Vector Tutorials: Can't Edit Posts

  • Thread starter _Mayday_
  • Start date
In summary, the editing period for posts has been shortened to 30 minutes, which may make it difficult for some users to make changes to their tutorials. However, there is still an option to edit by PMing a mentor or using the "report post" button. The reason for the shortened editing period is to prevent people from deleting their initial posts and losing the value of the thread. It is recommended to use a text editor for lengthy posts and to keep an electronic copy. While typos may still occur, they are not considered a major issue unless they significantly change the meaning of the post. The previous editing period was 24 hours, but it has been shortened to 30 minutes to prevent misuse of the edit function.
  • #1
_Mayday_
808
0
Hey All,

I've just written a thread on vector tutorials. I want to go back and edit a post and put in some questions for people to answer, with some answers but I can't!

_Mayday_
 
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  • #2
The editing period has been shortened to 30 minutes. If you wish to make some changes to a tutorial, then PM a mentor, or hit the "report post" button with the changes you want making.
 
  • #3
Sorry, let me rephrase, there isn't the option or button to let me edit!
 
  • #4
cristo said:
The editing period has been shortened to 30 minutes. If you wish to make some changes to a tutorial, then PM a mentor, or hit the "report post" button with the changes you want making.

Whats the editing period?
 
  • #5
_Mayday_ said:
Whats the editing period?

The editing period is the time in which you are permitted to edit your posts, after submission.
 
  • #6
Was there a reason for that? I am sure there was, the problem for me is that if I want to add to my tutorial, I'm going to need to keep bugging mods. I'll try my best to update it in bulk.

Thanks Cristo
 
  • #7
Some people were mis-using the edit function. Just make your corrections then pm the update to a mentor with a link to the thread, or you can copy the updates into a new post in the same thread and then just let a mentor know to delete the prior post.
 
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  • #8
Evo said:
just let a mnetor

You need to PM a Mentor, Evo; there's a typo in your post.
 
  • #9
Danger said:
You need to PM a Mentor, Evo; there's a typo in your post.
:rofl:
 
  • #10
Danger said:
You need to PM a Mentor, Evo; there's a typo in your post.

EDIT IT! :rofl:

I can understand why it has been done actually, I have seen cases where people just delete their initial post and then the thread loses any value.
 
  • #11
Hey, you don't want me editing it, I don't understand it. Now words I'd feel safe with. I saw Astronuc prowling around in reported posts, I am assuming he will do the edit.

Oh well he left without seeing it I guess.

Go check out what I did.

BTW, that's beautiful!
 
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  • #12
Looks good _Mayday_! Good job. I took care of a few more edits.


Let us know how you want it edited, and we'll take care of it. Just PM one of the mentors.


Also superscripts can be done with tags [ /sup] and subscripts with [ /sub] (just deleted space before /), just the way bold, italic and underline are done, i.e. it's not necssary to use tex.
 
  • #13
_Mayday_ said:
EDIT IT! :rofl:

I can understand why it has been done actually, I have seen cases where people just delete their initial post and then the thread loses any value.

That's exactly why it was done. It was getting to be a more and more common problem, so we had to shorten the edit time.

For editing tutorials, go ahead and just make the changes in new posts (you can quote your post and remove the quote tags if that makes it easier for you to make the changes). When you're satisfied with the version you have, report the post that is the version you want to keep as the final version, and we'll do the magic to move it where it belongs. I would just put a header on your other posts indicating they are edits in progress so folks don't get confused while you're working on it.
 
  • #14
I would recommend anyone doing a lengthy post to use a good text editor, e.g. TextPad.

One can then post and then do a post review. In some cases, spell check might help. If it doesn't look good, one can cancel the post (hit back button on browser) and do additional edit.

It also helps to retain an electronic copy of the post.
 
  • #15
I can definitely understand why the period was shortened. Aside from the 'missing original post', I've seen people go back and change something that they said in a debate in order to appear correct.
My only problem with it is purely a matter of egotism. Every once in a while a typo slips by unnoticed until it's too late. I'm not about to pester a Mentor about fixing something like that (unless it changes the meaning of the post). I just assume that people reading will realize that it's (usually :uhh:) bad typing rather than stupidity.
 
  • #16
Danger said:
I can definitely understand why the period was shortened. Aside from the 'missing original post', I've seen people go back and change something that they said in a debate in order to appear correct.
My only problem with it is purely a matter of egotism. Every once in a while a typo slips by unnoticed until it's too late. I'm not about to pester a Mentor about fixing something like that (unless it changes the meaning of the post). I just assume that people reading will realize that it's (usually :uhh:) bad typing rather than stupidity.

Yeah, we all make typos. We figured a half hour was plenty long enough to read through after hitting the submit button and catch any major mistakes, or to add in an afterthought on something. After that, it hardly matters...if the typo is obvious and bad enough, someone will have already quoted it to laugh at it if it's a funny one. If it's just a small mistake somewhere, we all make those and nobody is going to get in a tizzy about it.
 
  • #17
How long was the editing period previously?
 
