Aaron asked me what I thought the edit length of time should be. I think 24-48 hours should be enough. That's about how long it takes MJ to cycle getting here. Since he reads all the postings and comes on a mostly regular schedule, he is the standard to measure against. If MJ has had time to read it, it's had enough time to be edited. So, 24-48 hours. Or set it so that the post cannot be edited after MJ reads it. Is that a possible moderator power? I think that would work best.
Also, is anyone considering giving players the ability to delete their own posts? I'd like to be able to do that. Length of time for this, again 24-48 hours, and/or after MJ reads it. If it's something that would get you into trouble, MJ's going to delete it anyway, so that's your grace period.
Well, even if you can't delete a post, if it's still within the edit period you can just replace everything in your post with "[post deleted]" or something. I still have a post in the Coding on This Board thread that I deleted everything out of.
But then, MJ has to delete it. Why make him have to do it?
If the post says [post deleted] I don't actually have to delete it. It appears that the database saves all the deleted posts anyway, and a moderator has the ability to recall them and read them to see what's been deleted (but not what it was before it was edited), so there's not that much advantage to deleting them except that it makes it easier to read the thread for those who are not moderators.
Besides, to delete a post I have to click one link and then click a button to confirm my intent, and wait for the page to reload.
I'm not against posters having the power to delete their own posts, except when someone has already responded. I also tend to think that editing time should be kept relatively short for the same reason. There have been times when people got into a fight on a forum such as this, where one of them really vented his spleen, as it were, and the other responded in kind, then the first went back and edited all his posts to make them nice and make it appear that the second was completely overreacting.
I believe my moderator editing power is of indefinite duration; I don't generally use it, although I probably would if someone were to post something excessively vulgar or obscene. I prefer to edit a post over deleting it. I also prefer that people think before they post--but since there is no preview function on this forum, it is necessary for posters to have at least a day to check back on their work and fix it. I would be comfortable with a week, or even with seventy-two hours, but less than twenty-four hours would make me very uncomfortable as a poster here, so that's what I would recommend--something between seventy-two hours and seven days. I would want it long enough that posters, even if called away abruptly, can have time to proof their posts and fix glaring errors, but not so short that they don't stop and consider what they are saying before they click "post".
--M. J. Young