# Can we increase the edit period (temporarily) **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 22, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308 "2020-05-22T19:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/61 "2020-05-27T19:54:13Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > Personally, I would be happier if we could drop the habit of mocking people for typos in their posts. I get that a lot of Dopers consider themselves comedy geniuses, but honestly, pointing out a dropped or misspelled word ain’t that funny. I’m not seeing a lot of that happening. A spelling flame is lame, and would probably get a mod note or warning for being a jerk. On the other hand, some misspellings provide opportunities for punning. these should be allowed. They aren’t intended as mocking someone for the error. Example: someone on this message board once typed the phrase “bullet-riddled copse.” I responded with a remark about losing a lot of sap. Some people found it funny. Is that the kind of thing you’re objecting to? I don’t see any reason for it. It wasn’t an attack on the person, and he didn’t object. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/62 "2020-05-27T20:28:07Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m not seeing a lot of that happening. A spelling flame is lame, and would probably get a mod note or warning for being a jerk. > > On the other hand, some misspellings provide opportunities for punning. these should be allowed. They aren’t intended as mocking someone for the error. Example: someone once typed the phrase “bullet-riddled copse.” I responded with a remark about losing a lot of sap. Some people found it funny. > > Is that the kind of thing you’re objecting to? I don’t see any reason for it. It wasn’t an attack on the person, and he didn’t object. I have no problem with the kind of thing you’re describing—such as a misspelling resulting in accidental humor. My complaint is more about “har har, you made a mistake” posts, usually in the form of feigning confusion about something that’s obvious from context. We have people here who love to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/63 "2020-05-28T12:48:08Z")
I see what you mean. Such things were common on Usenet, but I haven’t seen very many of them on this particular message board. Actually, I can’t recall any. If they did happen, the poster would probably be warned. Maybe they occur in the Pit, but I don’t go there. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/64 "2020-05-28T18:31:15Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m not seeing a lot of that happening. A spelling flame is lame, and would probably get a mod note or warning for being a jerk. > … A poster just flamed me for _not using a apostrophe._ Let see if the mods do anything at all. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/65 "2020-05-28T18:42:52Z")
Report them, and we’ll see. link? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/66 "2020-05-28T19:31:40Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Report them, and we’ll see. > > link? Reported, and a stern note, which is fair. I’d rather not link. I dont like to drag things like this into ATMB. And please dont link. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/67 "2020-05-28T20:31:06Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > This ain’t rocket science, folks. Report the posts and they’ll be fixed. See, here’s the thing. I found this statement doubtful. I decided to try it out. After posting #61 in this thread, I made a small change. Then waited a few minutes. Shortly after the 5-minute edit window expired I reported the post, and asked for a few words inserted to make the meaning a bit clearer. That was 24 hours ago, and there’s been no response. **e\_c\_g** moderates ATMB, so he would have seen the report. He’s been online several times in that period, and taken some moderator actions such as merging two similar threads. He’s certainly had the opportunity to make the correction for me. I can only conclude that he made a concious decision to not do it. The guy who promised to fix posts failed to fix a post in the very same thread that he made the promise. What are we supposed to think about this? We really can’t rely on the mods to fix problems. Note - I don’t really care if the edit is made or not. I was trying to prove a point. ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/68 "2020-05-28T20:35:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And please dont link. Who is Dont and why should he do your linking for you? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/69 "2020-05-28T21:39:38Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The guy who promised to fix posts failed to fix a post in the very same thread that he made the promise. What are we supposed to think about this? We really can’t rely on the mods to fix problems. > > Note - I don’t really care if the edit is made or not. I was trying to prove a point. Your post report said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about wanting the change because of a timeout. All you asked for was a minor change that was completely unnecessary to the post. This is the type of thing that we don’t normally change. You completely failed in proving your point. If you had said that it was because of missing the timeout, then it would have been fixed the next morning, when I received the post report. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/70 "2020-05-28T21:47:29Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Your post report said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about wanting the change because of a timeout. All you asked for was a minor change that was completely unnecessary to the post. This is the type of thing that we don’t normally change. > > You completely failed in proving your point. > > . No he didn’t. He proved it just fine. Asking the mods to fix small problems such as these is stupid when the poster can fix it themselves if they were allowed to. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/71 "2020-05-28T21:48:19Z")
I’ve had some time to think this over. There are some issues with allowing posts to be edited, which reading back over this thread I see now that I haven’t been all that clear about my position. So, apologies for that. I am strongly opposed to removing the edit window entirely and just always allowing edits. That just leads to mangled threads and all other sorts of issues. As for extending the edit window to 10 minutes, we’re fixing posts that people report (assuming that they actually let us know that missing the edit window is the reason it needs fixed) and while having us make the change does allow us to make sure that there aren’t any shenanigans going on, there’s actually probably no major issues with increasing the timeout to 10 minutes. If we’re making the changes for folks anyway, why not? I will talk about it with our admin and we’ll see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/72 "2020-05-28T21:49:39Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > No he didn’t. He proved it just fine. Asking the mods to fix small problems such as these is stupid when the poster can fix it themselves if they were allowed to. Again, there was ABSOLUTELY NO INDICATION WHATSOEVER that the fix was needed because of an edit window timeout. It looked like a change that someone wanted to make that they WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO MAKE if the board was working properly. ETA: The reason given in the post report was “for clarification”. There was absolutely no mention whatsoever of a timeout or any other type of server error. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/73 "2020-05-28T22:10:10Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Again, there was ABSOLUTELY NO INDICATION WHATSOEVER that the fix was needed because of an edit window timeout. It looked like a change that someone wanted to make that they WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO MAKE if the board was working properly. > > ETA: The reason given in the post report was “for clarification”. There was absolutely no mention whatsoever of a timeout or any other type of server error. Why does there have to be a “time out” qualifier? You guys have been telling us to “let you know” and you’ll fix the post. No idea why you guys insist on making more work for yourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/74 "2020-05-28T22:12:43Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > This is the type of thing that we don’t normally change. > > You completely failed in proving your point… On the contrary. The fact that you don’t normally make this sort of change **IS** the point. A five minute window allows us to make such changes ourselves. Except sometimes there are server errors. And despite your promises, you won’t make the change for us once posted. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/75 "2020-05-28T22:21:20Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Again, there was ABSOLUTELY NO INDICATION WHATSOEVER that the fix was needed because of an edit window timeout. . That, of course, is because it \*wasn’t \*needed because of a timeout. The sole purpose of the request was to see if you would keep your promise. The change requested was a trivial one, of no importance. It wasn’t actually needed at all. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/76 "2020-05-28T22:24:24Z")
I have had two real post reports asking for typos to be fixed in the last week. One was made around midnight and I fixed it around 6:30 the next morning. The other was fixed about 10 minutes after posting. Peter’s post has been “fixed”. Don’t play idiotic fucking games to try to make some sort of point. We are trying to be helpful but you are really wearing out my patience. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/77 "2020-05-28T22:35:17Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I have had two real post reports asking for typos to be fixed in the last week. One was made around midnight and I fixed it around 6:30 the next morning. The other was fixed about 10 minutes after posting. > > Peter’s post has been “fixed”. > > Don’t play idiotic fucking games to try to make some sort of point. We are trying to be helpful but you are really wearing out my patience. Thanks for p[roving the point we don’t need an edit window. This is patience you wouldn’t need if there wasn’t one. SMH. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308/78 "2020-05-28T22:39:03Z")
As I said, I will discuss the matter of the edit window with our admin. If people want to play games, this isn’t the games forum. This is closed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-increase-the-edit-period-temporarily/854308.md?page=3)