To accidentally close the website while writing a review should save a draft

No it is not. Caching websites is one thing, but storing form submission data before it has been submitted is not a viable option. Every search-bar for instance is a form, if I would return to the page at a later time, the search-bar would be auto-filled with my last search.

There are however examples of web browsers saving form submission data (after it has been sent) and can be auto-filled if needed. (Take sign-up forms, or login pages - where email-addresses and passwords can be saved). But how is this applicable to a lengthy text? How does it differentiate between different movie pages? What happens behind the scenes are very simplistic - the web browser simply sees tags such as "password" or "email" and can search its stored passwords and emails to auto-fill.

So not only is this an inconvenience, it is also not applicable with current functionality. A general add-on may exist that can auto-save form data, but it is not worth using for only one site, once in a while...

Gmail has auto-saving, and it works perfectly.

Well, the version of Mozilla Firefox that I run somehow records the condition of pages (including the form fields therein regardless of how long, with the obvious exception to password inputs) that I visit, and the condition is reconstructed upon restoring tabs after the program has been terminated, except for whenever something goes wrong with the web browser's session database, or whenever a tab is closed and reopened within the same session. For good measure, sometimes I "postmark" basic HTML forms (ones not based on AJAX) into specific bookmarklets which make use of the semi-famous petite "post_to_url" JavaScript code that can be used on any web browser that accommodates bookmarklets. I shall emphasize, it does not matter how much data occupies a given form field, as long as the quantity is not something absurdly huge like multiple megabytes.

OMG, this site has the same issue... For some reason I wasn't logged in, and I pressed 'Post', it ordered me to login and then forgot my reply...

This is what I have done ever since my post, but it is temporary. And if IMDb is serious about improving their platform, they should consider implementing this, unless they are comfortable making review-writers agitated by their flawed implementation...

from a NotePad text file ...

MartinHafer
Sun Jun 8 2003
https://www.imdb.com/user/ur2467618/

https://www.imdb.com/user/ur2467618/reviews - 25,020 Reviews
  
TheLittleSongbird 
Fri Jan 30 2009
https://www.imdb.com/user/ur20552756/

https://www.imdb.com/user/ur20552756/reviews - 18,147 Reviews
 
bkoganbing 
Sun Jun 15 2003
https://www.imdb.com/user/ur2483625/

https://www.imdb.com/user/ur2483625/reviews - 17,347 Reviews

Michael_Elliott
Sat Nov 25 2006
https://www.imdb.com/user/ur13134536/

https://www.imdb.com/user/ur13134536/reviews - 16,428 Reviews
 
Leofwine_draca
May 2000
https://www.imdb.com/user/ur0482513/

https://www.imdb.com/user/ur0482513/reviews - 14,667 Reviews
.

You're right, IMDb has many flaws and best if they fix it (the one that bothers me the most is that we can't export reviews, but can export lists and ratings), but until they do no other simpler choice but browser extensions. Also as you say, it is appearing on more than one site, there will be many more that would need extensions like textarea cache.

Yikes...

Your argument is that there are people dedicated to writing reviews (on IMDb and others sites)? Or that some of them even get paid for writing reviews, so if the site is buggy, they have to put up with it since it pays the bills?

@KurtGScott Yeah, and the fact that other sites doesn't have this feature should not influence IMDb. Sometimes companies have the mentality of: "Others don't have that feature - why should we?" It's entirely up to IMDb to improve the site and user experience. Installing addons or doing other workarounds might solve the issue at hand, but that becomes apparent after a user has encountered the problem. This in turn does not improve the site nor the user experience - since the user gets screwed over twice by both encountering and then try solving IMDb's problems on their own.

Ah, and another one, and another one - and another addon to fix what IMDb is neglecting.

Sorry, but I am not getting addon's for one site that I rarely use and one that doesn't care about this issue.

Well, there are many sites that would need such addons, not just IMDb. Many forums for example. Chrome and Firefox are almost useless without extensions, I use at least 20. And so far, that is the only solution YOU HAVE TO use until they do something.

Whelp, I guess I will have to keep writing in a document and then paste over to IMDb.