Edit Function is Enabled Again.. W/ a New Rule

[Will Prowse]

We were having some problems previously with people editing their past posts in arguments/disagreements. People would get angry, and edit whatever they wanted to.

So for a few weeks, we enabled a time limit for the edit function (10 hours). People complained, but this fixed a lot of problems.

But... this is a DIY forum, which means new information/products come out often, and we need to go back and edit out older posts.

Now for the update:
Editing is now enabled for all members, but if people call each other mean names/ use condescending language/ or is being a general pain in the ass, they will be banned.

I do not want to limit the exchange of useful solar information just because a couple full-grown adults cannot maturely handle discourse. 99.9% of members reading this will never have to deal with this anyway, but the .1% have now been warned.

If you see someone talking down to you because you are a beginner with solar power, please report them. If someone edits their own comment immaturely, report the post and I will deal with it.

 

[Dzl]

We were having some problems previously with people editing their past posts in arguments/disagreements. People would get angry, and edit whatever they wanted to.

So for a few weeks, we enabled a time limit for the edit function (10 hours). People complained, but this fixed a lot of problems.

But... this is a DIY forum, which means new information/products come out often, and we need to go back and edit out older posts.

Now for the update:
Editing is now enabled for all members, but if people call each other mean names/ use condescending language/ or is being a general pain in the ass, they will be banned.

I do not want to limit the exchange of useful solar information just because a couple full-grown adults cannot maturely handle discourse. 99.9% of members reading this will never have to deal with this anyway, but the .1% have now been warned.

If you see someone talking down to you because you are a beginner with solar power, please report them. If someone edits their own comment immaturely, report the post and I will deal with it.

And as a best practice, consider using strikethough rather than deleting content from your original post unless there is a clear reason to do so, and adding "edit:" and italicizing content that you add after making the original post. This is more transparent and makes it easier to follow the flow of a conversation. Obviously there will be cases where these practices don't make sense to use, but in general, its good forum etiquette unless the edit is purely style or grammar, or the post is clearly meant to be dynamic and edited frequently.

edit: and as a sidenote, as someone who is incapable of not editing my posts and even more incapable of taking a few seconds to proofread and reflect on my comments before posting, I appreciate the edit functionality being extended. ?

 

[JeepHammer]

And as a best practice, consider using strikethough rather than deleting content from your original post unless there is a clear reason to do so, and adding "edit:" and italicizing content that you add after making the original post. This is more transparent and makes it easier to follow the flow of a conversation. Obviously there will be cases where these practices don't make sense to use, but in general, its good forum etiquette unless the edit is purely style or grammar, or the post is clearly meant to be dynamic and edited frequently.

edit: and as a sidenote, as someone who is incapable of not editing my posts and even more incapable of taking a few seconds to proofread and reflect on my comments before posting, I appreciate the edit functionality being extended. ?

My spiel-choker didn't catch my bad english/spelling/fat finger mistakes, and auto-fill changed Disney to Divorce, so now your mother and I have to get divorced at Disney... We already made reservations...

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The biggest complaints I get from those I choose to help (on every forum, not just this one)...

Stop beating up on the newbies, everyone starts somewhere and learning an entirely different language (Jargon Spewers, Vmp/Voc/Imp/etc) is NOT a prerequisite for asking simple questions to get started.
Requiring a newbie to do so is an ego problem on the Jargon Spewer's part, not the newbie's fault.

Someone asking for help finding something specific is a 'Group Search' thing, If you don't want to participate then don't comment, it has nothing to do with you, move on.

Unless you see something that is patently DANGEROUS, in which case you can be direct,
It's NOT YOUR STUFF, so what someone else does isn't about YOU.
Make suggestions, what *YOU* (personally) might do if you were in the same position,
AND EXPLAIN IN AS PLAIN OF ENGLISH AS YOU CAN MUSTER, no need to show your 'Superiority' by Jargon Spewing.
An example to consider instead of what the other person MUST do *IN YOUR OPINION* because, it's simply not your stuff/system no matter *Your Opinion*.
(It's not about YOU. -- Dr. Phil )

Stick to the actual question asked.
Tangents only confuse/distract from what the Original Poster (OP) wanted to know.
The OP has the floor, it's NOT your thread, stay on subject or move on... It's no skin off your butt either way, so why comment on EVERY THREAD when it's off topic anyway?

