# Why can't I edit my posts? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 15, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967 "2004-12-15T14:46:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wrath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee7513/32.png) [@Wrath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrath)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/1 "2004-12-15T14:46:28Z")
I’m registered and paid and am now a charter member… but I don’t get an “edit post” button after I post, even though in FAQ’s is says that you can (in general I guess). Any clues? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/2 "2004-12-15T15:11:20Z")
Nobody can edit except for the administrators/moderators. > [@](#): > > Q: In particular, why is editing disabled? > A: Because of the potential for abuse. After posting something inflammatory that causes hurt feelings a poster could change what they had said originally and confusion would ensue. Even allowing editing for a short period of time could cause this issue due to the short interval between posts in a busy thread. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/3 "2004-12-15T19:05:43Z")
> [@Wrath](#): > > …even though in FAQ’s is says that you can… The staff here (which I am not a member of, to be sure), generally, is swamped with eleventy hundred things to do, big and small, so FAQ’s and cleanup in ATMB are pretty low on the list. I agree, that does kind a suck to read one thing when another is true in practice, but that’s the price of being on the 11th (?) biggest MB on the net. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/4 "2004-12-15T19:09:50Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > … but that’s the price of being on the 11th (?) biggest MB on the net. 48th. According to [this site](http://rankings.big-boards.com/?p=all) But IMO it’s more general-purpose and higher-quality than most of the ones above it. (if not all) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/5 "2004-12-15T19:47:20Z")
I am on bigger, and they allow editing, and no real problems. Actually, I think it would be rather nice that if " After posting something inflammatory that causes hurt feelings a poster could change what they had said originally " and go back in there, edit out the nasty bit, aplogize, and then it’s over. Of course, the post would have a notation that it 'was eduted by the poster on date time" and some boards require that you add a short “eta” message explaining why. It seems like dudes here woudl rather “play gotcha” than allow someone to change their mind and withdraw a post made in haste. And editing for typos- I am so used to doing that, that here my posts look like they were typed by a blinb monkey. Really- on much larger- and just as controversial boards- than this, they allow editing- and the world has not ended. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/6 "2004-12-15T19:51:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It seems like dudes here woudl rather “play gotcha” than allow someone to change their mind and withdraw a post made in haste. It seems like dudes here would rather you not post in haste. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/7 "2004-12-15T20:21:04Z")
No, I really like not editing, until we can find a way to fix just this problem. I’ve been on message boards where they did exactly that - same something downright nasty, then wipe it out. Let’s keep it this way. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/8 "2004-12-15T21:18:16Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > 48th. According to [this site](http://rankings.big-boards.com/?p=all) PaintBall Nation is bigger than us? Huh. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/9 "2004-12-16T18:10:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It seems like dudes here woudl rather “play gotcha” than allow someone to change their mind and withdraw a post made in haste. You can change your mind and withdraw a post made in haste—by creating another post in which you retract your previous statement and offer an apology. This is an ideal system, because it allows you to correct your mistakes without erasing all evidence that they ever existed in the first place. I’m a big fan of the “no editing” policy. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/10 "2004-12-16T18:16:07Z")
There are a lot of good things that come of not allowing editing. For one thing, we don’t get all those niggly little posts correcting people’s grammar and spelling anymore. Everyone makes typos, no one can correct them, and so our grammarians don’t point the finger and giggle. Well, not often, anyhow. If you make a truly serious typo – like failing to have correct “spoiler” tags, say, or typing “now” when you meant “not” – email the Moderators of the forum, and they’ll be glad to fix it for you. We’re not about to spend our time fixing all trivial little typos, but we will happily fix anything serious. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/11 "2004-12-23T08:02:12Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > There are a lot of good things that come of not allowing editing. > > For one thing, we don’t get all those niggly little posts correcting people’s grammar and spelling anymore. Everyone makes typos, no one can correct them, and so our grammarians don’t point the finger and giggle. Well, not often, anyhow. > > If you make a truly serious typo – like failing to have correct “spoiler” tags, say, or typing “now” when you meant “not” – email the Moderators of the forum, and they’ll be glad to fix it for you. We’re not about to spend our time fixing all trivial little typos, but we will happily fix anything serious. You just split an infinitive there, **Dex** … ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/12 "2004-12-24T13:09:32Z")
I may split hairs, but I don’t think I split any infinitives in that particular post… ? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/13 "2004-12-25T02:28:54Z")
I don’t see the split infinitive either but regardless, there’s nothing wrong with splitting infinitives. They are descriptive,common and now accepted part of the English language. from [AskOxford](http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/splitinfinitives): > [@](#): > > Split infinitives are frequently poor style, but they are not strictly bad grammar. In the example above, to avoid the split infinitive would result either in weakness (to go boldly) or over-formality (boldly to go): either would ruin the rhythmic force and rhetorical pattern of the original. It is probably good practice to avoid split infinitives in formal writing, but clumsy attempts to avoid them simply by shuffling adverbs about can create far worse sentences. Sorry, people who have split infinitives as a pet peeve are a pet peeve of mine. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/14 "2004-12-25T02:46:59Z")
It’s been brought up in more than one English class I’m sure and I do it now: “To boldly go where no man has gone before…” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/15 "2004-12-25T05:18:13Z")
“will happily fix,” maybe? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/16 "2004-12-25T06:03:33Z")
Maybe you could solve the “saying something mean then retracting” problem by only allowing people to add new text to their post, not delete. Then again, you could just as well add another post after the first one which accomplishes the same thing. I don’t know which one of those things is a bigger strain on the system, editing to add text or creating another post. But that’s just a thought. I agree that we shouldn’t be allowed to “correct” posts; I’m on other boards where you can edit posts and people say all kinds of stupid stuff just because they know they can delete it. This system’s much better. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-edit-my-posts/279967/17 "2004-12-26T21:38:05Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > “will happily fix,” maybe? 😕 Give the man a cigar! And yeah, I know splitting infinitives is perfectly acceptable in English: just couldn’t resist after **Dex** ’s post about Grammar Nazis. As **CarnalK** ’s reference points out, changing the original to “we will fix happily…” just doesn’t read right.