Talk : preserving draft content

Is there a way of warning a member drafting a Talk message when they are about to browse away from the page containing their message?

I usually try to check stuff on a different tab, but annoyingly occasionally found I've overwritten the Talk tab. I've done it many times (usually a continuation of a thread, if that makes a difference), but have usually got away with it, as the system has remembered the content. But it doesn't always, and hasn't today. And it can leave you disinclined to recreate the content, which isn't always an option.

Could LT be tweaked to flash up a window saying something like "You are about to leave this page, and are in danger of losing your draft Talk content", or perhaps ALWAYS remember the draft Talk content, instead of just usually.

If it's also a problem on other content creation work forms, e.g. book and author pages, or your Wiki page, perhaps the RSI could apply there too.

What do people think?

I've been using computers for over 40 years, and for all that time there have been all sorts of advice to save content, not only when moving away from a page, but every so often while typing, in case the computer has an issue. I honestly think that this is an issue the user has to learn to deal with.

I am against lots of pop-ups that try to idiot-proof things. They get old really fast when you have to dismiss them again and again. And when you create a bigger and better idiot-proof environment, nature always comes up with bigger and better idiots. I'd much rather lose my text now and again than have lots of pop-ups to dismiss.

>1 Cynfelyn: or perhaps ALWAYS remember the draft Talk content, instead of just usually

I think this might be a function of your browser as much as LT.

I sympathize. It happens to me just once in a while and only when it’s a complicated post.
But I blame it on the Universe and just go to bed and try again tomorrow.

There are browser settings that can preserve – my old browser would remember unsubmitted replies even after a full switch off of the machine. It seems the trend is for browsers to deliberately not do this, with concerns about data security; imagine it wasn't forum reply but banking data, that you'd closed unsubmitted and were unaware the browser stored. It might be something you can tailor at your side.

Nevertheless, it would be convenient for LT itself to have a draft option. Either saving on the topic in question, or against our username. A third button could be added under the message box: Post message | Preview | Save as Draft. And then on the left column Your World, it could show Your Drafts. Etc. I know some more modern forum software even autosaves during your composing the message, which saves it server-side though of course that is not foolproof against lost connection, and if it's a valuable reply saving a local copy in some temporary location is still safest bet even with the site having a preservation feature.

>1 Cynfelyn: I usually try to check stuff on a different tab, but annoyingly occasionally found I've overwritten the Talk tab.

When writing a longer post, particularly one requiring tab switching to prepare (e.g., a bug report), I open a text editor and paste the completed post back into LT. This has saved me more than once.

>6 civitas: I open a text editor and paste the completed post back into LT

I rarely compose Talk posts that are long enough to need this sort of discipline. But it used to be my method for composing book reviews for LT. Since then, I've started to use the Private Comments field for review composition, with frequent saves. I can't recall the last time I accidentally dumped a draft review.

>7 paradoxosalpha: I often write my reviews in a talk post with frequent saves. And then edit it again after copying it into the review field.

I do reviews in text editor since I want them saved in my computer anyway, but Talk could really use 'Save Draft' feature when writing something extensive. You can lose what you wrote for a lot of reasons. Short messages are a non-issue, so automatic saving is probably an overkill

I usually open another window in my browser and go wherever I want to get additional information I need. Then I switch back to the window with the unfinished review.