Allow editing in "Display Code" textbox in poll creator

[tim]

Title:
Allow editing in "Display Code" textbox in poll creator

Area:
polls

Summary:
Allow editing poll code directly after following the "Display Code" link

Description:
If I create a poll and then click the "Display Code" button, I get a text box containing the poll code. I might think that if I edit the code in this text box and then click the "Post Poll" button, the edited code will show up in the text box for my journal entry. But instead, the original poll code, without my edits, shows up. LiveJournal has the same infelicity.

I think the "Display Code" form should be changed to pass in any edits to the poll code text along to the form with the new journal entry. If I edit text in a text box and then submit it, I normally expect my changes to be preserved.

Poll #1290 Allow editing in "Display Code" textbox in poll creator

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
19 (55.9%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
6 (17.6%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
0 (0.0%)

(I have no opinion)
8 (23.5%)

(Other: please comment)
1 (2.9%)

Comments

[pseudomonas]

An alternative would be to display the poll code in a non-editable pane rather than an enabled textarea, so editing doesn't appear to be an option.

[tim]

That would be better than the status quo, but I still like having the option of editing the code.

Or perhaps better than either would be to eliminate the interstitial page, and only have options to preview the poll or to insert the poll code into a new post. (In that case, the forms would have to be set up so as to make the Back button work properly from the page with the new entry, so you could go back and edit the poll with the poll creator.)

[pseudomonas]

You're right, there;s not too much need to preview the markup. Maybe preview the markup on the same page as previewing the rendered poll?

I think
* "insert the formatted, completed, compiled poll into an entry"
and
* "insert the poll markup code into an entry so I can fiddle with it"
are probably the only two options needed. Even the first of those is a bit superfluous. Fewer options better!

[tim]

Yes, I agree that having only one option would be ideal, since previewing the entire post subsumes previewing the rendered poll.

[pseudomonas]

So long as you can get back to the poll wizard if you don't like the results. I think having a compulsory preview page at the end of the poll creation process would take care of that; after that you edit at own risk.

[tim]

Or just making sure the Back button works (I'm sure there's some CGI magic that allows that).

[pseudomonas]

That way, after you've typed in a bunch of other stuff in the entry and previewed it and then try and go back to have a fiddle, it'll wipe out all the non-poll content when you're done and it goes back to the entry (unless you have some really clever javascript magic maybe if you're lucky), and that'd annoy me. Having the end-of-wizard point clearly marked would involve less surprise.

[tim]

Hmm, that's a good point. I'll cease speculating here except to point out that the UI for polls is really dusty and there are probably lots of great ways to improve it.

[melannen]

I want to be able to view the markup; I always copy-paste from the "display code" page to the entry rather than have it automatically make a new entry for me, and then fiddle with it (often because I've already written half the post before I realize I want a poll, or I'm writing the poll in a client, or...)

So don't please take away my chance to copy-paste the poll code into the entry myself! Or I'll have to actually remember how to code polls from scratch!

[tim]

I don't see how the suggestion you were replying to loses any functionality in that regard. You would still be able to copy-paste poll code from the entry that the poll creator generates for you into a different entry.

[zvi]

I actually like this suggestion best.

[eruthros]

This seems like a better idea to me.

[cesy]

Either this or the original suggestion would work - as you say, edits shouldn't be allowed on a non-editable area, so either make it disabled, or save the edits.

[kerravonsen]

+1

[turlough]

Much better idea. Letting people edit polls after they've been posted opens up far too many possibilities of abuse and succeeding drama.

[tim]

Er, none of the suggestions that have been posed so far would allow a poll to be edited after it was posted.

[turlough]

I completely misunderstod the suggestion, sorry!

[tim]

No problem, I'm sure I could have made my comments more precise.

[azurelunatic]

Whee, I am glad this is being taken up! I just tried to suggest this.