All About Pocket Knives

Is it possible for Bryan to ad an "Auto-Save" mechanism to the posting section?

Numerous times, I have composed a lengthy item with photos, only to have the loading process "time out" post nothing and lose everything to the ether world of cyberspace.

The will to re-create the whole thing is very lacking at the time the loss occurs.

I assume this has happened to others. If not and it's just me and this PC, then ignore.

Very frustrating, though.

Charlie Noyes

Rest assured Charlie. It's not just you. I too have been bitten by what you posted. It's frustrating.

I took a look at phpBB and found there has been a request for an "Auto-Save" extension for the boards code but the last post on the subject in their Community Forum leads me to believe the project has been abandoned for the time being.

So, that said, I'm under the impression the forum software does not currently support that feature. I could be wrong. I didn't really spend very much time on it.

May I suggest if you know ahead of time it's going to be a long post or maybe you could just get in the habit of composing your posts in MS Word which has auto-save and then just cut & past when you get ready to post. Just a thought.

Good suggestion Jerry.....what I have done is select all text (ctrl-a) and then copy it to my clipboard (ctrl-c) at various points of my keystrokes and then if I loose everything all I have to do is paste from my last copy.

I suspect the auto-save would add some overhead to the browsing session and that might be the cause for not accepting the project.

bestgear wrote:Good suggestion Jerry.....what I have done is select all text (ctrl-a) and then copy it to my clipboard (ctrl-c) at various points of my keystrokes and then if I loose everything all I have to do is paste from my last copy.

I do the same if my post is taking long at all. I just highlight everything I have written and hit (ctrl-c) to save it. Then if problems arise all I have to do is hit (ctrl-v) to past it back into the reply box. I formed that habit after losing a couple of long replies that I was spending a long time composing.

Charlie,
I've found that after losing my post and pictures as you described, I can hit the refresh circle/arrow thingy?, (also F5), and it usually recovers what I think has escaped me. I'm totally illiterate when it comes to computers but this seems to work .
Treefarmer

Now see. This is exactly why we need a Forum Hints forum. Someplace to put stuff like this. Yeah, I know we have a FAQ link at the top of each page but it doesn't cover these kinds of things. In fact (no offense intended. Just calling a spade a spade) it's kind of weak, plus users can't add to it.

I made that suggestion and Dale was supposed to pass it on to Bryan.

Edit: I really like the idea of copying your post to the Clipboard (if I can remember to do it).

bestgear wrote:I suspect the auto-save would add some overhead to the browsing session and that might be the cause for not accepting the project.

I got the impression an "auto-save" extension (sub-routine?) hasn't been written yet. This forum is open architecture so the users have to write the mods/feature add on's.

I just highlight the entire text with the left click mouse then right click copy and then save.

If it times out I refresh the page start over then past the entire text back into the box.

Been there done that Charlie!

I experimented with the button labeled "Save Draft" to see if it also prove useful as an additional safeguard. I wouldn't recommend because it was cumbersome and in my opinion the solutions / workarounds already suggested are better.

Yep ,you all come to agreement on the easiest way to avoid this and I'll adopt it. I know it's a dumb question,but how do you save after copying Dimitri??

Good thread

wlf wrote:Yep ,you all come to agreement on the easiest way to avoid this and I'll adopt it. I know it's a dumb question,but how do you save after copying Dimitri??
Good thread

Lyle, when you copy something (Ctrl C or right click and click on 'Copy') it "saves" it to the Clipboard. The Clipboard is a little piece of memory in your PC that is designated for this purpose. What ever you copied will stay in the Clipboard until you copy something else at which time the old "copy" gets overwritten with the new information you just "copied". You can "paste" it (Ctrl V or right click and click on 'Paste') multiple times.

Edit: Beating the drum again for a "Forum Hints" forum all it's own. Not a thread!!

jerryd6818 wrote:Rest assured Charlie. It's not just you. I too have been bitten by what you posted. It's frustrating.

I took a look at phpBB and found there has been a request for an "Auto-Save" extension for the boards code but the last post on the subject in their Community Forum leads me to believe the project has been abandoned for the time being.

So, that said, I'm under the impression the forum software does not currently support that feature. I could be wrong. I didn't really spend very much time on it.

May I suggest if you know ahead of time it's going to be a long post or maybe you could just get in the habit of composing your posts in MS Word which has auto-save and then just cut & past when you get ready to post. Just a thought.

....jerry, I can still "cut and paste", but not on this thing, I use ELMER'S and scissors!!!!...... ..........

Lyle, what Jerry said

Yes it has happened to me as well... after the first time and as suggested by Jerry, Dimitri - if it will be a long post (especially trying to include some pertinent history) I write it as a WORD doc and than copy and paste for the post... easy for us once we know the issue but as suggested a HINTS forum for unaware members or new members - or a pinned thread (? - whatever is best for all to see) would be a good thing... It is not clear how much time you have before it times out but I don't take the chance...

Overall this forum is very easy to use - user friendly as they say - and friendly members to go with it

(Just as an aside - the best part is our photos become archival and do not disappear overtime... an issue on other forums but not here (except for a few early posts from years ago here and I imagine before the photo loading feature became available....)....

No offense intended but not a pinned thread. Who wants to sift through an entire thread to see if there's anything pertinent to their issue. It needs to be a forum so you can scan the headers on the threads.

Thanks Jerry,I do use that feature. I thought there was more to it . I have been using Firefox and they have some add-ons (it would be nice to have an archive of clipboard,if only for a limited time,say 1-2 days). I just don't know enough about them yet.

You did educate me on the meaning of "clipboard",I thought it must have storage. If the computer is turned off the clipboard is emptied or another item is copied you lose the previous copy.

So,after each copy and paste in a post ,you need to right click and copy the body of work again.