Unable to edit

Glad tidings to DC.

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

I saw WebPM's Post about the 30 Minute delay, but did not see anything about it now being extended to one week. Where is that, and given that the change was instigated only 5 days ago, how is this for certain...? (WebPM only says it has been "increased"...)

Actually he said (pretty sure he's a he and you say Mr):

WebPM said:

substantially increased

which is NT code for a week.

I jest. I guessed. I test -ed my guess to make sure... if you look at your own activity tab your comments are arranged by date. I could find one 6 days old and it had an 'Edit' option; one that was 8 days old didn't. It could be 10 000 minutes or 9 999, but probably near enough a week.

There's no reason in not discussing this as far as I can see - even if Copybot could understand this discussion, which it can't, or its creators looked at the threads, which they won't, it would give them no advantage in spamming and it could carry out the same tests itself.

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

...My record of 3-5 hates has long since been broken, for this was around last October, y'know, before you joined, a long time ago, when this was all fields...(!)      ;-)

Ah, you mean down-votes? No I had't seen that. I wonder which post currently holds the record, but there's no way of sorting comments like that. There is often an option for looking at 'worst rated' comments on news websites, and I sometimes use it in case someone has written a considered or informed opinion that runs against the grain of most participants.

Maybe I get a little bit miffed just because my comments end up with a little '0'. Perhaps people should leave little anonymous reviews, like 'Not funny, missed the point, obvious and/or incomprehensible, dry and rambling. Cassandro didn't know what he was going to say at the end of this post when he started, has no thought for his readers, and I wasted my time reading this.'

Glad Tidings to Cassandro. A couple of things, as this Thread is still "popping up"...

Cassandro said:

I think it's a week.

I saw WebPM's Post about the 30 Minute delay, but did not see anything about it now being extended to one week. Where is that, and given that the change was instigated only 5 days ago, how is this for certain...? (WebPM only says it has been "increased"...)

A last silly thing, not to worry about:

Cassandro said:

Not here, I'm sure.

...My record of 3-5 hates has long since been broken, for this was around last October, y'know, before you joined, a long time ago, when this was all fields...(!)      ;-)

Sorry to hear that. We don't want you to be discouraged from posting.

I'm not personally in favour of this time limit on editing, but can see why WebPM wants to do whatever is possible to avoid spam being left on the forums. (Copybot has been almost silent since Thursday when some more spam threads were deleted, although search engines haven't yet updated and can still find the spam. I'm hopeful it's checking its actions are persisting on the website, rather than checking search engines. so will stop its activity around now.)

California said:

I like to have the ability to edit my own posts or remove them if I do not like them anymore. I often edit to correct spelling mistakes

No change has been made to the ability to delete posts as far as I know. Copybot doesn't gain from deleting its posts, so no point in restricting deletion. There is still no time limit to delete, but as before, a post or comment can't be deleted if it has any reply. So if you do want to change an old post that hasn't had a reply, you could just copy and paste it into a new comment and make the changes; and then delete the old one.

If you really need to change an post that is older than a week and has had one or more replies, you can't currently do that, but could presumably ask the moderators to do it for you.

California said:

It would be nice if it would be possible to see the editing history for the posts.

I've got the feeling this software doesn't store the history, based on the fact moderators don't seem able to revert.

Cassandro said:

How about a two week limit?

I would not mind this for new users but I do not want any limits for my posts.

Oh no, I don't like that. Sometimes we can want to change or delete something weeks after we wrote it because on reflection, for whatever reason, we want to change or delete what we said.

I completely agree with you!

Yes, I want to request lifting the editing ban.

I completely agree with you!

If am unable to edit or delete my posts, this seriously discourages me to post anything.

I like to have the ability to edit my own posts or remove them if I do not like them anymore. I often edit to correct spelling mistakes.

It is really rare that edit the content of the post and even rarer when I would like to delete it. But I want to have this freedom in case I will need it.

It would be nice if it would be possible to see the editing history for the posts. Facebook offers this option.

I would prefer the editing to be set back to what it was. The prevalence of Copybot is not sufficiently high for the changes to offset the negatives of the changes.

I am probably in a minority.

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

This is me, now.

Hello.

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

One of the first to be "hated" a lot

Not here, I'm sure.

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

all peculiar after spotting a spelling mistake

Likewise I do, but life now seems to too short to be a perfectionist.

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

what the time limit is

I think it's a week.

Suggestion to moderators: if editing posts created more than a week ago is restricted so it's not possible for bots or users to edit them, then a moderator may want every week to check the main index of threads going back a fortnight to see if the head posts have been replaced with spam, or otherwise look spammy in retrospect (default username with no replies and so on).

