Comment Editing

October 1, 2012 2:03 PM

We just added the ability to edit comments for five minutes across all MetaFilter sites.

Once you add a comment, you'll see this note in the comment byline: 'Need to fix typos? Edit.' You can click 'Edit' to bring up a form where you can fix any typos and resubmit your comment. There's a timer on the edit page to let you know how much time you have to fix things up.

As always, if you want to fix something past the five minute window—or if you want to remove your comment completely—please let us know via the contact form. The five-minute edit window should be used for small changes. We track the changes on our end, and we'll be keeping an eye on how folks use this feature.

Please let us know about any bugs you run into here. If you can include your browser and OS versions that'll be a big help.

posted by pb (staff) to Feature Requests at 2:03 PM (978 comments total)

Is it April 1st? EDIT: Just checked: it isn't.
posted by supercres at 2:03 PM on October 1, 2012 [30 favorites]

What!?!?!?

Sweat!
posted by Seamus at 2:03 PM on October 1, 2012 [88 favorites]

Well, shit the bed! Update: Works in Safari on iPod running iOS 5, or whatever it was before 6.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:04 PM on October 1, 2012

*checks sky for pigs*
posted by ODiV at 2:04 PM on October 1, 2012 [34 favorites]

Oh, I just spotted that, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou.
posted by Malor at 2:05 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm going to try this out like a boss in my IE 8! EDIT: If this change posts, it works! Not sure I completely love the interface. Editing on a new page may take you away from important context. EDIT EDIT: Also I tried to put two linebreaks before the "EDIT" (and also above this "EDIT EDIT"), which works on Mefi generally but here doesn't seem to render.
posted by grobstein at 2:05 PM on October 1, 2012

Bug report: I tried to insert two hard returns before my "EDIT" line.

Neat, though! (After so long without it, it doesn't take much to liven up the experience.)

Oh, and I'm on Mac Safari 6.0.1. In this edit window I'm seeing the br tags in my original comment.
posted by supercres at 2:05 PM on October 1, 2012

Are you serious? On edit: Yep, they're serious. Has a timer and everything. On 2nd Edit: The five minutes starts from the comment was first posted, obviously. duh man.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:06 PM on October 1, 2012

And to get a couple of core things out of the way:

- We really mean "use this for small changes" as a rule, not a suggestion; this is for typos and miskeys and autocorrect problems, not for changing the substance of your comment.

- We really mean we will be tracking how this is used; please do not be that guy who tries to do something stunty or manipulative with editing, because that will just piss us off and turn you into that guy who got banned for screwing around with Metafilter.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:07 PM on October 1, 2012 [63 favorites]

we'll be keeping an eye on how folks use this feature.

pb is too nice to say this, but I will: please do not use this for fucking around with other people. Feel free to test things out in this thread, otherwise be cool and don't use it for goofing around. Thanks.

And yeah, we still suggest using preview and all the rest, but try this out and see if it helps things any. Right now it's just for comments not for posts. See what you think.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:08 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

In this edit window I'm seeing the br tags in my original comment.

This is probably specific to Metatalk. How the site handles break tags in comments differs from subsite to subsite; most just store the linebreak character and interpolate the actual br tag at thread display time, but Metatalk actually inserts the br tags into the comment itself at submission time.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:08 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Can you edit once, close it, then edit again? I will test now to see! EDITED ONCE....EDITED TWICE... Yes you can, and the timer counts down from whatever time you stopped the previous time. If the first edit takes ten seconds, then the second edit clock starts at 4:50.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:08 PM on October 1, 2012

*bestows keys to the kingdom upon the honorable pb*
posted by zarq at 2:08 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Really? EDIT: Yep really
posted by 2bucksplus at 2:08 PM on October 1, 2012

HOORAY.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 2:09 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

What does your test prove? That you CAN re-edit, and it appears you can re-edit all you want, within that magical 5 minute window. SWEET!
posted by filthy light thief at 2:09 PM on October 1, 2012

Awwwww shit!
posted by cashman at 2:09 PM on October 1, 2012

[this is good]
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:09 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh, and for what it's worth, most BBCode message systems allow unlimited edits, sometimes with a flag that a message has been edited, sometimes not. I've never seen anything I'd consider real abuse that way, though occasionally there's a little confusion when people like me (I tend to edit a couple of times, for a couple of minutes) get replied to very quickly.

