Administrative Editing of the Forum

Done :slight_smile:

Hi David,

If someone can provide me a good reason NOT to use my means of editing (other than, “We don’t trust you to do so”) considering it is now on par or superior because:

  1. It is bolded and larger and thus easier to see which is very important.
  2. It is linkable
  3. It is also time stamped.

Then I’ll be happy to change back to the automated means. “Because it bothers Nichole” is not a good reason since we don’t know why it bothers Nichole other than it’s not what’s she’s used to. If it bothers her for a good reason I haven’t seen shared, then I’m happy to make it automated.

Sound fair? :slight_smile:
not really. We know why it bothers Nichole, and Nichole’s reasons are good reasons (if they weren’t, I wouldn’t support the point):

Nichole
so that all the members could see who and why and when any of their posts or their neighbor’s posts were edited. Obviously, this puts each of us on a level field of memory, context and knowledge of editing. I felt then, as I do now, that this is vital to the integrity of this forum. As long as I have been a member here, all previous admins and moderators have chosen to have their edits noted and available to all members.
Very simple, very true. So I think that if you change a procedure that is in effect for years and years and on every forum I know, which makes it a basic standard, that has proven to be useful and reasonable, you are the one who has to provide a good reason to change it. Since you can have your bold and large and linked text along the automated line, your list even misses one. Your only reason left is you being annoyed of a line of automated text. And with all due respect, Sir Boss, that is absurd.

Also, I just tested and noticed, that when I edit a post, I get a line. Does that line not annoy you too? Are you trustworthy by default while I am not? Explain!

If someone can provide me a good reason NOT to use my means of editing (other than, “We don’t trust you to do so”) considering it is now on par or superior
That is like “if someone has a good reason other than the good reason why this thing has been invented in the first place”. The one you exclude is the reason. You demand everbody’s trust: How dare you? It’s up to everyone themselves whether they do or not.

You lost me there. Can you reword please?

A little. While it’s not redundant like mine, it creates needless clutter. I know it has annoyed others here. If it was requested, I’d turn it off. It’s not an important feature to me. It shows up if someone edits a post after 15 minutes, not before. After 30 minutes they can no longer edit their posts so there’s just a 15 minute window where its used which doesn’t really make sense to me.

There’s also a reason a simple off button was invented :wink: I don’t demand anyone’s trust. Whether they choose to give it or not is up to them. I’m just not going to make changes based upon not being trusted.

After pondering this more, I can understand the desire for everyone to be on an even keel. I have two ideas how we can do that but still allow for me to have my bolded, linkable admin edits which I feel are important. First, how the current edit system works:

  1. At present, if you edit your post within 14:59 seconds, nothing happens.

  2. If you edit your post between 15:00 and 29:59, an “edited by at xx:xx” shows.

  3. You cannot edit after 30 minutes.

My two ideas:

A. Turn the edit stamp off for everyone. All that does is adds 15 minutes of free edit time for everyone as we’ll all know that the post won’t have been edited after 30 minutes.

B. Leave the edit system as is, I’ll make my account a regular member that has those edit stamps, then I’ll create a separate admin account I only use for administrative functions such as bolded edits within a post.

Thoughts?

Hi David,

[quote]Since you can have your bold and large and linked text along the automated line, your list even misses one.

You lost me there. Can you reword please?[/quote]sure: Since you can have your bold and large and linked text along the automated line, your list even misses one reason to turn that line off.

[quote]Also, I just tested and noticed, that when I edit a post, I get a line. Does that line not annoy you too? Are you trustworthy by default while I am not?

A little.[/quote]Oh, I see. That’s probably why I wouldn’t deactivate that time-stamp-thingy. :lol:

While it’s not redundant like mine,
No David, your line is not redundant.

it creates needless clutter.
It’s not needless. It creates transparency and replaces faith with facts.

I know it has annoyed others here.
Weird.

If it was requested, I’d turn it off. It’s not an important feature to me. It shows up if someone edits a post after 15 minutes, not before. After 30 minutes they can no longer edit their posts so there’s just a 15 minute window where its used which doesn’t really make sense to me.
This is because one might just correct a spelling error shortly after writing a post, which does not require a note as the post won’t substancially be changed, while a rephrasing or rewriting does, and therefore requires the note. But I agree it’s overdoing funcitonality and there should be a note whenever one edits a post.

