As per title, I am wondering if you can edit some of your old posts because they become 'locked' after a while. I would like to do so for legitimate reasons, such as to delete outdated or unnecessary attachments, update picture links, make corrections, etc.
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Please review our updated Terms and Rules here
Editing posts after a while
- Thread starter s3freak
- Start date
daver2
10k Member
Nope...
I think you have 60 minutes (or so). After that, posts become locked.
Dave
I think you have 60 minutes (or so). After that, posts become locked.
Dave
As a corollary, it's been well known for forum members (not necessarily here) to purposely go back and vandalize their posts because they're having a tiff with an admin.
That's a reason to lock posts.
There's nothing stopping folks from updating the thread with new information.
If the data is that bad, ask an admin to change it.
That's a reason to lock posts.
There's nothing stopping folks from updating the thread with new information.
If the data is that bad, ask an admin to change it.
daver2
10k Member
Read (and correct if necessary) your text after posting.
If the post becomes outdated, post an update later. Posts are a snapshot in time anyhow. If the original author makes an error in a post (say a technical error) someone else could correct it, but they can’t edit the errant post either.
A reader of the thread should always read to the end, just to make sure they have the full picture.
It does make you think a bit more before posting. Keep to the point and don’t be discourteous or down right obnoxious!
Please don’t stop posting because you may make a mistake. That’s the way everyone learns...
Dave
If the post becomes outdated, post an update later. Posts are a snapshot in time anyhow. If the original author makes an error in a post (say a technical error) someone else could correct it, but they can’t edit the errant post either.
A reader of the thread should always read to the end, just to make sure they have the full picture.
It does make you think a bit more before posting. Keep to the point and don’t be discourteous or down right obnoxious!
Please don’t stop posting because you may make a mistake. That’s the way everyone learns...
Dave
I think it's more about not having control over one's own content. For that reason, I don't post everything I want to as well. This limitation means that you can not even post a progressive tutorial or something like that, which is a bummer.
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
What you stated may be true, but there are those who took advantage of the open editing feature in then past as caused a lot of problems. No one really like's the present policy but it is quite necessary on world-wide board such as this.
NeXT
Veteran Member
Welcome to The Internet.
This isn't Reddit. I am not saying you specifically are insecure but it's generally frowned upon historically if one goes around the Internet posting on forums and message boards, then goes back later and deletes everything because they don't want to leave a presence years later. I really wish I knew where this mindset came from in recent years. It's an extremely unhealthy way of socializing. The total notion moreso on a forum where a lot of knowledge is written is completely demented. Anyone who tries to follow whatever path you were taking be it some obscure piece of hardware or a repair gets completely screwed over when they find it ends with blank slates everywhere.
I understand Europe has laws regarding the right to be forgotten (which as a north american and part-time archivist I see as completely stupid) but its purpose is very destructive on smaller forums like this. Imagine what would of happened to Usenet.
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It's arguably not your content any more once you post it. It's part of the continuum that is the thread of discussion.
This board does not make clear the rights and right holders of a post. For example, Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange sites license everything under one of the Creative Commons licenses. And, as a contributor, you agree to licensing your content that way.
I know other boards where they explicitly take ownership of the content you post. As a contributor, you are adding to the board, and the value of the board. So, it's in the boards interest to maintain control.
Here, there's simply "© 2002-2019 Vintage Computer Federation, all rights reserved" on EVERY PAGE, which suggests that, indeed, the board retains copyright. But that's not made explicitly clear in, for example, the Board Rules, that as a contributor you are granting Copyright to the board. Maybe it was in the disclaimer thing we clicked through when we signed up. (It's not, I checked, it's just the same Forum Rules they have posted.)
But since this is the boilerplate we have, that's the way it is.
For example, the board could republish your work in a "Best threads of December 2020" news letter, or simply redistributing it via an RSS feed. That's all publishing, and the board needs the rights to the work to do that.
We're all friendly here, so "nobody cares". No doubt the editing limitation showed up simply because of some bad actors in the past. "This is why we can't have nice things."
But when push comes to shove, this is the board resources, their publishing platform, and, at the moment, "their" content -- we just write it.
If you want to own your content, start a blog on a platform that respects your rights as a creator.
And if you want to do a progressive tutorial, do a progressive tutorial. Magazines in the past have done that for ages. And they publish errata when things go awry. At least here, folks can respond directly. And if you have a real issue with a post, contact and admin.
And if someone wants to ask an admin to clarify their IP stance, that'd be super duper too. But, I'm not going to ask, it's not that important to me.
SomeGuy
Veteran Member
On a discussion board like this, it becomes very problematic when someone changes a post that others have already replied to. If it changes the context, it could even twist the meaning of the replies.
There is also the very nasty problem that spammers can make valid looking (but usually dumb) posts and then go back and insert spam later. Since edits might not show up as a new post, depending on the forum software, they go unnoticed.
Also, what happens if an account gets broken in to? They could delete all of someone's old content. Or even a regular user having a bad day might decided to "rage quit" and delete all of their old (and possibly useful) content. It happens.
So, time limits are what we are given. It is enough to fix typos or add bits of information without the need to make rapid multiple posts.
