. . . their own posts? I accidentally posted something that I didn’t want to, then I couldn’t get rid of it. I emailed a couple of moderators asking them to delete that post, but it’s still there. What’s a Monkey to do??
I replied to your mail, Monkey 
It’s still there because it’s no big deal. Don’t worry about it.
And we don’t allow posters to edit their posts for numerous reasons. The main one is simple, however. If someone posted some wild outrageous claim, or harsh insult, he would be able to erase it all. We prefer a system where people are responsible for their own words.
Oh man, all I need is ONE MORE place where I have to be responsible for myself. Sheesh. 
I didn’t get your email. I think I had the button for “allow mods to email you” set to no. I fixed it now. Thanks!
That button doesn’t have anything to do with the mail I sent you. It’s about general notices regarding the board, i.e. Straight Dope Spam, if you will
Wow, I better get adopted quick. I’m going to hurt myself in here! :confused
see that?! 
Actually, to my knowledge, we’ve used that ability precisely once. We sent out a mass email because our database got hacked, and we needed to let everyone know to change their passwords. I don’t think we had the “Announcement” feature in the old UBBS board, I could be wrong though. Now that I think about it, I should have sent out a mass mailing to warn everyone about the virus JDT was sending out, as well as making an announcement.
We DON’T use that ability to send out commercial bulk email, if you’re wondering. We only use it for board administration purposes.
Lynn
I will adopt you, DeskMonkey, if you will promise not to clap the damn cymbals while I’m trying to post.
Now, see, that’s EXACTLY what I mean. Quit that!
Thank you.
Lynn, Ed, TD et al.
On another vBB board at which I post, they have adopted a variant on the theme that may be of interest: there is a stringent time limit for editing one’s own posts, following which one loses the ability to do so. This allows the: “whoops, I typed [/b} and suddenly the last two-thirds of my post is all bolded” sort of mistake to be corrected, the sort of thing you note immediately, while blocking the “gonna change my outrageous statement and make all these people who responded to it sound like they’re blooming idjits” sort of thing that happens later.
From the point of view of having a board that is easier to read, has fewer “correction” second posts, and taking a degree of work off the diligent moderators, it might be worth implementing that sort of thing, with perhaps a half-hour time limit, here – presuming that post-editing does not strain system capabilities (I’d think not; it seems to go faster than posting a new post over there.).
I’m afraid it will almost certainly make it harder on the server, Poly. Right now I fix really egregious errors in coding if requested (or if it IMHO harms the post’s readability), but I don’t touch typos or trivial coding errors. Therefore the overall amount of editing done is considerably less than if everyone could fix their own errors. Editing a post almost certainly puts as much strain on the server as a post; you have to bring up the edit screen and then resubmit. It certainly usually takes as long as posting for me! Now, having the ability to edit my own posts myself, I can tell you that I use it a lot–and I make a coding error probably once every two hundred posts and proof my posts thoroughly before submitting. Despite this, it is damn near impossible to resist the urge to fix an annoying typo or correct my phrasing just a wee bit five seconds after submitting. If we give people the ability to edit their posts, I would say, conservatively, that they will edit their post about a third of the time they post. That’s going to have the effect of jumping up the number of posts per day on the MB about 33%. We already have problems with slowdowns and server crashing; I’m afraid letting all users edit their posts will reduce the quality of the MB unacceptably.
And this is aside from the problem that 30 minutes is much too much time to allow our little trolls!
The Parlor is probably much faster becuase it is much smaller and less active. Heck, manny said that a GQ thread can drop off the first page in just two hours sometimes!
Really?! Y’mean it?? Or are you just messing with my soft, newbie head?
No, I’m not just messing with your soft newbie head (although it is interesting the way you can sort of–squeeze it, isn’t it?)
However, I need to point out that there is a waiting period for adoptions here at the SDMB, so don’t get your hopes up too high, little monkey. 
I can be your foster mother as much as I want, but to finalize an adoption takes weeks, sometimes months, and requires truckloads of chocolate for TubaDiva and a substantial bribe for Cecil (the last adoption he approved, he demanded a Gold Coast townhouse).
The chocolate isn’t a problem for me, but God knows what the Master will want this time…
Sadly, all I have to offer the Master is a cat in ill health (note how the newbie plays on DDG’s sympathy) and a computer. But if I give away my computer, how will I post? And if I give away my cat, who will I love? What a dilema.
Wow, this post is no longer about this message board, is it? Sorry 'bout that! Duck Duck Goose, if it was meant to be, I’ll find you at another time, in another forum . . .
You can love me, but I’d prefer if you kept it to sort of a distant infatuation because I’m kinda busy lately. Thanks.
–Tim