Realtime WYSIWYG editor: kind of autosave enabled

[Simpel]

Hi.

I tested realtime editor in 15.10.11. I think there is an autosave enabled. Looking into the history shows me “small” changes every minute.

History listed me as author but many of those changes are made by my collegue alone while I was in editing mode but not doing anything.

Is there a possibility to disable autosave in realtime mode?
Simpel

PS: It’s even saving when I’m in edit mode alone. This way the cancel button can’t work as intented.

[douakli]

Hi Simpel,

Thank you for your feedback!

There is indeed an autosave feature included in the realtime editor.
Unfortunately, there is currently no way to disable the autosave, other than to leave the realtime editing session.

Currently, the realtime editor attributes the changes to only one of the co-authors and we are aware of that limitation.
If the editor marked you as author, it should be because you contributed to the changes, even in some minor way.

I agree that an autosave that can’t be disabled when editing alone should be considered a regression. I will open an issue for it.

Thanks,
Dorian.

[vmassol]

Thanks for the answers @douakli !

@douakli

Currently, the realtime editor attributes the changes to only one of the co-authors and we are aware of that limitation.

Could you provide a link to the jira issue to fix this? If it doesn’t exist, I think we should create a jira for it.

Also, I think we should document this at https://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/Realtime%20WYSIWYG%20Editor/#HLimitations

I also think we need to review https://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/Realtime%20WYSIWYG%20Editor/#HLimitations as i think several items have been fixed or need to be updated (the source button for example needs some updating and clarifications). It would also be great to link to jira issues for each item that require improving.

Thanks!

[vmassol]

@vmassol

I also think we need to review https://extensions.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Extension/Realtime%20WYSIWYG%20Editor/#HLimitations as i think several items have been fixed or need to be updated (the source button for example needs some updating and clarifications). It would also be great to link to jira issues for each item that require improving.

I’ve updated what I could. Leaving it to you to improve

Thx

[mflorea]

@Simpel

History listed me as author but many of those changes are made by my collegue alone while I was in editing mode but not doing anything.

That should not happen. The autosave (provided by the realtime editing) is triggered only if there are changes and only for the users that made changes since the last (auto)save. If you don’t make any changes after an automatic save is triggered then the next autosave won’t be triggered for you (but for the users that made changes) so you can’t be the author that is listed in the history.

Maybe you were looking at major versions in the history? Please report an issue if you can reproduce, with the steps you did.

Is there a possibility to disable autosave in realtime mode?

No, because we can’t have a usable realtime editing experience without autosave.

If you don’t have autosave how do you decide who saves? You need to find someone responsive for saving the content from time to time. Otherwise, each user will click on the Save button, fearing not to lose content, and because they don’t know if the others are going to save or not. You’re not always in a video call. This will lead to either more (useless) versions created or lost content (due to lack of communication / coordination).

I’m not saying that the way the autosave is currently performed when editing in realtime is perfect. I’m just saying that autosave is a must for realtime editing (in one form or another). You simply can’t expect the users to click on the Save (& Continue) button when editing collaboratively.

@Simpel

It’s even saving when I’m in edit mode alone.

Another user can join at any time, or you can be left alone in the realtime session at anytime (e.g. because your colleague has some temporary connection issues). I find it confusing to enable / disable the autosave based on the fact that you are alone in the realtime editing session, which again, can be temporarily. You might not even notice that the other user has left or was disconnected while you’re writing your part of the content, so we can’t expect the users to think like:

• “I’m alone, so I need to click on the Save button myself”
• “Ah, Alice joined, now I don’t need to click on Save anymore”
• “Too bad, Alice left, now I need to click on the Save button myself again”

@Simpel

This way the cancel button can’t work as intented.

The intent of the Cancel button is to cancel the changes made since the last save or since you entered edit mode. There’s no difference between clicking Cancel after an explicit save and an automatic save.

@vmassol

I’ve updated what I could. Leaving it to you to improve

It’s currently not possible to disable the auto-save.

I don’t agree with the line you added. It’s not a limitation. It’s by design because realtime needs autosave to be usable. It doesn’t make sense to disable autosave for realtime.

Thanks,
Marius

[Simpel]

@mflorea

@Simpel

History listed me as author but many of those changes are made by my collegue alone while I was in editing mode but not doing anything.

That should not happen. The autosave (provided by the realtime editing) is triggered only if there are changes and only for the users that made changes since the last (auto)save. If you don’t make any changes after an automatic save is triggered then the next autosave won’t be triggered for you (but for the users that made changes) so you can’t be the author that is listed in the history.

Maybe you were looking at major versions in the history? Please report an issue if you can reproduce, with the steps you did.

Unfortunately our test system was resetted to test the update again, so I can’t look for the history. I will test this in 3 weeks again after my vacations.