5

This happens on a few other sites as well.

Clearly, I'd like the form to be empty when I start a new question! I'm using the newest FF browser.

8
  • Ah, you see, the tags are from the previous post!
    – andrz_001
    Dec 28, 2010 at 11:30
  • Unable to reproduce. Any addons that might affect this? Dec 28, 2010 at 11:59
  • Actually, I can't either now. In the future, should I not be making a big deal of this; or, is there a cache I can empty that would do the trick?
    – andrz_001
    Dec 28, 2010 at 13:02
  • @andrz_001 - This question should be moved to the SuperUser Meta. Questions related to a StackExchange site, about a SE site, or how does a SE site operates should be asked at meta version of the parent site. In this case it is SuperUser Meta.
    – SgtOJ
    Dec 28, 2010 at 17:55
  • 1
    The situation I described has been occurring on other sites too--upon returning to one of these sites, I find that the form is completed with my previous info. I can even restart the browser and return to the page and have the content still appear there. Case in point: sbc.org.pl/dlibra. I submitted the question with the intention of fixing my problem, but I think the question turned out too specific.
    – andrz_001
    Dec 28, 2010 at 18:32
  • ...and I wouldn't know how to move it to the meta site.
    – andrz_001
    Dec 28, 2010 at 18:35
  • @andrz_001 it will be moved to Super User Meta soon.
    – Sathyajith Bhat Mod
    Dec 28, 2010 at 23:15
  • 1
    When composing a question or answer, a draft is periodically saved to the server. (Even if you switch browsers, the draft re-appears.) I think it's supposed to discard the draft after you submit the question. @andrz_001: You're saying the draft re-appears even after you've submitted a question? That does seem like a bug.
    – Bavi_H
    Dec 29, 2010 at 2:01

2 Answers 2

3

Stack Exchange sites will save a question or answer you're composing after a while. You'll see a "draft saved" message when this happens. (If you switch to another browser, log in, and go to the same page you'll see the stuff you entered will re-appear, confirming it's actually saved on the server.) Sometimes this is helpful, but sometimes it's annoying, because there's no way to discard the saved draft.

To report issues like this that happen on all Stack Exchange sites, your best bet is to post on meta.stackoverflow.com. However, a "discard draft" feature has already been requested there but declined: Manually reseting+discarding saved question drafts. --- Update: Another request is here: Add a clear button when a saved draft is loaded

The "save draft" feature was originally requested and implemented as described here: Allow questions to be saved as drafts prior to posting. According to that page, only one question or answer draft is saved at a time, for up to a week. If you start a new post, the previous draft is discarded.


Update:

As a work around, you can enter the following into the address box to discard the draft saved on the Ask Question page of the current Stack Exchange site you're on.

javascript:$.post("/posts/0/editor-heartbeat/ask",{title:" ",tagnames:" ",text:" "},function(){location.reload();});void(0);

To make it easier to use, you can save it as a bookmark. Call it something like Discard Draft. Then if you notice a draft question has re-appeared, you can just click on the Discard Draft bookmark.

0

The StackExchange sites will save unsubmitted forms in your cache so that you can return and finish a question later if you didn't finish it and submit it. Usually, once you click the button to submit your question or comment that gets cleared out. Clearing your browser cache should be sufficient if you find it isn't getting cleared, unless you have some sort of form auto-completion enabled that is storing the data.

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  • 1
    The drafts are saved on the server, not in your browser cache. (If you switch to another browser and log in, you'll see the draft re-appear, confirming it's saved on the server.) So, unfortunately, clearing the browser cache doesn't work.
    – Bavi_H
    Dec 29, 2010 at 4:09

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