Why does ATS not save your post????? Two hours wasted because I forgot to put a title

I just spent a good two hours posing a very intriguing question. I had it all laid out. I had the other side trapped even before the chess match started.

Then I clocked post.

I was directed to some page that said "click your browser's back button and try again"

So I do.

And my whole thread is gone. Totally gone. Goddamn it all.

Do you all write your threads in Word and then copy paste them?

I'm shocked it doesn't save a post when you click back.

I'm not gonna waste my time writing that perfect piece of literature again. Way to go ATS, you've made the world a dumber place.

Well not only are you presenting your case in such a manner as to be a magnet for abusive posts insulting your intelligence, but it's up to you to back up your work, and it's easy. Highlight the text,then click ctrl+c. Paste that in notepad or Word, or your e-mail, or just another open page.... if something goes wrong, you have a back up.

While I agree that in a perfect world ATS would function in a more user friendly way, you can also easily correct this problem, so I suggest you do that next time.

reply to post by doctornamtab


Hardly, their happens to be something called Notepad or Word or a million other programs that you can write and save text on. Anyone who has used a computer for longer than 2 months should know that at any minute all your hard work can be wiped clean if you havent save it for a whole host of reasons (browser crashes, power surge, page timed out, etc. etc.)

If your gonna invest so much time into something, save it.

That used to happen to me. I was told about a Firefox add on called Lazurus (hope I spelled it write), and it will save anything you write, you can change the settings as you please. All you have to do is right click and press the last thing you wrote and it will add it automatically.

This is for forms and all. Even if you want to rewrite what you wrote a few days ago, you can search it, and click it. And if you share your computer and dont want people to know what you have written you can have a password.

I hope this helps.

Peace, NRE.

reply to post by doctornamtab


When writing a large post, do you not write it in Word, notepad, Etc.?
If I did I would.
3rd line.

I feel your pain mate.. it happened to me and i spent hours on it.. i forgot the title!! argghh!!

thats a big flaw in my opinion. I did learn from it though and always save during writing one and before posting..

I always do my posts in a word processor. It doesn't have to be much, but one with a spell checker is nice. I generally use Wordpad because it's easier to rearrange stuff. I can also drag and drop text, which makes it easier to properly format offsite content, video, links, etc. Spell checking is handled in my browser.

When I get it as I want it (or think I want it) I copy and past into the comment box and do a preview.

Don't forget to save your work at various stages in the event of an unexpected power outage or whatever.

The reason I do it this way is exactly for the reason you described.

reply to post by doctornamtab


I call that baptism by fire.
I've been burned enough times too.
And eventually learned this:
Either be brief and to the point. Or Save your work.
It sucks, but there have been some good suggestions so far.
Even just a control +a, and a control + c...Every now and then is a sanity saver.

It a problem with many discussion style boards.
Sorry you lost your work...

And that Lazurus plugin sounds interesting

reply to post by doctornamtab


I know it is frustrating to put all that work into a thread....and then not be able to post it.

I agree...I wish ATS did have in its reply section...a save function. It would make things a lot easier.

I am so curious now about what you did write...won't you try again?

reply to post by caladonea


Yeah I'll get it up again tomorrow probably.

I know how to copy and paste of course. I just didn't know you lost your work when you made the no title mistake.

reply to post by spacedoubt


I love Lazurus. Lets say I am upset and want to alert the mods. I click on the alert button, write, and then reread, or calm down, and I can leave the screen.

If things dont change or it gets worse. I can take the anger that caused me to want to alert in the first place, search it in Lazurus, and it will write it down word for word automatically.

I also do that for posts, and threads. I never have to worry about it going missing, or me not being passionate as the first time I wanted to write, because everything is verbatim.

Also you can keep the forms for weeks if you want. I know someone who did it for their computer to see what their husband was writing and searching. That's why I said some may want to keep a password.

Peace, NRE.

I find that anytime, where you're on this site, or any other site, a very good habit to form is 'Select All and Copy' before you submit a page that contains a lot of detail, since there are a number of things that can prevent that data from being pushed forward, such as a page timing out, or your internet failing.

Some sites allow that data to be 'cached', but others, such as ATS, empty the field. Not sure why the behavior is different when it all boils down to a simple textfield.

When you're dealing with 'multi-textfield' forms (like applications) and such, those are the times you can't do anything really, but hope that the thing goes through.

This is the primary reason why programs do caches now, unlike the olden days where you'd lose everything if the program decided to crash. The internet has some catching up to do in that area.

P.S. As others mention, in cases where you do have a really lengthy submission, place a hard copy into word processing program before submitting that page or anything. Although the 'copy' function works most times, there are certain instances when a clipboard can get wiped.

Originally posted by doctornamtab
I just spent a good two hours posing a very intriguing question. I had it all laid out. I had the other side trapped even before the chess match started.

Then I clocked post.

I was directed to some page that said "click your browser's back button and try again"

So I do.

And my whole thread is gone. Totally gone. Goddamn it all.

Do you all write your threads in Word and then copy paste them?

I'm shocked it doesn't save a post when you click back.

I'm not gonna waste my time writing that perfect piece of literature again. Way to go ATS, you've made the world a dumber place.

If it's going to be a long post, I do it it in MSWord and then paste it. Just in case of a crash or some such thing like what happened too you.

Peace

I understand what youre saying it has happened to me once or twice before. Like everyone else is suggesting Firefox with Lazerus or composing it word will eliminate the accidents.

Don't feel bad. It might actually make you feel better to redo the post. Just curious what was the basic premise of your thread?

As mentioned by Jude11 and a few others have noted how important it is to back up your text by working in an editor. After loosing several hard drives, I have learned to back up everything on my entire computer. If I am doing video or audio I click save ever three or four minutes because you never know when loss will happen.
I no longer use MS word etc for my posting. If it is going to be more than a few lines I do it in open office.
A free download that will render nearly everything Word will do and it is powerful. Just download it.
I always do the write up in Open Office and then copy and paste it into the posting.
Never rely on anyone else or their software to protect your work. In the end, it isn't their responsibility to do so.
Only you can protect your own work because you are the only one that has an interest in it. At least when it is first posted.

DH

reply to post by doctornamtab


Use Firefox? Say no more! Install this extension, and never lose a post again.
Lazarus

Even if you don't fully save the post...which you should, if you hit the preview post button before the post button, if it messes up and you hit the back button, your preview is still there.

Always back up your work though

I'm pretty sure that has happened to everyone at one point or another.

Make a thread, press submit, receive error message 'Sorry, a thread with that title already exists.'

Make a post, press submit, receive error message, 'Sorry you are not permitted to post in this forum.' And then you see the thread was closed while you were typing.



If you are ever writing your magnum opus, always be sure to save it somewhere! LOL!

Not making fun of the OP but do you guys remember this video SO made? It's funny because we have ALL been there.

'I worked on that post for two hours. It was the perfect post! Somebody hit refresh!'



video.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by doctornamtab

Do you all write your threads in Word and then copy paste them?

On something I spend two hours on? Heck yeah I do.