Is it remotely possible that we could have an edit facility, please?

[SamanthaFox]

Have discussed this with a few people but not sure what the general consensus would be.

I think it would solve a lot of the issues surrounding people wanting their posts deleted from the past, and thus save MNHQ a lot of time - also if someone said something offensive on a thread, you guys could still delete it if you felt the need, but equally people could ask the person concerned to retract their statement.

It would bring self moderation to the fore.

What do you think? I'd appreciate it for typo purposes alone.

The problem with having an edit function is that then people can go back and completely changed what they said, just to make themselves look better, IYSWIM. Would be especially confusing for AIBU.

So I would not like an edit function.

Unless (and I know a site that does this) that it has a time limit. I.e. you have 15 minutes from the time of posting to edit your post, which would be great for editing typos, but would probably not lead to a total change of post.

Or if the edit put a timestamp & comment on it?

this post was edited by TheHeathenOfSuburbia on Wed 05-May-10 13:57:32

You can have a timestamp, that usually works.

Also I see your point Tee but taking it a little bit further, once someone had started an AIBU and had several responses along the lines of 'YABU you silly person' with a bit more detail, then went and changed their post, everyone would just go 'er - hang on, you said such and such earlier, you have changed it!' and hopefully the arguments against the bit they had changed would help ascertain who was telling the truth.

It would be pointless changing something after the fact.

A timestamp would help a lot though.

I don't like the time limit, though - it would negate the thing about going back a few years later and deleting your own stuff.

If only If ONLY if ONLY.

I have brought this up hundreds of times. MN think that it would ruin the flow of the threads

This facility is available on other fora, including one I often visit and people do not edit their posts so often, or to such an extent that it's not possible to follow the conversation. Very occasionally a poster can edit out details they might have overshared. In an argument, people DON'T edit their posts because if they do, other posters NOTICE and haul them up on it. and... on the forum I'm referring to, people can edit without and EDIT stamp coming up!! and they STILL don't abuse it!

It would be useful and sensible though to protect people's identities, and to rein in over share for example.

A few years later?!?!? Seriously? You would want to do that?

I belong to several boards where you can edit and/or delete what you post. And what happens is a huge 'you said' 'no I did not' argument after a post has been edited. It gets so bad that people have begun copying and pasting the OP and subsequent posts into their reply just so that the person has to own what they said.

Please, no edit function, MNHQ

There is already a preview button and a button to report posts...

We all have a safe MN name, we don't have to share any information and if you don't want info to be in the public domain, then perhaps it shouldn't be posted in the first place!!

Sorry, an edit button isn't the answer

That never happens on the very argumentative board I vist Tee2072.

It's not safe though. I thought I was being very careful, I even through in some red herrings here and there to protect my identity and some loon still outed me. Now I just have to live with knowing that that loon who wished me ill enough to out me, has access to all the posts I thought were anonymous.

It's not a good situation to have NO control over.

I see the potential pitfalls but the lesser of two evils would be to have the ability to edit a posts. Maybe posters could have a number of edits, like lives, per day. That would 'save' them. But it wouldn't enable people to go round changing things,

Then you are very lucky, Magaly. Cuz it happens all the time on the boards I'm on.

Just today, actually, someone actually deleted the OP after they got answers they didn't like. So now people who didn't read it before it was deleted are going 'um, what? what's going on?' and getting very angry about it.

Ok, while I was just trying to write a post, I pressed something on the keyboard with my hand, by mistake, and up came a page which actually enabled me to edit the entire thread. I don't know what it was - it was very spooky, and anyway I tried editing one of my own posts, and then didn't know how to save it so I clicked on exit and it disappeared.

I would love to know what that was.

Jeeesus!!! It works!

Oh dear, no it doesn't - only until the page is refreshed.

But still, I copied my own post. Here:

By SamanthaFox Wed 05-May-10 13:58:19
I didn't actually say that, Tee...as you can see by my lovingly edited post.

so to me, it looked like I had edited it. But no one else can see it.

Sounds like you hit preview.

"it would negate the thing about going back a few years later and deleting your own stuff"

I'm sorry but that's a ridiculous idea.

The option to edit crops up every now and again on MN and it's always dismissed. IIRC because of the whole thing about it amending the flow of a thread, causing confusion etc etc. I@ve seen it in other places and it's really confusing when someone deletes their entire post in a fit of pique or edits it beyond recognition.

No there shouldn't be an edit function. If people change what they wrote it could make a thread seem utter nonsense later when you read back. eg someone posts an OP about eastern europeans, next 150 posters say "bigotted woman" etc. OP edits their OP. 150 posters look like they overreacted.

Rene I disagree - I think the OP would look like they changed it, actually!

Network Guy - it was actually development tools in IE8.

Good fun even if only used to make it look like Daftpunk said 'i am a ickle fwuffy bunny wabbit, please love me' in the middle of a BNP debate.

also, I guess people would start copying the OP into their responses, just to be sure.

I can see how having loads of 'quote' posts would interfere with the flow, though.

Maybe you are all right.

But I just wish they would get on and delete the stuff I have asked them to, which yes is a few years old but all the same it needs to go.

No, don't like this idea

I think what you write should stay there

The facilities we have to delete individual posts (or entire threads in exceptional circs) has it just right

someone sugggested this on a thread just like this, so can we have the option to add to existing posts without changing them

so OP: AIBU to hate my MIL
P1: Yes YABVU
P2: and a bigot
OP: yes, sorry you are right
P3: what a cow you are
P4: ooh I hope your sons' wives never treat you like this
P5: THE OP SHOULD BE SHOT
etc

would become

so OP at 13:00: AIBU to hate my MIL
at 14:00 yes, sorry, I am right
P1: Yes YABVU
P2: and a bigot
OP: yes, sorry you are right
P3: errr

or alternitively:

so so OP at 13:00: AIBU to hate my MIL
at 14:00 did I mention she ate my hamster?
P1: Yes YABVU
P2: and a bigot
OP: see OP - there's more to this
P3: what a cow you are
P4: ooh I hope your sons' wives never treat you like this
P5: THE OP SHOULD BE SHOT
etc

sorry obviously that last one should have the shouting taken out

Hopefully you grt the drift

What about a quote function? A lot of times in the heavier debates people are quoted but it doesn't stand out as such because it's just c&p. I'm not in favour of an edit function though. It's bad enough when people dereg and their posts disappear.

What do you define as amending, Lapin? Sorry you have lost me!