Updating or Editing Posts

[Robsey]

Hi All,

On one of the other forums that I visit, there is no time limit for being able to edit or delete your own posts.

But on most forums, you are given 15 minutes, and then your post is "cast in stone".
This can be very frustrating for many reasons.

I often edit my posts many times because my spelling is wrong, or what I write does not make sense.

Or I delete one of my posts because I have had a change of heart, or realise that I mis-read a question...

And my biggest bug-bear - failed picture / image links.
Because we ask you to host pictures off site, sometimes the links become broken or we get subject to things like the Photobucket fiasco a few years ago.

So - I have changed the settings to allow forum members the option to go back through their own topics and make sensible changes and to repair, replace or remove links.

I am not sure whether to allow this "amnesty" for a few weeks, few months or to keep it permanently.

I suppose it all depends upon how people use this facility.

I am not asking you to do a mass delete of all your unwanted or embarrassing posts.
They are just life. We all make mistakes or bloopers.
They give the forum character.

No, this is simply to allow you to do some housekeeping of older posts should you wish to do so.

[vexorg]

I think it depends on the forum users you have, forums are dying a death anyway, so most that stilll use them want to keep something for future reference.

I can never see the appeal of facebook to car nutters, you can never find anything once viewed, then need to scroll through endless amounts of junk and adverts in any hope of finding old info.

[James McGrath]

I was considering making this change myself Rob.
I noticed that the editing function was off entirely the other day so reinstated the 15 minute rule.

I'm all for allowing edits permanently, I remember what a pain it was before I became a moderator.
My only worry is if people start drastically changing their post, especially if people have already replied to them.
Let's see how it goes.

[Robsey]

It is as David said...
It depends on the members and if / how they use the function.

On the flip side, I have found a few occasions where I realised that I had got the wrong end of the stick, and so I had given totally useless or incorrect information.

I have had a few members asking for the ability to repair their threads after the picture links have gone awry.

From my own experience...
A lot of my early threads on Vectra-C.com are now completely ruined as the images have now gone.
The threads barely make sense anymore.