editing old posts

[planthelper]

hi, tort!

the other day i looked at an old post of mine at thenook and spotted a spelling mistake.

i tried to find the edit button, but there was none to be found, allthough it was my own post.

than i realized that it's maybe a good idea to make the edit button dissapear after a periode of time for various reasons. i don't think anything like this ever happend yet here, but there is a chance of people reediting posts with unwanted or illeagal matter.

anyway i only wanted to raise this subject, so you can have a think about it.

[Benzito]

I think it's always good to be able to re-edit your posts. But you should only do it for certain reasons.

What if you made a post about a 'forest' of Catha Edulis trees that you have in your backyard! (I know you don't, Planthelper, this is just hypothetical)

Then, maybe 4 years later, Catha Edulis becomes a scheduled plant just like Kratom and Sally, etc. I am sure you would want to remove your post from 4 years ago, or change it, cause you would have the cops knocking on your door pretty quickly with bits of evidence like that floating around.

But, then you could get someone like Mulga(shudder) come along a few years later and edit all his posts so that all the offensive things he ever said are removed. Then, that is kind of unfair. It is almost an untrue representation of yourself, if you edit your posts much later, because you don't like the way the post made you look.

I think editing shouldn't be restricted, just for safety's sake. If someone needs to removing incriminating evidence from a post, they want to be able to do it instantly. They wouldn't want to have to wait for a moderator to do it for them. It really just comes down to 'forum etiquette' I think, in the end....

[planthelper]

i agree with you benzito, and there have been cases wher people decided to remove or edit there posts long time after they were posted.

proly it's better to leave it how it is now, but as said there could be downsides to this aswell.

the example of a plant becoming ilegal has some merit, however i don't think than anybody ever edited his/her salvia or kratom posts on our forums...

i think discussing this subject is a good idea, that's all i know.

[Benzito]

i think discussing this subject is a good idea, that's all i know.

You are definitely right PH, that's the best way to come to a group agreement! So, who else has an opinion on this matter?

[CyberCat]

I think it's always good to be able to re-edit your posts. But you should only do it for certain reasons.

I think editing shouldn't be restricted, just for safety's sake. If someone needs to removing incriminating evidence from a post, they want to be able to do it instantly. They wouldn't want to have to wait for a moderator to do it for them. It really just comes down to 'forum etiquette' I think, in the end....

I think editing should be allowed on your posts anytime and without time limit. Whether for correcting mistakes, updating information or removing incriminating evidence.

[CyberCat]

Wait a minute? There is an "EDIT" button on my posts. Check your board settings planthelper?

[Benzito]

You might not be able to edit posts from the really old forum.

Cybercat: this forum has actually gone through about 4 or so different incarnations over the years, but Torsten has always kept the old posts when moving to the newer software, so they may not actually be compatible with each other for editing purposes?

[planthelper]

ahem, there seems to be some confusion so let's clear it up.

tort's shaman-australis and other forums allowe you to edit old posts, meaning the edit button does never dissapear. the edit button even survived all reincarnations.

but, thenook forum doesn't allowe late editing.

i started this thread so we can find out if we like it the way it is, or not.

have i created confusion here or what, hahahahahah? :D

[Torsten]

I don't like people editing because it often makes the rest of the thread incomprehensible. I remember one member insulting another which drew a sharp reaction from the second member. By the time I saw the thread the first member had edited and I nearly banned the second member for his 'unprovoked' abuse.

This situation and many others which are much less severe are the most common problem with editing. However, there are compelling reason for allowing editing and these override my other concerns. These include all the reasons mentioned by others above.

You also get the occasional dick who deletes all his posts in protest. We've only had one moron like that here (Lambo), but I've seen it on other forums too. Again, as long as these things don't become a disruptive problem I think we can live with it.

[planthelper]

i guess, editing with additional info on a later date is not as good as replying with a new post.

in cases where it's very sensible to edit the old post, one ought to place a remark what has been changed, like: late edit original 00,5%, corrected to 0,5%.

sometimes members like to edit there remarks, the day after the inebritation took place, which sort of reduces the fun factor, that's why it's good to use the quote button at times, lol.