Posts not appearing

[rov1200]

Over the past couple of weeks 3 of my questions in the News section have not been accepted. They are rejected within a few seconds of hitting the Submit button therefore was no time for any verification. Even so they did not break any house rules which involved any personal attacks or language. This is different from where you enter a swear word and will change to another word.

I have submitted my complaint to the Editor but have received no answer to it.

Has anyone else suffered the same problem? What could be the likely problem?

[eyethenkyew]

Funny you say that, because the latest thread I've just put on did that too, so I re-typed it, submitted it again and it accepted it the second time. Must be the weather, eh???

[rov1200]

The problem is if you had spent 10 minutes typing it in and it disappears like that there must have been a reason. This is definately a new problem as it has never occurred during the past 2 years.

[rov1200]

Also if this was your only case it has happened you could put it down to a glitz but as I say I have had 3 in the past 2 weeks. If this was a random problem you would expect more people to come forward with the problem.

[pastafreak]

If you really have spent 10 minutes typing it...could it be that it is too long?
In which case it may not be accepted. Try submitting it in two parts...or a shorter version.

[jackthehat]

I know that some contributors, especially those who make longer posts, either type it all out on a word package and then cut and paste it across...........or 'cut' it before they hit the submit button, so it can be pasted for re-submission, if it should disappear into the ether.

[boxtops]

I've had that problem when - as is said - the post exceeds the number of characters limit. I have learned now! to Copy the text before I start to post, so if it's too big, I don't have to type it all again - I just paste it, then cut and paste half of it into the next post.

[naomi24]

As Jack says, for that very reason some of us type longer replies into a word document and then copy and paste into AB.

[AlBags]

or even type the whole lot in, then cut ... and post, then paste in remainder in the new window.

[rov1200]

Its a good idea to copy and paste if the problem is widespread. I should have said just one of the questions was that long but not the others which were much shorter.

Still I'm surprised that many do not suffer from the problem which you would think was quite common. If it was a common problem how come the Editor is unaware of it...there must be hundreds if not thousands of questions every week....and I'm the only person who is affected by it?

[jackthehat]

No.
Otherwise others wouldn't have developed strategies for dealing with it.

[rov1200]

Jackthe hat I have already developed a strategy for it thanks very much. That is after typing in the text I use the 'copy' in Edit above and if it failed I would paste it back.
I wonder how many other AB's have to do that?

[jackthehat]

If I've gone to the trouble of spending time on typing something.........I do. Naomi, does, and I think that if they were here to confirm, so do most regular fullsome contributors. It has been commented upon in the past, too.

[rov1200]

In fact one question that failed was a 1 liner!

I still hav'nt heard a reason why it is happening on my computer. If I knew I might be able to sort it out!

[naomi24]

rov, posts do sometimes disappear without trace - regardless of the length. It's not just happening to you. That's why I type in a word document - and then if my attempt to post it fails, I still have it to try again.

[AB Editor]

Morning,

We've been completely unable to repeat the issue, which makes it impossible for us to do anything about it! This is why we've not yet been able to clear up this bug. Sorry about that!

All the best,

Spare

[Gromit]

It is possible the AB page has simply Timed Out if you have taken a long time on that page. If this occurred for you more than once, a simple precaution of highlighting and copying the answer before pressing the Submit button, means that if your attempt to post is unsuccessful, you can try again and paste rather than re-type your question/answer.

[rov1200]

Thanks for all your replies and I think I have learnt something.

This is not a common problem and is unrepeatable at will as mentioned by the ED.
When making a lengthy input save it before transmission.
Be aware there may be a bug in my computer
and maybe we should all change our names and passwords quite regularly.

My problem has only arisen during the past few weeks and has not occured during the previous 2 years.