# 10 minute edit window? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 8, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103 "2012-10-08T17:19:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/21 "2012-10-09T03:45:36Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > See? See? It’s a slippery slope. Once there was no edit window, then a five-minute window, now people want 10 minutes. Where will it all end? 10[sup]100[/sup] minutes! ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/22 "2012-10-09T04:07:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Smartphones. Not so “smart” afterall. 😃 I’m of the opinion that if you want to do something normally done on a computer, then use a computer; phones are, well, phones (as you can guess, I don’t have a smartphone, never been interested in the whole texting thing either). That said, I don’t have a problem with the 5 minute edit window, not so much because of the time limit but because I preview posts before posting them if they are anything over a sentence or two or have links or edited (cut short) quotes. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/23 "2012-10-09T04:48:45Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > I’m of the opinion that if you want to do something normally done on a computer, then use a computer; phones are, well, phones (as you can guess, I don’t have a smartphone, never been interested in the whole texting thing either). > > That said, I don’t have a problem with the 5 minute edit window, not so much because of the time limit but because I preview posts before posting them if they are anything over a sentence or two or have links or edited (cut short) quotes. Smartphones/tablets are computers. I need a desktop with crazy GPU and CPUs to do my professional work, but posting to message boards, surfing the web, email, are all a breeze on iPhones/Androids. Darn Progress! It’s the natural order of things, may as well come to grips with it. First there was the Pony Express, then the telegraph. The telephone. Cellphones, and smartphones. It’ll just keep evolving until such time we’re all eaten, of course, by the Cosmic Owl. I don’t ask for much, just a lousy extra 5 mins to make corrections. Why does Jesus hate me?! ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/24 "2012-10-09T05:00:14Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > In an ideal circumstance, have unlimited edits but with timed diffs. that would stop anyone from pretending that they have been misrepresented, but equallly it would allow anyone to correct their own meaning. > > In any case, and I appreciate I may be an odd ball here, I often 36 hours after a post on a message board come to rethink it, regret it and want to sort it out. Not certain if that’s ever happened here but it’s definitely happened in ones that I post on more. But don’t you know that if we do that the terrifying smart and prone to mischief dopers will set up vast bot nets that appends and deletes a single character in each of their posts every 2-3 minutes to keep them editable in perpetuity? Madness, I say! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/25 "2012-10-09T10:55:31Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > December 21, 2012. Oh well, everything comes to an end… except snakes. Snakes come to two ends. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/26 "2012-10-09T15:11:10Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > . > I don’t ask for much, just a lousy extra 5 mins to make corrections. Why does Jesus hate me?! Probably because you make so many typos. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/27 "2012-10-09T15:13:50Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Smartphones/tablets are computers. Ha! If it doesn’t read punch cards it is just some new fangled toy!!! And just what is the deal with integrated circuits? That can’t possibly lead to a good end. Besides, the warm glow of vacuum tubes adds a nice ambiance to any room. I agree with the arguments above. The 5 minute edit window should be eliminated. The board operated fine without it and there are plenty of off line options for composing your message. I have an old IBM Selectric and Microtek scanner that I like to use. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/28 "2012-10-09T15:21:38Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Smartphones/tablets are computers. > > I need a desktop with crazy GPU and CPUs to do my professional work, but posting to message boards, surfing the web, email, are all a breeze on iPhones/Androids. > > Darn Progress! It’s the natural order of things, may as well come to grips with it. First there was the Pony Express, then the telegraph. The telephone. Cellphones, and smartphones. It’ll just keep evolving until such time we’re all eaten, of course, by the Cosmic Owl. > > I don’t ask for much, just a lousy extra 5 mins to make corrections. Why does Jesus hate me?! Apparantly Jesus hates you because you dare to blaspheme by using a god-damn telephone, which God intended to only be used as a god-damn telephone, to surf the internet. Also you double-blaspheme by making your phone smart as well. The only people who have phones that are smart are racists, serial killers and baby rapers. Shame on you Sir. I posted this internet telegraph with the proper tool, an internet telegrapher machine. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/29 "2012-10-09T18:22:11Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Can you really use Word? Do board tags work in Word? Do Word formats work on the board? No, coding has to be done using vB codes. So if you use Word or some other text editor to write your post, you either have to manually code your formatting/links, or else write all the verbage and edit for sense, punctuation, etc, then paste into the vB edit window and add your coding. Not the most user-friendly approach, but was very helpful to me when I was having connection issues that perpetually ate my posts. > [@cmyk](#): > > Smartphones/tablets are computers. They are computers, but ones with inadequate/clumsy user interfaces. So, either get a full keyboard and mouse for your smartphone, or use a real computer that has a full keyboard and mouse. Or live with the fact that your chosen tool for posting has inadequate user interface. And now I anticipate someone arguing that the user interface is not inadequate, at which point I rebut with [QUOTE=zweisamkeit] I read the boards on my phone probably 90% of the time\*. Posting takes more time on a phone and editing doubly so. 5 minutes is no problem when I’m on an actual computer, but I’ve had times where the edit window expired when I was trying to finish it as quickly as I could. [/QUOTE] > [@cmyk](#): > > I don’t ask for much, just a lousy extra 5 mins to make corrections. Why does Jesus hate me?! Jesus expects you to use preview. > [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > In an ideal circumstance, have unlimited edits but with timed diffs. that would stop anyone from pretending that they have been misrepresented, but equallly it would allow anyone to correct their own meaning. I don’t understand. What are diffs? > [@](#): > > In any case, and I appreciate I may be an odd ball here, I often 36 hours after a post on a message board come to rethink it, regret it and want to sort it out. Not certain if that’s ever happened here but it’s definitely happened in ones that I post on more. That’s exactly the kind of condition we don’t want you to change what you previously posted, we want you to add a new post to explain/clarify/apologize. