New Forum Help Post Preview

[bernardgreen]

It may be me but when I reply to a post I cannot see a Preview button without going to the More Options button..

There is a preview button visible as I am typing this creation of a new thread.

 

[Lucid]

Isn't that part of the revamp though? The feature is still available, it's just in a different place.

 

[DIYnot]

Yes it isn't currently available on the quick reply box. It is something I'm looking into adding though.

 

[EightyTwo]

Good. 'Cos once you go into the "slow reply box", you can't see the rest of the thread.

 

[DIYnot]

A preview option has been added below the quick reply box

 

[JohnW2]

A preview option has been added below the quick reply box

It has, but it behaves somewhat differently from the Preview button below the 'slow reply box'. With the latter, the editable message remains accessible below the preview. With the (new) Preview button below the quick reply box, the preview appears in a pop-up window, which has to be closed before one can edit one's post - I find that much less convenient! Is there some reason why the two Preview buttons can't do the same thing?

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What is the "slow reply box"?

 

[JohnW2]

What is the "slow reply box"?

The one you get to if you click on "More Options" under the 'quick reply' one!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Ah, I see.

What I don't see is why anybody would ever want to do that.

 

[JohnW2]

Ah, I see. What I don't see is why anybody would ever want to do that.

It sounds as if you have not been following this discussion (or the discussions in the test forum about the Preview button). Until a day or two ago, it was the only way to get to a Preview button. However, DIYnot then added a Preview button under the 'quick reply' box - but, as I wrote earlier, it behaves differently from the other Preview button. Since I find the functionality of the 'old' Preview button to be much better, I still have to click on that 'More Options' to get the Preview button (and functionality) I want!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So you either just type a reply, and when you want a preview click twice - once for preview, once to close it, or you click once to get the other form of reply window open, which you have to do every time, even if you'll not want to do a preview, and which means you can no longer see any of the existing posts in the thread, all to save one mouse click on the occasions when you do want to see a preview.

OK.

 

[JohnW2]

So you either just type a reply, and when you want a preview click twice - once for preview, once to close it, or you click once to get the other form of reply window open, which you have to do every time, even if you'll not want to do a preview, and which means you can no longer see any of the existing posts in the thread, all to save one mouse click on the occasions when you do want to see a preview. OK.

I'm not sure that I fully understand your point. My point is that if one does the former of the two things you suggest, the preview (in a pop-up window) one gets is (at least from my viewpoint) not as satisfactory. With the second approach, I'm not usually too worried about not being able to see other posts in the thread, but I do appreciate being able to edit my message whilst still having the preview on the same screen (i.e. without having to close a 'preview window' before I can edit). With the former approach, I sometimes find myself having to open and close the preview window several times, as I edit my message, which is a bit of a pain.

I would be interested to hear DIYnot's view about this issue.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

My point was that I couldn't understand why anybody would ever want to use the "slow reply". It stops you from seeing any posts in the topic whilst you are replying, and whilst you might not care about that I cannot think of any way in which it can be beneficial to not see them.

The preview in non-quick-reply mode does not update itself as you type:

so you still have to keep clicking a button to see the current status of your post. I accept that you don't then have to click another one to close the preview, but so?

To me it made (still makes) no sense to want invisibility of all posts whilst replying, and an extra click to start replying, to save having to close a preview.

But then I did not envisage (and still cannot understand why) a requirement to keep on checking the preview of a post.

This is what I see in the reply box whilst typing this:

(red frame added by me, to stop images of the reply in the reply getting confusing)

And this is what the preview looks like:

I didn't expand on this in my reply above, but I cannot see any significant difference, i.e. I cannot see any significant reason for wanting a preview at all, and therefore to me it seems illogical to pay the price of guaranteed extra clicks and guaranteed loss of functionality for something so marginal. With the old site preview was useful, but as the new one shows text formatting as you type, shows images as you insert them etc, it seems a lot less useful.

 

[JohnW2]

My point was that I couldn't understand why anybody would ever want to use the "slow reply". It stops you from seeing any posts in the topic whilst you are replying, and whilst you might not care about that I cannot think of any way in which it can be beneficial to not see them.

Nor can I - but, as I said, it was the differential behaviour of the two preview options that led me to favour the one from the 'slow reply' box, not anything to do with invisibility of other posts in the thread.

.... But then I did not envisage (and still cannot understand why) a requirement to keep on checking the preview of a post.

I guess that's where we differ, and that you never get yourself into bthe messes I sometime do with nested quoting and other aspects of formatting. When in such a mess, I often have to have several goes at editing, with a preview check after each attempt - until I eventually get what I want!

I didn't expand on this in my reply above, but I cannot see any significant difference, i.e. I cannot see any significant reason for wanting a preview at all, and therefore to me it seems illogical to pay the price of guaranteed extra clicks and guaranteed loss of functionality for something so marginal.

See above.

Kind Regards, John

 

[DIYnot]

It would be nice is the quick reply preview 'mock inserted' the post as it does when you actually submit with a real preview, but this would require an extensive re-work, which isn't on the cards at this point in time - for the future it possible.