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Longer window for editing

I miss a longer time frame for editing ones post and also an oportunity to delete posts. I have sometimes found spelling errors or other things I would like to correct only to find that I can't edit the post.

I understand that altering a post could make the following post look silly but in good conduct people should put EDIT when editin posts.

I apreciate that someone else is removing posts when I accidently double post but I would have liked more "control" as to my own posts.

Any time limit at all prior to a reply to the post being added is a pointless restriction (as is preventing deletion) and just leaves untidy looking posts lying about littering the forum. It also gives the impression the author doesn't care or can't spell when in fact they have noticed the typo but can't correct it. It means second thoughts are not an option here.

Petty restrictions worthy of EASA ;)

Gloucester UK (EGBJ)

The edit window is currently 2 hours.

I would think 2 hours is enough to write the longest post on a pilot forum.

One could argue the principle both ways...

Here is my take on it, and it's difficult to say this in a way which is totally friendly so please don't take this the wrong way, Steve and BeechFlyer.

I think that if somebody wants to write something which will be seen openly, they ought to take a little bit of care over it.

We live in a society which is getting progressively saturated by meaningless utterings. Just do a google when trying to research some topic. Google is pretty clever but you do get submerged in drivel. The best known outlet for drivel has to be Facebook but most forums, and this includes some pilot forums too, have sunk into a sea of drivel.

EuroGA has been thankfully free of this, and just about all postings on here are informative in some way.

Is 2 hours not enough to write something and read it afterwards to see if it hangs together?

Just my opinion

If anybody wants to delete something a day later for some pressing reason, just drop me a line. I can't do much with my phone but I can certainly delete postings with it.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I often go back and edit something after seeing a typo, but very helpfully Internet Explorer 10 now has an integrated spell checker whenever you write something which can be submitted (i.e. a forum discussion)

No offence taken. I see what you mean, but remember that some of us do not have English as our native language and may not have spelling tools on the iPads and such.

In general I think that most forums are a product of the contributors (maybe this board is an exception since it contains board-produced articles too) and in that context I do not think that two hours or six hours would make any difference.

So personally I don't see a problem with having a wider window but then again, I basically only have experience with one other forum.

The length of the edit window is less relevant to me, though I can't see a reason not to make it wider. But it is very annoying to realise I've been typing rubbish and not being able to remove it - the furthest one can get is to remove all text, or replace it with a "please delete" or such - a nice way of publicly announcing one's stupidity.

NB forget about spelling checkers, mine flags the above "realise" as an error, I think it prefers us'an spelling.

[[edit]] the ability to correct one's typos in the titles would also be a nice addition

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

The reason why I think 2hrs is enough is this:

Let's say you had a 12hr window.

You write something which is seriously wrong. By "seriously" I mean it is problematic legally.

Within an hour, google will be in there and will grab a copy. If you correct it a few hours later, that copy will already be out there, and it won't get flushed out for potentially many hours. This has caught out a lot of people with the "internet"...

Also a large number of people read this forum and they will see what you wrote right away, so editing it a few hours later doesn't help.

And if you write something which somebody else thinks could make you look really stupid, they will just grab a copy into a PDF.

So a longer edit window doesn't help with postings which you really don't want people to see.

I don't think anybody reading EuroGA cares about spelling, because the majority of people on EuroGA do not have English as their first language, yet the standard of English here is way above what one sees on general online communities where everybody is 100% English. So I wouldn't worry about that at all.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I don't think anybody reading EuroGA cares about spelling, because the majority of people on EuroGA do not have English as their first language

That is precisely the other way round to this non-native speaker of English: exactly because the language is foreign, it DOES matter to me that it is written well - even so, I sometimes need some effort to get people's meaning. It must be said, though, that this forum is indeed above average, in this respect as in several.

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

"....yet the standard of English here is way above what one sees on general online communities where everybody is 100% English"

I couldn't agree more. Not just the aviation forums, but forums in general, especially with the vast majority of members having English as their native language, the standard of grammar, spelling etc. is incredibly poor.

I'm curious - say in German/Scandanavian/Dutch etc. forums - is the standard as bad as in the UK? Is it an education thing? Or age?

Swanborough Farm (UK), Shoreham EGKA, Soysambu (Kenya), Kenya

That's a subject dear to me - languages, and taking care of them. On a general note, it seems to be contrary to the spirit of the times to try and do anything really well - good enough is good enough, today. The lack of care for language is just one example - if it is reasonably possible to deduct my meaning from my words, then they are good enough, or so most people seem to think.

That said there are some marked differences between countries/languages. From my limited observation:

-) German was always a difficult language, with its datives and accusatives and what not - the Germans had ceased to be strict about them even when I was at college. On top, there are controversies about writing old style (the ß a marked subject of discussion) because of associations with nazism. Generally, though, German is doing quite well. Whatever level they settled for, they manage to keep.

-) French sees a sharp split-up between those who care and those who don't, the latter increasing rapidly. Well written French is becoming rarer by the day. Some forums show horribly bad French, far more careless than I see in any other language. I find basic errors on fr.wikipedia over and again.

-) Dutch is staunchly kept up by some Southerners i.e. Flemish Belgians like myself. Being under constant pressure from expansionist Francophonism, we feel the need to keep the language solid. In the Netherlands, more and more people are abandoning good language just like everywhere - I could have a full-time job correcting basic errors on nl.wikipedia for example. Just now the Dutch are having a row over a hymn written for their soon to be king - it was withdrawn in shame, poor language being one of the main criticisms. It is striking, though, that one Dutch pilot's forum I follow has far better Dutch than most Dutch forums, better even than nl.wikipedia actually.

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium
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