Editing time in Forums

Editing your comments is a feature designed for correction of formatting errors, typos, and similar mistakes. Many website owners have found that if the ability to edit your comments is extended too long, the feature becomes open to abuse. For instance, a controversial statement that provokes a storm of protest or debate might get edited later to say something completely different to try and avoid responsibility, or to cast doubt on the responder's objections. It can create confusion and undermine confidence in the forum itself, if the comment history does not reflect the actual conversation that occurred.

Editing is therefore restricted to quick corrections, before the conversation gets going. If you need to update, revise, or add to your comment at a later time, the simplest thing to do is to reply to yourself with a new comment containing your second thoughts. That keeps the comment history more reflective of the actual progression of ideas that were exchanged, and will not confuse someone who returns to the thread later to find the new posting.

Also, the time limit for editing your own comments is configurable. Set edit_my_comment_timeout to the number of seconds the comment should remain editable. 300 (ie. 5 minutes) is a good number, but if you want it to be longer, then choose a longer interval.