, and that ways around the problem aren't as good as actually solving it. This problem has got my goat a few times. As problems go, it is a goat-getter. Goats have been gotten.


There seem to be experts on just about every subject on PF. I wonder if there are any real experts! Any real experts who know about the mechanics of forum-posting.

Hooves crossed.

You made your point. Admin will deal with it I'm sure.