It just doesn't seem to turn into a problem.

edit: just because I can. Woohoo!

Second edit: The syntax in edits isn't the same as in original posts, you have to do your own <br> tags, and you can't preview.
posted by Malor at 2:10 PM on October 1, 2012

Thank you so much! On edit: Some of us really need this.
posted by maudlin at 2:10 PM on October 1, 2012

That's a bannin' EDIT: banjo. EDIT: Machine for killing facists. OK... I'm surprised you can edit more than once.
posted by Jahaza at 2:10 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm going to test this by making a typo here and then fixing it.
posted by andoatnp at 2:10 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is a fun thread to reload freeload freebase.
posted by supercres at 2:11 PM on October 1, 2012

Yes, thank you. Thank you! THANK YOU!!! I LOVE THIS PONY!!!! :D
posted by zarq at 2:11 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

Only problem: line breaks don't carry forward.

And this is to test if they are retained from the original comment.

I CAN SEE BEHIND THE WIZARD'S CLOAK. Line breaks are kept with the [br] tag, where the [hard brackets] are the usual karats used in HTML.

Spiffy-keen!
posted by filthy light thief at 2:11 PM on October 1, 2012

Wow!!
posted by dirtdirt at 2:11 PM on October 1, 2012

Ok, it works.
posted by andoatnp at 2:11 PM on October 1, 2012

And if you had wondered why all the mods seem to be out and about today... this is it.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:11 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Line #1.

Line #2.

Line #3.

Line #x.

Line breaks work if you enter them manually!
posted by maudlin at 2:11 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm working on the linebreaks issue, thanks for letting us know.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:11 PM on October 1, 2012

Hey pb, the line breaks don't seem to be saved. They appear in the comment editing box, but not in the actual comment.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:12 PM on October 1, 2012

um, nvm.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:12 PM on October 1, 2012

Great now I have no excuse.
posted by The Whelk at 2:12 PM on October 1, 2012 [20 favorites]

Test comment. Test test.
posted by Jahaza at 2:12 PM on October 1, 2012

The timer makes things kind of exciting, now commenting on MetaFilter is a RACE AGAINST TIME
posted by speicus at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

Finally, I get my five bucks worth out of this site, hamburger.

Also, FWIW: I just got this error trying to abandon changes in the edit window by using the "return to your comment" link:

The server encountered an internal error and was unable to complete your request.
Could not connect to JRun Server. On edit: I tried again, and did not get the error. I don't know what it means anyway.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm frightened by change. This terrifies me.
posted by tommasz at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

_
posted by Jahaza at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012

Whoa! I totally didn't think I'd be seeing this in my lifetime. Thank you mods!

EDIT: And the style for the edit-window box is rather nice and unobtrusive, too. Good job.
posted by Phire at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm gobsmacked. Actually, what's beyond gobsmacked? Terasmacked?
posted by Egg Shen at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Now I'm even more glad that I didn't apply for the mod job -- since ninja edit powers seemed like the best selling asgdasdgasdg point. Now if I couldn't only fix that period I left out earlier today, my day would be perfect better.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012

Holy crap, it's Ponymas. Oddly, when I opened the edit window for this post, the timer started counting down from 5:02.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012

Testing it myself to see what it looks like in the final version... Yep, ok.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:13 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm working on the linebreaks issue, thanks for letting us know.

Hurry! You've only got another 2 minutes to fix it!
posted by Babblesort at 2:14 PM on October 1, 2012 [13 favorites]

we'll be keeping an eye on how folks use this feature.

