quick reply/ edit functions

[papa_delicious]

now, I'm new to this forum and let me say I'm not trying to be critical of this forum, it's a veritable treasure trove of invaluable knowledge on this subject, second to none. However, I have posted on many different forums over the years, with subjects as diverse as guitars, yo-yoing, cacti, etc. I also know that not all forum software is created equal, so that could explain some one part of my question but not both - why is there no quick reply function, and perhaps even more importantly, why is there no edit function?
I can understand that the phpbb might not support quick replys (doubtful) or that it would be deliberately disabled (to prevent floods of crap posts/make people think a little more about what they write)(more likely imo). I still find it inconvenient, but not deal-breaking.

however, a forum without an edit function? that's like a keyboard without a backspace key. and I know that the software supports it cause I see admins/mods do it all the time - there must be a (logical or not) reason. I however have found it very detrimental both for ease of use and reading threads, often resulting in double or even triple posts (double posting, at least in my experience, is almost always considered poor etiquette and makes reading a thread that much more difficult, especially ongoing things where information that could normally be updated at the beginning post of a thread now has to be dug out of several pages of posts. I did see in some faq somewhere that there is no edit button, but no explanation therein. and I am not one to accept a statement without an explanation as a question answered.

sorry for the wall of text post, (and if it's already been answered, I searched but to little avail) but as someone who is quite used to how forums function, and also someone who is curious of seemingly obvious yet illogical defects (as are many people on here, I should think) I can not help but want to know at least.

[zeke79]

The quick reply function I don't know about. The edit feature was disabled for all except the mods and admins due to some old members getting mad, then leaving but not before they went through and edited out all of their post content. This as you can imagine left holes in many topics so it was decided to disable the function so it doesn't happen again.

[LocksmithArmy]

why dont you make it so you can only edit the newest post in a forum. so that as soon as someone replied the original poster could no longer edit his post...

this way people could still fix spelling errors or somthing they totally misunderstood as long as noone else has posted after them.

[mhweaver]

The quick reply function I don't know about.

As of the last time I did anything with phpBB, it wasn't built into the software. There's a couple phpBB mods out there to add this feature. It puts a reply area at the bottom of all threads so you can reply from the same page without having to click somewhere else first. It's a cool little time saver, but it's not a hard thing to live without.

[papa_delicious]

now that I'm checking some other ones, it does seem to be vbulletin (among others), that usually has quick reply
although I think I am being a little more thorough in crafting my posts now, so maybe that is a good thing

that's some pretty serious sounding stuff, a whole bunch of members effectively deleting all their posts? I haven't ever heard of anything like that before, although I have some ideas that make it seem more likely on a forum with a nature such as this one. I imagine it must have been a pretty serious loss of information for the edit function to be disabled all together! shame that has to be the case, although it at least is understandable now. Maybe this could help be prevented by archiving/backing up the forum? I know that would probably require a fair bit of time and effort and not be a fail-safe against all snafus, but just a thought. Locksmitharmy's idea is good too, although I don't know if/how that could be implemented in the software but I'm sure there are many people knowledgeable in that field around here. I love me my edit button

[zeke79]

As far as anything being done to phpbb that does not come with the software package that will never happen. Mr.Picks will not use any type of addon or mod as the potential of opening up holes in security. There is no point of even asking him as it has never happened and he will never do it according to him.

As far as enabling the edit feature for a period of time after the initial post, that likely will not get done either as there are other reasons that it was disabled such as an argument between members resulting in rules being broken to the point of a possible ban. When this happens, if an admin or mod is not around to see it we usually hear about it by PM in which case the member or members in violation of the rules had usually gone back and edited their posts to fix the rule violations. I doubt the edit feature will ever be enabled again. There are problems also with using forum backups to solve edit issues such as if the forum is only backed up every 24 hours and at 20 hours into the day we have a problem then when we use the backed up info we have lost 20 hours worth of posts.

[unlisted]

If you are that worried about a spehlling errrrr, or something of the like, there is a very nice PREVIEW button you can use..

[Jaakko]

And there really is no use for edit function. If your post has spelling errors or you would like to check them, click "preview" instead of "submit" The lack of edit function in my opinion raises the quality of the posts, as the user has to think about what he/she writes before sending it.

And like zeke said, it prevents a whole lot of arguments that would result from editing posts in a conversation.

[unlisted]

And there really is no use for edit function. If your post has spelling errors or you would like to check them, click "preview" instead of "submit" The lack of edit function in my opinion raises the quality of the posts, as the user has to think about what he/she writes before sending it.

And like zeke said, it prevents a whole lot of arguments that would result from editing posts in a conversation.

Ya miss my post right above yours BOY??

[mhweaver]

Admit it, unlisted, you edited Jaakko's post just to accuse him of copying you

[Jaakko]

Ya miss my post right above yours BOY??

Your post was useless carbage, nobody likes you