Forums / Maintenance / Suggest Ideas

Can we get rid of it? It's pretty annoying, since people need to contact a forum mod if they need one of their posts deleted after that period of time. I don't really see how the benefits outweigh the stress and annoyance of it.

Well while it is highly annoying that just to get a post deleted or edited one must contact a mod/admin, the reason this is a feature that will most likely be staying is because of the simple fact that unlimited editing and deletion would cause a huge amount of confusion and annoyance.
Say, there is a discussion thread, several people are arguing over a certain topic when someone decides to edit their first post to have some more evidence to their side. Well now suddenly the others must edit their posts to match the newly edited post, and it just becomes and edit war that is hard to follow from outside the argument. Now let's say another version of this instance occurs, except that the losing participant decides to delete all their arguments, well now the user who was solidly arguing looks like a lunatic arguing to thin air and they may get downvoted/called out for spamming/multiposting. And the page get fights would just be plain ridiculous.
If the entire userbase was very mature and was completely able to handle edits and deletions in an adult-like manner, perhaps then the limits would be removed. However we are sadly not, and thus it must be kept.

I agree with Quantum.

EDIT: I don't agree with Quantum.

EDIT: I agree with RocketPanda.

EDIT: It also stops us from double posting, correcting the typos, mistakes or any other errors made in your former post.

Nope, RP is right. The 30 min limit is there to give the user some responsibility for what they are adding to the discussion. Just make another post? If you're really going to delete your post after a half hour, what was the point of making the original post in the first place.

Please do not argue something with so few words. It doesn't merit a post.

Your current argument is that the time limit should be removed, because it's annoying. There are many annoying things on the site that serve a purpose. Simply because they're annoying isn't enough of a reason to remove the implementation.

I'll basically echo RPP. There haven't been any problems with that, because you can't actually edit your posts and abuse that function. But it doesn't mean the problem would still be gone if you lifted the time limit. Considering the users and anticipating the new users, I think that it would become a problem for some users. It was put into place for a reason, and I don't think it was unique to older users who are no longer here.
 
 
For now:

1. I'll just say that your problems are usually solved if you think before you post. Weigh what you're going to say, and think about it. Do I really want to post that? If you give it enough thought before you post, then you can probably come to a conclusion before the time limit even begins.
2. Check your posts after you post. If you have a minute or longer to post, then you should have 30 seconds to read it and check to make sure that's what you want.
   1. If you feel the need to correct yourself after that limit, then make another post quoting your first post (or blockquoting a part of it) and respond to it. Please don't double post though.
3. Remember that this is the Internet. If you have that mindset, then you probably won't be so quick to say something foolish.

I don't see why it should be lifted if people kept these thoughts in mind, but I certainly see a reason for why it should stay.

In the odd case that those guidelines didn't help, then just contact a moderator who's been recently active. Several users have asked me to delete a post even when I don't see much reason to, simple because it makes a user uncomfortable. I don't mind as long as you don't make a habit of it.

If that happens so often, then I would strongly suggest considering your own approach to the forum and not the functions of it.

Personal responsibility and whatnot.

How did I get ninja'd by amanda?

Well, if someone, say, posts something personal, like a picture or sensitive information, they may regret doing so later, and would want it deleted. Same goes if someone posts something when they're drunk or lacking sleep.

@RPP:

But did that ever happen before we instituted the 30-minute limit? The editing-original-posts point your bring up is a bit preposterous, as I don't see people continually editing their original posts in favor of making new ones to address an argument. I get the opportunities for trolling, and I'm sure Dr. Coolface would attempt to troll JFF with it, but I think if it becomes too much of a nuisance, the threat of a ban is enough to keep people from going too far with it.

That's where the mods are for. If you post something you later regret, we can help out and remove it for you. But lame reasons of course won't do. A person should be able to take responsibility.

As for what you said about RPP's post. I have done it multiple times. When I make a post in a discussion, I always read it afterwards (after posting) for grammatical errors to remove or edit. Numerous times new arguments then pop-up in my head and I add them to the post. But if I would still be able to do that after 3 hours, all the posts made after mine could become confusing, mine as well. There were times where I chose to double post instead of editing, but those times were mainly to avoid confusing surrounding the difference in subjects in both posts.

I think 30 minutes is fine, it allows conversation to be fluent while not causing too much confusion. Nor does it create trolling opportunities. Perhaps double the edit time to an hour, but I personally would stick with 30 minutes.

It also stops us from double posting, correcting the typos, mistakes or any other errors made in your former post.

As I indirectly said before, reading your post afterwards allows you to remove possible errors. 30 minutes is long enough to take most of them out. If you later discover some you didn't notice back then, then so be it, nobody posts perfect, I won't bother with a few flaws.

This has been discussed numerous times, and I think RandomMan's last comment sums up most of my thoughts. If you can't figure out within 30 minutes that you made a mistake, then…well, I have a hard time fathoming why that would happen. Self-editing is an easy process that takes very little time. I try and make a habit of re-reading what I wrote before I hit the Post button, and then giving it a quick scan after I hit the Post button to check for formatting errors. It's not difficult.

Besides, as was pointed out by OP, mods are always available to delete or edit something later. If you can't be bothered to take a few seconds to double-check what you've written right after you've posted, then why would it suddenly be so urgent to erase something hours later that you can't wait for a mod to help you out?