edit time limit

[builthatch]

i've been an admin on a couple forums, one a smaller niche car forum and the other is one of the largest automotive forums on the web.

in 16 plus years of this sort of activity, i've never felt a need to institute a time limit on post edits. i am perplexed as to why AG insists on using one??

it's most annoying when updates are needed and you can't edit the first post of an inquiry thread with an update. yes, you can post and update instead of editing the initial post but if it's relatively high traffic, your reply will get lost, then you will keep checking the thread when you see activity only to realize it's because people don't realize you updated and they are still replying to your initial inquiry.

contacting staff for edits is not efficient, trust me.

[Just02896]

I completely agree! The edit time limit wastes bandwidth and causes new readers of a thread to have to read through pages of reply posts just to get the Op's entire message. For this reason I skip many posts that I would otherwise become involved in.

[FUNX650]

I am so glad that I'm a satisfied member of this fantastic forum...
and its: "rules of engagement"!! :)

However...
For other members, at times, (and for whatever reasons):
It appears to be that they:

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ROAKlnaMuRw"]ROLLING STONES "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" on The Ed Sullivan Show - YouTube[/video]

:dunno:

Bob

[Setec Astronomy]

They seem to be very sensitive here to appearances of impropriety in handling discipline. What I mean is I remember another forum where the owner was accused of selectively disciplining members who said negative things about his products.

By limiting the edit window, the management here prevents users from going back and editing old posts to appear "innocent" and prevent forum backlash if those users are disciplined.

Anyway, that's my theory as to why they do it. Sure is embarrassing when you make a stupid spelling or grammar error and don't notice it until the next day.

[builthatch]

They seem to be very sensitive here to appearances of impropriety in handling discipline. What I mean is I remember another forum where the owner was accused of selectively disciplining members who said negative things about his products.

By limiting the edit window, the management here prevents users from going back and editing old posts to appear "innocent" and prevent forum backlash if those users are disciplined.

Anyway, that's my theory as to why they do it. Sure is embarrassing when you make a stupid spelling or grammar error and don't notice it until the next day.

if that's the case, i think the positives still majorly outweigh the negatives. plus vB (the forum software used here) allows edit history to be publicly viewed if admin wants that to be available for us. you can even compare multiple edits at one time. so there's no way to hide if you need to retract something.

i find myself pretty often on here wanting to fix or add info and i can't. each time i'm like "why the heck is it like this, lol".

[TroyScherer]

While I do agree it would be nice to go back and "edit" stuff after a time. I find that have ing time limit on it does a few things for me.


I think about what I am saying and don't write anything I wouldn't want to ready 6+ months later. I find that on many forums where people can edit later they “spot off” saying things they shouldn’t then come back later to and edit / remove info to save face. (I know you can view edits and such but most don’t know or do this)

-

It forces me to take a minute and think about what I am saying and the info I am providing. This helps me to think through what I am saying.

[Bunky]

I do wish the limit was extended for a little longer (10 minutes) but do not think we need to leave it open much longer than that.

[Dr_Pain]

I kinda like the time limit! I've seen way too many time when a conversation took a definite turn for the worst, and when the culprit (with careful editing) was able to come out smelling like roses.

It does make you think about just blurting out what ever is on your mind. I will mirror Bunky's remark that sometime I wish I had a little more editing time, especially when reading one of my long discourse (noticing grammar, syntaxe.... or plain stupidity)

[builthatch]

I kinda like the time limit! I've seen way too many time when a conversation took a definite turn for the worst, and when the culprit (with careful editing) was able to come out smelling like roses.

It does make you think about just blurting out what ever is on your mind. I will mirror Bunky's remark that sometime I wish I had a little more editing time, especially when reading one of my long discourse (noticing grammar, syntaxe.... or plain stupidity)

the fact that the edits can be visible by anyone make that concern moot though, doesn't it? i think so. it's really hard to hide when anyone can just click on the little hyperlink underneath the edited post (when that function is enabled) and see exactly what was originally said.

the most important problem that can be addressed with nullifying the time limit is allowing initial posts to be updated so there isn't unnecessary banter and confusion. that is a huge issue that i see - a majority of the posts in the higher traffic sub forums on this board appear to be interrogative, so when the answers are found by the OP, there's no way to effectively convey that to the readers other than posting in the chain of responses, which means everyone reading will have to genuinely pick through the thread to seek the resolution. so you have a bunch of people responding to the original question when the answer has already been found.