Next you'll be telling us you record everything we say here.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:14 PM on October 1, 2012 [11 favorites]

Is this the real life? Or is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide. No escape from reality
posted by The Whelk at 2:14 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Test1 Test2 Test3
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:14 PM on October 1, 2012

wheeee!
posted by gaspode at 2:14 PM on October 1, 2012

This is crazy. So crazy. REAL CRAZY.
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:14 PM on October 1, 2012

When you post a comment with line breaks in it and then edit it, you see break tags that were added at some point.

When you post a one line comment and then edit it to have more than one line and then edit it again, you don't see added line break tags.
posted by Jahaza at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

But I really, really need seven minutes! Or maybe even eight. Nine would be about just right.
posted by perhapses at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

Can I replace it wholesale?
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

Glitch report! In the comment above, no matter how many carriage returns I edit into it, the entire thing displays on one line.

Edit: Now it works!
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is a test. I like the little built-in no-self-deleting feature.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

Whoot! !!!!
posted by Mitheral at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh, a word on etiquette: on BBCode systems, I've found it useful to break out edits with a separate "edit:" down at the bottom, either with the additional content, or describing what I changed in the main body. I don't usually bother with edit notes in the first minute or two, but I will always make a note after about a half-hour, even if it's minor. (as in, "edit: fixed a stupid typo. oops.")

If the edit window on MeFi is ever lengthened, that might be a good habit to pick up.
posted by Malor at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

It won't let me delete the comment
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

Carriage returns do not appear to work. On edit, what Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish said.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

My kingdom! You can have it! (Um, there's nothing there. And it fits on a pencil eraser. Also, you have to come get it.)
posted by bilabial at 2:15 PM on October 1, 2012

Is it April 1st?

Actually, it's exactly 6 months away from April 1st, so it MUST be true.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:16 PM on October 1, 2012 [11 favorites]

I entered a line break in this comment when editing it. Doesn't seem to have stuck.
posted by Egg Shen at 2:16 PM on October 1, 2012

You can even remove and replace text in real-time!

Sweet.
posted by grouse at 2:16 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I've had a very different experience from Malor, I guess, because on all of the technical-ish forums I frequent people ask questions, get a bunch of good answers, and then I guess feel embarrassed that they didn't already know that stuff and edit the original post to say something like "nevermind." It's infuriating and is the main reason why I've never really seen the lack of an edit window here as a bad thing. That, or in a contentious back and forth the more sore-assed of the two parties will just retroactively change all of their retorts to read "fuck you" or similar.
posted by invitapriore at 2:16 PM on October 1, 2012 [9 favorites]

Sooo.....

Now that we have a spiffy edit window for comments, can we also have one for posts to the front page, please?

Please? Pretty please?
posted by zarq at 2:16 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Check check 1-2-3 check. BTW, mods, I know you are still working on this feature, but I suggest a warning about "do not be that guy who tries to do something stunty or manipulative with editing, because that will just piss us off and turn you into that guy who got banned for screwing around with Metafilter"
posted by exogenous at 2:17 PM on October 1, 2012

Whoa! I totally didn't think I'd be seeing this in my lifetime.

Don't worry. As long as you haven't seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, or c-beams glittering in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate, you should be fine for decades to come.

OMG -- I made a genuine typo and now I just fixed it, for real.
posted by maudlin at 2:17 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

Tried out heyho's observation. Neat. Even catches just spaces. Not just single punctuation marks, though. Guess that's a good thing given the traditional obit thread post.

Trying out the page break fix. Edit: I mean line break fix.

Yep, seems to work. Woo!
posted by supercres at 2:17 PM on October 1, 2012

heyho: "I like the error message that comes up when you try to delete the whole comment. Nice."

