PS: Sample_the_B***c says “Thanks”, too. And also that she’s not holding her breath. 
If you’re worried about your coding and spelling, or if you’re worried that you might say something that you’ll later regret, try this:
a) write post
b) hit “Preview”
c) check post for errors
d) correct errors
e) leave the post for a while, and then come back and check it again.
Seriously folks, every problem people complain about in these threads about editing and deleting could be solved if people made proper use of the preview function.
The OP asked:
You can.
Write another post that says: “I regret what i wrote in my previous post. I wasn’t thinking clearly, and didn’t mean it to come out like that. I take it back, and i apologize.”
Much more honest, and eminently preferable to deleting the earlier post.
Yes, understood, and that’s why it’s not a reasonable analogy to our boards. Your system is documenting factually what happened and what was done. Our boards are discussions and questions. If a student at your hospital writes on a chart, “Administered 3 ccs of megalithium”, you don’t have someone writing immediately afterwards to ask “Why didn’t you use hyperthyrinium?” But we have such discussions all the time. At the hospital, you don’t (I presume) have someone writing on the chart, “The patient’s blood pressure has elevated and he’s having trouble breathing, what should I do?” But we have “what should I do?” discussions all the time.
It’s just not an applicable analogy.
Then perhaps they ought to reconsider that no-edit-trail thing. Because that sounds like a really stupid idea - though it may work as a CYA in malpractice cases. Incidentally, Roland, the fact that they do things differently in other places (I’ve heard that the allnurses.com messageboard works quite differently from this place. Can anyone back that up? :)) doesn’t mean we ought to change the SDMB. It’s the best forum on the web for a reason, you know.
Well, my point was that it seems reasonable that people should be able to delete posts they have made in anger or without thinking. Being a veteran hothead in recovery (and someone who generally likes those who are passionate in their opinions even if they overstate their case or resort to hyperbole) I have empathy for those who post things they later regret. I once posted the comment at a morgage discussion board that " even if a madman had a gun to my child’s head I still wouldn’t vote for Al Gore". Now to me this was clear rhetorical hyperbole used to make a serious point. However, to my wife if was an unforgivable statement that still haunts our marriage (with a litany of other issues of course). The point is that even though I stand by the post I would have removed it to avoid the problems it has caused. On another occassion at the same board there was a sprited discussion concerning credit scoring and someone questioned my sincerity and I posted our the 800# to our mortgage buisiness if they wished to discuss it in person. My wife feared (quite unreasonably in my opinion) that someone would “see” my strong opinions and that it would cost us business. Again, I stand by the post, but would remove it in hindsight given the chance. There are people out there who would post the nuclear, launch codes for the President’s black box in a fit of haste, rage, or simply illconceived action, and I’m simply saying they should be given the chance to rectify their actions in some situations.
The problem is, there is no way to allow people to delete their own posts “made in anger” while disallowing deletes of other types of posts, such as those calculated to make others’ later postings seem foolish or incomprehensible. It’s all or nothing. (Deletes also increase server traffic.)
Posts of sensitive materials will be deleted by admins when warranted, so that’s not really an issue.
A general “delete at will” policy simply creates too many problems. Better if we all adjust our individual behaviour to suit the norms of this board, imho.
Why not be a grown-up and apologize for them, rather than try to cover them up and pretend they never existed?
And the fact that people like this can’t cover up their indiscretions might help them to overcome their tendency to make ill-considered posts. Think of it as the SDMB’s contribution to your betterment.
Well, that’s your fault for making your online discussions known to someone else. And it’s not up to this message board to help you smooth over your domestic misunderstandings.
As has been made clear dozens of times, if you truly fear the repersussions of a particular post, you can explain your situation to the mods and ask them to remove it, and in a case like this they might have sympathy for your situation. Also, IIRC we’re not meant to be posting our phone numbers on the board.
Irrelevant to your point. The mods have made it clear dozens of times, through words and action, that they are ready to delete posts that encourages violation of the law or that pose some sort of danger outside of the message boards.
To sum up:
-
Members do not have the capacity to edit their posts.
Moderators and administrators will consider editing posts as circumstances warrant. You may make your request through email to the appropriate moderators/administrators, either manually or by selecting the “Report This Post” option. (Yes, I know, you can’t report your own posts; report the thread and mention your post.) -
Members do not have the capacity to delete their posts.
Moderators and administrators will consider deleting posts/threads as circumstances warrant. You may make your request through email to the appropriate moderators/adminstrators, either manually or by selecting the “Report This Post” option. (Yes, I know, you can’t report your own posts; report the thread and mention your post.) -
We’re not inclined to change these conditions at the present time. If we do, we’ll let you know. Arguing with us over it won’t help.
Asked and answered and closed.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator