On editing Posts and videos

Hello ATS

After a quick scan through this forum I found no thread relating to this issue, but it would surprise me if no one had posted on it before, so please delete this thread if it has already been dealt with.

There is now a four hour deadline on editing a post, probably to stop people from changing statements that they later regret, but if changed will create confusion in relation to comments, replies, the evolution of the thread, etc.

There are plenty of video related threads here on ATS, where the whole thread turns around the content of a video.
Now, sometimes videos linked to Youtube or Google are pulled by these sites because of various issues. The video is therefore no longer available, and the thread dies.

But, a video pulled from Youtube often reappears on Youtube (or another site), posted by another member, a new account etc. You can therefore re-link your video and keep an interesting thread alive... only ATS does not allow you to edit your posts after 4 hours. See the problem?

Of course, you can always re-link the video in a new post later in the thread, but if that re-link appears on page 41 in a thread 53 pages long, it becomes complicated for the members to find it.

In short, I personally think the editing deadline is a bad idea. I understand the problem you're trying to address, but with the deadline you create new problems,

Could you not at least allow limited editing possibilities to a post?

Allowing members to edit their posts (after 4 hours) creates better threads (and therefore a more interesting and qualitative ATS), because you can add supplementary information/pictures/videos to reinforce your statements where it is needed.

On the other hand, changing the meaning of your statements in order to save your face should be penalized in the same way as personal insults, off-topic rant, etc.

reply to post by Heliocentric


In my experience u2u'ing a mod and asking them to fix broken links works! It's a workaround at least.

~Heff

Originally posted by Heliocentric
. only ATS does not allow you to edit your posts after 4 hours. See the problem?

In fact it's worse than that.
The message SAYS 4 hours, but as soon as you make a post the "time allowed to edit" actually starts counting down from "120 minutes". This is what the rest of the world understands as 2 hours.

Originally posted by Hefficide
reply to post by Heliocentric

 

In my experience u2u'ing a mod and asking them to fix broken links works! It's a workaround at least.

~Heff

If you say so,

My last interaction with a moderator concerned a thread that was moved from one forum to another. The topic of the thread had nothing to do with the forum it was moved to (only the title of the thread was a bit misleading).

I sent a kind u2u to the mod who moved it, explained in detail what my thread was about and asked why it had been moved to an off-topic forum. He got back to me a few hours later, admitting that it seemed out of place, said he was going to talk it over with some other mods, but it was still a bit early (time zone problem) so it would have to wait.
A week later, I still had not heard anything, so I sent another u2u. I never got an answer back on that one.

I realize it's not always easy to be a mod and I don't blame him, but it would save ourselves a lot of u2u:ing if we could simply edit our posts, remove errors or invalid links, etc.

You're now supposed to state why you edit a thread (within the 4 hour or 120 minute deadline, whatever it is), but almost no one does it.

What if you couldn't validate your editing unless you stated why, how and when you edited, wouldn't that get around the original problem, that caused them to impose the editing deadline?

Originally posted by Hefficide
reply to post by Heliocentric

 

In my experience u2u'ing a mod and asking them to fix broken links works! It's a workaround at least.

~Heff

This would be correct However, I would suggest using the ATS Complaint/Suggestion Form located in the Member Center and get the full attention of the entire Staff.