Reply lost because I wasn’t logged in

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I started a thread a few days ago and have been posting replies every day or two. Today I scrolled to the bottom of the thread (already open in a browser tab) and carefully composed  a reply with a link to a Microsoft site. After clicking submit, I got “Error:  Are you sure you wanted to do that?”:

All text was discarded. I scrolled back up and logged in (didn’t want to post anonymously) but the text was was still gone.

Can you just leave me logged in if I’m visiting, say, once a week or more? Or at least if I’m logged out, retain the post so I can log in and re-click Submit.

Thanks!

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That’s happened to me, too, because I didn’t realize I was logged off while I was composing the message. And like you, I lost everything because I only became aware of it when I tried to submit the message. And I couldn’t reconstruct everything that I had written.

Now, I composed everything in Word and copy and paste into the message box, so that I have something to fall back on.

It would be nice if we could get a warning as we start filling in the message box without being logged in.

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WCHS wrote:

It would be nice if we could get a warning as we start filling in the message box without being logged in.

If you see this above the message box, you are not logged in. Watch for it!

3 users thanked author for this post.

SueW, TechTango, satrow

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I appreciate (and sometimes remember) the workarounds but my “suggestions about improving the forum” stand:  1) never discard user content and 2) don’t expire logins so fast.

This might accomplish #2 for WordPress (in functions.php):

add_filter(‘auth_cookie_expiration’, ‘keep_me_logged_in_for_1_week’ );
function keep_me_logged_in_for_1_week( $expirein ) {
return WEEK_IN_SECONDS; // 1 week in seconds}

Credit:  https://muffingroup.com/blog/wordpress-session-expired/

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Now, I composed everything in Word and copy and paste into the message box, so that I have something to fall back on.

I do this exact same thing.  Loss of carefully written copy can happen in a variety circumstances like support chat bots.   Email has gotten much better, but I’ll still use it for composing longer emails avoid accidentally sending it before I’m ready.  Probably safe to say we’ve all been there.

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One of the reasons I use Notepad to write and save text for longer posts…

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I’m seeing what can be done, but one this we will not do is have the option to stay logged in indefinitely. That leads the site to be at risk.

Question back to everyone – do you not see the sign in boxes at the top?  We tried to make them obvious?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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IMO, The sign in boxes are fine.  Don’t change a thing.

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3 users thanked author for this post.

SueW, WSbobby-p, John

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mcbsys wrote:

Can you just leave me logged in if I’m visiting

I almost never have to log in apart from machine/browser updates, but I do visit every day.

It is really obvious when replying if I am logged out.

cheers, Paul

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Susan Bradley wrote:

I’m seeing what can be done, but one this we will not do is have the option to stay logged in indefinitely. That leads the site to be at risk.

Question back to everyone – do you not see the sign in boxes at the top?  We tried to make them obvious?

Here is what this thread looked like when I opened my browser this morning. It positions to show the latest posts and the reply box, which is fine, but it means I would have to scroll up to see the logon boxes at the top:

I’m not suggesting indefinite logon, just a longer timeout, maybe a week vs. 48 hours.

But I think the main thing that’s broken is that it loses content when it rejects a post due to not being logged in. If it saved the content while requesting the login, it wouldn’t be much of an issue.

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My personal take is that there may be an extension triggering something because when I’m not logged in I get a very obvious “put in your name and email address”.

Also what browser are you using?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Here is what this thread looked like when I opened my browser this morning.

I opened AskWoody in Firefox and this is the opening screen.  (I use dark mode).  I normally use Brave..

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Susan Bradley wrote:

My personal take is that there may be an extension triggering something because when I’m not logged in I get a very obvious “put in your name and email address”.

Also what browser are you using?

Firefox 124.0.1.

Yes, that’s the PKcano screen shot above, but “put in your name and email address” is not a login prompt; it is, I think, a way to post anonymously (which IMO is not a needed feature).

Yes, a thinking person would notice that and say, oh, that means I’m not logged in, I need to scroll to the top of the thread and log in in the right column, then scroll back down and begin composing my reply. I wasn’t paying close enough attention and missed it. Maybe I need idiot-proofing 🙂 but I also want to be able to trust a site to not delete what I’ve written while it gets me authenticated.

I guess another option would be to scroll the left frame with the post thread but leave the right column positioned at the top. But you’d still want to find a way to retain a post if the user starts writing it before logging in.

Thanks for considering. I realize getting eyeballs on a glitch so quickly is a rare thing these days!

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We allow anon posting but do require some sort of name and email address.  That’s your hint that “I’m not logged in”.  I’m going to have Kara look into extended it but not making it unlimited.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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TechTango wrote:

I opened AskWoody in Firefox and this is the opening screen. (I use dark mode). I normally use Brave..

Right, if you start at askwoody.com, it shows you the top of the page. But if you are following ONE thread and just leave that thread open in a browser tab, or if you get an email notice that someone replied and you click on “Post Link”, you’re taken to the specific post, with no logon visible. To simulate, try opening this link in a Private browser (not logged on):

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/reply-lost-because-i-wasnt-logged-in/#post-2655847

1 user thanked author for this post.

wavy

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Go to your chosen Post/Reply – Home and check login status then click the address and hit Enter.

Does that work?

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To simulate, try opening this link in a Private browser (not logged on):

Thx.  Got it.  Point well made.

