4

There have been a few situations where I began to answer a question and realized that my answer was more of a comment. I copied that info into the comment feature and posted that way. However, when I come back, I can't delete the data in the answer field. I assumed some of this was stored in a cookie, but obviously that isn't the case. I didn't find anything about this in other Meta questions or in the FAQ (I could have missed something.)

It seems like the point to this is to recover answers if pages crash or are closed. However, I just want to cancel my answer entirely. There is no 'cancel' button for answers and I don't think it's proper use to post an empty answer. Does anyone else experience this? What should I do to clear out the answer field? And finally, can we have a "Cancel" button?

Thanks!

EDIT: Due to comments: Browser - Firefox 7.0.1

This appears to be happening only on one specific case now: Wordpress is asking for FTP, is it some package missing?

The other instances are not showing the issue any longer. This Question was moved from another StackExchange site. Is it possibly related?

9
  • This doesn't happen to me, I can delete the content of the answer field whenever I want. What browser?
    – MDMarra
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 16:33
  • 1
    Also, since this would impact all Se sites, it really belongs on Meta Stack Overflow
    – MDMarra
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 16:33
  • Firefox 7.0.1. It occurred to me that it might be some sort of browser issue. Figures! Sorry for the spam in that case.
    – Ben Campbell
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 16:34
  • I can't reproduce this in 7.0.1. Can you list exact steps?
    – MDMarra
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 16:42
  • Not really meaning to be a jerk... I login and click on my post and it prepopulates the answer field with what I had typed(one that i'd previously typed in but didn't click "Post".) That's it... in the answer window, i see what I had previously typed, but no cancel link appears. I can screenshot and email if you like. I've tried dumping all the cache, cookies - typical stuff. No joy.
    – Ben Campbell
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 16:47
  • Hm. And you can't delete the text from the answer field?
    – MDMarra
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 16:48
  • Oh I can. It just reappears when i reload the page.
    – Ben Campbell
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 16:48
  • I'll test it with this post and see if it happens again... and I'm trying... and no, it doesn't appear to be happening on this page.
    – Ben Campbell
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 16:51
  • I must say I am most thankful that there is no Cancel button... it is one of those things you tend to press accidentally much more often than when you need it. Especially since Iain's answer below points out that you only need to start another answer somewhere else for your autosave to get deleted...
    – Jonas Heidelberg
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 17:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

This is the draft autosave feature at work. It remembers the content of the last answer you typed until you either post the answer or start to write an answer to a different question, at which point it gets auto saved. Drafts fade away after one week.

4
  • and it doesn't have a cancel feature?
    – Ben Campbell
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 17:07
  • Not that I'm aware of it just fades away...
    – user9517
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 17:09
  • Thank you. It might be worthwhile to mention this in the FAQ section. Someone else has to have wondered what was going on.
    – Ben Campbell
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 17:10
  • 3
    ... so if you really want to get rid of your draft directly, you can replace it by . and wait for the next autosave to kick in (notice the draft saved message below the edit box) ;-)
    – Jonas Heidelberg
    Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 17:21

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .