# Why can't I report my own post? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 22, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431 "2005-02-22T23:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/1 "2005-02-22T23:39:22Z")
In [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=303780) thread, I made a coding error on - what else - a spoiler tag. I wanted to report that post so that a Mod could quickly hide the spoiler rather than come across the thread long after unsuspecting doperd read it. Shouldn’t I be able to report that post? ---
**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:** [February 22, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/2 "2005-02-22T23:43:40Z")
Just a wag, but this is a design ‘mistake’ with vbulletin. They designed it to ‘report bad posts’ but here it is used to report posts for a broader set of reasons. I guess the developers of the software didn’t expect people to want to complain about their own posts. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/3 "2005-02-22T23:45:12Z")
By the way, there is a trick you can use. Aquire the post id of your post, then report someone else’s post, then edit the url, replacing their number with your number. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/4 "2005-02-22T23:48:54Z")
Thanks for the suggestion - I was actually aware of that, but I’m thinking the Mods may have another reason for not reporting your own spelling errors in this way - something like “report malicious posts ONLY” or something, and as such deliberately disabled the feature. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/5 "2005-02-23T01:24:15Z")
Nope – that’s just the way the software came out of the box. You can use the work-around above, or mods have suggested in the past that you can “report” the post prior to yours and explain that you really mean your own but that there’s no button for it, or send an email directly to the mods’ listed email addresses. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/6 "2005-02-23T01:57:48Z")
OK, thanks! ---
**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:** [February 23, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/7 "2005-02-23T13:18:33Z")
Yep, what **manhattan** said. And the cost and effort of the READER trying to fix it would be … well, let’s say that there are more important fixes that are needed, and limited people resources to do it. Furthermore, any fixes we make would be erased by the next version of the software, so why bother? … we’re hoping vB will fix it for us. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/8 "2005-02-23T14:39:21Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > And the cost and effort of the READER trying to fix it would be … well, let’s say that there are more important fixes that are needed, and limited people resources to do it. Find the following line in _includes/functions\_showthread.php_ ```php $show['reportlink'] = iif($bbuserinfo['userid'] AND $bbuserinfo['userid'] != $post['userid'], true, false); ``` Replace it with: ```php $show['reportlink'] = iif($bbuserinfo['userid'], true, false); ``` The fix took about 30 seconds. Tested it on my vB site, and it works. You’re welcome. 😃 ---
**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:** [February 23, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-report-my-own-post/291431/9 "2005-02-23T17:54:24Z")
You speak as though anyone has access to the vB codes. I don’t. I wouldn’t touch that stuff with a ten-foot pole even if I did. I will direct this post to those who can, and see what they say.