How to... abandon a post after you've started typing and not have it come back to bite you?

[pjug]

Maybe I am just a dummy but if I start typing a post and decide I don't want to go through with it, I just delete the text. But then whatever I had typed will re-appear next time I start another post, even if I logged out. This just happened and I didn't catch it before I posted, and made a cross-threaded mess that I had to delete.

Am I doing something wrong that this happens?

 

[Digby]

There is a little draft button at the top right of the posting box. It says save or delete draft. I imagine it is auto-saving, so you could try clicking delete draft...not done it myself, so don't know if it works.

 

[dc655321]

Maybe I am just a dummy but if I start typing a post and decide I don't want to go through with it, I just delete the text. But then whatever I had typed will re-appear next time I start another post, even if I logged out. This just happened and I didn't catch it before I posted, and made a cross-threaded mess that I had to delete.

Am I doing something wrong that this happens?

"Delete Draft" at the little floppy disk icon.

 

[pjug]

"Delete Draft" at the little floppy disk icon.

Thank you! I hope I'm not the only dummy who didn't find this.

 

[Pdxwayne]

Thank you! I hope I'm not the only dummy who didn't find this.

You are not the only one.

; )

 

[restorer-john]

It's not perfect. Sometimes after typing an epic and hitting the save icon (or seeing the green light go on and off) you'll navigate away and come back only find it all gone. Bah. My hint to go to bed.

 

[amirm]

Note that you need to delete the text as well as deleting the draft. If you don't, then it will get resaved!

 

[threni]

Note that you need to delete the text as well as deleting the draft. If you don't, then it will get resaved!

Wow! I would never have assumed that a floppy disk icon would let me delete something! I've just been deleting the text. Do I have loads of drafts knocking around somewhere? If not, what does deleting the draft achieve?

 

[Katji]

Just delete the text. ...I can't figure out - can't retrieve drafts when the text is gone anyway. I only noticed the drafts button quite recently, obviously auto-saves.

Maybe I am just a dummy but if I start typing a post and decide I don't want to go through with it, I just delete the text. But then whatever I had typed will re-appear next time I start another post, even if I logged out.

Only on the same page though. So there should not be any cross-posting/whatever.
...If you started the new post on, say, p2 of the thread, then back-button to p1, your text is not there in the edit box. [I could be wrong, but it's something like that.]

 

[JayGilb]

Note that you need to delete the text as well as deleting the draft. If you don't, then it will get resaved!

Just deleting the draft seems to work. I always refresh the page after selecting "Delete draft" and the text is gone.

Yea, I hope there isn't some database field still holding the text from some 2:00 AM can't sleep, rant fest that I was smart enough to delete.

 

[Jimbob54]

Especially on mobile I find "select all" and delete is far far easier that manual back spacing some of my longer rants!

 

[Katji]

I suppose the auto-save would delete the stored text anyway, but maybe not if you delete it and then immediately close the tab.

 

[danadam]

Maybe I am just a dummy but if I start typing a post and decide I don't want to go through with it, I just delete the text. But then whatever I had typed will re-appear next time I start another post

I usually write some letter, usually 'x', after deleting the text. If it has to remember something, better 'x' than whatever I wrote
(the "disk" icon is inactive in BB code mode, which I usually use)

 

[Katji]

hahaha So it seems to be quite common, this deleting draft rants. Maybe we should have a survey poll for it.

 

[restorer-john]

hahaha So it seems to be quite common, this deleting draft rants. Maybe we should have a survey poll for it.

We all do it. Be honest. Get up on your high horse, have a bleat and then, don't hit 'reply', just save it.

Save it, because it may not be what you want to say in the morning. But then, someone else says what you had saved! Damn!

 

[pjug]

It's not just rants. Sometimes I just decide my post would be worthless clutter so I abort. In this case it was a joke that I decided against posting. But then it was posted anyway when trying to post on another thread resulting in a cross threaded mess, so the joke was on me!

 

[JayGilb]

We all do it. Be honest. Get up on your high horse, have a bleat and then, don't hit 'reply', just save it.

Save it, because it may not be what you want to say in the morning. But then, someone else says what you had saved! Damn!

And the person get 50 likes and is praised for their unique insight.

 

[restorer-john]

And the person get 50 likes and is praised for their unique insight.

I gave you one like...

 

[dasdoing]

offtopic, but I just want to say that the mental ability to abandon a post in the internet is crucial. most still haven't learnt that

 

[Katji]

It's on point but I'm not sure what you mean... .....................related to what [^^] said about the next morning etc. ...and postponed posting? [LOL]