Darn BLOGGER bugs! If you don't use Blogger (you should) you can safely ignore this entire rant^H^H^H^Hpost.
Right now, the "Recover Post" link goes all the way across the toolbar. Why? I don't know. It looks like a regular link, but it's not. And that's the problem.
It's reproducible:
1) Edit or Create a post. Make sure it has something on it (for Recover Post to save). Don't save it, just leave the window or tab open.
2) Edit or Create a second post in a new tab or window. Make sure it has something in it (for Recover Post to overwrite). Take all the time you want.
3) Accidentally click just below "Preview" in the second post (actually, you can click anywhere in the toolbar along the "Recover Post" horizontal, but when I "discovered" this problem, I was trying to click "Preview"). Voila! Everything you wrote is gone. Recover Post overwrote it with the text from the first post. It is completely, irrevocably, UNrecoverable.
I tested this in FireFox 1.0.3 and IE 6, it happens in both. It happens also in both separate windows and separate tabs in the same window.
The clear immediate fix would be to make sure the "Recover Post" is limited to the actual "Recover Post" link-looking text.
An additional fix would be to assign a unique number to each edited post, and incorporate that into the Recover Post mechanism. That would be nice also, as some of us like to work on several things at once (including writing several posts at the same time), and that would allow us to recover each post individually.
It's not rocket surgery, people!
Update: When I submitted this on Blogger's BUG Report form, I discovered that the form doesn't give you any feedback when you send an item! Why would they do this? How am I to know if my bug was reported or not? I resubmitted it two more times before I got an e-mail confirmation (the first of three, actually). Stupid, senseless.
UPDATE:
Phoenix changes the world! Well, I changed Blogger anyway. Now if you click on 'Recover post', you get a javascript popup (similar to when you accidentally browse away from a post in progress) that tells you what's going to happen, and asks you if you're sure. I found this out by accidentally clicking just beneath the Preview button again (twice, actually). Hooray!
RIP Lovely wife
3 months ago
Posts
(A) "If you don't use Blogger (you should)"
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty strong and easily disagreeable statement. I could just as easily say that if you don't use MovableType, you should, as I find it to be far superior to Blogger in many ways. That having been said, you and I have had this discussion before, so how about, "If you use a comes-with-free-hosting blog tool that isn't Blogger (you should)"? Because I would agree that Blogger is the best in =that= class.
(B) "It is completely, irrevocably, UNrecoverable."
wow. That's ass.
(C) "assign a unique number to each edited post, and incorporate that into the Recover Post mechanism"
So simple, yet so effective. I hope you sent that idea to the folks at Blogger.
A) You're right, I should have been more specific. I was gearing that comment more towards the xanga/livejournal crowd.
ReplyDeleteB) Yeah. :-( I actually started several posts between now and my last substantial real posts a month ago. Stupid bugs.
C) I sent it. If Blogger were open-source, I would just code it myself. There's lots of things I'd like to do, if they'd let me. Another example is the insert-picture button. Back in the day there was a premium version of Blogger (alas, it is no more). You could upload files, including pictures. So, on the post page, there's an insert-picture button, similar to the insert-link button. However, instead of inserting a picture, or even inserting an img tag, you get a pop up telling you that there's no insert-picture function anymore. Why keep the button? Why not turn it into an insert img tag button?
Better yet, why not let me define my own buttons? It wouldn't be that hard (by "not that hard" I mean "not impossible"). Man, it sucks being smarter (more capable, more nerdy, more programming-oriented, insert adjective here) than people in charge.
Yeah. Oh well, you'll just have to write your own blogging app.
ReplyDelete