I belong to another board, with 8,000 members, that allows editing and deleting of posts by both authors and moderators. For the most part, it functions without controversy. However there have been times when someone was posting false or libelous statements and after s/he was called out would go back and edit/delete the original posts. This in and of itself isn’t the problem, the problem is when 2 days later the thread is still active with people debating what was originally said by who and if the subsequent responses were fair. It is also a breeding ground for trolling
Well yes, there would be- because if/when they complained loudly that you had misquoted them (which is a violation of rules) a Mod would come by and say “no he didn’t” or “none of that now, Cervaise, you’re banned”, and that would be that. Besides- again- how many chances are you going to get to quote someone in a five minute window?
Dantheman Well, I checked my post- no insults- at worst a snide comment or two, ans since this IS the PIT- come on dude. :rolleyes: And other than a little profanity- which is even allowed (with limitations) outside the PIT, I don’t see anything “childish” about my posts. So, if you are willing to stop sulking- just show me an example of a post where if someone was allowed to edit it- it would cause a serious problem. For THIS I will give you the right to assume an open window of edits- not just five minutes. So far, I havn’t seen anyone post anything which is so critical that being edited would change anyones opinion. (One silly question- how does one get the idea that he is in ATMB when you are reading a PIT thread, which means you started browsing in the PIT? 
)
Like I said- I am willing to concede it COULD be a problem if allowed for days & days (but I am waiting for an example). I still have seen nothing which would convince me that a 5 minute edit function would be a problem at all. :dubious:
I’m very glad that we can’t edit our posts here. I’ve been a member of numerous boards that allow varying degrees of leeway in editing posts, and it has been nothing but pain as far as I have seen.
Everybody is human, every one of us has posted something stupid, poorly written, full of typos, or obnoxious. That is just part of being human, if you make a mistake use it as a learning experience and improve your consequent posts if you like.
It’s my opinion that no editing makes for a more well reasoned, honest community. There are few things more trying than people who keep going back to their old posts on message boards that allow edit and changing the entire meaning of their posts. I recently left a board that had some interesting, thoughtful members. The board also allowed it’s members to completely delete any thread that they had started, even if hundreds of other posters had contributed to the thread. Consequently the board was loaded down with whiners, flamers, and revisionist historians.
If you feel strongly enough to post something in the first place, it should remain a matter of record. If you think later that you were incorrect, post an apology or retraction. If you make a spelling mistake, forget about it and move on. If someone is going to crawl up you for a spelling mistake and contribute nothing else to the thread, then they are an obvious tool anyway.
Well, considering how slow the boards can be, there’s a good chance that your correction won’t get made within the five minute limit.
Along with that, I’m on a dial up ISP and my connection times out after a couple of minutes of inactivity. Depending on how the ISP feels, I might not get back online in time to post my change.
You might set the limit at ten minutes to avoid all of that - and then you hit a bad day when the hamsters have taken valium and the treadmills haven’t been greased recently enough, and you miss your chance to edit again.
Preview is simple, clean, and easy.
It does require you to think a little, though.
I realize you don’t. But you’re stubbornly refusing to accept what 99.99% of the message board accepts and have already made up your own mind on the issue. You’re not looking for answers; you’re looking to throw a tantrum about how you can’t get your way.
Keep going with the snide comments. As I said before, it just makes me less likely to respond.
You one an example? So the examples people have given you in this thread aren’t good enough? Any Great Debate thread. Any General Question thread. In GQ, if you answer a question wrongly and people call you on it, and then you go BACK and edit it to make it look like you were right all along, you accomplish nothing more than unnecessarily making the others look foolish. And, of course, you’d be dishonest. (In essence, this also applies to IMHO, where you could change your opinion and make it look like you were agreeing with everyone, and to CCC, CSR, ATMB, and so on. It applies to all forums.)
Also, I don’t think you’re in any position to grant me “rights.” The reasons a five-minute window would be better than an unlimited window have been expressed in this thread (as well as other threads on the same topic). The whole idea of not being able to edit your posts is to make people think before they post, to make sure they have their facts straight and their arguments cogenst before they fly off the handle. This doesn’t stop people from making faulty arguments, of course, but allowing them to edit their faulty arguments could only be bad. It provides zero benefits.
Additionally, this place has been running in its current form (i.e., post-AOL days) for four years. It’s been getting along quite nicely without people needing to edit their posts. I suspect it will continue to get along well without it.
It does not mean that. Surprisingly enough, there are multiple ways to browse the message boards. I do not browse forum by forum.
As I said, you are not giving the impression of being willing to be convinced, especially of this simple fact: They will not turn editing on. Period.
I asked this question long ago, and the explanation given was that not allowing members to edit their own posts prevents “drive-by” flaming, which is when someone writes an offensive OP and then changes it after a half hour to something less offensive. Given that members can be ejected by reason of their behavior here, it makes sense that they shouldn’t be able to edit, since that way anyone can be called to account for something that they’ve posted.
For factual corrections, you can always add an erratum to your thread.
Spectre- you are assuming ( and I think incorrectly) that the Staff here does not have a record of what your post looked like pre-edit.
to answer the OP, because you touch yourself impurely.
What do we gain from five minutes of edit time? Slightly fewer spelling mistakes? It’s a waste of time to change the policy just to save such minor embarassment.
As far as long term editting goes: I lurked on another board where a long time member left on bad terms. In a fit of pique, he went back and deleted about two years of posts. This of course made a number of threads pretty screwed up.
It could happen here…
[cue conspiracy music]
Spectre is correct. DrDeth’s assumption is incorrect. We don’t know what the post looked like pre-edit. And even if I did I wouldn’t want to spend time having to go look up old posts because A says “B said that” and B says “No I didn’t.”