Over the years 6speed has grown and with this growth we have experienced growing pains. Sometimes we have made good decisions and sometimes the decisions have not been as good as we had hoped for.

Recently, we have experienced an issue where a member went back to a post after several months and changed and/or deleted the posts information.

We are now looking at changing the rules or proceedures where after a certain amount of time the poster will no longer have the ability to change their posts.

We recognize that posters, especially in the early stages of a post, need to have the ability to make changes and/or corrections.

We would like our members input as to how long of a time period we should allow before changes to posts can no longer be made.

In addition, if members have suggestions regarding changes or modifications to existing rules we would like to hear these suggestions.

Thanks for you help.

 

Chad,

The locking of an original post I feel is only necessary in the classifieds section.
It would be beneficial to operate in the same fashion that ebay does, for example once a bid is placed the original information is locked and the seller can only add to the classified listing.

This then locks all the original pertinent infomation in place should there be a dispute on any of the details called out in the listing.

Let me know what you think

Mike

 

Mike,

I just placed the post. IB, the owner of this forum really wants this form to be a members form. They want to hear the members input and they want the members to know their input is important to them. Thus, this post.

I do thank your for your participation.

 

I think it would be a good idea to lock posts after a decent amount of time. Personally, aside from some corrections made due to bad english or wrong numers/infos, I never feel the need to completely erase a post after a long time.

I deleted maybe a couple of posts, but I did it after a few seconds. This because I felt I should've shut up rather than posting worthless comments.

 

I think the ability to edit a post should never expire. A member should not be allowed to delete a post after few months. 3-6 months? I dont feel a need to go back years and delete any of my postings.

 

I agree with Mike.

On the thread in question, the issue is one of representation / fraud. For everything outside of for sale threads, I am not sure that there is a benefit to the community to limit the time frame in which posts can be edited.

 

I think it should be time based instead of subject matter based. Sometimes, a post that looks innocent enough at first glance might prove to be a critical piece of information in a For Sale thread days, months or perhaps even years down the road.

Let me give some examples:
When I was shopping for my Turbo, this forum's Cars For Sale area proved to be a good source for candidates. I recall having my eyes on a 996 Turbo that was local to me. The car looked good until I searched the seller's post history. I unearthed a post where he talked about how he got into an accident and was looking for a good place to source a GT2 front bumper. That's when I backed off. Days later, the post with info about the collision was mysterious edited.

While not necessarily specific to this forum, I have also come across many cars for sale where the owner claims the car is never raced. Do a search history and the guy is bragging about his top speed run in Mexico with other supercars, stop light clutch drops, etc. You get the idea.

I would propose something along the line of 5 days, if after that time period is up and the OP needs to edit the post, he/she should approach the moderator for approval.

 

IMO...threads should be closed in the classified section once the transaction is complete and or the product is no longer for sale. This includes any option to go back and edit text etc...

This may have helped in the current situation and could help minimize the amount of threads that are brought back to life from those who are curious about products that are no longer available.

I realize some sellers don't post that the product is sold and the thread then lives on. This could be addressed by setting a 30-day lull policy in place. If there is no action in the classified thread for 30 days then it is closed. Create something that sends an automated email to the OP that the thread is about to be closed due to inactivity. Let it be reopened if the OP submits a request and the moderators approve.

 

I know you are looking for a blanket rule, that can be set and the forum software...any policy that requires human intervention is unworkable. So enforcing a rule where the thread is locked after it is sold is really not going to work. You really want a "XX days and edit rights are gone"

The issue is balancing user convenience against the needs to safeguard content.

I think mods should have infinite time limits. Original poster has 30 days. Anything else, ask a mod.... Just to edit a post.

(On the whole thread lock issue, we do not seem to have major issues with threads once an item is sold. I suppose the thread starter cannot then edit the first post with a big SOLD so people wont necropost...they'd have to 'report' it so a mod could.)

A

 

Allow us to delete anything at anytime. In the rare cases where we need to revive evidence, IB has the power.

 

In the main forum threads I've only edited my posts within the first few minutes/hours after I've posted things usually to correct typos or wrong information I've posted. The for sale section is a whole different ball of wax since those posts need to be edited from time to time as the sale progresses. I'm guessing that everything probably needs to be the same in all the forums. In that case I would say maybe 2-3 months after that it requires a moderator to make changes or perhaps the user could make a request to the moderators to restart the clock on the post lock with reasoning why it should be reset (not sure if that is possible). I could see that being beneficial for the For sale section.

 

problem though when its a photo.they can take down the picture from the server its hosted on..
you would need to allow pictures to be stored on your server..so they can not be deleted.
Second not sure if your BB allows but maybe you can make it so only info can be added after a short time..IE items for sale where they may want to lower the price.
or post sold.

 

+1... Thousands of posts every day on here. How many times has evidence been needed?

 

I spent most of my time on rennteam in the last 8 years and I believe it is something like 1 hour before a post is frozen. Then it is there for posterity. I think that is good. I very often correct my posts for spelling or grammar and adding a phrase. Here, unlike another porsche list you only get a minute or 2 before any edit results in an edit notation on the post. That notation makes you look bad, either dumb or fudging or covering up which is usually not the case.

I say give 15 minutes for notation-free edits and deletes, 1 hour for changes with notations, and then let it be frozen for good, except for multi-mod agreed to actions. Anyone can always add another post a day later to add clarification to what they said.

Such rules give ample time for honest mistakes to be corrected and freeze all negative stuff - this will make people think about what they post and better show what kind of people are making the posts. You have to stand by your posts/word. Would you let politicians erase video of campaign promises or debate statements in the real world?

 

Embedding video's of all kinds would help and as Tonka says larger native picture posting.