The intent of the rule was that quote-boxes were to be treated like quotes in academic or literary or similar papers. You can edit as you please, as long as it’s clear what you’ve done – that is, use of … to indicate omission, additional words in square brackets, etc. and as long as you’re not substantively changing the meaning. In short, exactly as cited by CrazyHorse in post #12 above.
[quote=Rules of Straight Dope Message Boards]
Falsely attributing a quote to another user, or modifying another’s post in order to cast him/her in a bad light, even if meant in jest, is grounds for revocation of your posting privileges.
This does not apply to parodies to which no name is attached.
Text inside
[QUOTE]
tags is sacrosanct. Normal editorial rules apply: that is, you may indicate omitted portions of a quote by the use of ellipses “…” and you may add text to clarify a word using square brackets (e.g., “her [the sister’s] friend”), but you may **not ** add editorial comments or edit a quote so as to change the substantive meaning; nor may you substitute text such as “some blather” or “more nonsense” inside the