2. ASPRunner.NET General questions
  3. Updates in spreadsheet mode
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Updates in spreadsheet mode

 		1/12/2021 8:10:22 AM
ASPRunner.NET General questions
Pete K author

First of all, kudos for offering the new spreadsheet editing mode. This is something I've wanted for a long time. Thanks!
I love the fact that edits to individual fields are made in real-time. My question is, can we offer some feedback to the user when the change is saved? As it is, there is no visual cue to indicate that changes were saved, which could be disconcerting.
Admin 1/18/2021

We are trying to model it after Google Docs where changes are just being saved. If users edit lots of data seeing a notification after each update will be invasive. If we can find a reasonable way to show the update status to the user - we'll implement this.
FrankR_ENTA 1/18/2021

Interesting.
I haven't looked at spreadsheet mode yet, so I don't know what appears. But perhaps - a diskette icon near the top of the page that looks Enabled when people are editing, and Disabled when the page catches up with all the Saves. So, there wouldn't be intrusive messaging, but there Would be a visual indication.
Pete K author 1/18/2021



Interesting.
I haven't looked at spreadsheet mode yet, so I don't know what appears. But perhaps - a diskette icon near the top of the page that looks Enabled when people are editing, and Disabled when the page catches up with all the Saves. So, there wouldn't be intrusive messaging, but there Would be a visual indication.


I like Frank's suggestion. I agree that you wouldn't want anything too intrusive like a popup. Google docs displays a small message "last updated: seconds ago, a minute ago, 5 minutes ago" etc.

Admin 1/19/2021

Pete, Frank,
I understand the need but there is still no clear way how to do this.
First of all, there is no such thing as "page catches up with all the Saves". One field is edited at the time, it will be saved automatically when the user moves to another field. If save fails - there will be an error message.
What Google shows is not the save status but when the document was edited last. Yes, we can show something like this but just imagine how cumbersome it is going to be. After each field edit, the users need to look up and see if that status says "Last edit was seconds ago" then data were saved. Doesn't look like the best idea.
I understand that users, after making the changes, sort of looking for the Save button so they know they can leave the page etc. We'll find a way.
Pete K author 1/20/2021



Pete, Frank,
I understand the need but there is still no clear way how to do this.
First of all, there is no such thing as "page catches up with all the Saves". One field is edited at the time, it will be saved automatically when the user moves to another field. If save fails - there will be an error message.
What Google shows is not the save status but when the document was edited last. Yes, we can show something like this but just imagine how cumbersome it is going to be. After each field edit, the users need to look up and see if that status says "Last edit was seconds ago" then data were saved. Doesn't look like the best idea.
I understand that users, after making the changes, sort of looking for the Save button so they know they can leave the page etc. We'll find a way.


Thank you, Sergey. I'm sure you will.

E
 		Erwin 2/23/2021



We are trying to model it after Google Docs where changes are just being saved. If users edit lots of data seeing a notification after each update will be invasive. If we can find a reasonable way to show the update status to the user - we'll implement this.



Perhaps something like an fading check or cross?




https://mega.nz/file/RNgCHJLL#mZyARa-3yUOvWbnI_c4r6nALSPCye32sNJGeK2lCSnc

https://mega.nz/file/sV4mUDoB#0V0wx60EIIE5Yy1Oafkim9P452mUX_5UGfxO5q2IhDg
T
 		Tim 3/3/2021

I just want to chime in with a real world example. I had a user leave her browser open all day until she was able to talk to me because she was afraid that if she left the page her work wouldn't be saved. I chalked it up to a user training issue, and that's fine (I'm thinking of putting a line at the top of the page "Your work is being saved", or something), but if you did come up with a visual clue of some sort that your edits were saved, that'd be great. But, I will say that speed at which you can edit is what really makes this feature great, so I'd hate anything interfering with that.
And I agree that this feature is awesome. A real game changer. I might actually be able to retire a couple of user's spreadsheets!
Thanks,

Tim
jadachDevClub member 3/19/2021

Here is how I addressed letting users know their data is saved.

https://youtu.be/hf8cZSqaPNg