Change to "Time limit on editing/deleting own posts"


 
TomRc said:
I don't mean to disparage at all and am actually thrilled for the engagement on the topic. I think this discussion is probably overdue and I would love to hear more people chime in one way or another. I'm even open to having my mind changed along the way.
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I think Chris was making an announcement and not asking for opinions, but for myself, I would not mind one bit if every message had an expiration date, and from there it was either deleted or archived (but truthfully, who would ever go perusing an archive?) I'm not entirely comfortable with this digital permanence, "Once on the internet, always on the internet" aspect...to me, it's like digital hoarding, keeping something that is outdated because you don't know what else to do with it.
 
Ed P said:
I think Chris was making an announcement and not asking for opinions, but for myself, I would not mind one bit if every message had an expiration date, and from there it was either deleted or archived (but truthfully, who would ever go perusing an archive?) I'm not entirely comfortable with this digital permanence, "Once on the internet, always on the internet" aspect...to me, it's like digital hoarding, keeping something that is outdated because you don't know what else to do with it.
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it's about the body of work over time. it also builds value of the brand/website. i have bookmarked recipes and stuff of interest from here so i can quickly refer to them when needed. the easiest way to avoid being in the archive is to not post. but that seems counterintuitive to why we're all here; to ask, learn, discuss, share and feed one's mind of non-news. stuff that's of common interest to the members.
 
Brett-EDH said:
why we're all here; to ask, learn, discuss, share and feed one's mind of non-news. stuff that's of common interest to the members.
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Well, think about it...you need a recipe, and you have a bunch of links but you can't seem to find the recipe you're looking for. Happens all the time. So you ask the question and you get the very latest info, and likely that starts up a new conversation that may lead to other discoveries. That's much more convivial and conducive to the reasons you list about why we're all here. And if you knew that every message was going to be deleted or archived at some point, you would be much more diligent about keeping an offline copy if it was important to you, but it's always so much more exciting and fun to strike up a conversation and exchange ideas, is it not? It's what keeps things fresh and current.

Like this discussion here. Are you really going to care about what I said a year from now?
 
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A year from now, I don't think we will find this discussion here. I have a feeling Chris is going to move us all somewhere else. I don't think this is the right place for all this discussion. Right Chris? :unsure: :giggle:
 
I once joined a plumbing forum to ask a question about rust in my hot water heater. I was trying to solve a problem as a homeowner and couldn't find the answer online. I was not a plumbing professional or enthusiast (if there is such a thing) and didn't want to join a plumbing community for the friendship of it.

So I can relate to people who join our little forum for a "one and done" question. But my hope is that, more often than not, people join and stick around and participate to the extent they feel comfortable doing so. Some people are quiet, some people are vocal, some are shy, some are outgoing, so the level of participation will vary.

Other than a simple registration process and requiring some form of real name as username, I'm not big on throwing up barriers to participation. I know some forums impose a waiting period before a new member can begin posting, or they must post X number of times before earning the right to post in a "Buy/Sell" section, but I figure even a single "one and done" post can be useful. If someone joins and says they have a NIB yellow Simpson's grill for sale and one of our members snags it, that's a win-win, right?

Regarding prize drawings, I think I've said before that from my perspective, prizes are mostly about showing appreciation to the folks that read my website, my newsletter, my social media, and frequent this forum as active members or lurkers. But prizes are also a form of marketing, attracting new folks to my website, newsletter, social media, and forum. So I do a mix of prize drawings. The biggest ones are open to anyone...I'm casting the widest net possible. Some are targeted, like my monthly prize drawing for newsletter subscribers. And I've recently started doing some small ones for registered forum members only. I tried one a while back for members with a certain post count...that felt weird to me because I wasn't sure where to set the cutoff, so I'm unlikely to do that again...and I'm always reminded that there are lots of folks who quietly visit and read the forum every day but don't actively post, and I appreciate them, too, so why not let them join in the fun and possibly win a prize?

Joan said:
A year from now, I don't think we will find this discussion here. I have a feeling Chris is going to move us all somewhere else. I don't think this is the right place for all this discussion. Right Chris? :unsure: :giggle:
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It will probably stay right here, but the discussion definitely went off-topic at Post #10! :)
 
Back on topic:

Eight hours of editing is a fine idea. There are other places that give you less than five minutes before they lock you out of edits. I have seen some with as little as one or two minutes after you post a reply. I feel frustrated by those very short timeouts, because it takes me one minute longer than the timeout to see the dumb typos I just posted ... forever.
 
Bruno said:
Sorry I’m not smart. What is the point of changing the edit delete options??
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Until the change, members could edit their posts forever. Apparently one member got upset and cleared out all of their posts spanning many years. That action messed up many old threads. In some cases, other members replied to those posts back in the day. Because of that one member's deletions, now the replies seem confusing without the original posts related to those replies.

Limiting edits to eight hours lets you fix mistakes, but prevents you from going back and changing old posts and messing up those old threads. I hope this helps.
 
Just to clarify, we had an ex-member who deleted their posts in just one thread that spanned several days, not a bunch of posts spanning years.
 
DanHoo said:
Can thread or post delete have a different time constraint than edit?
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No. Edit thread, edit post, delete thread, and delete post are all independently controlled, but the time constraint is the same for all of them, set in minutes since the thread or post was posted.
 
Forgive me for dragging this on but I am curious about a couple points; I think because we know that forum integrity and thread continuity (and preservation) are important to you. Do you have a legal right to restore deleted posts? Do deleted posts have a "content no longer available" message, or otherwise so that folks can at least have a little insight as to why some thread posts may not make sense?
 
The forum terms of service states, "You are granting us a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, unlimited license to use, publish, or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service." So when someone deletes their posts out of anger or frustration and without contacting me first, I feel I'm within my rights to restore them.

Deleted posts are visible to me as administrator, with the ability to read them, restore them or permanently delete them. Members do not see a "content no longer available" message for deleted posts.
 
Chris Allingham said:
The forum terms of service states, "You are granting us a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, unlimited license to use, publish, or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service." So when someone deletes their posts out of anger or frustration and without contacting me first, I feel I'm within my rights to restore them.

Deleted posts are visible to me as administrator, with the ability to read them, restore them or permanently delete them. Members do not see a "content no longer available" message for deleted posts.
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the TOS are reasonable in exchange for the services offered. repost the deleted texts. if people don't like the permanence, they can keep their opinions to themselves and just be a lurker.
 
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I'm ready to move on (from this topic), too. Thanks (for the clarity), Chris!
 
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