I'm not sure if it's browser specific or what, but these blank nodes are driving me nuts. It seems that in some areas just requesting a page by clicking a link will create a new node. This is a problem, because I rely heavily on the back button and when I simply traverse back across a page in which I was writing a reply, a new blank node gets created. It doesn't seem like everyone has this problem, but I do all the time and I've seen some other unintentionally repeated posts (merlyn comes to mind... he mentioned it too a while back). Wouldn't it be better to only create a node when you actually clicked the submit button rather than the reply link? That way you could also change your mind when you decided you didn't actually have anything to say after all. Not all the submit pages are like this, it seems only replying to a node in some sections does it.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Blank Nodes donīt seem browser-specific
by Corion (Patriarch) on May 30, 2000 at 16:05 UTC

    I've also noticed this issue, but I donīt think the problem is browser related - I use both IE (by choice) and Netscape (because Konqueror is not yet ready) and I remember having created empty nodes with both browsers ...

    There would be two fix possibilities :

    • Create reply nodes only at submit-time
    • Remove empty nodes after some timeout (like 1 hour)
    The first method would be the Right Thing, while the second method could be accomplished by simply kludging another daemon to the database that cleans up unreferenced empty nodes after some expiration time (which has other implications for the reputation and/or experience of these nodes).
RE: Blank Nodes
by turnstep (Parson) on May 30, 2000 at 19:04 UTC

    It's not your browser, it's just certain parts of Perlmonks. This has already been pointed out quite a few times. A consistent posting mechanism is needed for *anything* added to perlmonks:

    • Show the original post, then the "Your reply" area (this has been worked on lately, thanks vroom!)
    • Don't award XP and/or create a new node until the Submit button is pressed.

    I avoid part of the problem by always opening replies in a new window - which also allows me to view the entire thread by toggling back to the previous window as I write.

      I avoid part of the problem by always opening replies in a new window - which also allows me to view the entire thread by toggling back to the previous window as I write.

      That's fine as a personal action, but I would argue against making that the behavior of replying in general. A site should never open a new window without a good reason, that's for the user to control.

        I wasn't arguing for that as a default action, just sharing a 'personal action'. It may very well open up a new window already, as far as I know - my javascript is always disabled. :)