Why no post editing?

from Sins Forums

I've noticed that this site is very anti-post editting (no way to fix grammatical errors now).  I know of a couple other sites that are also anti-post editting.  Why is that and what is the policy and purpose behind not allowing users to edit posts?
4,655 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
If users can edit posts after others have already replied, they could completely change the meaning and context of those following replies.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
I'm very much in favour of post editing AND deleting (like on many forums).

I sometimes post when following an impulse, and it does happen that I regret my words (or composing the whole useless post in the first place).

It would « clean-up » the forum if we were able to edit & delete, at will.

The quote function would still guarantee that one's comments might be catched & conserved for reference.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
If users can edit posts after others have already replied, they could completely change the meaning and context of those following replies.
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There is also an issue where we can't edit a post we had just created, even if nobody else replied. :P

Edit: Or, possibly was since it works now and may have been resolved in this morning's update.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
If users can edit posts after others have already replied, they could completely change the meaning and context of those following replies.
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nearly all boards allow such edits and there is never a problem with it so i cant understand this argument.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
nearly all boards allow such edits and there is never a problem with it so i cant understand this argument.
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Well, the quality of the community and the level of active moderation are also factors. If a place like GameFAQ's, for example, was allowed to edit, the myriad arguments about nothing would probably devolve even further into a grand mess of 'Liar! I never said that!'

But, in a place like this where the moderators seem to be fairly active and the community isn't terribly aggressive, I don't think it'd be a major issue.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
If a place like GameFAQ's, for example, was allowed to edit, the myriad arguments about nothing would probably devolve even further into a grand mess of 'Liar! I never said that!'

But, in a place like this where the moderators seem to be fairly active and the community isn't terribly aggressive, I don't think it'd be a major issue.
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There's a solution to that, used by certain forums :


1. When you insert a quote in a reply, you cannot alter the quote in any manner.

(An editing you can unfortunately execute on this forum, which opens the door to modifying a quote to suit one's critical response. I've done it myself !)

2. The person quoted is named, and that information cannot be altered. So, if the quoted person edited or deleted his post, his name, associated with the quote, would signal to everybody that he did in fact say that, previously.

3. I somewhat disagree :

Here, it's the moderators who aren't « terribly aggressive ».

Go read the relatively recent thread concerning the 1.1 update :

It went totally off topic and was full of childish trolling & pseudo-mature countertrolling. No moderator stepped in to put a stop to that « orgy ». (Not that it disturbed me in the least.)

1.1 Preview??
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
Well, yes... occasional threads are less than civilized but by and large, this place is pretty damned tame compared to my usual haunts.

Of course, maybe I just hang out in the wrong circles. Who knows.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
But, in a place like this where the moderators seem to be fairly active and the community isn't terribly aggressive, I don't think it'd be a major issue.
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The thing to remember though is that our forums are spread across several sites, some of which are largely unmoderated (JoeUser).