What About A "Save Draft" Feature?

I know, I know, it can be done in word, or notepad, or all kinds of things. But I am just curious, what would be the actual logistic requirements, labor hours, and cost be to implement such a feature. Here are the factors I can determine thus far that would be relevant:

• Bandwidth
  
• Server Space (cost$$)
  
• Hours to Code?
  
• Compatibility
  

umm, well thats all I can think of right now. I am thinking if there is a visible "impact assessment" which can quantify what is needed to achieve certain goals that people want, it would encourage more people to volunteer our generosity to make it happen.

at the very least I often give more when I can see a goal directly in front of me, and agree with it. Just curious to wonder if there was ever any time or whatever to have a rudimentary understanding or visualization of what a simple "save draft" feature would entail.

Thus far, I understand that right off the bat there would be up to tens of thousands of transmission of files that will the be gobbling up many billions of bytes bytes everyday, and then stored separately physically adding to data capacity on the servers. Maybe compatibility issues with some kind of code that simply updates or relocates the draft into finished product and removes the old file from the draft allocation space. Or maybe its as simple as just getting a new program and dropping it in. I don't really know because I don't have much experience in this field. I just know seeing numbers and variables makes my brain want to make it happen. If that takes $$, well I like to know what I can give. I am giving a free local classical music radio station ten dollars a month for a year for a station I don't even have to pay to listen to on FM. But its got no commercials really, and they always quantify the goal for their fundraising efforts. makes something in my brain tick.

Soooooooooooo....., any numbers??

It's called 'Notepad'.... Whenever I'm typin out a big post, after a good few paragraphs or so, I simply copy and paste to windows 'Notepad'. Which is perfect for saving any type of forum post. Pics, vids, links, any type of bbcode copies over perfectly. You may have to reposition your paragraphs a little when repasting from 'Notepad', but that takes just a few seconds and is actually a good opportunity to subconsciously proofread your post.

I know it might seem obvious now, but still a good trick.

a reply to: rexsblues

and like I said here

I know, I know, it can be done in word, or notepad, or all kinds of things. But I am just curious, what would be the actual logistic requirements, labor hours, and cost be to implement such a feature. Here are the factors I can determine thus far that would be relevant:

you know sir, the difference between success in a business can be as simple as the colors of the product you offer, or a lack thereof.

a reply to: AmericanRealist

haha, my bad... In any case, with such a simple solution, why would you expect anyone to invest the time and money into providing such a feature? This is an opinionated, voluntary, anonymous forum, not sensitive business related personal email. Beyond the once and a blue moon request, there is simply no incentive to add such a feature.

Again... NOTEPAD! It works both ways bro, If you're really that worried about losing material, just begin your post in an offline OS based text doc, and then paste it. It's not rocket science man.

a reply to: AmericanRealist

For whatever perverse &/or irrational reason, I almost never compose in Word.

I often have it open & minimized for some other reason. It would be easy enough. I just don't do it. Maybe it seems like an added bother. I've lost probably 1-2 dozen good meaty posts because of that, over the years.

If I think a post or thread OP is particularly important, I may do it.

I CERTAINLY HATE bumping my cordless keyboard some silly way and losing a post.

What I have made a virtual habit is to "alt A" to select the whole post; ctl C to copy the whole post BEFORE I hit the posting button. THAT has saved me several times.

Another favorite site has the save draft automatically feature. I really like it.

I doubt with all the other challenges facing S.O. that it would be a priority in the next decade or 3 . . . Unless a mass groundswell dumped a bunch of cash in his coffers to make it attractive. And I don't see that happening. Most folks likely don't care that much about such a feature.

Which, lands us back using Word, Wordpad, Notepad etc.

I'm trying to decide if I want to set up my boilerplate formatting beginning a new thread or just continue to type it in every time. LOL. Given that it's minimal typing, I'll probably do the latter.

I like my formatting because it puts the details of the source, author, date, subtitle right at the top. But I wonder if it's something others like, or not . . . or even if it's noticed as a good way to do it, or not.

I am curious . . . how is it that putting pics in the draft on Notepad transfers easily on ATS? I've avoided bothering with pics as I just assumed it was too big a chore. If it's really super easy, I might reconsider.

Anyway--cheers. I always like tweaking things toward improvements. I think S.O. does too, witness all the hard labor for overhauls repeatedly. I just think that the basics keep him enough busy without a lot of fuss over minor bells and whistles.

I'm SUPER THANKFUL for the dark option for a background. I'm SUPER THANKFUL for the sensible color text options. I'm very thankful for the center text option.

I really like the two effective ways of doing youtube links. Most of the time I'd rather not bother with loading the image of the youtube link for folks. So I just do the link. I know I sometimes get a bit annoyed when there's 4-8 youtube links with the pre-loaded image/video window showing in the thread/post. I have broadband so it's not a huge biggy. Just my quirk, I guess.

I rarely use the emoticons. And I often don't know what all of them say/mean--except when the code says so. LOL. I probably liked the old ones a bit more but I use them so very rarely--it's not at all a big thing with me.

Anyway, I'm happy to count my blessings in terms of the options available.

And Big THANKS to S.O. for his programming labors. I kind of like a tailor made website. Few of the standard options usually available on most websites fit my preferences.

Cheers.

a reply to: AmericanRealist

I've done it off site for awhile now...its just more reliable.

Just think how much storage space ATS would need if every member temporarily stored post compositions?

a reply to: AmericanRealist

How about the simple step of writing your content, highlighting it with the copy option, remove the copy highlighting from the content, then hit send and THEN putting it anywhere you want it, email to yourself, to a Word file...whatever.


Actually, I send mine to a blank email page so I can see that it has been copied BEFORE I send it on to ATS.

ETA: Or, you can copy direct from your displayed post and past it to a Windows Outlook page. Highlight the content, and in the tasks bar above, there is a symbol to disable the background grey and which returns the text to black text on the standard background.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I don't want to think about it, I want to know exactly how much storage space it needs. I want to know exactly how much extra bandwidth the process will consume on a daily basis. Thats the purpose of an impact study.

I have not said "oh can we have it please please please!" I have only asked what does it physically take, and even already posted the variables involved that would factor the most.


a reply to: Aliensun

I already do all that. Like I said in the OP, I pay to support a free radio station that I would never even have to pay for ever. This is a very basic impact study proposal, nothing more. All it takes is a few minutes of time from someone that actually has the answers to the variables in question.

This was never about whether I know how or where to save a draft. A very specific question that only has a few very specific answers. Thats what this is.

I would heartily support a 'save draft' feature. The number of times I've been composing or attempting to post a thread/ response in-thread, and then went on to lose the post due to a WiFi crash, or some other misfortune - it really bugs me.

When I have my head screwed on properly, I remember to create a document from which I can copy/paste - but a save draft feature would be a really big plus, particularly for when you're composing a reply 'on the fly'.

Cheers,


FITO.