New Create Entries management page

[denise]

This post is to report bugs in the new Create Entries page. This is a complete rewrite of the old Update page, in order to allow for future expansion and new features such as draft posts, scheduled posts, recurring posts, expanding the range of what can be posted to your journal, and a whole host of other awesome things.

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.

Not all features are completely implemented in the new Create Entries page yet. The biggest thing currently missing is the Rich Text editor -- the only option is the plain-old-HTML option. The design of the page is geared towards changing concepts and visual/workflow metaphors around what it means to "post an entry", too -- because of the forthcoming draft and scheduled posts, we needed to adapt some of the language and some of the ways we present concepts -- even though the draft and scheduled post functionality isn't ready to be released yet. So, if something looks awkward or like it doesn't quite fit, it's probably there to allow for something we'll be releasing in the future. (You can still mention it, though!)

Things we also consider to be bugs that should be reported, in addition to something not working right:

* if you can't figure out what to do at any step of the update process
* if you have accessibility-related problems (with your screenreader, with the tab order of the page, with the workflow, etc)
* if something about the new workflow completely breaks the way you use your journal, and you can't figure out any way to work around it (there may be a way to do what you're used to doing, but if you can't figure it out, that's something we might change or might want to document, etc)

You can enable or disable beta testing at any point.

Not yet enabled

* Rich Text editing
* Using the new Create Entries page for editing existing entries
* Using the new Create Entries page for comm admins deleting posts or performing admin overrides
* Draft posts of any type, including the in-browser saved drafts that exist right now

Known/Reported Bugs

* some difficulties crossposting, looks like possibly date-related? we're trying to figure it out.

Should be fixed

* Settings not properly saving when using the "gear" customize-this-page popup; some modules disappear
* Create Entries form being repeated after posting an entry
* Error in link to Beta Features at top of page
* Error messages when using new update page in older versions of Firefox
* Difficulties with IE (oh, IE)
* Errors with time being truncated
* inactive icons showing in the icon browser
* minsecurity of journal not reflecting properly in update form
* whole host of display glitches

Comments

[fu]

Hmmmm. If you choose to show the display date module, what time does it say? is it the right time based on your current time, or is it based on the old timezone?

[nonethefewer]

Yep! RATHER than saying "yes" to a multi-tiered question, steps:

* Load page.
* The display date module shows 08:34.
* Put "test" in the body and change the access level to private.
* Set the display date module option to "Use the time when entry is posted".
* Click Post.

Time: 05:34.

If I do not check that module option, the time is accurate.  It's only when I check that that it goes awry.  Which is sad; I really really like that option, and wish I could have it always checked by default.

[nonethefewer]

This might be worthy of note:

I have the Display Date widget displayed.  When I check the box manually, I experience the issue I mentioned earlier, la la la.

However!  denise said that the "check this box by default" request will not be fulfilled (perfectly fine, just wanted to check-see), so I wrote a quick Greasemonkey script to handle it.  The sole content:

document.getElementById("entrytime_auto_update").checked = "checked";

This, naturally, does not trigger whatever JS greys out the date-loaded bit, just above the "Use time when" option.  Doesn't bother me, and this is hardly an issue that would concern yall, as hello, third-party add-on.

Interestingly, though, using this script does not create the time zone difference issue; when I rely on the script to check that box for me, the time is accurate.  It's only when I manually check the box (or uncheck and check it, if the script is enabled), that the -3 hours issue appears.

Nifty!  I mean, bothersome, but nifty!

[fu]

Reason why it's detecting your old timezone: if you haven't explicitly set a timezone, there's code (handwave) that checks your most recent entries and tries to guess from there. It sounds like that's what's going on!

So I think that everything you said above *points up* means that it's behaving as if the entrytime_auto_update isn't working at all; reason why is that if that checkbox is selected, then it falls back onto the timezone-checking/guessing behavior so it can translate your posted time from GMT into your current timezone (or what it thinks is your current).

[nonethefewer]

But... where would I explicitly set my timezone?  I tried searching the wiki to find this, and got nothing special... and there's not... a...

Oh for the love of... found it, in Manage Account.  Gah.  I'm sorry, I am full of drunk bees, apparently.  *embarrassed*

[fu]

Drunk bees are the best kind!

UM, I mean, I didn't see anything, moving on....

[nonethefewer]

...so, then, I have a question that might be dumb.

If the time zones thing was an issue when I posted, why, then...:

* My location was set to New York.
* My time zone, doofily, was set to PST.
* This meant that when I posted, the time was set to three hours behind.  It's a fair cop; I didn't change the time zone.
* So but... then... why did the time that loaded in the Display Date module show the EST date?

[denise]

Don't feel bad, we have settings scattered EVERYWHERE. I have a project open to rearrange them into something making sense, except it's way, way tougher than you think omg. (We did a card sort to see if people had any kind of natural hierarchy/organization they fell into. Results said: not a single two people who took the sort agreed at even an 80% correlation. I've been meaning to try to do something with working up some alternates and test them with people, but it's way harder than you think.)

[nonethefewer]

Oh no yeah, I completely understand that.  I occasionally want to reorg the profile area, which lasts right up until I try doing it, and then it's all confusing.

If the wiki is intended to be for users as well, it might be worth putting a page up that lists and describes each of the options in the Manage Account area, so that it's searchable.  Nnnot that I have a page half-written for that already.  *cough*

...or, right, the FAQ!  It could also be added as a FAQ page.  I'm so used to wikis being used to hold the documentation that I forgot about it.

[denise]

The wiki isn't intended for end-user-facing documentation, no -- volunteers, developers, and people running the DW code -- but yeah, there could be a Guide in the FAQs. I'd rather do it after a reorg, to save time and effort, but I'd have no problems with it!