# Post Editing **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 4, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668 "2003-01-04T22:07:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/1 "2003-01-04T22:07:32Z")
I’m curious as to why we aren’t allowed to edit our posts. If this question has been addressed and I missed it, my apologies. Sometimes after I’ve posted something, I realize there’s something I want to change or add but I can’t edit so I have to make a new post. Is it not allowed for the same reason, we don’t have avatars and pm? ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/2 "2003-01-04T22:29:09Z")
No, it’s not allowed because it’s a privilege that would be abused. Recent threads on this topic: [Thread 1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140571&highlight=edit%2A): can’t edit your own post?!?!? [Thread 2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137021&highlight=edit%2A): Editing posts [Thread 3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=131367&highlight=edit%2A): Why can’t I edit? [Thread 4](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127128&highlight=edit%2A): Why can’t you edit your posts? None of the people that started those threads did a search first, either. ---
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/3 "2003-01-04T22:44:12Z")
Sorrry! I’m not exactly sure how to do a search for a particular subject. ---
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/4 "2003-01-04T22:46:28Z")
Ahhh, I see a search button, that must be it. Excuse my ignorance.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/5 "2003-01-05T00:52:17Z")
FYI, I searched for “edit\*” in ATMB titles only in the last 6 months. Every SDMB user should familiarize themselves with the search engine. However, since you profess not to have known about it previously, **His4ever** , I will warn you that it creates more strain on the hamsters than any other single cause, so we are asked to use it judiciously. Use narrowly defined search terms to limit your searches. For example, in my search terms above, I only made the search engine look at thread titles instead of all posts in all threads. And I searched ATMB only because I knew that’s where the threads I wanted were located. If you or anyone else has any questions about how to most efficiently use the search function, ATMB is the place to be. There are many past ATMB threads on how best to use the search engine; you can search for them and learn how. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/6 "2003-01-05T03:20:32Z")
664 posts and never saw the search button??? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/7 "2003-01-05T16:47:13Z")
Well, if it never occurs to you to look FOR a search button, it can imagine it’s pretty easy to miss. I mean, it isn’t all that big, and its tucked in up there with a bunch of other little buttons at the top of the screen, and I imagine that many people do like I do and just scroll right on past the header and into the post/forum content. Besides, there are 7 buttons up there and search is the second to last one…it doesn’t exactly stand out. I for one almost never use it, either. Since I’ve become a member, I don’t think I’ve used it more than a dozen times or so. :shrug: ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/8 "2003-01-07T00:07:31Z")
The [FAQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=103503) has a list of disabled features, with this explanation: > [@](#): > > We have disabled the following features at our message board. Some were disabled because they were abused in the past; some because we thought the usage might become abused in the future; some to protect the privacy of our members; some due to site speed considerations; and some for other reasons. ---
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/9 "2003-01-08T00:09:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*664 posts and never saw the search button??? \*\* Alright, alright…I’m also so dumb I don’t know what a hamster is! Except a furry little creature.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Devil\_s\_Advocate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Devil\_s\_Advocate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Devil_s_Advocate)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-editing/146668/10 "2003-01-08T03:04:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by His4ever \* > \*\*Alright, alright…I’m also so dumb I don’t know what a hamster is! Except a furry little creature.😃 \*\* I believe it’s a running joke that the SDMB is powered by hamsters running on little wheels. (I think I read that on [The Teeming Millions Homepage](http://teemingmillions.com/), although I don’t remember where.) So **White Lightning** was in fact literally referring to hamsters; but unless you know that it’s not obvious that it’s a running joke instead of some obscure jargon. I was going to put in a link to a thread on how woefully inadequate that type of power generation is (“How many morons on treadmills would it take to power a small city?”), but I couldn’t seem to find it with the search engine. So while we’re on the subject, are there any other recomendations on how to use the thing?