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sean  
#1 Posted : 13 July 2010 09:48:41(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Guest

I have just spent 25 minutes writing about an issue in my workplace, i havent posted anything for ages, why after writing and reading back my thread did the posting disappear when i pressed "POST" what a waste of my time!!
MarcusB  
#2 Posted : 13 July 2010 10:00:41(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
MarcusB

I think it times out after 15 minutes...
Hally  
#3 Posted : 13 July 2010 10:05:50(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Hally

After suffering this myself (not on here i might add) i have for years always ensured i've copied and pasted elsewhere or saved the comments elsewhere and then copied and pasted to the place i want to post it. Think i lost an hour or so of work once, never ever lost anything since, apart from a years worth of emails when i was being moved from desktop to laptop...
Amberlight  
#4 Posted : 13 July 2010 10:19:57(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Amberlight

yes, 15 minutes certainly on the CPD uploading. Copy and Paste easiest all round in the meantime.
stevie40  
#5 Posted : 13 July 2010 10:21:03(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
stevie40

It is a real bugbear of mine. It's one of the only forums where I've seen it happen (I post on a few) and I cannot understand why the mods have done this. That and the inability to edit your own posts.
Heather Collins  
#6 Posted : 13 July 2010 10:22:19(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Heather Collins

This has come up many times since the foum went live last October. It's because we are logged out for spurious and never adequately-explained security reasons after 15 mins of inactivity and simply typing does not count as activity since it sends no input to the site to tell it you are still there. Apparently it's all to do with site security although one or two technically minded posters did challenge the whole premise of this and indeed the validity of the way in which it is being done. Their points were never really answered. We have asked many times for a "keep me logged in" feature (see the sticky on "forum improvments for the webteam") and never received a really satisfactory answer other than it all being too difficult. If I can make an informed decision to stay logged into E-Bay all day I don't see why I can't also choose to stay logged in to IOSH. It's quite lilely that this annoying feature is a reason why less people post these days...
Heather Collins  
#7 Posted : 13 July 2010 10:23:20(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Heather Collins

Stevie - it's nothing to do with the Mods - they hate it as much as we do. It's an original design feature of the site which we've all complained about since day 1 - as is the lack of an edit function.
MarcusB  
#8 Posted : 13 July 2010 10:28:43(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
MarcusB

Heather Collins wrote:
It's quite lilely that this annoying feature is a reason why less people post these days...
I know that when it times out when I've typed a reply I rarely type it again. I imagine this is the same for other people...
pastapickles  
#9 Posted : 13 July 2010 11:38:27(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
pastapickles

Hi Sean, I have spoken to the web team about this before and they are aware of the irritation it causes. There are a few other issues with the website which currently take priority once these are solved I am sure that the time out will be looked at. Unfortunately I doubt that this will be until some time late in the year, until then I would suggest that you follow Hally's suggestion of copy and paste your reply's/posts using a word editor. Regards, Richard
Heather Collins  
#10 Posted : 13 July 2010 11:50:55(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Heather Collins

Excuse my cynicism Richard but I have been raising some of these issues since the forum started (actually some of them BEFORE it started as I was a beta tester) and it was me who started the sticky thread on improvement suggestions for the webteam at the top of this page. We have had no update on the original issues of editing posts, the "remember me" function or getting rid of the stupid unnecessary time-out in that thread since last December. I have asked at least twice since then what is happening but have simply got bored of going on and on about it and given up. We keep hearing that "other issues are taking priority" - but it's now been 7 months since anyone told us what these were. An update would be nice! I sincerely hope IOSH have not paid the bill for what I can only describe as a fatally flawed forum system which has significantly less functionality than many free forums I use. Sorry to be so blunt but that's how I feel about it.
stevie40  
#11 Posted : 13 July 2010 11:59:49(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
stevie40

Wholeheartedly agree Heather. Is this forum powered by Vbulletin - an off the shelf package for forums that is widely used? If so, the fixes simply require a few settings to be changed by the forum admin.
Heather Collins  
#12 Posted : 13 July 2010 12:10:59(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Heather Collins

I've no idea Stevie - I don't get past the level of "slightly geekier than usual forum user" :P However answers to past questions like this indicate that the Admins do not have the power to change the functionality of the forum with simple tweaks. Apparently there were still ongoing discussions with the original developers about exactly what had been included in the original spec or something. Of course that's only as far as I know - which isn't much!
pete48  
#13 Posted : 13 July 2010 12:55:08(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
pete48

Sean, all I do to avoid this most annoying part of the new forum is to simply use the copy/paste function. (highlight right click etc)No need to go to Word or other packages. I now ALWAYS copy my text, as a matter of routine, before posting so if time has flown then at least I can repost it by simply logging in again and pasting it. Annoying? Certainly is but this way at least I dont have the additional stress of having lost all those well thought out words of wisdom :):) P48
Anna Cooper  
#14 Posted : 13 July 2010 18:25:36(UTC)
Rank: IOSH staff
Anna Cooper

Dear all Please be assured that we are looking into the issue of the site timing out; the requests for this facility to be amended and improved have not fallen on deaf ears. We have now defined a solution for the timeout facility that ensures that we continue to demonstrate a duty of care to our member's secure information but also improves the usability of the site and hopefully reduces the number of people who are having problems with being inadvertantly logged out. Unfortunately any amend to the timeout facility means further development that will affect the entire site so this is not a simple quick fix, though we are trying to push this through with some haste. As a note of correction, please be aware that the moderators of the forums are not at fault. This was functionality defined in the original stages of the redevelopment project and is not controllable by our team of moderators. Thanks everyone Anna Cooper IOSH Online Development Manager
RayRapp  
#15 Posted : 13 July 2010 22:56:49(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
RayRapp

Anna Perhaps you might like to pursue a spill chucker as well, which has ben mentioned on the forum about a million times...thanks. Ray
Ciarán Delaney  
#16 Posted : 13 July 2010 23:07:26(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Guest

Anna, Please explain to us what the issues are in relation to the edit facility not been available to members but available to moderators?
Anna Cooper  
#17 Posted : 14 July 2010 10:51:01(UTC)
Rank: IOSH staff
Anna Cooper

Hi all RayRapp - We have been looking into a spell check facility but the honest answer is that following investigation into the options available, the resulting cost of integrating the proposed solution is very high, so we are considering alternative options that present better value for money. In short, we're unfortunately still at the drawing board stage. We'll update website users as we make progress on this. Ciaran Delaney - To clarify, Moderators are in place to help maintain the forums and as part of their role they are given access to the tools that enable them to carry out their role. Moderators review posted messages and act accordingly. If all our forum users were able to edit posts after the fact, the task of moderating would be made exceedingly difficult. However, I've noted from other posts on the forums that perhaps if there was an option to edit a post within 5 minutes of submitting it, that would be the type of facility users would appreciate. We can of course look into the feasibility of this type of functionality and I'll raise this as a consideration during our review of forum development over the next couple of months. Thanks everyone Anna Cooper IOSH Online Development Manager
Moderator 2  
#18 Posted : 14 July 2010 11:10:23(UTC)
Rank: Moderator
Moderator 2

Just a note from the Moderators. We were surprised to find that we were given the ability to edit posts. We have, however decided on the following: 1. We don't edit posts put on the forum by forum users. This is so that there is no possibility that we could be thought to be censoring or doctoring the discussions. If a post is contrary to the rules, it is hidden and the poster contacted. If someone wants their post altered it is hidden and the poster invited to re-post a corrected version. 2. We do occasionally edit our own posts when, on reflection, the meaning is not totally clear. Jane
Ciarán Delaney  
#19 Posted : 15 July 2010 08:54:08(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Guest

Anna, I did suggest that the IOSH Forum would allow members to have a 15 minute window to edit their post as is the case with Linkedin. Jane. Thank you for been honest regarding moderators using the edit facility to make their posts clearer. Ciaran
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