4 ms·

Well, if not clear to the users, then it isn't good UI -- even if it's obvious to you.

• blcknight 13y ago
  And most other people, I imagine. Dropbox would work the same way. Although it might be permanent, but I've never tried something so ridiculous.
  • dchest 13y ago
    I think you missed the part when the original document is not a document, but a link/reference. There's no analogue in Dropbox.
  • sp332 13y ago
    Dropbox lets you recover a file if you've deleted it recently.
    • Oletros 13y ago
      Even if the trashcan is emptied?
      • sp332 13y ago
        Even better: items that have been "deleted" don't count toward your storage limit, even if they are recoverable.
        • Oletros 13y ago
          How can I restore a permanent deleted file? I can't find the option to do that
          • sp332 13y ago
            I don't think you can... I don't see an "empty trash" button anywhere though. You can't permanent-delete a file just by removing it from a folder on your computer. You have to log in to the website, right-click it, select "delete", click the trash icon at the top of the screen, right-click the file again and select "permanent delete". That's not even close to what happened to OP.
            • Oletros 13y ago
              Well, the OP emptied the Google Drive trash can that it is the same than permanent deleting files on Dropbox.
              • sp332 13y ago
                The complaint is that Google Drive's UI is confusing, and can lead to unintentional data loss. Dropbox has a much better UI, and it's harder to lose data by accident.
                • Oletros 13y ago
                  Ah, yes, it is confusing for Google Docs files
• wutbrodo 13y ago
  By this logic, you can trivially prove any UI to be a bad design. Find a single person who finds it unclear, and voila: the UI must be bad. As blcknight alluded to, this rule is only relevant when the proportion of users for whom it is an issue is non-trivial.
  • eli 13y ago
    Yes, we are in agreement. I did not say "one single user". Regardless, I think it's pretty bad design. I would naturally expect a file named "My Document Name.gdoc" that's sitting in a folder on my desktop to actually contain the contents of my document. That's how files normally work. Doing otherwise goes against longstanding convention.
• bighi 13y ago
  But this is how EVERY DAMN cloud drive works. It's how EVERY DRIVE in the history of computers work! If I take my files out of my HD, they will be deleted from the HD. If I move my files out of my flash drive, they will be deleted from my flash drive. The only way that I would be surprised by this behaviour is if I had never used a computer at all in my life.
  • FigBug 13y ago
    Except when you copy files from your hd or flash drive, you except the copies in the new location to actually be files. That's how every drive I've ever used works. That's not how google drive works.
  • woof 13y ago
    Turn of CAPS LOCK and read the article! document.gdoc is not a file, you are mistaken
  • 300bps 13y ago
    But this is how EVERY DAMN cloud drive works. No. No, it's not. I have experience with Google Drive, iDrive, SkyDrive and DropBox. The only oddball one that leads to losing data like this is Google Drive. With SkyDrive, it works very similar to DropBox. Your cloud drive is just a folder on your disk, synched between multiple computers. If you move a file from your cloud drive to your local drive, it moves the actual file - not a pointer to it. Google Drive is a terrible morass of confusing design. It's not an exaggeration to say they should shut down and start over.