When we make posts, we just need to plan how we structure things so "changes" are addressed by new posts. For example, a For Sale thread might start off with a list and then additional posts either list items as sold or re-post a new revised list.
While it is never perfect, it usually works well enough.
I certainly feel the pain over dead image links. That is why I don't trust any image hosting site any more, and just add images directly in to the forum, even if I have to manually size them down. When I had some posts like that, I just apologetically added another post with new attachments.
If there is a SERIOUS problem with an old post, such as dead links pointing to spam or porn, alert a moderator.
There is also the very nasty problem that spammers can make valid looking (but usually dumb) posts and then go back and insert spam later. Since edits might not show up as a new post, depending on the forum software, they go unnoticed.
Also, what happens if an account gets broken in to? They could delete all of someone's old content. Or even a regular user having a bad day might decided to "rage quit" and delete all of their old (and possibly useful) content. It happens.
So, time limits are what we are given. It is enough to fix typos or add bits of information without the need to make rapid multiple posts.
When we make posts, we just need to plan how we structure things so "changes" are addressed by new posts. For example, a For Sale thread might start off with a list and then additional posts either list items as sold or re-post a new revised list.
While it is never perfect, it usually works well enough.
I certainly feel the pain over dead image links. That is why I don't trust any image hosting site any more, and just add images directly in to the forum, even if I have to manually size them down. When I had some posts like that, I just apologetically added another post with new attachments.
If there is a SERIOUS problem with an old post, such as dead links pointing to spam or porn, alert a moderator.
Yes, that has happened here.
Pretty sure that's happened as well.
Has absolutely happened, and I believe an incident I am thinking about is the main reason why edit limits were put in place.
Absolutely, and it is very unlikely that a mod won't do this for you.
vwestlife
Veteran Member
I'm pretty sure the troublemaker(s) who caused the post editing window to be locked down are no longer active on the forum. One in particular who comes to mind hasn't posted anything here since 2018.
Of course it's up to the moderators and admins, but perhaps this decision can be revisited.
Of course it's up to the moderators and admins, but perhaps this decision can be revisited.
SomeGuy
Veteran Member
Problem is, there are ALWAYS new trouble makers waiting in the wings and they will strike when least expected. On top of that, spammers are getting a lot more creative these days.
maxtherabbit
Veteran Member
The people in this thread arguing in defense of the existing policy are (willfully) ignorant of the simple fact the people just don't read the entirety of long threads. Usually they read the OP and most recent posts and skim the middle. Being able to keep the OP up to date is vital to accurate dissemination of information in an ongoing process
Shockingly, different people use the forums in different ways with no universal truth covering all of them.
If you want to change a post, contact a moderator. If the moderators discover that everyone is constantly updating old posts, maybe they'll go "Boy, this sure is a lot of work" and remove the limitation. Or, maybe remove the limitation for just one person, or perhaps for just one thread.
Or, when you create a thread that you think may be dynamic, perhaps adding a disclaimer at the top to "As new information comes along, we'll be adding followups in this thread". That may act as a signal to folks reading a 5 year old topic that, perhaps, something has changed and they may want to dig in to the later messages.
You'd think "Well, I've been here a long time, and have made 100s or 1000s of posts. I'm surely trustworthy! They'll let ME edit my posts!". But that's the dichotomy. Historically, people that have done vandalism have been long time users. That's why they CHOOSE to do it. "I'm so mad, I've made so much contribution to this place, boy, they're going to miss me! That'll learn 'em!" and trash years and years of threads and topics.
It's not just rogue spammers.
So.
If you need to change a thread starter, or any post, talk to an admin. If you have to do it "a lot", then perhaps y'all can work something out.
Otherwise, just be cognizant of the limitations of post editing when you start new threads.
If you want to change a post, contact a moderator. If the moderators discover that everyone is constantly updating old posts, maybe they'll go "Boy, this sure is a lot of work" and remove the limitation. Or, maybe remove the limitation for just one person, or perhaps for just one thread.
Or, when you create a thread that you think may be dynamic, perhaps adding a disclaimer at the top to "As new information comes along, we'll be adding followups in this thread". That may act as a signal to folks reading a 5 year old topic that, perhaps, something has changed and they may want to dig in to the later messages.
You'd think "Well, I've been here a long time, and have made 100s or 1000s of posts. I'm surely trustworthy! They'll let ME edit my posts!". But that's the dichotomy. Historically, people that have done vandalism have been long time users. That's why they CHOOSE to do it. "I'm so mad, I've made so much contribution to this place, boy, they're going to miss me! That'll learn 'em!" and trash years and years of threads and topics.
It's not just rogue spammers.
So.
If you need to change a thread starter, or any post, talk to an admin. If you have to do it "a lot", then perhaps y'all can work something out.
Otherwise, just be cognizant of the limitations of post editing when you start new threads.
vwestlife
Veteran Member
So what is the post editing window now? I remember right after the ruckus a few years ago, it got reduced to 5 minutes, and when people complained that that wasn't enough, it got extended to 15 minutes. Is it an hour now, as someone mentioned?
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
A hour would be sweet.