I'm just another squirrel trying to find nuts for winter, so if you disagree, you are entitled to that opinion, just reporting what complaints people bother to write about, that's if they don't just leave because they feel unwelcome.

 

[Will Prowse]

My spiel-choker didn't catch my bad english/spelling/fat finger mistakes, and auto-fill changed Disney to Divorce, so now your mother and I have to get divorced at Disney... We already made reservations...

--------------------------

The biggest complaints I get from those I choose to help (on every forum, not just this one)...

Stop beating up on the newbies, everyone starts somewhere and learning an entirely different language (Jargon Spewers, Vmp/Voc/Imp/etc) is NOT a prerequisite for asking simple questions to get started.
Requiring a newbie to do so is an ego problem on the Jargon Spewer's part, not the newbie's fault.

Someone asking for help finding something specific is a 'Group Search' thing, If you don't want to participate then don't comment, it has nothing to do with you, move on.

Unless you see something that is patently DANGEROUS, in which case you can be direct,
It's NOT YOUR STUFF, so what someone else does isn't about YOU.
Make suggestions, what *YOU* (personally) might do if you were in the same position,
AND EXPLAIN IN AS PLAIN OF ENGLISH AS YOU CAN MUSTER, no need to show your 'Superiority' by Jargon Spewing.
An example to consider instead of what the other person MUST do *IN YOUR OPINION* because, it's simply not your stuff/system no matter *Your Opinion*.
(It's not about YOU. -- Dr. Phil )

Stick to the actual question asked.
Tangents only confuse/distract from what the Original Poster (OP) wanted to know.
The OP has the floor, it's NOT your thread, stay on subject or move on... It's no skin off your butt either way, so why comment on EVERY THREAD when it's off topic anyway?

I'm just another squirrel trying to find nuts for winter, so if you disagree, you are entitled to that opinion, just reporting what complaints people bother to write about, that's if they don't just leave because they feel unwelcome.

Yeah I will clean those threads up from now on. Report any posts that go on a crazy tangent.

 

[Maast]

I actually think that putting a lock on old posts is a good idea, only make it something like a couple weeks.

Something I've seen repeatedly on other forums is somebody gets their butt hurt, deletes their old posts info and leaves in a huff. In the process removing info that was valuable to other forum members and thus valuable to the forum host.

Something people don't seem to realize is once you post something to a public forum it becomes either public domain, or is owned by the hoster of that forum unless there is specific legal declaration in the post of ownership of the information so posted - and even then I dont think a declaration would hold up in any court.

 

[Dzl]

I actually think that putting a lock on old posts is a good idea, only make it something like a couple weeks.

Something I've seen repeatedly on other forums is somebody gets their butt hurt, deletes their old posts info and leaves in a huff. In the process removing info that was valuable to other forum members and thus valuable to the forum host.

Something people don't seem to realize is once you post something to a public forum it becomes either public domain, or is owned by the hoster of that forum unless there is specific legal declaration in the post of ownership of the information so posted - and even then I dont think a declaration would hold up in any court.

I get where you are coming from, but on the other hand (and especially on forums with technical content or where people document ongoing projects), the ability to update the the original post continuously as new data is found or as a project develops is super important. It makes a long multiyear project much more readable, as all the most important information or a table of contents can be added to the original post and you don't have to read through a hundred pages of comments to find all the most important information.

At least keeping the original post open to editing is important, whether comments are editable long term or not is not as important to me, but the OP should be able to edit the original post indefinitely in my opinion.

 

[Picasso]

I reserve this space to edit my opinion should I be sponsored to do so.