New Create Entries beta, round two

[denise]

The next code push will update the new Create Entries page in beta with a number of fixes for previously-reported bugs and enhancements. To make it easier to keep track, we're therefore opening up a new bug-reporting post (to avoid confusing things with bugs reported in the previous post).

When reporting bugs, please include:

* The browser name, browser version number, and operating system you're using
* The steps you took to reproduce the problem
* Whether or not you've tested the same steps in another browser (and if so, which)
* Whether you get the same result every time you try the same steps, or if it only happens sometimes

If we can't reproduce the problem under the same browser and operating system, we may also ask you for a list of any browser extensions you have installed.

Things that are still not yet implemented:

* the "don't autoformat" button
* the rich text editor
* editing existing entries (it will display the old form)
* draft posts of any type, including autosaving of entries

There are also still some issues with IE, especially in "privacy mode". Anything that requires Javascript is currently not working in IE in privacy mode, and we're trying to figure out if there's something we can do to fix that or if the settings of the browser override anything we can do.

Comments

[killua]

Did I completely miss it or is the crossposting feature not implemented yet in the new create entries form?

Otherwise, love it so far!

NEVERMIND I FOUND IT. /IDIOT.

[denise]

It is, that pane just isn't visible by default -- put the page in settings mode (click the gear, it's in the upper right corner, if you need the alt text to get it via screenreader let me know) and check the box for the crossposting module :)

Possibly unrelated

[rainne]

I'm honestly not sure if this is related or not. I just tried to post using the beta create entry page for the first time, and also for the first time, I got a crosspost-failed email.

I'm running Windows 7, Firefox 3.6.10
I have not tried in another browser yet (nothing else to post). I will try tomorrow though.
Basically all I did was make a short entry and post it, and then the crosspost failed. I'll include here a copy of the notification email I got, but I don't understand what it means, so I don't know if it's related or not. I will note, though, that crossposting to journalfen failed but to LJ succeeded.

--- email follows ---

Failed to crosspost entry to rainne@JournalFen: Failed to access class (LJ::XMLRPC): Can't locate LJ/XMLRPC.pm in @INC (@INC contains: CODE(0xcaad604) /var/www/vhosts/journalfen.net/lj_jfcustom/cgi-bin CODE(0xcaad334) CODE(0xca9770c) CODE(0xca9743c) CODE(0xca9716c) CODE(0xca96e54) /var/www/vhosts/journalfen.net/lj_jfcustom/src/s2 CODE(0x908bdfc) /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/i386-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.8/i386-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.8 /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.8/i386-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.8 . /usr/local/apache/ /usr/local/apache/lib/perl) at (eval 1790)[/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/SOAP/Lite.pm:2727] line 3. --
Dreamwidth Team
Dreamwidth Studios

Re: Possibly unrelated

[denise]

Hey -- do you get the same error if you have the update beta off? (http://www.dreamwidth.org/betafeatures to turn it off)

JF is running a really really old version of the LJ code, and some things are very broken when trying to interact with them -- that's why we had to disable imports from JF, for instance. That error makes me think it's the same problem, but I just want to rule out the new update page as a possible cause first.

[oconel]

I'm not sure if this is a bug.

Does the new page autosave the changes of my post or I'm supposed to see a button to do it?

[denise]

Saving of drafts isn't implemented yet -- it's going to tie into the new draft posts system and we wanted to make sure that there weren't any major bugs/UI problems/usability problems before we started work on that part of it. (Also not implemented: rich text editing, the "don't autoformat" button, editing entries at all, a few other things.)

[green_knight]

This is not a bug, but can we please have a larger default font for the entry box, or better yet, a way to customise it? I love it - it's very clearn and organised and nifty indeed, but I had trouble reading the text (Safari 4/Mac OS 10.6) and would prefer an eyestrain-free version.

[fu]

We accept bugs and suggestions and feedback on anything that's causing you trouble or bringing you joy! (basically, if it's about the update page, it's completely within bounds *g*)

Just to get some info -- are you using either Tropospherical Red (reds/pinks) or Tropospherical Purple (purples)?

iOS 4.1/Safari

[green_knight]

On my iPhone, the content column is slightly narrower than the left-hand column, meaning that half the screen is white space.

The icon - in full size - dwarfs the rest of the content in the icon selection box. The 'browse' won't work because browsers on iOS do not display scroll bars so you get a small selection of icons popping up at the top of the page.

Other than the width and the icon browser, things work just fine.

Re: iOS 4.1/Safari

[fu]

Thanks for the feedback!

Re: scrolling in the icon browser, have you tried two fingers + scrolling? That seems to be the standard way to get per-element scrolling on iOS.

[autumnus]

This looks amazing! I just have few minor bugs and feature suggestions

Bug 1:
- When customizing the page I stack all of my entry setting boxes to side. (e.g. age restriction, tags etc)
- I change the size of the text entry area a bit.

issue 1: as I keep resizing the browser to something narrower, the side bar overlaps for quite a bit until the modules drops under. Also, the text box doesn't seem to be scaling properly with the window width.

- I then change the layout to have no sidebar.
- I change the width of the text edit box to something wider.
- I switch back to the view with sidebar.

Issue 2: Suddenly my sidebar is overlapping with the text box and the entry form options. The text entry resize is stuck under the sidebar and so is some of the module options, so I cannot even fix it.

Bug 2:
Reset panels to original settings doesn't work; or at least doesn't work after doing the above steps. I tried both when "Entry text takes up full page width" and "Column alongside entry text" were selected.

edit: managed to reset my settings by disabling beta and re-enabling it back on. Confirmed that this resize issues (bug 1) only seems to appear after text entry area is resized.

Tested using firefox 8.0.1 on windows 7.

Additional suggestions:

1) when customizing it would be nice if sidebar didn't start at the form, but next to the title so that we can really preview how it will look.

2) It would be nice if we could move some modules above the title and text entry like they were on the old create entry form.

[fu]

Thanks! We'll look into things; the first additional suggestion is pretty easy, and will be fixed shortly :)

Hmmm.

[juniperfan]

I figured I'd check this out, since DW is essentially becoming my home, and I didn't want to have a momentary hissy at any new changes.

The bits I liked:

-The ability to move stuff around and customize the width of the entry box! That big wide box was not to my liking at first, but if I can change it all is well.

-I like being able to move my icons up to the top of the page again, since I like them at eye-level first thing, rather than having to scroll down.

The bits that weren't so great (but presumably fixable):

-When I open the settings option and click the option for a column alongside the entry box, the column overlays and almost completely hides the 'Save' button. Not terribly awesome. It appears next to the cancel button in Firefox, but in Internet Explorer it's off to the side, right where the column needs to be.

-When I highlight my icons, I can no longer scroll through the keywords and simultaneously see the icon that corresponds to that keyword. I don't have the new JavaScript beta tester on, though,so it might be that.

-There's no labeling of the subject line in Internet Explorer (I think I'm using version 7 or 8, but I really couldn't tell you). It's not there in the newest edition of Firefox, either. I kind of like having the subject line labeled.

-This is really me being terribly nitpicky, but I liked having my icons on the left side of the page, and the only option for the column is to the right. It would be great if we could choose left or right for that, rather than just one.

Re: Hmmm.

[crazed_delusion]

-This is really me being terribly nitpicky, but I liked having my icons on the left side of the page, and the only option for the column is to the right. It would be great if we could choose left or right for that, rather than just one.

I was thinking that I would love to be able to put them on the left as well. It's just my own internal thing I want to put all that stuff on that side lol.

[sophie]

I'm not seeing any way to collapse modules on the Create page. Since the settings still has an option for "Use minimal animations for the panels as they expand/collapse", I'm assuming this is a bug?

I'm not on the JS beta, in case it matters, and I'm using Firefox 8.0.1 on Windows 7 64-bit.

[fu]

Not yet implemented in live, but we'll have it out next code push!

(Yeah the erm. At this point that checkbox lies and isn't supposed to be there heh)

[nkfloofiepoof]

Not a bug, but I find the location of the icon browser and the journal/community picker to be rather odd. It doesn't make much sense to me for those to be at the bottom of the page. To me, they should be at the top so I can go ahead and pick where I'm posting and with what icon to match my mood/frame of mind and then write up my entry. I'm a lot more likely to forget I'm posting to a community and not to my personal journal if that option isn't one of the first available. Icon and "where this is going to be posted" are "beginnings" to me, not "endings".

There also seems to be a lot of wasted space, but that could just be my gigantic monitor resolution (1280x1024) stretching out the box backgrounds and making them and the text field huge and unwieldy. I'm using the Gradation Vertical site layout, if that helps.

[nkfloofiepoof]

OOOH - wait! Derpderp. I just now found the little gear that lets me customize it. I feel dumb now. *plays with that a bit* Okay, that looks a lot better, but I do admit I'd like to be able to put things on the left instead of being forced to keep it all on the right or the bottom.

[chagrined]

Okay, these aren't bugs, but rather feedback.

1. I really wish there were a box above the subject/entry area where one could put options (for me, ideally the same width as the entry box).

2. I also wish there were a box right above the bottom-most "post entry" for options that took up the whole width of the entry box, below the ones that take up two separate columns.