[quote]That is like “if someone has a good reason other than the good reason why this thing has been invented in the first place”. You demand everbody’s trust: How dare you? It’s up to everyone themselves whether they do or not.

There’s also a reason a simple off button was invented :)[/quote]Yes, and that is that the admin has the option to edit posts without anybody noticing unless the admin wants them too.

I don’t demand anyone’s trust. Whether they choose to give it or not is up to them. I’m just not going to make changes based upon not being trusted.
You evade my argument: You deactivate that line, that is there for only one reason, which is a good reason. You agree it is a good reason, because you promise to include a line when you edit a post.

But you have no valid reason to deactivate the automated note, because you being annoyed by some line of text doesn’t outweight the reason why it’s there. And then you demand people who want that line for the reason why it’s there to come up with another reason outside the one why it is there. There obviously is none, while it is you who has to come up with a valid reason to deactivate it. So after all you do demand trust of the users of this board. If anyone is unhappy with an admin having the option to freely edit posts, they need to leave or live with being unhappy. Or trust you.

You could, though, still deactivate that thing, edit stuff, and then reactivated it and noone would notice. Or edit the database itself. So after all, it comes down to faith anyway.

After pondering this more, I can understand the desire for everyone to be on an even keel. I have two ideas how we can do that but still allow for me to have my bolded, linkable admin edits which I feel are important. First, how the current edit system works:

  1. At present, if you edit your post within 14:59 seconds, nothing happens.

  2. If you edit your post between 15:00 and 29:59, an “edited by at xxx” shows.

  3. You cannot edit after 30 minutes.

My two ideas:

A. Turn the edit stamp off for everyone. All that does is adds 15 minutes of free edit time for everyone as we’ll all know that the post won’t have been edited after 30 minutes.

B. Leave the edit system as is, I’ll make my account a regular member that has those edit stamps, then I’ll create a separate admin account I only use for administrative functions such as bolded edits within a post.

Thoughts?
Sure:

Cutting down transparency even further only messes stuff up more. Personally I think one should be able to edit their own posts without a timelimit. And it should have a time-stamp for everybody, so everybody else can see that and when the post was edited. To create yourself an account with which you can edit posts without a timestamp doesn’t solve the problem of… not being on an even keel, because that new account would still be you.

Suggestion 1: Reactivate your timestamp.

Suggestion 2: Close this thread and give a damn.

Thank you for clarifying. To respond to your statement, no you can't. BB code does not parse in the edit line.

When I make admin edits such as warnings, I feel it is very important that they are extremely easy to see and linkable.

No, it doesn't. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I can still edit anyone's posts, threads, PMs, pretty much do anything via the database. You're turning on the burglar alarm but have given one potential thief the keys to everything. I wouldn't do this, but because I can (and it's very easy) faith has not been replaced with fact.

The off button is available on a usergroup by usergroup basis because the creators of this software realize some people just wouldn't want to use it. gasp

It appears you respond yourself:

Exactly. What I'm saying is that by signing up to a website, whether you like it or not, you're trusting that the people with access to the backend are honest AND are good enough with information security that they also keep the many dishonest people out.

Thanks for sharing your opinion. You're right about that new account being me. We'll never be on an even keel because I have the keys to the yoga studio. I simply thought it might make some feel better to know that my normal account I interact as a member with would be on an even keel.

David, Thanks for the change of character requirements.

If I might add my two cents, having an extra 15 minutes of edit time appeals to me and would be the simplest solution that you have offered.

Thanks for your attention to all this David.

You’re quite welcome :slight_smile:

Cool, I very much appreciate you chiming in, thank you.

It has been almost a week without further feedback so:

  1. I have removed the “[I]edited by…”[/I] timestamp for those of you in the “Contributor” usergroup. Contributors have 25 posts or more. Members with 24 or less posts will still have the stamp show if they edit after 15 minutes.

  2. If I feel it is important that my edit be highly visible and/or a I need to create a link such as when a member is warned or banned, I’ll continue to use the bolded edit we’ve spoken about above. If it’s not very important, then I’ll edit the post so that the normal “edited by…” stamp shows. My edits of member posts will always have an edited stamp.

Case and thread closed :slight_smile: