Hi there. I’m new here, so forgive this question: Why can’t I edit my posts?
I just posted something with a missing word, and I can’t go back in and add it. 
Why am I not able to edit? Do I need a more expensive membership? More posts under my belt?
Thanks in advance.
Editing is disabled on this board for a few good social reasons. One being that it denies people the ability to ‘unsay’ things that they whish they didn’t say. It encourages us to get it right first time and think/preview before we post.
That sounds like a good policy, but the editor in me is going to go nuts.
If you notice it immediately after you post it, you can make a new post saying “Whoops, I meant to say…”
And if necessary you can e-mail a moderator or admin asking them to edit it for you. They are obliging if they judge it to be a valid reason.
If you have an editor inside you tell him this - Posting to the SDMB is like publishing the newspaper.
Many dopers construct their posts in notepad (or an editor of their choice) before cut-paste-submitting it to the SDMB. This has the advantage of preserving the post if the hamsters are particularly hungry.
I on the other hand compose my posts in the SDMB’s own editor and then copy the entire post before submitting if I know the hamsters are ravenous.
If I’m feeling particularly perfectionistic I’ll even preview my post, but I am usually too confident in my vbulletin coding abilities to do that. And to bleh about spelling errors.
Thanks for all the info. I do use Preview Post, but sometimes I’m reading or typing so fast that I miss things even with a check.
Let’s hope readers are forgiving. 
We can be very forgiving, especially because we all make mistakes. Everyone understands and will know what you mean to say if you misspell something like “the” as “teh”. Email a moderator though if your typo changes the meaning of your sentence, such as forgetting “not” or the like.
Welcome to the SDMB!
Don’t sweat the small stuff, Marge, because we don’t. Since you’re concerned with clear communication at all you’ll fit in just fine here. Everybody flubs with typos, spelling, grammatical errors, etc. sometimes. They’re aggravating, not the least because they slip by on preview but light up in neon as soon as that ‘post’ button is punched. The give-and-take here is more akin to good conversation than edited perfection. Clear communication is valued but we’re usually not too anal about it.
FWIW, we’ve spawned our wry law about this: Gaudere’s Law, established by the mod/admin in Great Debates. It notes that anyone who points out a grammatical or spelling error in someone else’s post invariably makes a similar flub in the process. Never fails.
Lobsang’s explanation was dead-on. Unfortunately, the feature had to be disabled due to abuses by a few. Comments made in the heat of debate were deleted or changed after the fact, leading to mass confusion, accusations and general chaos. We opted to encourage posters to think before posting, rather than second-guessing afterwards. It’s worked out well.
Welcome to the SDMB and have a ball.
Veb
I, too, have become accustomed to editing forum posts on other boards. It is a little annoying that you can’t do it here either. Whenever I think “Darn, I wish I could edit”, its followed by a voice I like to imagine is Cecil’s sternly reminding me to preview, preview, preview. When it comes down to it, my typos are my fault.
Hey, don’t sweat typos, jnglmassiv, much less dangling your particples. Just wait ‘til you completely futz up a point due to (retrospectively) transparent bad/stupid information or just a plain ol’ brain fart.
[beetlejuice] I hate when that happens. [/beetlejuice]
Around here, when you mess up a post, penis ensues
One of the unexpected benefits of not allowing people to edit their own posts is that people have become more understanding. (“Let he who is without typo throw the first snide comment.”) In the early days, we had lots of people who would gleefully ignore the main thrust of a post, and point out a typo. Now, we have much less emphasis on editing and more focus on content. All to the good, in my way of thinking.
I post on many other boards- all allow editing, none have collapsed due to the fact that some can’t “take something back”. Some restrict editing to a short period, yes.
Personally, I think it’s the “gotcha” mentality.
Our experiences were different from the many other boards you post on, I guess. Please note that our boards involve a great deal of fast action – a post can be made, and there can easily be half a dozen responses within the “five minute grace period” that people have asked for. Please also note that our boards involve a great many highly emotional discussions.
So, comparison with other boards is irrelevant. If a board dedicated to the study of the knight in chess games, and they decide to allow editing, that’s not really applicable.
To steal Dex’s board analogy, you can’t take back moves in chess either. If you think something you’re about to post is a bit hot-headed, especially in the heat of an argument in the Pit or Great Debates, preview it. Then count to 10. Then go and make a cup of tea. Then preview it again. Repeat the process until you’re sure this is really what you want to say - it saves on apologies and shame-faced retractions later.
You make a good point. Well, I post on the one board (AFAIK) that’s larger even than the SD, and that’s a “general” board, and also several other very large boards where you get very fast impassioned responses. True, some of my boards are smaller specialized boards, I concede.
However, it’s not “taking back” that most of us want- it’s editing. Now, sure, if the SD was just about the only board I posted on- then yes, I might get into the habit of typing my post out, spellchecking it, then “cut & paste”. But athough the SD is one of my favorite boards, I do post more elsewhere, thus the habit of posting, then editing right after.
Don’t worry, I am not about to “leav in a huff” over not being able to edit. You dudes will just have to learn to live with the typos. 
But - why not give it a try? The board has changed, the world has changed, and so maybe it’ll work. It certainly seems to be something “the customers” want.
Vote me as a customer that deosn’t want it.
You can count me as a “customer” who doesn’t want it, either (at least not until and Edit Post function that only allows correction of typos is developed - which will probably be never).
What would be really nice is if the board allowed editing, but saved all versions of a post. That would pretty much remove the main concern–that folks would be less than honest with it–and still let the typo-crazy have their fix.
But I’m not expecting that here, as I very seriously doubt it can be done without major modifications to the board software.