(As it stands, I'm finding myself unable to customize the form to work well with my update journal workflow. No matter where I put them, I keep forgetting/skipping over icon selection and security settings.)

Annnnnnnnd I wish "post entry" were centered instead of right-aligned, but that's not too big a deal b/c I can fix that for myself with a stylish script anyway.

I find it a bit odd that there are two "post entry" buttons -- might be confusing for some.

[crosspistols]

Hello! I thought I'd come join in and take a look at the new entry page, I love it so far but I have a little suggestion.

When the entry field is set to: Column alongside entry text, would it be possible to be able to have the entry display on the right hand side and the additional options to be in a column on the left (basically a mirror of what it is now)?

Also an error: When I clicked the "browse" button for tags it automatically submitted my entry straight away, I'm pretty sure it's not meant to do that.

[foxfirefey]

Also an error: When I clicked the "browse" button for tags it automatically submitted my entry straight away, I'm pretty sure it's not meant to do that.

Is this still happening? If it is, could you give me some info on the browser it is happening in?

[biodamped]

I'm actually not sure if this is a bug or not, to be honest. I have a fandom comm with closed membership (so I am the only one who can post), but I keep all entries posted. The old update page defaults to a public security level, and if I click the update link from the manage communities page (http://www.dreamwidth.org/update?usejournal=stowaway), that also defaults to public. But, if I use the create drop down menu (http://www.dreamwidth.org/entry/new) and switch from my personal journal to the community, the default security setting for the entry changes to members only, not public.

I have no problems if this is actually the way it's designed (just need to remember to change community entries manually, or else I'll get a bunch more "Your entry is private, fool!" messages), but in case it wasn't meant to work that way, I thought I'd best let you know. My personal journal is defaulted to access list only, if that makes a difference.

(Win 7/Firefox 6, for the record. :D)

[fu]

Yes, I think you've found a bug!

It should be okay to switch the security dropdown to public after you switch to the community, though, that is it should be selectable.

I'll see what I can do to fix it :)

Bug: Icon browse button in comment preview doesn't react

[shameless2shoes]

-Opera, Version... um? Not the most recent one. I've scoured for the about page or any indication of what I've got but don't know. Operating system is windows 7
-Closed browser, tried again.
-Tried also in firefox. Version... this isn't supposed to be a hard question. Sorry.
-Happens every time

The "Browse" button for icons works when posting entries and making comments unless I'm on the preview comment page, in which case pushing it produces the blue outline, but no new window.

Re: Bug: Icon browse button in comment preview doesn't react

[fu]

Thanks! We'll have that fixed by next code push.

[noxie]

Hi and happy new year! This is not a bug, just a question. I'm really loving the new create entries page, but I was wondering if the features to add a link or image or user name as easily as before in the RTE will be brought back? I'm really missing those, and it makes me turn off beta testing every now and then, because I'm too lazy to type in the html to add an image etc. Or are these features there and are just not displaying for me? I'm using Firefox 8.

[denise]

The rich text editor isn't implemented yet, but it will be!

[nkfloofiepoof]

Two things I'm assuming are bugs (using IE8) - I don't think these were mentioned already, but it's entirely possible I missed them, so I apologize in advance if this has already been addressed:

1. Whenever I have enough text in the post field to fill it in and make the scrollbar appear, it kind of...moves around on its own. I'm not really sure how to describe it. Let's say have a really huge post - I want to fix a typo in a line that, currently, is near the top of the box. I click up there and start typing. The text field moves the scrollbar up until the cursor is at the bottom of the field. This is extremely disorienting @@ It kinda does it on comment text fields like right here too but not to this extent (it only scrolls 2-3 lines, not to the point that the cursor has been moved from the top line all the way to the bottom).

2. If I start an entry, look away for a while, then go back to it to finish it, I get a 404 error when I try to post and lose my entry. It's like it doesn't like it if I take too long and says "screw that, you should have finished when you started". This has happened every time so far.

And a third thing which is really more of a personal preference than a bug: the text for the journal entry field is huge even on my gigantic screen resolution. I think it might be size 12 or 14 when whatever size it is here on the comment pages is ~size 10. Is this intentional?

[redcirce]

Not a bug, just a suggestion-

While I love the tag selection tool (and the whole new create entry page in general!) I find it a little confusing visually because although there are up-down columns of tags, the alphabetical order of the tags is left to right. It would be great if there were an option to have the tags sort alphabetically up-down by column. (So down rather than across)

[kaberett]

+1

[seventhe]

When I am typing a long entry, the cursor and scrollbar shift around all the time. When I'm actually typing, the window shifts so that the line I am currently typing on is the VERY BOTTOM line in the window -- this is really disconcerting to my eyes. And when I'm scrolling around in the entry, it skips about - if I want to click and fix a typo, or if I scroll through on the mouse and then try to add something, or I mouse-over it and then move the mouse out of the window -- it's all over the place.

