I answered a question, and then Super User asked me to log in.
There was trouble logging in. First, I used http instead of https in my OpenID (which is my fault I suppose). After correcting this there was a protocol error with Super User trying to talk to my OpenID provider launchpad.net reported back by Super User -- I was never asked for a password. On the third try I finally got a request to supply a credential.
The browser window was never closed in this sequence of events, which took maybe 5 minutes. The answer I had written to someone's question, which was kind of long, did not appear once I logged in. I used the browser back key and got back to the page with the question, but my answer was not there either.
I would suppose the software could store an unauthenticated posting in a temporary area, and set a reminder somehow (cookie?) indicating a lookup index of some kind which is then sent from the user's browser when the user actually does log back in. These temps could be kept for at least a few hours or so before being deleted (in case someone answered a post and had to run off to a meeting before figuring out why login failed). If so then was it the bad auth that trashed the post? That seems rather sudden. To avoid sounding like an idiot, I won't speculate further.
While I suppose I will try to remember to log in first from now on and then post, it would be nice if the system was a little friendlier when there are login difficulties, because the rest of the system here so far seems very well thought out.