That's cool. :)
posted by zarq at 2:17 PM on October 1, 2012

Heh. Yeah, it really doesn't let you dump your comment down the memory hole.
posted by maudlin at 2:18 PM on October 1, 2012

     
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:18 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

People were hinting on metafilter last night we might get an awesome present from a gang of supreme adjudicators, but I didn't realize that meant the mods.
posted by feral_goldfish at 2:18 PM on October 1, 2012

This will end well. Edit: Countdown timer? Which wire do I cut, the blue or the redgreen?
posted by borkencode at 2:19 PM on October 1, 2012

That, or in a contentious back and forth the more sore-assed of the two parties will just retroactively change all of their retorts to read "fuck you" or similar.

That is specifically what we are talking about in re: "fucking around with other people." Don't do this. We will know. We will be really, really cranky.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:19 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Linebreaks should look better now, but let me know if not.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:19 PM on October 1, 2012

I am so scared right now guys.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:19 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

I imagine every thread right now is discussing this feature. The singularity.
posted by perhapses at 2:19 PM on October 1, 2012

Merry Christmas! This is totally awesome! Don't shoot yer eye out, kid!
posted by amanda at 2:19 PM on October 1, 2012

Editing is a form of self-censorship.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:19 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

[line break working]
posted by Egg Shen at 2:19 PM on October 1, 2012

wait what I am totally doing the editings
it is amazing
so amazing
it's like magic
no wait this is going to ruin the site
maybe?
we shall see

*ominous musix*
posted by juv3nal at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

TEST
posted by Artw at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

can we also have one for posts to the front page, please?

It's been sixteen minutes, maybe give it some time?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012 [26 favorites]

invitapriore: I guess feel embarrassed that they didn't already know that stuff and edit the original post to say something like "nevermind."

Well, I've been known to remove comments that way if I posted them in the wrong thread, or with advice that didn't actually pertain to a question. Not sure if you'd consider that abuse or not. I typically only do that when I don't think my comment has any use whatsoever. edit: I think of it as self-policing, in that case.

I've never seen someone completely remove a question before, but I don't hang out, really, on any technical forums. Ars Technica, a little bit, but I don't like the crowd there that well.
posted by Malor at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Testing testing!!!!
posted by Nimmie Amee at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

YEEES! I saw that little Javascript popup thing and I'm psyched!
posted by spiderskull at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Hooray! Except, I probably won't notice my typos until after the 5 minute window has passed. Because, you know, I have good luck like that.

Also: successful edit test! Woo!
posted by asnider at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Hey pb, I was able to completely delete my comment by subbing in the html code for a non breaking space.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Something.

Something else.

Yay! Thanks, pb, we no longer have to add break tags.
posted by maudlin at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh no you didn't!

Oh yes you did.

This. is. AWESOME!!! Thanks, pb.

oooooooh, and countdown timer is 5 minutes from first posting, not 5 minutes from last edit. Noice!
posted by Frayed Knot at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

October Metafilter Christmas
posted by Narrative Priorities at 2:20 PM on October 1, 2012

I love that my testing of line breaks now looks like it came before pb's announcement that they should be fixed. Which they are, BTW.
posted by supercres at 2:21 PM on October 1, 2012

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

for 5 minutes
posted by Egg Shen at 2:21 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

jessamyn: " It's been sixteen minutes, maybe give it some time?"

:) OK. I'm excited! This is so cool!
posted by zarq at 2:21 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

"is this reality"

I know you guys are joking, but I had an incredibly vivid Metafilter dream this weekend (a handle-that-exists-only-in-my-dream was super mean to me about something stupid and in my dream, I came up with the perfect comeback in the shower and then I woke up...God, I wish I was joking), and, after being an insomniac last night (not because people were mean in m dreams, mind you), I'm really feeling slightly out of it today. But you guys are reacting exactly like you should (thrilled at an edit window!), so hopefully this really is reality.

If this doesn't exist tomorrow, I wouldn't be surprised. So I feel like I should err all over the place.

