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Feature request: Let us edit our own forum posts


Mineral2

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I just noticed earlier today that I can no longer edit my own posts in the forums. This is problematic as we sometimes make errors in posting, be they spelling/grammar or content errors, and it's nice to go back and correct them, especially in the case when we accidentally give out wrong information.

Therefore I request that we users be given permissions to edit and modify existing posts from our own accounts.

Edit: I noticed that the edit link was available on this post, so I will continue to inquire as to why my edit link was not available on a reply to another thread.

Edit Edit: It seems that the edit link is time sensitive. That's ok. Is it possible to increase that time sensitivity? Say to 48 or 72 hours or even 7 days?

Edited by Mineral2
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25 minutes ago, Mineral2 said:

Edit Edit: It seems that the edit link is time sensitive. That's ok. Is it possible to increase that time sensitivity? Say to 48 or 72 hours or even 7 days?

Nope.  Not by us.  That's a Mod/Lackey thing.  Wouldn't want to see that either ...

 - Especially in some of the heated threads.  Folks would have to capture all posts in reply, or conversations would get confusing quick.  :D

The few times I wanted to "fix" something, I hit quote on my own post and added to it there.  :)

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I believe the time limit for editing is 24 hours, but I haven't specifically tested for that in the new forum software.

24 hours ought to be plenty of time to proofread your post and correct an error - even if you returned later in the day and noticed something obvious that you overlooked when you first posted.

  • Upvote 2
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It's moreso that just after the 24 hours, a reply comes back correcting a mistake I made, and I wanted to correct it in the original post. Luckily the mistake wasn't that important... just mixing up UTM and UTC as opposed to giving false or bad advice that needed to be changed.

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1 hour ago, Mineral2 said:

It's moreso that just after the 24 hours, a reply comes back correcting a mistake I made, and I wanted to correct it in the original post. Luckily the mistake wasn't that important... just mixing up UTM and UTC as opposed to giving false or bad advice that needed to be changed.

The post correcting your mistake was made many hours before your timeframe for editing expired.  I suggest clicking on the "follow" button near the top right corner of the threads you post in.  You will then be alerted to replies (and things you'd like to edit) a bit more quickly.

  • Upvote 1
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1 hour ago, Mineral2 said:

It's moreso that just after the 24 hours, a reply comes back correcting a mistake I made, and I wanted to correct it in the original post. Luckily the mistake wasn't that important... just mixing up UTM and UTC as opposed to giving false or bad advice that needed to be changed.

In my opinion, once a post has sat for a few hours, it's better to consider it a done deal and post a correction instead of editing the original. The problem with editing the original the next day is that many people will already have read it, so fixing the mistake in original post won't fix the mistake that's been transmitted into those people's heads. Besides, editing the old post is what someone would do if they didn't want anyone to know about the mistake. If I make a mistake that needs to be corrected, I prefer to point it out explicitly rather than change the OP so that it looks like the mistake never happened.

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1 hour ago, Keystone said:

The post correcting your mistake was made many hours before your timeframe for editing expired.  I suggest clicking on the "follow" button near the top right corner of the threads you post in.  You will then be alerted to replies (and things you'd like to edit) a bit more quickly.

My settings are set to automatically follow all threads I post in, so I've got that covered. I just wasn't hanging out in the forums much yesterday.

 

 

46 minutes ago, dprovan said:

In my opinion, once a post has sat for a few hours, it's better to consider it a done deal and post a correction instead of editing the original. The problem with editing the original the next day is that many people will already have read it, so fixing the mistake in original post won't fix the mistake that's been transmitted into those people's heads. Besides, editing the old post is what someone would do if they didn't want anyone to know about the mistake. If I make a mistake that needs to be corrected, I prefer to point it out explicitly rather than change the OP so that it looks like the mistake never happened.

I can see this point of view too. That said I get concerned about people who happen upon a thread via a google search and don't continue to read up or down from the post that gets hit from the search results.

Ah... since this not that important, or a non-issue, I'll let it go.

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2 hours ago, Mineral2 said:

I can see this point of view too. That said I get concerned about people who happen upon a thread via a google search and don't continue to read up or down from the post that gets hit from the search results.

Yes, that's a good point. If the post might end up being something people will reference in the future, you might want to edit the OP in addition to posting a correction explaining why and how you changed the original.

Not that it was a big deal to fix this minor typo, I'm just talking generally it's best to let it go.

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If a post is going to be referenced in the future, and needs to be updated to keep it current, then I think it would be better for it to live in a wiki or some similar content-management system. That really isn't what a forum is designed for.

For a forum, it's useful to "lock in" the content of a post so that the conversation continues to make sense. Even with only a 24-hour grace period, there have been times where the author will edit the original post, replacing all the content with "never mind" or something similarly vague. That can make it very hard to follow the conversation, unless someone managed to quote the entire original post before it was deleted.

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