# Editing posts
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [November 28, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646 "2003-11-28T00:24:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/1 "2003-11-28T00:24:39Z")
what do i need to do to be able to send attachments and edit my messages?
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/2 "2003-11-28T00:29:10Z")
You cannot edit your posts.
Not sure what you mean by attachments. You can place links in your message, but no pictures or anything like that directly in your post. This place is pre-BigDig already. Add bandwidth eaters like pics and icons and we’d stand still.
Unfortunately, we can’t move our own threads either.
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### Author:  [@KenGr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KenGr)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/3 "2003-11-28T00:32:02Z")
As you may have noticed SD does not allow you to edit, making the normal protocol just to post an apology.
Consider it being held to a higher level of accountability.
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### Author:  [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/4 "2003-11-28T00:36:34Z")
I dont get it. Why cant i edit my posts?
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### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/5 "2003-11-28T00:41:21Z")
Evidence. If you say/write something you can’t go back and change it. It makes keeping track of cites/statements so much easier. If you’ve made a mistake just fess up; if it’s simply a spelling error that’s ok too.
And this should really be in “About This Message Board”
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/6 "2003-11-28T06:43:27Z")
How would you feel if you were responding to someone’s post, and it turns out that he’s changed what you’re responding to? It wouldn’t work.
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### Author:  [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/7 "2003-11-29T02:09:22Z")
You shoulda gone to Ole Miss; then’ you’d **know** why not.
😉
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### Author:  [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/8 "2003-11-29T02:25:11Z")
Off to ATMB.
**DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator
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### Author:  [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/9 "2003-11-30T04:17:10Z")
If you have an urgent reason to have a post edited (for example, a typo that changes the meaning of your message, or a coding error that makes the post unreadable), a mod or an admin will usually edit it for you if you ask nicely.
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### Author:  [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2003, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/10 "2003-11-30T07:41:26Z")
you know, on boards that do allow editing of posts, its REALLY not that big a deal and certainly I’ve never seen anyone go back and change their argument. Very rarely, they might remove it and apologise for the stupidity of it but nothing as downright sneaky as trying to change it without people realising.
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/11 "2003-11-30T14:02:11Z")
Our experience was different, **Shalmanese** , which is why we discontinued the practice.
As **Kat** says, a moderator or administrator will be happy (usually) to edit anything that is really significant – fix links, etc. I can see someone typing “now” instead of “not”, and we’d be happy to change such typos.
I realize it’s frustrating not to be able to fix a typo. There is a “PREVIEW REPLY” button that would allow you to proofread before posting. OTOH, one of the positive aspects is that people don’t jump down someone’s throat over a simple typo any more, since we’ve all done it.
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### Author:  [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/12 "2003-11-30T14:33:05Z")
Hmm… When was the last time you tried it? My memory is a bit fuzzy but I was pretty sure it was disallowed when I joined. Perhaps times have changed a bit. A modest proposal if you will: Allow editing for a week/month and see if any gross abuses occur. I’m willing to be that people will be sensible about it.
Or, if thats not okay, why not do what a lot of other boards have done and simply allow editing within a very short time span. Say 5 - 10 minutes. That way, you could fix typos while not having to worry about the kind of abuse you mentioned.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/13 "2003-11-30T18:07:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MSUbulldogs101 \*
> \*\*what do i need to do to be able to send attachments and edit my messages? \*\*
You need to become an administrator or moderator. Otherwise, you can’t do it at all.
**Shalmanese,** right now we’re reluctant to make ANY board changes. Also, consider that a post might have 5 replies in the space of 5 minutes! If you want to make sure that your post will come out looking the way you want it to, just preview, and consider THAT the editing stage. Generally, I just proofread my post, but I rarely have a lot of formatting. When I DO have lots of formatting, I preview. I almost never edit my post just for typos.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-posts/215646/14 "2003-12-01T20:37:37Z")
Many times, people here say something like this. “Hey, over on Board X, they allow these features! Why can’t we have those features here? They work over at Board X!”. The thing is, though, that Board X is probably a lot smaller than we are, and just because something works on a small board doesn’t mean it’s going to work on a big board. As an example, the setting at many boards to allow editing within a window after posting. On a board with a few hundred members, it’s pretty safe to say that there won’t be anyone reading or replying to a message for five minutes after it’s posted. So a five minute window works. Here, though, we have tens of thousands of members, and the size of a workable editing window is smaller than the amount of time before you even read your own posted message.