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Hi Doug,The edit function is still present on my posts, but from memory there is a time limit on Private Messages/Conversations. After that, you are unable to edit the content.
You can't?And removing the ability to delete your own past posts has privacy implications for people who may wish to not be known by their past mistakes.
Hi @H Richards,
the change was made because some members were re-editing quite historic posts and significantly changing content & context.
You have two possible solutions: Copy & paste your previous data into a new post in the thread and enter your up-dates. Or, the solution we would encourage, create your list as a Resource in the resources section ie. as a Word document. Resources can be re-edited at any time.
Anytime you do update the resource you can post notice in the original thread.
Thanks for your efforts in providing this useful information.
Nope, they got rid of that too. You have one week to delete any post you're not 100% happy with before it gets set in stone!You can't?
Thanks Tincatinker, I can work around things with the resources, as you say. It's not a huge issue. However not being able to go back and delete or clean up your own old posts I do have a problem with. Hasn't everyone written things in the past that upon sober reflection they think would have been better left unsaid? !I've just run a test on stuff I posted in January and can delete it without a problem. Maybe a Mod perk, I wouldn't know, I just press the buttons. As @VNwalking suggests a request to a Mod or a Report on a post will get our attention.
Posting a resource is still the best solution when we're dealing with useful information that may change over time. Otherwise someone using the Search function might find out-of-date information.
Part of the issue is that once they are posted on the forum your words become part of a much wider conversation. They do not stand in isolation. People read them and then reply. Conversations start with a seed - the original post - and can then branch out in all directions. If someone comes along later and deletes the original post then much of what follows can become incoherent and meaningless.However not being able to go back and delete your own old posts I do have a problem with. Hasn't everyone written things in the past that upon sober reflection they think would have been better left unsaid? !
Yes, I see what you mean. Hmmm...Part of the issue is that once they are posted on the forum your words become part of a much wider conversation. They do not stand in isolation. People read them and then reply. Conversations start with a seed - the original post - and can then branch out in all directions. If someone comes along later and deletes the original post then much of what follows can become incoherent and meaningless.
Well, the commonest parental response fits: "because."On a more philosophical note, why does it have to be the way of the world that when a tiny percentage of people abuse a privilege, everyone else has to have theirs taken away?
Good point.People could easily reply to their own earlier post and update it with their current thoughts. This would also have the benefit to them of the new post being spotted as opposed to an ancient one that people are not watching being changed being overlooked.
Makes sense to me.I wrote Ivar about this a little while ago. Edits will work for a week. The change was made in response to a serious abuse.
I DO have fat fingers! Sometimes I do not notice my typo until way later when someone "likes" an old post of mine.Good to know. Thanks, all.
Lol.... Maybe now we'll all be extra-careful about spelling things correctly, because after a week our carelessness (or ignorance) is set in stone and in full display.
I think a week should be long enough to figure out our own mistakes.Nope, they got rid of that too. You have one week to delete any post you're not 100% happy with before it gets set in stone!
You're assuming I go back to check, but it's often only when I reread stuff ages later!I think a week should be long enough to figure out our own mistakes.
Me, too. It usually only happens when someone quotes me..."usually" within a week.You're assuming I go back to check, but it's often only when I reread stuff ages later!
That would be good, rather than 'Edited by moderator ' which could imply a post had been disapproved. Like your suggestion☺I would like to suggest that anyone who wants to edit an old post contact a mod with the edited material, we can then add an "Edited by author" to the post with any new information and this action will not affect the original flow of the thread but will include the up to date information.
Just an idea.
I have learnt something. Thank you.I wrote Ivar about this a little while ago. Edits will work for a week. The change was made in response to a serious abuse.
I've just discovered moderators can read our 'deleted' content...nothing is truly gone in cyber space! The way I look at it is we can't edit text messages after they've been sent...& how many of us would like to do that?!I think a week should be long enough to figure out our own mistakes.
I would take the view that any moderator intervention should be tagged as 'Edited by moderator'. What could be added is something like 'at member's request'. That would make it plain that this wasn't done to ensure that a post complied with the forum rules.That would be good, rather than 'Edited by moderator ' which could imply a post had been disapproved. Like your suggestion☺
I've deleted many of my messages, sometimes after 5 minutes, sometimes after 2 days, sometimes much later. Mostly because I considered them redundant in the first place or past their sell date at a later point in time. It's obvious that people very rarely read a thread that is several months or years or decades old in its entirety. They react to the first or last message in a thread.The forum is like the rest of the Internet. Bad information will live forever with no ability to correct it. A very shortsighted policy change.