 

 

 

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“Home” works if you haven’t already positioned your cursor in the reply window. “Back” is not available but “End” takes you to the bottom.

It seems there is no end to suggestions about how to manually check if logged in, how to write a post offline, etc. etc.

My point is, there should be no need for all these workarounds–I need to be able to trust the site to keep my content even if I submit a post without being logged in.

I had an almost identical situation on another forum this morning. I wrote a comment on canny.io. It asked me to log in. I didn’t have an account so it let me create an account with one of four authentication methods. Then it took me back to my original post, still intact, and let me post it. THAT is how it should work!

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mcbsys wrote:

“Home” works if you haven’t already positioned your cursor in the reply window.

Position your cursor in the orange border on the right and scroll up.  Right above “Important links”, if you see “Log in” instead of your avatar, you’re not logged in.  If you have already entered your reply and want to save it, copy it and paste it in Notepad.  After you’ve logged in, return to the thread and copy/paste from Notepad into the reply box.  I’ve done that a number of times.

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IIRC there is less member info under a poster’s avatar

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for instance..
This has saved me a few times

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

1 user thanked author for this post.

PL1

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Home then click the address and Enter to return (edited after checking).

Which browser?

Not identical, possibly broadly similar. Creating an account should be quite different from logging on (eg. no cache cf stale cache).

Sites also need to have trust in you, setting security too loosely would enable others to slip in and fool around.

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mcbsys wrote:

My point is, there should be no need for all these workarounds–I need to be able to trust the site to keep my content even if I submit a post without being logged in.

I just want to add a data point. This has happened to me a couple of times, once after a rather long reply I had to redo. One time, I had not noticed that it asked for my email and name, because my PW manager filled it in. Susan very graciously corrected my post and attached it to my login uid.

I agree that a login should not wipe out text. I always tell myself to copy the text if I have to log in with this website, but sometimes I just forget.

There are a few sites I visit that have auto-save as you are typing a reply. And, it is really more of a pain to ERASE the text than to lose the text. The only way to erase the text is to DELETE. I tested this logged in, logged out, and logged back in.

This is with https://fora.com/communities/

1 user thanked author for this post.

mcbsys

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satrow wrote:

Home then click the address and Enter to return (edited after checking).

Which browser?

Not identical, possibly broadly similar. Creating an account should be quite different from logging on (eg. no cache cf stale cache).

Sites also need to have trust in you, setting security too loosely would enable others to slip in and fool around.

Sorry, yes, pressing Enter as long as you are still on the page takes you back to the post ID in the URL.

I’m using Firefox.

Canny works the same whether you have an account or not. If you’re not logged in, it shows a popover and lets you log in or create an account. The post behind it is preserved:

I don’t understand why the suggestion to not delete a post while confirming authentication is so controversial. Of course you don’t allow unauthenticated posts, but why discard content during authentication?

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PL1

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mcbsys wrote:

I don’t understand why the suggestion to not delete a post while confirming authentication is so controversial.

Wordpress isn’t a ‘normal’ forum software, we try to do our best with the tools available. Yes, that means using a few workarounds, occas. avoiding ‘normal’ methods to bypass aggro like this.

1 user thanked author for this post.

wavy

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Sigh. I wrote a reply, then went up to PL1’s post and clicked the link to fora.com to check it out. Because PL1 didn’t manually edit the link to tell it to open in a new tab, it took me away from this tab. When I clicked Back, the reply I had composed was gone.

But it makes the point:  this forum loses data. Many other forums have solved that with various kinds of draft caching.

I’m afraid to sneeze before I get this posted!

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mcbsys wrote:

Because PL1 didn’t manually edit the link to tell it to open in a new tab, it took me away from this tab. When I clicked Back, the reply I had composed was gone.

Sorry about that. 😒 This is the actual website I was on. (Open link in a new tab.)

 

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mcbsys

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PL1 wrote:

This is the actual website I was on. (Open link in a new tab.)

Good job! I wouldn’t expect most people to know how to post “new tab” links. I run several WordPress sites, so I know to click the gear icon, then tick Open link in a new tab. That is, if I remember to do it.

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PL1

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mcbsys wrote:

if I remember to do it.

Perhaps more of a focus v. distraction issue?

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mcbsys wrote:

I’m using Firefox.

I do as well, and instead of clicking on an Ask Woody bookmark, I click on the login entry for AW in my password manager’s Firefox add-on.

Auto-fills and submits…logged in. Easy peasy change to “worflow”.

And as mentioned before, Notepad is your friend. Compose and save your text before posting…another easy peasy change.

If you lost a post somehow before submitting it (site goes down, browser locks up, whatever…) it’s there for the next attempt.

 

 

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satrow wrote:

Perhaps more of a focus v. distraction issue?

Most of the replies here are implying that it’s MY fault that the forum software lost my post. I should work offline, I should log on, I should notice when I’m not logged on, I should scroll up before scrolling down, I should stop being so distracted, I should go to the home page before I click on a post link, etc., etc.

I disagree. Software should not require so much work.

This forum is titled “Suggestions about improving the forum.” In my opinion, it would improve users’ forum experience if the forum software did not lose user posts during authentication or, as I’ve seen today, because I click on a link in a post.

All I was expecting was, “Thanks, good point, we’ll see if something can be done.”

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OR

Maybe the replies are more “in the meantime, here’s how you can manage it”…

Any change is not likely to come soon, so you won’t get a committment as to “when”.

 

 

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