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/30 "2012-10-09T18:43:34Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Can you really use Word? Do board tags work in Word? Do Word formats work on the board? **Irishman** relates a different experience than mine own. If I am about to compose a long post, I do in it in Word, edit all I need and then simply C&P plus add tags in the response box with this handy little Firefox app: [**BBCode**](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bbcode/?src=ss). Pretty easy really. But that doesn’t mean it’s an universal answer nor would it apply to tablets or phones\*, just the way _I_ do it. So I don’t feel strongly either way about what the OP proposes…don’t see the harm in trying though. \*don’t know if the app exists for them. Haven’t bothered to look as I use those for browsing only. Simply cannot type in those darn things…my “text” messages end-up being illegible most times – even for me. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/31 "2012-10-09T19:12:10Z")
**RedFury** , I’m not sure I follow you. You seem to be saying that you compose the text in Word, C&P to the edit window, then apply the BB formatting. That is exactly one of the options I suggested, except instead of using a third-party plugin, I use the vB code buttons included in the board edit window. Now if that plugin allows one to apply BB formatting in the Word window prior to the C&P, that is something different. But it doesn’t appear to work that way, since it is a plugin to Firefox, not Word. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/32 "2012-10-09T19:41:58Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > **RedFury** , I’m not sure I follow you. You seem to be saying that you compose the text in Word, C&P to the edit window, then apply the BB formatting. That is exactly one of the options I suggested, except instead of using a third-party plugin, I use the vB code buttons included in the board edit window. > > Now if that plugin allows one to apply BB formatting in the Word window prior to the C&P, that is something different. But it doesn’t appear to work that way, since it is a plugin to Firefox, not Word. First method. No, it doesn’t work in Word. But I do find it a LOT faster than the coding buttons on the response window – plus it gives additional options. Again, just MHO – not suggesting it’s for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/33 "2012-10-09T20:16:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Going to more than 5 minutes will create more problems than it solves, as you greatly increase the chance that someone has quoted you and responded. Then the readers who come along later will be confused until someone corrects things. The World According To John Mace: Poster 1 at 12:00 pm: I think kumquats are the silliest of fruits. edited 12:09 pm Poster 2 at 12:05 pm: “I think kumquats and durians are the silliest of fruits” How outrageous. Here are 12 papers on the severity of durians. Poster 3 at 12:30 pm: Huh? Bwuh? Durians? Edits? MY BRAIN IS BREAKING _sits in corner and blubs lips._ ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/34 "2012-10-09T20:26:55Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > They are computers, but ones with inadequate/clumsy user interfaces. So, either get a full keyboard and mouse for your smartphone, or use a real computer that has a full keyboard and mouse. Or live with the fact that your chosen tool for posting has inadequate user interface. I agree if by “inadequate” you mean superior for most tasks except C&P’ing blocks of text. 😛 My iPhone browses the SDMB just like my PC. It has a functional keyboard. It has auto correct and spell check. And it has a touch screen that eliminates the need for a mouse. 😃 The only functional issue I experience with the SDMB on my phone is related to formating assuming the viewer has a large display. :smack: If not for that I doubt most posting would take significantly longer for me. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/35 "2012-10-09T22:13:20Z")
**Hbns** , I refer you back to > [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Posting takes more time on a phone and editing doubly so. If your phone has an adequate user interface, then congratulations. Then **zweisamkeit** ’s reason for extending the edit window is invalid. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/36 "2012-10-09T22:36:11Z")
For those suggesting more edit time, are you also going to suggest a waiting period for those wishing to respond? Otherwise posters will regularly be replying to posts that will soon be edited, possibly with relevant content changed. I can’t imagine though those requesting more edit time have not thought of this. They just apparently have nothing better to do than be asking silly questions and proposing absurd board changes. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/37 "2012-10-10T00:30:04Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > For those suggesting more edit time, are you also going to suggest a waiting period for those wishing to respond? Otherwise posters will regularly be replying to posts that will soon be edited, possibly with relevant content changed. > > I can’t imagine though those requesting more edit time have not thought of this. They just apparently have nothing better to do than be asking silly questions and proposing absurd board changes. I’m sorry, but calling this an “absurd board change” is itself absurd. Plenty of active forums have longer edit times. If the “culture” of this board is a more “deal with it” style, then fine. But don’t pretend that we are going to have some avalanche of confusion over five extra minutes. It didn’t happen when we added the first five minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/38 "2012-10-10T00:38:42Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I’m sorry, but calling this an “absurd board change” is itself absurd. Plenty of active forums have longer edit times. If the “culture” of this board is a more “deal with it” style, then fine. But don’t pretend that we are going to have some avalanche of confusion over five extra minutes. It didn’t happen when we added the first five minutes. I’m sorry, but calling “this an ‘absurd board change’ is itself absurd” is it itself absurd. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/39 "2012-10-10T00:49:37Z")
That’s hilarious, but obviously wrong. vBulletin allows board admins to choose an edit window, and adding five minutes to that option isn’t absurd, whether you think it’s a good idea or not. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103/40 "2012-10-10T01:19:44Z")
Sometimes posters respond to (and quote) an original post before moments later it’s then edited and altered. If you won’t admit that allowing twice as much time to edit will compound this problem you’re not being honest about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-minute-edit-window/637103.md?page=3)