  • #18
morphism said:
How long was the editing period previously?
24 hours :yuck:
 
  • #19
_Mayday_ said:
Hey All,

I've just written a thread on vector tutorials. I want to go back and edit a post and put in some questions for people to answer, with some answers but I can't!

_Mayday_
Hi Mayday,

I have a couple of comments regarding your tutorial. Would you like them in the thread itself, here or via PM?
 
  • #20
PM please!
 
  • #21
I would strongly suggest that you lengthen the editing time. I'm not sharp enough to get everything right on the first post :frown: . OK maybe 24 hours is too long BUT 30 MINUTES IS TOO SHORT. Please compromise with something like 2 hours! It will cause me and the PF moderators lots and lots of grief I need to keep asking you to correct. I think you will greatly reduce the quality of the forum AND ESPECIALLY THE HOMEWORK HELP FORUMS if you continue this policy. Typos and mistakes can cause tons of problems in Homework Help.

Here is another possible solution: you could require people to preview their posts.

Also, you need to announce changes like this somehow. I was really confused when I first noticed the Edit button missing. Maybe you should send everyone a PM or something.
 
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  • #22
I don't think it takes too much effort to to spend an extra minute or so going over your post, even after you've submitted it. You can read its straight through and correct any errors there are then. Most homework OP's are short enough for this to only take 2 minutes at the most.

Besides, if you're posting for homework help you should already be taking the care to present the question in the best possible way for your own benefit.
 
  • #23
Kurdt said:
I don't think it takes too much effort to to spend an extra minute or so going over your post, even after you've submitted it. You can read its straight through and correct any errors there are then. Most homework OP's are short enough for this to only take 2 minutes at the most.

Besides, if you're posting for homework help you should already be taking the care to present the question in the best possible way for your own benefit.

OK. We'll see how it works. Maybe it will even help me fine-tune my typing abilities. I guess the people it will hurt the most are the PF moderators who will have to correct so many more posts. If you guys are up to it...
 
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  • #24
ehrenfest said:
I would strongly suggest that you lengthen the editing time. I'm not sharp enough to get everything right on the first post :frown: . OK maybe 24 hours is too long BUT 30 MINUTES IS TOO SHORT. Please compromise with something like 2 hours! It will cause me and the PF moderators lots and lots of grief I need to keep asking you to correct. I think you will greatly reduce the quality of the forum AND ESPECIALLY THE HOMEWORK HELP FORUMS if you continue this policy. Typos and mistakes can cause tons of problems in Homework Help.

Here is another possible solution: you could require people to preview their posts.
The reason the reduce editing time was added is that when someone has pointed out an inaccuracy in a post, some unscrupulous posters will then go back a retrospectively edit their post to correct the mistake. Several times I have given advice based on the posts preceding mine, only to return later to find that the posts have been edited so that my replies either seem wrong or nonsensical! If an error is pointed out in your own post the most logical and polite method of dealing with a comment is to reply to thread, correcting the mistake in a previous post and thanking the person who pointed it out to you.

Personally, I think that 30 minutes is sufficient time to correcting any typographical mistakes, especially if you preview your thread first! I can't see any advantage to forcing people to preview their posts, if you are writing an extended post you should want to preview it yourself, would you hand an assignment into a tutor without reading in through first? Problems in the homework forums is the primary reason why this measure has been introduced, people who had perhaps given incorrect advice or had presented an incorrect solution, were returning to their posts and retrospectively correcting the post so that it looked as if they had never made a mistake. Secondly, some students who were seeking homework help were deleting their questions form their initial and subsequent posts so that the thread no longer made sense.

Like I said previously, if someone points out an error in your posts, the only polite and logical way to respond is to reply to the post a detail the correction that you have made, not retrospectively edit your posts. If your mistake is a typo, then no one here is going to think any less of you, everyone makes typos; but if your mistake is conceptual, then it is important that any earlier posts remain unedited so that your conceptual misunderstandings can be rectified and the posts in the thread maintain a logical progression. Whereas if you were to retrospectively edit previous posts, all subsequent posts lose their meaning.

Of course, if you've come here for homework help your going to make mistakes and your going to get things wrong, but that doesn't mean you can hide your mistakes by retrospectively editing your posts. Rather than reducing the quality of the forums, I think a reduce editing time actually increases the integrity of the forum by ensuring that people don't hide their errors. As for increasing the editing time to 2 hours, with the current level of activity here at PF, 2 hours is sufficient time for over 10 posts! Imagine if there have been 10 posts discussing a certain concept and then the initial post is edited, removing the parts which are incorrect, or changing the question completely! The entire thread was make no sense and be completely useless!

To emphasise again, if someone points out an error in your post, the only logical and polite response is to post a new reply detailing the correct and thanking the person for pointing out your error.

For the record, of course when I say 'you' I mean 'one', as in people in general. I'm not accusing you of retrospectively editing your posts, I merely explaining the reasons why the reduced editing period was put in place.
 
  • #25
Hootenanny said:
To emphasise again, if someone points out an error in your post, the only logical and polite response is to post a new reply detailing the correct and thanking the person for pointing out your error.

