Author: lordkrumb
Description:
When a Wikipedia page is in Edit mode, there is a checkbox underneath the editing pane with the label "This is a minor edit". Next to this is hyperlink which says "(what's this?)", which links to a page describing what a minor edit is.
If the user clicks the "(what's this?)" link to help them determine whether or not their edit is minor, the linked page is displayed in the same window (or browser tab), causing all the user's unpublished edits to the page to be lost.
The problem is not solved by using the browser back button, as the site asks the user if they wish to resubmit the form, which of course resets the Wikipedia edit page to its original status (i.e. without the user's unpublished edits).
This problem happens in Google Chrome and probably in most other web browsers.
To prevent users from losing the unpublished edits they have made, the help link for Minor Edits should open in a new window, like the 'Editing Help' link does.
Also, users should be advised that, to avoid losing their unpublished edits (because of unexpected software, hardware or connectivity problems), they should periodically copy all of the text from the editing pane, paste the text into a text file (e.g. using Windows Wordpad or Notepad) and save it to their computer as a back-up.
Version: unspecified
Severity: major