Time limit for edit feature on posts

[Rick H.]

I am wondering if there has been a change in the edit feature? I made a post this morning and then went back about an hour later to add a thought to it and found the edit button was not there any longer.

I made four or five editing changes during the first hour that it was up . . . so I'm wondering if there is possibly a time limit now for this, or maybe it is a fluke?

Thank you.

In Christ,
Rick

[M.C. Steenberg]

Dear Rick, you asked:


I am wondering if there has been a change in the edit feature? I made a post this morning and then went back about an hour later to add a thought to it and found the edit button was not there any longer.

We have changed the settings of this feature, as of last week; the current guidance for post editing is in the Community Handbook here (http://www.monachos.net/forum/faq.php?faq=vb_read_and_post#faq_hb_edit).

In summary, we've lowered the time period in which posts can be edited after posting, to 1 hour from first posting (this being changed from 24 hours). The after-posting editing feature is really intended to be used for minor things such as the correction of typos that might have been missed with the Preview Post feature before the post is actually submitted; or to add a quick afterthought of the kind that sometimes strikes the moment one clicks the 'Submit Post' button. However, the Post Edit History feature (available to be reviewed on all posts that have been edited) has shown that it's become fairly common for posts to be altered -- sometimes in quite notable ways: adding new materials, etc. -- long after a message is first posted. While this might seem convenient in a certain light, in on-line discussions it's actually not desirable, as in that period of time, many people will already have read the post in its first/earlier form, and won't go back to view revisions. The end result is that differing people read different comments, which isn't terribly conducive to discussions in the medium.

(Your own post, Rick, would have been a case in point: I read your first version only a few minutes after you posted it; had you then gone and changed / added to it, I wouldn't have seen those changes, as I'd already read the post and would have had no reason to go back to it.)

I would encourage people to read the handbook section on editing posts after they've been submitted (http://www.monachos.net/forum/faq.php?faq=vb_read_and_post#faq_hb_edit), which contains some further thoughts on this practical issue. If, after making a post, it occurs that some useful information has been left out, or something else might be considered, it is better to make a second post in the thread.

INXC, Dcn Matthew

[Rick H.]

Dear Fr. Dcn. Matthew,

This sounds very good. Thanks for the explanation, and thanks again for keeping our tools sharp here!

In Christ,
Rick