RETURN TO THREAD LIST | RETURN TO FORUM HOME
 |
Edit Button Discussion | |||
| » POSTED BY : tgbob |
|
|||
| » TOPIC CREATED : 9/30/2010 12:25:04 PM | ||||
Here's some text from a previous thread where this was brought up...
| QUOTE FROM: tgbob @muskie62250 -- I've always been very leery about edit buttons... In past versions of the forum, I did have an edit button, and I had one member who was on for a short time, and although she didn't write anything vulgar, she decided one day to completely erase her existence on the site. This led to her deleting the content out of every single forum post she made, so it ended up looking like a bunch of other people replying to a series of blank posts. Now, I may throw in some edit functions in the future, but if I do, I may have them extremely limited. I was thinking maybe applying a time limit on forum post edits, to give people enough time to correct any changes they may see after posting. I was also thinking about the possibility of maybe doing an archival edit function, which would work the same way as a standard edit, except that the database would also store the copy of the post prior to editing, and keep it for records, in case somebody used the edit function to cover up tracks of something they said that may violate site policy. A straight edit, though? Definitely a no on that one. But let me know your opinions on the above two options, or suggest one or more of your own! I'm always up for listening to ideas! |
Comments, opinions, and suggestions, please!
-- TG
Silly Emo...
|
||||
| » POSTED BY : tgbob |
|
|||
| » REPLIED ON : 9/30/2010 12:30:44 PM | ||||
| QUOTE FROM: tgbob The reason I'm struggling with the decision on whether to include it or not. |
Oh, the irony! Perfect situation for an edit button! LOL!
Silly Emo...
 |
||||
| » POSTED BY : Strike & Co. |
|
|||
| » REPLIED ON : 9/30/2010 9:16:03 PM | ||||
On the one hand, we have quote functionality now, which gives some redundancy: if someone deletes an entire post, hopefully someone else will have quoted relevant parts of it.
Also, editing an existing post down to an empty string would still leave a blank post, wouldn't it? So the rest of us will realize, "hey, someone was silly and deleted the stuff these other folk are replying to."
I've dealt with deleting forum posts a couple times in the past on the UL forums, usually because staff decided to a post violated TOS and removed it (we've taken to adding a 'post or posts were removed, play nice' reply to the thread when this happens). There was one time that a person wanted all their posts removed (which I think is a shame) but no one actively complained when I went and deleted all the newly-blank posts.
I like the option of archiving original posts, but you'll need to make your ToS clear: if you deny people the right to delete their own posts, you're claiming ownership over the posts. That works because you own the forums, and you're allowing people the privilege of signing over copyright/IP to anything they submit to you for use on the forum.
Normally we assume "anything I write is my property" which is why this issue should be addressed in the ToS. In fact, you might want to make sure you have sometihng like that right now, since I don't think we can delete our own posts i nthe current setup.....
Rule #1: There are always exceptions to the rules.
|
||||
| » POSTED BY : tgbob |
|
|||
| » REPLIED ON : 10/1/2010 2:03:24 AM | ||||
| QUOTE FROM: Strike & Co. On the one hand, we have quote functionality now, which gives some redundancy: if someone deletes an entire post, hopefully someone else will have quoted relevant parts of it. |
This isn't a sure-fire bet, though. There will most likely be more posts that are unquoted than quoted, in my opinion. Plus, from the whole legal standpoint, if something that violated the ToS was quoted, but then deleted by the original user, without an original record, they could claim that the quote was forged, since we do have the ability to manually input quotes in the forum. Like, for instance;
| QUOTE FROM: tgbob I love Asian girls!!! |
While the above may be (and is) a true statement, since it could be posted by somebody other than the member in question, if the original post is not in existence, it could be considered a fake. This is why I suggested part of the function to include an archive of the original post; to ensure that the original is on record in the event that what was said needed to be retrieved.
| QUOTE FROM: Strike & Co. Also, editing an existing post down to an empty string would still leave a blank post, wouldn't it? So the rest of us will realize, "hey, someone was silly and deleted the stuff these other folk are replying to." |
Yes, and this HAS happened before on this forum. Luckily, I remembered what the originals had said, and knew that it wasn't anything that violated ToS, so I wasn't too concerned about it. But, it still left a bunch of blank posts, and yes, we all realized it... that's a given... but at the same time, there is no need to have a forum cluttered with a bunch of empty posts!
| QUOTE FROM: Strike & Co. I've dealt with deleting forum posts a couple times in the past on the UL forums, usually because staff decided to a post violated TOS and removed it (we've taken to adding a 'post or posts were removed, play nice' reply to the thread when this happens). There was one time that a person wanted all their posts removed (which I think is a shame) but no one actively complained when I went and deleted all the newly-blank posts. |
All of this is covered in the existing ToS... It states that in the event of violation of ToS, I reserve the right to partially or entirely delete a post.
| QUOTE FROM: Strike & Co. I like the option of archiving original posts, but you'll need to make your ToS clear: if you deny people the right to delete their own posts, you're claiming ownership over the posts. That works because you own the forums, and you're allowing people the privilege of signing over copyright/IP to anything they submit to you for use on the forum. |
I actually took the liberty to check some other sites' ToS regarding forum posting, including very large national companies, and the only place where I saw anything regarding the ownership of the posts was in regards to using what was posted for promotional and marketing purposes. In this case, the company assumed ownership of what is posted. In every other forums' ToS, it laid out a general format of "here are the rules", and "here's what happens if you break these rules", which is what I have in place.
| QUOTE FROM: Strike & Co. Normally we assume "anything I write is my property" which is why this issue should be addressed in the ToS. In fact, you might want to make sure you have sometihng like that right now, since I don't think we can delete our own posts i nthe current setup..... |
I'm just going to flat out say that I think you're wrong with that assumption. I believe most people realize that when they write to a forum, their words become part of that forum. From my experience, the ones who normally have a beef with this are the ones who have violated one of the rules listed in the ToS. And I believe my ToS is sufficient, as it clearly states the rules of use, and that I, as site admin, have the right to enforce.
Besides, the inability to "delete" posts is somewhat of a self-policing mechanism. People could very easily abuse the function, if it existed, to say stupid things on purpose and then wipe it out. That is one thing I do not want on this site! And the underlying purpose of the edit function, as what I'm proposing, is not to change your message, but to correct spelling/grammatical mistakes that you may not notice when you first write your post! I AM NOT GOING TO HAVE PEOPLE CHANGING EVERYTHING THEY POST, BECAUSE THAT CAN LEAD TO ONE BIG, GIANT MESS OF A FORUM!!! Seriously, what is the point of having a structured forum if everybody can just go in and change whatever they want at any given point? I am trying to run a tighter ship than that.
But anywho, I did not want this thread to become a discussion on the ethics of forum posting and rules regarding ownership of said posts... this is a thread for offering suggestions on how to handle the addition of an Edit button.
Silly Emo...