I'm on IE8 at work. It's the only option I have if I want to write entries at work.

[seventhe]

And it just ate the really long entry I was writing and I am now very sad :(

[jewelfox]

Another bug note: Every time the mouse cursor hovers over the entry field, even to select text, I get the "Entry" tooltip. Probably someone's already pointed this out.

[foxfirefey]

Hi, I'm looking into filing bugs for this, and I'm pretty sure what's happening here is a browser feature that does that on purpose for labeled form fields. I'm not sure we can fix that without breaking accessibility, unfortunately!

[facetofcathy]

Not a bug, more of a how people (me) use things (inattentively) issue.

I was making a post and I did what I usually do and add tags last. I added a couple, realized I wanted to edit my post. I did that, and then clicked back into the tags box to add more tags.

I clicked to the right of the last tag I added and started typing without noticing I didn't have a cursor there, and then I clicked again (in the same spot) like six times before I thought to bring the brain on line and realized the active area of the tags box is below the tags.

There isn't any visual cue that this is the case though. The tags box looks like one big white space with some tags stacking up in it. I think the active area should be visually differentiated from the tags you've already picked area in some way.

[kaberett]

You are doing fantastic work here :D

Couple of points that are getting to me:

• agree with others that it would be nice to have space for modules above the posting box
  
• might it be possible to have the option of a plaintext tag field? I find it really disconcerting (and slightly upsetting, because I'm Weird) to have things that I'm typing jump from the point of entry to the line above, and I get really twitchy and unhappy about things CHANGING COLOUR ON MOUSEOVER AUGH

[scolaro]

Windows 7, Firefox 9.0.1

On the old 'add entry' page there is a button called "Update Date" which I use in case writing an entry takes me ages. So when I start writing at 15:30, finish two hours later and press the button before sending off the entry, it will appear as 17:30. (If I don't use it the entry will have the time-stamp of the moment I opened the 'add entry' page, 15:30 in this example.)

On the new beta 'add entry' page this button is missing - is that intended?

Also, since I'm crossposting I don't use LiveJournal's 'add entry' page a lot, but I just checked and it's different there: The time stamp will always show the moment you sent the entry, regardless of when you started writing. Personally I'd prefer that, but if for any reason you want it differently, the "Update Date" button is a good alternative and should be kept, if possible.

---

Also, I understand it's intended that the "Post Entry" button appears twice on the page, but would it be possible to implement a setting in the 'Entry Form Options' that removes one of them?

--

Thank you very much, it's great to see these changes, and this kind of beta-check for all interested parties. Really great communication going on here.

[montuos]

The "Update Date" option is still there, but it no longer appears as a button. Now it's in the "Display Date" module as a checkbox, which is labeled "Use the time when entry is posted". I don't remember anymore whether that module shows by default or if you have to edit the settings (the gear icon on the top right, beside the Create Poll option) to get it, though.

I wonder if it would be possible to make that be a persistent "last used" setting? That's my default preference, but right now I have to check it again for every post.

Also, I just finally realized that if you click the tiny little pencil in the "checkbox" beside the original date shown, that's how you can edit it manually! YAY!!! :)

[valtyr]

Windows 7, Chrome 16.0.912.63, I can't see any option to disable commenting.

[denise]

Hit the gear in the upper right, check the "commenting" box, and it's there. :)

[musyc]

Just wanted to wander by and say I've been using the beta update page for a month now, and it's just as fantastic as it was at the start. Still on the wishlist is for the tag browser to do vertical alphabetical instead of horizontal. Overall, though, I find the page easy to use, wonderful for my workflow, and a great improvement. Major kudos to Fu and Hope and allllll the developers and coders for this.

[boundbooks]

"Still on the wishlist is for the tag browser to do vertical alphabetical instead of horizontal."

Oooh, just chiming to second this! I'd love this as an option and/or default.

[pocketmouse]

Just in case the data wants to be here, rather than in suggestions, where I had it because I didn't realize it was a bug: Subject field doesn't limit your title length in any way like it does in the old update page, so you can type a subject title that's way too long and it doesn't notify you at all, just cuts it off silently when it posts and hits the limit.

[waterfell]

Ok, got everything figured out and loved it. Except, my original problem was apparently with the loading time; the new create entries page takes much longer to load on my computer, and as a result, I wasn't seeing a lot of what was available, and was thinking it wasn't there. (Though or two were my own fault/not looking the right place.)