When I made a mistake I would usually do something like this:

EDIT: I made a mistake.and also post a new reply.

I think this is the best solution: After 30 minutes, you should automatically put an "EDIT:" before everything the person writes and not allow people to change anything they have already written. Of course, PF may not be set up to do that.
 
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  • #26
ehrenfest said:
I think this is the best solution: After 30 minutes, you should automatically put an "EDIT:" before everything the person writes and not allow people to change anything they have already written. Of course, PF may not be set up to do that.
How is that any different from posting a new reply, except that a new reply keeps the chronological order of events, which is preferable anyway?
 
  • #27
Hootenanny said:
How is that any different from posting a new reply, except that a new reply keeps the chronological order of events, which is preferable anyway?

Haha, I edited my previous post after you wrote this and said "and also post a new reply" which now makes Hootenanny's response look incomplete and precisely proves everyone's point that editing privileges should be restricted. I give in.
 
  • #28
Owned! :biggrin:
 
  • #29
Hootenanny said:
Secondly, some students who were seeking homework help were deleting their questions form their initial and subsequent posts so that the thread no longer made sense.

I have to say I have been a victim of such crime, but this was primarily due to the fact that it was an essay that I wrote. The title of the essay was given by the teacher and so anyone else who looked the title up on google would find my essay here! I was asking for some suggestions and guidance, but I didn't want someone else coming in on Monday morning with my essay!

ehrenfest said:
When I made a mistake I would usually do something like this:

EDIT: I made a mistake.

The important thing to note here is that this is what you would do. There are thousands more members, and I am sure there are a few who wouldn't
 
  • #30
Moonbear said:
Yeah, we all make typos. We figured a half hour was plenty long enough to read through after hitting the submit button and catch any major mistakes, or to add in an afterthought on something. After that, it hardly matters...if the typo is obvious and bad enough, someone will have already quoted it to laugh at it if it's a funny one. If it's just a small mistake somewhere, we all make those and nobody is going to get in a tizzy about it.

Even though I understand and sympathize with the reasons behind the change and I don't mind people getting chuckles from my typos, I disagree. I think 30 minutes is just too darned short.

I just made a post about a flood in my provincial capital, which I spelt incorrectly. People googling using the name I provided might get just enough enough information to prevent them from realizing my mistake, but not enough information to be useful.

Luckily, Jimmy found my mistake, but I saw his post a few minutes too late to change my spelling, and I would prefer that people not have to look below the first post to get the correct spelling.
 
  • #31
If you think it's more than just a minor error, you can report the post and request a correction be applied.
 
  • #32
George Jones said:
Even though I understand and sympathize with the reasons behind the change and I don't mind people getting chuckles from my typos, I disagree. I think 30 minutes is just too darned short.

I just made a post about a flood in my provincial capital, which I spelt incorrectly. People googling using the name I provided might get just enough enough information to prevent them from realizing my mistake, but not enough information to be useful.

Luckily, Jimmy found my mistake, but I saw his post a few minutes too late to change my spelling, and I would prefer that people not have to look below the first post to get the correct spelling.
In cases like that, just ask a mentor to change the error.
 
  • #33
Arg, this short post edit time is horrible!
 
  • #34
There needs to be a way that PF let's its members knows when policies have been changed. It is absurd to make members come here and ask why they can't edit posts or why they can't do something they used to be able to. In the worst case, people could just get confused and think their memories are failing or something. You should send out an e-mail or put a very noticeable sign somewhere in the forum.
 
  • #35
ehrenfest said:
There needs to be a way that PF let's its members knows when policies have been changed. It is absurd to make members come here and ask why they can't edit posts or why they can't do something they used to be able to. In the worst case, people could just get confused and think their memories are failing or something. You should send out an e-mail or put a very noticeable sign somewhere in the forum.

We do, and you're in the forum where it's done.
 

1. Why can't I edit my posts in Vector Tutorials?

The inability to edit posts in Vector Tutorials is likely due to the settings or permissions set by the website administrator. Some websites may have a time limit for editing posts, while others may not allow users to edit posts at all.

2. How can I edit my posts in Vector Tutorials?

If you are unable to edit your posts in Vector Tutorials, you can try reaching out to the website administrator for assistance. They may be able to adjust the settings or permissions to allow you to edit your posts.

3. Can I edit my posts in Vector Tutorials on a mobile device?

The ability to edit posts on a mobile device may vary depending on the website and its settings. Some websites may have a mobile-friendly version that allows for post editing, while others may not have this feature.

4. Is there a time limit for editing posts in Vector Tutorials?

As mentioned earlier, some websites may have a time limit for editing posts. This means that after a certain amount of time, you will no longer be able to edit your posts. It is best to check with the website administrator for specific details on their editing policies.

5. Can I edit someone else's posts in Vector Tutorials?

The ability to edit someone else's posts in Vector Tutorials may also depend on the website's settings and permissions. Some websites may allow for collaborative editing, while others may only allow the original poster to edit their own posts.

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