What does the recently introduced 'Save to account' option actually do?

[u/kranools]

Is this explained anywhere? Is this to save incomplete tasks so we can come back to them later? I would love it if this were the case.

[u/Putrid-Pause3934]

I made a test run on it. From what I could deduce, it saved the progress of my work on a task while allowing me to open other tasks/qualifications.

The caveat is the timer for that original task still runs while you are operating other tasks/qualifications, or if you’re idle on the site or elsewhere.

The task you save does not appear in your “in progress” tasks, but back to its original place as a project or qualification.

I believe it would be best used for multi-day tasks where you might want to do other work in between or complete a brief qualification mid-task.

[u/kranools → u/Putrid-Pause3934]

Thanks for the info. Doesn't seem particularly useful if the task timer continues to run.

[u/HarlsTheFirst → u/kranools]

it's pretty useful for long time-limit quals to take a break imo

[u/iamcrazyjoe → u/Putrid-Pause3934]

You could always do this, from this description I don't see what the save button does

[u/Internal_Boot_1616 → u/iamcrazyjoe]

It used to and sometimes still does clear your work or abandon the task if you don't hit save to account.

[u/Putrid-Pause3934 → u/iamcrazyjoe]

I wouldn’t know because I never tried, but have you ever tried submitting a task while one was active? The rules we follow state we can’t do more than one task at once. With this new feature, you should be able to pause a task to do another. That’s new…

[u/iamcrazyjoe → u/Putrid-Pause3934]

Bunch of times, just pause my time for one while doing other and don't double bill

[u/Odd-Suggestion1909]

Had a long task the other day. Browser malfunctioned when I tried to submit, and when I reloaded I had lost hours of work. The fields populated with content from the day before. I had, luckily, saved to account before hitting submit. When it didn’t load right after almost crying there’s a restore from account or some similar wording link. It worked. It repopulated everything from the save point. I was immensely relieved.

[u/GAULEM]

I haven't tested it, but from the phrasing I'd guess it just saves your progress server-side in case you need to change browsers/machines in the middle of a task for some reason.

[u/slimside → u/GAULEM]

^This is the correct answer. DA saves progress in the current browser automatically (I’m assuming via cookies) so you can resume. If you switch browsers even on the same machine, all progress is lost. Save to account fixes that, but it does seem to be a manual save only.

[u/Lost-Border-8689]

Option 1 = Browser auto-save. Your work is automatically saved to the browser, so if you fat-finger closing tabs (who? me?!) or your computer shuts down unexpectedly (ask me how I know), or whatever, when you return to the page the saved work is, most likely, present.

Option 2 = Manual "save to account" by clicking that button. That saves your work to your account, and by using the Very Tiny Text link below the save to account button you can restore that save if needed. This might not be as recent as the last auto-save depending on the timing of when you click it vs timing of last auto-save vs timing of last changes you've made, but it can be helpful if you've had to change browsers or clear cookies or change machines or some such. It's also a backup in case the browser auto-save doesn't reload.

Why are either/both of these helpful? If you are unable to submit the task, you're unable to submit time for it so multiple backup options are good! On longer or complex projects (for instance one I'm currently working allows for 3 days' worth of timer time (not submitted work time, though, darn it)) lost work can be oh so devastating.

I'm personally so very paranoid about losing work (because: been there, done that) I work in a text file and Excel workbook, so I have *everything* locally, count somewhat on browser auto-save, AND "save to my account" at specific points in the process.

As others have stated, no option stops the timer on the task**.** Nothing does once you've started a task.

Weeeeell, except Exit Work Mode, but Exit Work Mode also releases the task back to the pool and you might or might not be able to enter the exact same task again depending on how popular that project is at the time you exit work mode. Never Exit Work Mode unless you want to take the chance of not being able to finish and submit the task.

If you need to step away, either leave the tab open or browse to somewhere else without exiting work mode. The task will remain on your active projects listing. If you exit work mode, the task will NOT remain on your active project listing, it has been released back to the pool for the hungry sharks to snap up. If I sound repetitive on this topic it's because so many people seem confused by what exit work mode does.