Question about post editing

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Signal3and2

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Does a user's ability to edit their old posts go away after a certain period of time? I only ask because I went back to a thread i created a little under a month ago, and was going to change the title to update the thread with new information but found that the only post I could edit was the one I made today. What is the cut-off period? Thanks!
 
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Yeah, you cannot edit after a certain amount of time, IMO really annoying. There are several times I've had to double post instead of just editing.
 

mciupa

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kc0jar said:
Does a user's ability to edit their old posts go away after a certain period of time ?
What is the cut-off period ?

I believe it is twenty-four hours. Check again 24 hrs and 1 minute after your posting time and see if the EDIT option has vanished on your post.
 

loumaag

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kc0jar said:
Does a user's ability to edit their old posts go away after a certain period of time? I only ask because I went back to a thread i created a little under a month ago, and was going to change the title to update the thread with new information but found that the only post I could edit was the one I made today. What is the cut-off period? Thanks!
The user's ability to edit a post, indeed disappears after a certain amount of time, it may well be 24 hrs, at one time it was considerably less, like 90 minutes; but I guess Lindsay relented some.

In regard to titles; you cannot change the title of a thread once it is posted; you may indeed change the post title, but the thread title (taken from the original post title) will remain the same as the original; indeed even moderators cannot do that.

lil_jimmy_norton said:
Yeah, you cannot edit after a certain amount of time, IMO really annoying. There are several times I've had to double post instead of just editing.
If you would use the "Preview Post" facility before you press the "Submit Reply" button, you wouldn't have this problem. There is never an excuse to double post, especially since you have (IMO) gobs of time to edit the original post anyway.

In case anyone is interested, the rational behind this limit is due to people doing exactly what both lil_jimmy_norton and kc0jar wanted to do; that is change reality. This site had a lot of problems with people going back after saying one thing and changing what they said to cause trouble, or (when it used to be allowed) deleting the entire post. The solution was never allow users to delete and allow them to edit for a period of time only. The classified forums will not allow any changes once posted, for the obvious reasons.
 

16b

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There are lots of times when changing something in a previous post is perfectly useful and necessary. That being said, a few people being jerks and abusing the system ruin it for everyone.
 
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loumaag said:
The user's ability to edit a post, indeed disappears after a certain amount of time, it may well be 24 hrs, at one time it was considerably less, like 90 minutes; but I guess Lindsay relented some.

In regard to titles; you cannot change the title of a thread once it is posted; you may indeed change the post title, but the thread title (taken from the original post title) will remain the same as the original; indeed even moderators cannot do that.

If you would use the "Preview Post" facility before you press the "Submit Reply" button, you wouldn't have this problem. There is never an excuse to double post, especially since you have (IMO) gobs of time to edit the original post anyway.

In case anyone is interested, the rational behind this limit is due to people doing exactly what both lil_jimmy_norton and kc0jar wanted to do; that is change reality. This site had a lot of problems with people going back after saying one thing and changing what they said to cause trouble, or (when it used to be allowed) deleting the entire post. The solution was never allow users to delete and allow them to edit for a period of time only. The classified forums will not allow any changes once posted, for the obvious reasons.


I disagree. There are several times when I have had to add more info as I obtained more info more than 24 hours after my original post. No amount of previewing my post would help me in that case, and the only option would be a double post.

One instance is if I were to post a question I had. No one answers my question. I obtain som new revelant info to the problem, 24hrs later, what am I supposed to do if there is no excuse to double post?

As far as trying to change what you said, all the other boards I frequent have a little note at the bottom saying when it was last edited. So if you edit it, there is no way to hide the fact you edited it.
 
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loumaag

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lil_jimmy_norton said:
I disagree.
You have that privilege.
lil_jimmy_norton said:
As far as trying to change what you said, all the other boards I frequent have a little note at the bottom saying when it was last edited. So if you edit it, there is no way to hide the fact you edited it.
Yes, as does ours, but there is no record of what you changed or what you changed it from.

If you find this posting policy completely unreasonable, you have a choice, don't post. This site's prime focus is the data in any case and the forums are only an adjunct to supply an open means of communication between members.

Edit:
Here's a good point about editing, after I posted the above I thought about what Lindsay had to say on the subject a while ago. Please read this post by him in regard to members' responses to what could be improved on the site.
 
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Dubbin

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loumaag said:
Edit:
Here's a good point about editing, after I posted the above I thought about what Lindsay had to say on the subject a while ago. Please read this post by him in regard to members' responses to what could be improved on the site.

And sometimes it takes people over the time limit to remember things like this ;) Really though if you wait that long to edit a post then there is a good chance that the thread has already ran its course. IMO you would be better off reposting to it so everyone notices a change. I for one only read new posts and don't bother going back through the whole thread to see if anyone changed anything.
 

Jay911

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For what it's worth, everybody, not everyone agrees with all of that. The forums are a valuable tool, and while they're not the main focus of the site, I personally disagree with the attitude many (moderators/admin and others alike) harbor, that the forums deserve less attention than the rest of the site simply because they're not the main focus.

Having said that, what Lou said about the reason for disabling editing is true and a very good reason. There have been many cases of people saying something incredibly stupid, and being taken to task on it; then they come back and decide to delete what they posted, as if that will undo their idiocy. I am a veteran of MANY message boards, moderator and admin on quite a few of them, and not many of them allow you to edit a message after a) an hour or two or b) after a reply has been posted to your message. That's how I think it should be by default.

I also dispute the claim that there is no excuse for double posting. Often, someone will post something while you are posting, and that new post warrants a reply. I suppose that could be done with an edit to the original message, yes - but keep in mind that most of us that use notification of new replies use the "instant" form of notification. As soon as the message is posted, we're sent an email saying so. Notifications aren't sent on replies, so if you make an edit, I won't see it if I've already read the original post. (On that topic, the text of a new post is published in the "instant notification" message. A number of times I HAVE seen people who have said something and when I go to read the message, the sentiments are quite different! Everybody please remember what you say here is broadcast around the world.. if you don't mean to say something, don't say it at all - instead of saying it and then editing it out of your post.)

And as for another scenario that was mentioned, I'm all for "double posting" when you have information to add 24+ hours later. I see no reason to be editing the original post in that case. For one thing, the original post should remain as it was originally posted, unless there are spelling, grammatical, or typographical errors that need be fixed. (As Lou said, use the preview function instead - that will help a lot.) Another point to ponder is that replying to the post will "bump" it to the top of the "newest posts" stack - editing it does not. If you have a thread that you want to supply new information to, wouldn't you want others to be able to see it?

In summary - the "post editing" policies of this site are quite appropriately defined and deployed as far as I'm concerned. Those who have need to edit a post outside the editable time window need to evaluate whether or not they really want to edit, or could simply reply instead.
 

Signal3and2

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Thanks Lou. I totally agree with why the editing names has been disabled, there are plenty of idiots around. I was just wondering what the limits were. Thanks!

oh, BTW, I was going to add "PICS ADDED" to my thread title :D
 

WayneH

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Simple solution.... at the bottom of the sub-forum is a listing of moderators. If you need to change something PM one of them and ask nicely. It will be up to their discretion. It's very easy to do so there shouldn't be any griping about what can or can't be edited.

-Wayne
 
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