Saving Webpages Creates Files With Zero Bytes
I normally save the webpages for articles I write online 9single HTML file for the homepage). Normally I scroll down the pages to the bottom to make sure any lazy loaded images are available and will be stored in the auxiliary folder that's also saved when the HTML file for the webpage itself is stored. I checked around ten of the locally stored webpages to make sure they were ok by opening in Firefox and there was no issue. However two of the webpages were just blank with no errors reported. I checked the page's html files and they had zero bytes. I saved the webpages again and this time there was no issue. Could this be due to webpages not being fully refreshed and not displaying all content so that when they're saved, the save just aborts? But there were no notifications of this.
All Replies (10)
I checked the page source and there's nothing in the file (obviously because it has zero bytes). Hopefully this isn't an issue with my SSD. Possibly what could have happened was that I backed out of the page too soon and the filename was created on disk, but files weren't buffered for storage?
Modified by eugbug1
Is there possibly mixed content like images loaded via http:// on the webpage as that can be a possible cause ?
cor-el said
Is there possibly mixed content like images loaded via http:// on the webpage as that can be a possible cause ?
I'm not sure. It worked properly the next time and I have an ad blocker turned on, so extra stuff like ads isn't saved. So maybe it was a transient problem. I've noticed before with the ad blocker turned off, the status bar indicated that the page was waiting for extra content, probably ads. This caused problems too with the page being saved properly.
I've had, and other users have reported, problems with failed saves using the "Web Page, complete" format -- this is the one that has a companion folder. Usually the Downloads arrow or the drop-down list will have an error mark on it in that case.
However, the "Web page, HTML only" format historically only saved the unmodified source of the page as it was served (before it was modified by scripts or external content was added), so that one has usually been quite reliable.
eugbug1 said
I've noticed before with the ad blocker turned off, the status bar indicated that the page was waiting for extra content, probably ads. This caused problems too with the page being saved properly.
Hmm, I would check for an "X" button (Stop button) on the toolbar. If it hasn't changed to a reload arrow yet, it's probably not yet safe to save the page.
I'm just after checking the downloads list and every single one of them (20 or more) is described as failed. However I can open the webpages from my download folder and the pages look ok. So I'm not sure the criteria for failure is. Maybe some functionality on the page is missing or files that were being waited for are missing. There is a section at the bottom of the pages with "recommended articles". That's blank, so perhaps the images/ads are absent from downloads. I came across this post on the forum that describes the same problem. I have my browser setup to always ask me where I want to save files.
Modified by NoahSUMO
If an ad-blocker extension blocks content, then Firefox isn't able to save all content that Firefox thinks is present on the page and that will cause Firefox to show a failed state for the download.
cor-el said
If an ad-blocker extension blocks content, then Firefox isn't able to save all content that Firefox thinks is present on the page and that will cause Firefox to show a failed state for the download.
I have the ad blocker turned off though, but it may have "acceptable" ads turned on. I'm also having an issue with posts on this thread. Every time I edit a post and save it, it vanishes.
Modified by eugbug1
.....just to add (editing deletes posts). I had posted a link where someone else had this issue and it was due to the "ask where to save" being turned on in settings.
If you add an external link to a reply or if the reply already contained an external link, then the reply gets hidden and requires moderator approval. You may see a notice about this.
cor-el said
If you add an external link to a reply or if the reply already contained an external link, then the reply gets hidden and requires moderator approval. You may see a notice about this.
Yes, that's what happened, although it was a link to an internal post. A moderator has made it visible now.