Forum software comes as a package and has limited ability to cater for every individuals needs even some think it should, so the administrator and mods have to operate within those software limitations. In view of the fact that mass deletions of threads and posts can take us several days to undo I think that this change is not a big deal and as stated above can be sorted.The forum is like the rest of the Internet. Bad information will live forever with no ability to correct it. A very shortsighted policy change. All they had to do was to put in place some type of alert function when someone was editing a post (i.e. when you edit a post you have to say why you were editing it and that fact is reflected in the post - show the edit's as changes). Pretty simple IT functionality but it does require some work and thought to engineer. I would think that it is important the all information on this forum be as accurate as possible. People do searches and pull up information that is either out of date or flat out wrong. I know that's a risk of any forum, but removing the ability to go back and correct past mistakes is at best shortsighted.
I'm with you 100% here, John. To be clear, I'm not really talking about spotting old spelling mistakes and correcting them. I'm talking about posting something which I later reread and think was boorish or misinformed and probably just reflected the fact I was having a bad day!The forum is like the rest of the Internet. Bad information will live forever with no ability to correct it. A very shortsighted policy change. All they had to do was to put in place some type of alert function when someone was editing a post (i.e. when you edit a post you have to say why you were editing it and that fact is reflected in the post - show the edit's as changes). Pretty simple IT functionality but it does require some work and thought to engineer. I would think that it is important the all information on this forum be as accurate as possible. People do searches and pull up information that is either out of date or flat out wrong. I know that's a risk of any forum, but removing the ability to go back and correct past mistakes is at best shortsighted.
This unfortunately will now be balanced out by a new rash of people pestering the mods to make edits and delete posts for them, so I'm not sure this is a net win in that respect!Forum software comes as a package and has limited ability to cater for every individuals needs even some think it should, so the administrator and mods have to operate within those software limitations. In view of the fact that mass deletions of threads and posts can take us several days to undo I think that this change is not a big deal and as stated above can be sorted.
Thanks Ivar. A month is hugely preferable to a week in my opinion!Dear all,
Yes, I did change this about a week ago or so... we had a member that started deleting a lot of older posts making older thread unreadable.. so I set a limit to 7 days, we can make it 1 month if this is better for people.. but my thinking was that after a week, most users do not come back and read old posts they have posted themselves and starts editing. But I might be wrong.
Believe me a few PM's from members for adding content or editing a post would be preferable to spending a weekend sorting a mass deletion. It would be a net win for me anyway.This unfortunately will now be balanced out by a new rash of people pestering the mods to make edits and delete posts for them, so I'm not sure this is a net win in that respect!
The last I remember (approx. a month ago) it wasn't possible to post .docx files even in PMs but .pdf worked fine.... Or, the solution we would encourage, create your list as a Resource in the resources section ie. as a Word document. ...
There you are!...nice to see you back in town!The last I remember (approx. a month ago) it wasn't possible to post .docx files even in PMs but .pdf worked fine.
The forum is like the rest of the Internet. Bad information will live forever with no ability to correct it. A very shortsighted policy change. All they had to do was to put in place some type of alert function when someone was editing a post (i.e. when you edit a post you have to say why you were editing it and that fact is reflected in the post - show the edit's as changes). Pretty simple IT functionality but it does require some work and thought to engineer. I would think that it is important the all information on this forum be as accurate as possible. People do searches and pull up information that is either out of date or flat out wrong. I know that's a risk of any forum, but removing the ability to go back and correct past mistakes is at best shortsighted.
If this is the case, get in touch with me or a mod and we will of course delete the posts..I'm just thinking that maybe the member that deleted old posts might have had a valid reason to do so.
For example, and these are just off the top of my head, maybe they have applied for a job where the potential employer does a deep dive into their past activities, or perhaps that person is trying to remove, for whatever reason traces of their past travels (spouse legal reasons perhaps), of is on the run from the mafia, aliens or whatever. Maybe someone has passed on and the next of kin is tidying up? You can probably think of better reasons I'm sure. Defamation legal action?
I'm wondering if there was a good reason to remove old posts whether Ivan can give that person, and that person only, permission to edit old posts?
I'd like a month - plenty of time to tidy up typos and grammar.
In the meantime stay safe and behave yourselves for once eh?
Graham
Surely such changes to factual information could be dealt with by new posts advising forum members of the current circumstances such as names and prices. I don't see the changes that have been made limiting in any way our ability to share current information where that has changed from previous posts.Such a revision after the fact is regrettably no longer easily possible.
That assumes that they enter the post at the end of it, where the most recent posts are located. That's often not the case. If you search for a topic, or arrive via Google you may land on a totally different page. Many people won't be bothered to flick ahead and read all the subsequent posts, just to find out if there's been any revisions or corrections posted later.Surely such changes to factual information could be dealt with by new posts advising forum members of the current circumstances such as names and prices. I don't see the changes that have been made limiting in any way our ability to share current information where that has changed from previous posts.
