Where did my post go? Why no draft? Help Moderators!

[lynneannec]

I just wrote part 3 of a series, it took two hours. It had multiple links.  After previewing and editing I hit save. And it was gone! It says it wasn’t authenticated. It’s not in drafts either, but the photos from the post are in saved in my photos. Can the post be retrieved? I don’t have another copy. HELP!

[MortenCopenhagen]

Hi @lynneannec

It has happened to me too. And that is why I always use Google Docs when writing longer posts. Connect has a timeout when you edit a post for more than half an hour or so. 

The moderators can chech if the spam filter caught your post. Fingers crossed that is the case. 

Best of luck 

Morten 

[AdamGT]

Hello @lynneannec 

This can happen when preparing a large or long post or you leave the post for a period while still preparing or editing it and for this reason it is best to refresh on your return. The Connect system will then prompt you to Load or Discard the earlier draft and if you select Load you can continue from the last autosaved version of your post.  I have also found that if after this happens I restart the whole process by selecting Start a post option the system will recognize that I have a previously autosaved version and prompt me with the Load or Discard option.  To avoid the potential loss during the creation of long posts, many of us prepare our posts on other products such as Google Docs and then past it into and do your final editing on Connect before posting. 

I hope this helps you.

[lynneannec]

Thanks @MortenCopenhagen . I usually do use Google Keep and cut and paste. I don’t know why I was feeling so cocky! I am now completely rewriting it - uggh.

[lynneannec]

Thank you @AdamGT . I don’t know why I deviated from my usual practice of writing it first in Google Keep and then cut and pasting. So now I’m rewriting the whole thing! Oh well it gives me something to do while waiting to see if we get the Aurora Borealis tonight. There’s a slim chance we may get a glimpse in northern Arkansas!

[AdamGT]

Oh I hope so @lynneannec would love to see some pics.  Good luck.  By the way, did you try just starting a new post and seeing if the last autosaved version pops up?

[lynneannec]

@AdamGT I did. No such luck. I rewrote it and tagged you, but it’s not as good. I was on a roll before and now my captioned photos aren’t saved either. But I think it’s still informative and helpful. 

[AdamGT]

That has happened to me @lynneannec and believe me, after spending considerable time writing a long post, it's a bitter pill to swallow.  This was a post in the early days of the Star Photos leaderboards and I lost hours and hours of work.  But as they say, once bitten twice shy, so best to prepare "offline" and just do the final touchups after pasting it back onto Connect.