# Longer edit window, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [October 24, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780 "2020-10-24T17:47:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/21 "2020-10-25T05:12:19Z")
What’s a forced edit revision? ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/22 "2020-10-25T05:21:38Z")
In revision #1, the poster said > I love Apples! In revision #2 the poster edited their post to say > I love Grapes! there is a pencil icon at the upper right which indicates when a post has been revised by its author. Normally, everyone can click or tap this pencil to see all the revisions to a post and compare them. That’s disabled here because… I dunno why. However. During the (default) 5 minute editing grace period after posting, Discourse does not treat edits as full revisions, because if we did, there would be an explosion of relatively meaningless “oops, typoed” revisions attached to every post. So users get a little 5 minute window to fix boo-boos in their posts without the pomp and circumstance of a full blown revision, the scarlet letter of a pencil icon, etc attached to their post forevermore. (with the caveat that if you change _too much_ of the post, we always force a revision for safety reasons, _even in the grace period_, because spammers, basically, but trolls could theoretically exploit that too.) This is of course, like everything else in Discourse, configurable. if you were the site admin, you could set the editing grace period to zero seconds if you like. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/23 "2020-10-25T05:31:48Z")
I feel so old. When I first registered at the SDMB, there was absolutely no edit window at all. Once you hit “submit,” that was it, there was no taking it back or changing, except in a subsequent post. Five minutes works pretty well to fix typos, and perhaps change parts of a sentence. Beyond that, might as well just say “No message,” and start over with a new one. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to shake my fist at a cloud, and make sure that my car still gets 40 rods to the hogshead. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/24 "2020-10-25T05:34:48Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > there is a pencil icon at the upper right which indicates when a post has been revised by its author. Normally, everyone can click or tap this pencil to see all the revisions to a post and compare them. That’s disabled here because… I dunno why. The Moving Finger writes; And, having writ, moves on. Nor all thy piety nor wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a line, Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/25 "2020-10-25T05:38:43Z")
I’m still bummed out that the like button isn’t here, because so many of the posts like 👆 are so great … and I have no way to indicate that other than writing out a complete post, akin to sending a dang notarized letter instead of casually waving at someone. But, hey, we’re on Discourse, not an ancient soviet-era brutalist concrete fortress of ye olde vbulletin or whatever, so I’ll take the W ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/26 "2020-10-25T05:46:13Z")
_Quod scripsi, scripsi._ ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/27 "2020-10-25T05:50:09Z")
So, per your apples / grapes example above, every version of a post, including the first one, is considered a revision? I still don’t get what “forcing” a revision means - does it mean forcing it back to its original version, no grace period for you chump (which indeed means no actual revision has taken place at all)? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/28 "2020-10-25T05:52:49Z")
I think he means forcing it to appear in the post’s revision history. As opposed to allowing you to make minor fixes withing 5 minutes without it appearing at all in the revision history. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/29 "2021-01-18T00:14:12Z")
Not exactly – during the grace period, there is no revision stored, so there is no record at all of the change being made in the site’s database. The idea is that fixing basic typos and very minor edits aren’t really worthy of being immortalized in a carbonite bytestream forever. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/30 "2021-01-18T00:28:53Z")
1. Five minutes is a big improvement on nothing. But ten minutes would be better. I edit posts a lot. I don’t like autocorrect or making simple mistakes - though don’t care greatly about them either. Not a huge issue. 2. But I agree about changing the OP and spammers too. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/33 "2021-01-19T16:30:40Z")
Probably because the timeout for deleting is the same duration as the timeout for editing. So it’s easy to end up with two screwed-up posts instead of one good one. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/34 "2021-01-20T05:29:36Z")
I just deleted my post (directly above yours) from the 18th, 27 hours ago. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/35 "2021-01-20T05:44:46Z")
I just tested it too. It looks like you can still delete a post far outside the edit window. Also, it deletes it immediately without asking for confirmation, and it can’t be undeleted by the user. I think it would be better if it asked for confirmation. The deletion message “(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 876000 hours unless flagged)” could also be improved. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/36 "2021-01-20T05:52:31Z")
What I hate is when the edit pencil is there, and you edit, then they do a Lucy with the football. I think if you start editing you should have some extra minutes to finish. ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/37 "2021-01-20T07:54:41Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > The deletion message “(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 876000 hours unless flagged)” could also be improved. I’d like to see a real-time countdown, just to add suspense and anticipation for our descendants 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/38 "2021-01-20T21:26:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > What I hate is when the edit pencil is there, and you edit, then they do a Lucy with the football. > > I think if you start editing you should have some extra minutes to finish. > [@superwombat](#): > > > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > > > The deletion message “(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 876000 hours unless flagged)” could also be improved. > > I’d like to see a real-time countdown, just to add suspense and anticipation for our descendants I think your suggestion would work well with **DrDeth** ’s complaint. What if Discourse showed you how much time you have left to finish your edit, with a real-time countdown in the composer? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780/39 "2021-01-21T01:52:02Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > What if Discourse showed you how much time you have left to finish your edit, with a real-time countdown in the composer? I find that kind of stuff (providing a bit too much information) tends to stress people out and make them agonize over it where they otherwise maybe wouldn’t? I think it’s fine to propose a longer global edit window to the Powers That Be. Five minutes is the default edit grace period in Discourse and it looks like that’s what is in effect here. Would it really be a big deal if that was extended to 8 minutes, or 10 minutes? Not to me, personally, but I’m just a tech support janitor, not a member of moderators or staff here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longer-edit-window-please/923780.md?page=1)