While there is truth in this statement, the forum (nor any forum) is not designed for this purpose. It is designed and intended as a serious of conversations. Members need to be aware of these limitations, just as they need to know that the validity of any post is not guaranteed in any way. These are conversations among strangers, with virtually no management of content! We all need to understand this.The changes do significantly affect the users' ability to keep updated information together with where it was originally posted.
It seems to me that it is only no longer easily possible only if one assumes unresponsive moderators. That's an assumption I'm not ready to leap to just yet. In the new system, your response is the same - you see an error and you post a correction in the thread which the original poster may notice. The only difference is what happens after that.I make a significant proportion of my postings on the forum when I am on camino and wish to inform other members of changes or mistakes in information about the route or accommodations, for the sake of those who are about to come after me. When the price of a room has been raised significantly from what is in a recent post, or the name of a hotel in town is wrong on a thread (both changes/errors were present on forum threads which I consulted when I was walking the Invierno last fall) I want to let other pilgrims know. It is regrettable that information important to later pilgrims cannot easily be revised later on original posts, as this may lead to others, like myself, wandering around town looking for a hotel which does not exist. As it was, I eventually found the hotel, under a different name, and the original poster revised his thread about accommodations, which I otherwise found very useful. Such a revision after the fact is regrettably no longer easily possible.
Thank you for clarifying this. I fear that I am not very good at absorbing a change in procedures or at believing that others will understand it and take the time to follow the new procedure so as to keep the original post up to date. As this was a useful recent thread about accommodation on the Invierno, a route on which finding a place to stay sometimes took me a lot of effort, I was concerned that it remain useful to others. Thanks again.It seems to me that it is only no longer easily possible only if one assumes unresponsive moderators. That's an assumption I'm not ready to leap to just yet. In the new system, your response is the same - you see an error and you post a correction in the thread which the original poster may notice. The only difference is what happens after that.
In the old system, the original poster makes the edit directly in the "edit" text box, accessible by one click using the "edit" button. In the new system, the original poster clicks the "Report" button and describes the edit they'd like to make in the text box that then appears. It seems like an extra 30 to 60 seconds of effort to me, not some huge barrier. Perhaps I am missing something?
There is no expectation that people will update their old posts. If there were such an expectation, it would discourage people from contributing the information in the first place. Writers of guides need to spend a lot of time doing this, and fact-checking, to keep their guides current. The forum doesn't do this.that others will... take the time to follow the new procedure so as to keep the original post up to date.
Rick of Rick and Peg appended the following on March 11, 2020
I gave a link above to find the current conditions for the Camino del Norte. That link is now broken. Use the following instead.
That's a great idea Rick. Would love to see this implemented, if it was possible!I think that the following addresses editing concerns with what I think will be some easy programming (especially if the software provider can be persuaded to do it).
For posts that are deemed too old for a member to delete or edit then, as done presently, remove the delete option but change the edit option into an append option. This would accept new text to be added to the bottom of the post with some statement of who made the post and when. Members could then make apologies, correct mistakes or make useful additions without having to bother a moderator. That would let members and visitors using the search function to find correct information without having to read every post in the thread and of course a new post could also be added to the thread to alert members to the new information.
This is an example of what an appending could look like:
It sounds great, if the software provider for the off-the-shelf product Ivar is using can be persuaded to do it for his overall product. But if they can't, I don't think it would be feasible for Ivar to try and have done for this Forum alone. Even if we discount the effort required, it would make it a real challenge to keep up with software updates, as it would have to be applied to each new version and each time it would need to be tested to ensure it still worked and didn't break anything in the new version.I think that the following addresses editing concerns with what I think will be some easy programming (especially if the software provider can be persuaded to do it).
For posts that are deemed too old for a member to delete or edit then, as done presently, remove the delete option but change the edit option into an append option. This would accept new text to be added to the bottom of the post with some statement of who made the post and when. Members could then make apologies, correct mistakes or make useful additions without having to bother a moderator. That would let members and visitors using the search function to find correct information without having to read every post in the thread and of course a new post could also be added to the thread to alert members to the new information.
This is an example of what an appending could look like:
By the way, having the member's name included in the append box is so moderators can also do an append, in which case the moderator's name would appear.
As far as I understand you have a week to sober up, if it takes longer than that, a spelling mistake in a forum is probably the least of your worries.Thanks Tincatinker, I can work around things with the resources, as you say. It's not a huge issue. However not being able to go back and delete or clean up your own old posts I do have a problem with. Hasn't everyone written things in the past that upon sober reflection they think would have been better left unsaid? !
On a more philosophical note, why does it have to be the way of the world that when a tiny percentage of people abuse a privilege, everyone else has to have theirs taken away?
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