A Discussion on the Ability to Edit your Posts...

[Unimatic1140]

Thanks Guys, I really like the idea of marking the end of the post as edited if it is edited like a half hour or more after it was posted. At first typo edits are normal and not necessary to mention. I might extend the time period a bit, but I don't want to make it editable over a long period of time. More to come.

 

[frigilux]

I'd like to be able to correct errors in grammar and spelling.

 

[ronhic]

I think its a FAB idea...

I, like many of us, belong to several forums. Both www.ausmini.org and www.aussiefrogs.com are car based but allow edits AND have a spell check function.

Personally, I would find a spell check function more valuable than an edit function and it would negate the biggest issue mentioned above - that of poor spelling - from being an issue as well as removing the (can't understand why) contentious nature of an individual wishing to edit their own writing...

Both the above forums do insist that the individual identify why they have made changes. For example: 'Accuracy', 'additional information' or 'photos' may be reasons to edit.

Robert, if you can wangle a spell checker onto the forum, edits should be minimal based on what people above have said.

 

[mattl]

Those of us using Firefox have a built in spell check, it works great. I don't know how hard it would be to implement but it might be nice for those that don't use FF.

 

[panthera]

Spelling Checker

Of course, it only works if you are bright enough to figure out that the squiggly red lines are there for a reason...took me a while to get the message.
Goodness, with Firefox and Chrome and Opera, why would anyone use IE? I admit, IE 8 is a big improvement over IE 7, but, gosh - you might as well just leave the door to the refrigerator open and ask the dog to behave...is there any infection out there that doesn't just walk in through IE?

 

[lordkenmore]

"you might as well just leave the door to the refrigerator open and ask the dog to behave...is there any infection out there that doesn't just walk in through IE?"

Actually, one would probably be better off with trusting the dog with an open refrigerator.

I haven't seen enough of the current IE to know what features it has, but IE must be the last major browser to either get spelling check or have gotten it. I think even some minor browsers--ones that no one but a computer geek knows about, and which have market share that makes Opera look like a top best seller--got spelling check before now.

Although, in the end, regardless of browser, there is no substitute for careful proofreading. Some things will slide by even the best spelling check system, like "too" when you meant "to." Ability to edit a post later can help when something slips by.

 

[earthling177]

I think the idea of editable posts is a very cool one.

And there are lots of variations, depending on the site in question. Some give you a timeframe and then freeze the post, some let you edit the post until someone replies to it. Most will mark the post in some particular way to make sure people will notice it has been edited. A lot of websites have as some posting etiquette that people will, when making edits that don't just correct spelling/grammar, add a "ETA:" and a small explanation, for example, "ETA: corrected cycle times and model numbers".

If we're actually worried that people might start trouble then edit/delete posts, then we can adopt some sort of audit trail; Wikipedia, for example, preserves previous versions so one can read what was there in the document. We probably don't need such a complicated thing, maybe the software can store the previous version as a file for Robert and/or a co-moderator to see what the problem is, if necessary. Probably just a simple timestamp "This post by user has been edited/deleted at time by user/moderator", where the actual timestamp will choose either "edited" or "deleted" and "user" or "moderator" as appropriate will ward off most trouble. Coupled with the button to report abuse to the webmaster, we should be good to go for most situations.

 

[lordkenmore]

Worries that one might post something in response to another post that might read quite differently in the morning aren't necessarily paranoid. I've seen this happen on other forums. The most puzzling time was when someone posted a question, then 3 years later came back to edit. In that case, editing meant deleting.

However, there is one way of dealing with this potential problem. One can save a copy of any thread that might potentially change in ways that make your post look stupid. Then, if something does change, and the need comes up, one can quote the changes. If responding to someone who is likely to revise, one could simply heavily quote what one is responding to when one makes one's post.

Truth be told, I think most people who come here come here often enough to learn pretty quickly who is into revising posts to make others look stupid.

Another thought: as much as I like English, and like seeing it treated properly, I think a real argument can be made that the content is the most important thing. I regularly see posts here that have a small error here and there with spelling or grammar, but are still valuable because they say something I didn't know or think about earlier.

 

[iheartmaytag]

The ability to edit/delete is a very good idea. Often someone has their fingers on the wrong keys and doesn't realize it until they have posted. This will cause another post to correct the previous post. Though not that big of deal, it is still nicer to be able to correct your mis-typing or misspelling hopefully before someone else reads it.

As for deleting in a heated debate. If someone wants to continue the "fight" then they can copy the offending remark and post it to their own post. That way if the OP deletes you will still have something to fight about. OR, maybe it's a good idea for the poster to have the ability to delete as they may have had a change of heart and wants to remove the offense rather than continue.

In any case I think both options are valuable and worth adding.

P.S. MSN has this feature on their boards and I don't think anyone is abusive with it.

 

[panthera]

Deleting anything

On the Internet is not possible.

Just look at the hoards of out-of-context-and-heavily-edited excerpts from threads which float around in any virtual group.

I've been seeing a lot of discussion recently about how such virtual communication removes many of the filters we would otherwise apply to our communications.

It's just going to take a few years before the dust settles and we all agree on appropriate protocols.

Deletion, however - no. Ain't never gonna happen. No way, no how. Make a careless statement in the quietest period of your virtual group's posting "day", erase it one minute later...and you can go to bed secure in the knowledge that the next day, it will be broadcast (edited and slanted to worst effect) far and wide.

Around the turn of the century, a grad student sent me a copy of his thesis to check. Like most electronic files of the day, the charts were embedded and the graphs were linked. Unfortunately, the accompanying data set of links included a picture of himself which left nothing to the imagination, alongside the other files (same first two alphanumeric characters, same file ending, very easy mistake).

I wouldn't have noticed it (not being concerned with the hard math, thank the gods) had I not wanted to cross-check his indices.

Oh, boy. I sent him a very quick text message and email, pro-actively wrote my other two colleagues that the file he'd sent them wasn't to be opened, danger of a virus or somesuch and erased the file from the server (something I didn't have the rights to do, either, but then, IT security on our campus was and is not quite what it should be).

Now, I never sent that jpeg on. He surely did not.

But I did view his thesis on one of the computers in our student union.

Somebody went through the cache for the program, pulled out the picture and by the next day, everyone on campus knew all there was to know.

This being Europe and he being over 18, nobody cared. But the lesson was one my colleagues and I repeat to incoming freshmen every semester. The internet is forever.

 

[Unimatic1140]

I wouldn't worry about the more heated discussions. Those are eventually going to happen--or they are supposed to anyway--in the "Dirty Laundry" (or "Hamper" as I like to call it) forum, which is basically going to be AYOR with members having to take some extra steps and pay a small fee to gain access to it, right?

Correct Ralph, but not at first, everyone will have access at first, everything will come in baby steps.

As for a spell checker, I cannot believe that Internet Explorer hasn't implemented a spell checker yet! I don't get it. I moved to Firefox years ago because of the simple spell checker built in. While I could implement something like that it would be really low priority compared to other features that I want to come first.

 

[passatdoc]

I have no problem with editability of posts. Quite often I will think of one more point to add, or find an egregious misspelling, after I have posted. Some blogs allow you to delete and then re-do a comment, so you can copy the text, delete, re-paste, and edit/add. Since our board lacks this feature, I find myself adding a second post just to add a point, or to correct the misspelling so people don't think I am illiterate or a cretin.

I don't engage in wars or arguments here, and compared to other boards I've read, this one is collegial and low-key.