Draft Saved feature

samwu

I really don't like the autosave feature. I often start replying。

Jellybaby_1

Off please. I've messed up more replies with this feature than I ever did before it was installed.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118520283#Comment_118520283

I'm a fan of autosave, but not when it pops up almost immediately before I've even had time to type anything, and obscures the entire text box!

I think (open to correction) that's the objection most people have to it, and if that could be corrected - happy days!

Tork

I could live with a slower autosave and a delete draft button right under the dialogue box. I hate being punished for discarding a post by having to go hunting for the delete button. But really, I want it gone altogether and it looks like the majority want it to be removed too. It's an intrusion.

Boards.ie: Niamh

I've sent off an enquiry to see if this feature can be adjusted in any way to take account of pop ups on mobile interfering with people's site experience so we'll see what they say.

Tork

So in other words, you are not getting rid of it.

Why is the option to simply save a draft not on the table here? Surely people who are typing replies that they want to have saved can simply use the button to save their draft. Why does it have to be this horrible, intrusive, annoying, automated feature forced on those of us who don't want to have our half-written replied saved within moments of starting to type. What is wrong with all of ye who are losing your replies? I very rarely ever lost a reply I'd typed out, even on old boards.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118527079#Comment_118527079

Ads are needed for the survival of the site so no I don't think they will. To be honest, thats fine by me if it allows boards to continue.

Tweaking is required though, but thats not unusual for any new feature rolled out on any website.

Tork

I think our wires are crossed here. I am Ok with ads on boards, knowing that they are needed. It's the forced draft saving of messages that I want gone. The powers that be in Boards HQ seem to be in love with the feature.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118527152#Comment_118527152

Ah yeah, sorry, confused the feedback threads, my mistake.

Regarding the draft saving, one of the biggest complaints is the popup, so if that can be sorted then maybe a good plan is to do that, leave it for a few weeks and then poll again.

Tork

I think that's what they're going to do. Though in my mind, the pop-up and the enforced saving of unwanted drafts are two separate issues.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118527222#Comment_118527222

How to know what's wanted and unwanted though.

Possibly fixed by a "Clear text box" option on a post which would basically wipe the saved content for that post. Not sure if that's possible though

Tork

They have a Save Draft button already. Surely people who want to save their drafts can use that. Let everybody else jog along.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118527413#Comment_118527413

Thats only good for planned stoppages. It would be useless for the times when you have a crash, close browser due to interruption etc etc. Its exactly for these types of reason auto-save exists across websites & software.

Not saying its perfect, its not, there are clearly issues with it as evidenced by the feedback here. I just think the "throw the baby out with the bathwater" approach is the wrong way to go, but we'll have to wait and see how they address the concerns.

I think if the following was sorted there would be no issues with the auto save

• remove the popup
• eliminate browser freezing when the save is triggered and
• provide a way to clear the text box from the text box

Its very possible Vanilla won't touch any of these issues and the only fix is to drop the feature until it improves, or its also possible they do some work on it and what we end up with solves 90% or more, of the problems

Boards.ie: Niamh

There is a fix being pushed out to rewrite the autosave functionality tomorrow - coincidentally and not because of my query yesterday :) so we will see if that resolves the pop up issue or not. If not, that bug/issue will be sent to the tech team for review.

@Tork I'm simply trying to find a soluton that benefits as many people as possible - but not everyone.

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time” - never truer than trying to make a decision on a feature on Boards and I have the mental scars to prove it 😄

Tork

So do you interpret the poll result as "people want the pop-up gone but auto save must stay"? I can't speak for anybody else who voted in that poll but I thought it meant the end of this wretched feature.

I don't suppose a delete draft button under the reply window is an option if it can't be turned off?

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118530262#Comment_118530262

the winning poll option says:

Switch off auto save and keep the manual 'Save Draft' button

Is that what you intend to implement?

Boards.ie: Niamh

A number of users have said in this very thread that if the autosave pop up was gone (particularly from mobile) they would be happy to keep the autosave option. So I am investigating if that is a possibility first - if it's not I will switch autosave off as per the poll results. If it is possible, then the options have changed and we can see then if it means more people are happy to keep or remove autosave. IF the majority still want it gone at that stage, then it'll be gone.

Tork

Will you be setting up another poll and ask whether people want autosave on or off?

If so, when? The pop-up and autosave are two very different things.

smuggler.ie

In addition to my previous post, IF feature is kept...

Without web coding background, could i suggest instead of this ...

, that is mostly effecting mobile users due to its size and time it is displayed, to something like this

Just to be as small as possible and brief, literally just a blink in the corner......

or perhaps some animation if that does not effect site performance.... lets say comment box frame pulse effect in some color - no pop-ups, no obstructions, keep typing.

Think even CSS can do that animation: pulse-yellow 120s infinite;

Combination of this type effect with Delete Draft button might be accepted by many

Who cares about hh:mmPM if its every XX seconds anyway.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118530262#Comment_118530262

I have the mental scars to prove it

I’m not sure if that was an intentional nod to Meatloaf or not, but damn if it was, it was subtle 😂

wotzgoingon

I've used boards comment box as a notepad many times in the past. I would just open a new tab to continue using the site and go back to the tab with notes at a later point in the day. That's why I do not like the auto save as it saves things I do not want saved.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118532817#Comment_118532817

Honestly not a dig at you but that's the funniest reason I've seen yet for wanting the feature gone 😂😂

I do the same thing regarding taking notes through the day but with Google Keep on the phone and Notepad on the PC.

lawred2

Can't stand it

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531699#Comment_118531699

Yes I will @Tork , I will be setting up a new poll just as soon as I know if the update to autosave has made any difference for users here or not. It is due to be live today but seeing as the team pushing it are in Canada it may not be done until later today, they are 5 hours behind us here.

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118532687#Comment_118532687

It was not intentional but glad to be on trend for the week that's in it 😀

Polar101

Yeah.. I don't usually use the mobile site, so the popup thing is a non-issue for me. But I do dislike the "Draft Saved!" -feature - deleting the unwanted drafts has wasted more time for me than the saved drafts will ever save. If I write a long reply, then I might at some point want it saved in case something happened, but I don't think my browser has ever crashed while using Boards - having drafts saved for something like that just isn't a realistic scenario.

Say NO to autosave in this referendum and any future ones! 😉

Tork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118536271#Comment_118536271

How about turning off autosave for a trial period and finding out how many people have actually lost posts? There is a save draft button there already for people who want to save what they've written.

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118543395#Comment_118543395

You're right there is a Save Draft button and maybe lots of people will be happy to just use that. I can't just switch things on and off willy nilly though to see what happens. That kind of behaviour can cause bad feeling when people are not informed of changes before they happen. It will cost nothing but a little more time to do a poll first and go with the majority.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Hey guys, it seems that the autodraft pop up on mobile is gone - so I have been told and it's working without it here for me on mobile. If some of you could confirm if that is the case for you, we can do a new poll to see if people are still happy to keep the feature as it is now or not.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546759#Comment_118546759

Just tried it there and there's no popup and no interruptions from the feature triggering.

Based on how it is now, I wouldn't even know its there.

Massive improvement and one I think will address most complaints about this feature

Gold star!