This is me, now. One of the first to be "hated" a lot, but also one to never  edit/delete Posts, yet still am also one of those who gets all peculiar after spotting a spelling mistake...!

If it is alright, Mr. Webster, please tell us what the time limit is, now. An Hour, Two, or what... Thanks? (Or has anyone else found out...)

There are many times when I’ve been a complete **** and only realise this months later and would like to therefore remove or edit the post as who wants to be putting bad stuff out there and who wants to read it?!? ~ nobody, I think! And the spelling and grammar thing is real! Even a comma in the wrong place can drive me nuts and I don’t think we should play down these types of stresses ~ we have enough stresses so why put up with the ones we can do something about, i.e. having the ability to edit our posts, which can also be a form of happiness and contentment ~ when I correct what I’ve written, I can experience a nice feeling of calm etc. and would prefer not to be denied that good feeling. As they say, every little bit helps

WebPM said:

If I change or moderate my views, those who have made the case for a different viewpoint are left with very odd-looking, out of context replies that don't fit the point that I am now making. Thus, once others have responded, anything more than minor typos may best be corrected by responding with a new message.

Some people may wish to reword a post with a reply because, for example, their message is unclear or too strongly worded. Whilst the former could be remedied with a further post, a user may not wish the latter to remain on the forum.

We have to trust that people make such edits for the right reasons.

WebPM said:

there is a case to be made that, once a thread is developing, returning and changing a message is not fair to those who have responded. If I change or moderate my views, those who have made the case for a different viewpoint are left with very odd-looking, out of context replies that don't fit the point that I am now making. Thus, once others have responded, anything more than minor typos may best be corrected by responding with a new message.

I fully agree with this, except in the odd instances where someone has had a bad-tempered, offensive rant and then thought better of it before the moderators get knowledge of it and on reflection wish to amend what they have said to something more acceptable.

I am sure I have posted things at times that I would like to totally remove or fiercely edit.   But I haven't, for the reason that they have been responded to, and it may help someone else. Apart from typos that I frequently make (I blame it on my keyboard or the predictive text on my tablet and phone, I have never edited my posts after a few minutes. 

And those few that may give me some embarrassment now give me a valuable lesson in thinking a bit more before posting!

Thanks for the feedback, which is very helpful. I have substantially increased the limit, in the light of your comments.

I agree that the limit is not a deterrent to starting "copybot" threads, because the offender is unaware of it. However, it should be an obstacle to the apparent second stage, of returning and replacing the original post with content that may be advertising, offensive or malicious. As before, we'll see how feedback goes, but my feeling is that this should be part of the picture of defeating the spam by first removing it quickly, and second ensuring that, even if it slips through, posting it was a waste of time anyway.

Even for genuine posters, there is a case to be made that, once a thread is developing, returning and changing a message is not fair to those who have responded. If I change or moderate my views, those who have made the case for a different viewpoint are left with very odd-looking, out of context replies that don't fit the point that I am now making. Thus, once others have responded, anything more than minor typos may best be corrected by responding with a new message.

Let's see how it goes, anyway.

Thanks for explaining, Cassandro.  I agree that 30 minutes is far too short at time for a limit.  People could post something before bed, then realise next morning that there's something they'd like to add.

I'd think a few days - a week, maybe.  It's good to be able to go in and correct previously-missed typos, too.  As with caretwo, they gnaw at me.  I don't like leaving them

I don't know how these things work. I'm happy, in the short term,  to go along with whatever works in the long term to get rid of these copybot things and so put my trust in people like yourself who know far more than me about such matters. 

That's useful to know.

From yesterday and today, I don't think limiting editing is helping anyway. If we can extirpate the spam threads instead, it may send a stronger signal.

There's one thread I'd not included on my list of copybots, probably because I never read it, and was then replaced by the same spammer we've been dealing with:
https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/12220/are-there-any-women-here

It seems like Copybot can wait less than a month before injecting its spam. How about a two week limit?

Oh no, I don't like that. Sometimes we can want to change or delete something weeks after we wrote it because on reflection, for whatever reason, we want to change or delete what we said. 

30 minutes does seem too short a time but as I have not posted recently I cannot be sure the time needs increasing (or the ban needs lifting).

What I will say is that I like being able to edit posts even after replies have been posted. I use such functionality to correct mistakes such as incorrect spelling and missing words. I cannot knowingly leave such mistakes as they gnaw at me.