But instead, I'm leaving work to go to bed (though I may try out the edit window on my way home on my phone -- where it will truly be a modsend)

Metatalk: It's been sixteen minutes, maybe give it some time?
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:21 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Testing. Yay it works!!
posted by Karmeliet at 2:21 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh good, another reason to hate non-breaking spaces.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:21 PM on October 1, 2012

test

no, rllu, tebstig

IBT WBRKS
posted by mwhybark at 2:21 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hey pb, I was able to completely delete my comment by subbing in the html code for a non breaking space.

Can't you do that as a regular comment already?
posted by shakespeherian at 2:21 PM on October 1, 2012

Hey pb, I was able to completely delete my comment by subbing in the html code for a non breaking space.

Thanks, Brandon Blatcher. We're not going to be able to keep up with all the ingenious ways people can blank out comments. People could also just write "redacted". Removing your comment this way is more of a behavioral problem that we'll be watching for.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:22 PM on October 1, 2012

On preview, reconsidered demonstrating a behavioural problem.
posted by maudlin at 2:22 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I like that the "edit" link disappears when time's up, without needing to refresh the page.

Looks like you do need to refresh to see the edits to other people's comments, yes? Which may come into play in a fast-moving thread like this. We should really make it a norm to use editing just for typos, not for adding new content. New content, new comment.

And it looks like the breaks are working now, nice.

Also - although it won't let you delete your comment completely and leave it blank, it will let you delete it and replace it entirely - see my "Can you replace it wholesale" comment above, which started out with completely different text.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:22 PM on October 1, 2012

Ghidorah: Editing is a form of self-censorship.

It is!

Self-censorship, if it's being done for the benefit of others, instead of to their detriment, or out of fear, can be a great thing, online.
posted by Malor at 2:22 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

 

 

 

 
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:22 PM on October 1, 2012

I've had a very different experience from Malor, I guess, because on all of the technical-ish forums I frequent people ask questions, get a bunch of good answers, and then I guess feel embarrassed that they didn't already know that stuff and edit the original post to say something like "nevermind."

OMG this. It's infuriating in real time and twice as infuriating when you are searching the archives for a solution to a problem and you can't tell what problem the proposed solution is solving.
posted by Mitheral at 2:22 PM on October 1, 2012

Every time I see someone make a typo, I'm going to start a timer. At three minutes, I'll memail them to let them know they only have two minutes left to fix it. It'll make me the most popular person on Metafilter. I might even include some suggestions on wording and style, come to think of it.
posted by perhapses at 2:23 PM on October 1, 2012 [8 favorites]

Oh, you can use the non-breaking space code to post a comment. Huh.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:23 PM on October 1, 2012

posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:22 PM on October 1 [+] [!]

I don't see what you did there.
posted by Egg Shen at 2:23 PM on October 1, 2012 [10 favorites]

Looks like you do need to refresh to see the edits to other people's comments, yes?

Yes, you have to refresh the page to see any changes. We don't update the comments inline.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2012

Well, I've been known to remove comments that way if I posted them in the wrong thread, or with advice that didn't actually pertain to a question. Not sure if you'd consider that abuse or not. I typically only do that when I don't think my comment has any use whatsoever. edit: I think of it as self-policing, in that case.

Nah, that seems kosher to me and I'd probably do the same. It's more the equivalent of obliterating your AskMe question so readers have to figure out what the whole thing was about from the context of the answers. Luckily, that remains impossible here.
posted by invitapriore at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm so excited to try this out! YAY! Thanks mods!

Testing testing. Weeeeeee.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2012

This sucks! is cool.

And now I'm going to add a whole bunch more text.

Ку заэпы луптатум еюж, ку алиё вёжи пэртинакёа мыа. Эа еюж нюлльа зймюл жплэндидэ, векж ку мюкиуж дикунт пондэрюм, ат вяш ёудико мюнырэ майыжтатйж. Но вэл щольыат эррорибуз, мэя ку нужквюам квюальизквюэ, ут фалля ийжквюы аэтырно мэя. Эа вэл чонэт праэчынт. Конжюль льаборэж нонюмэш нэ квуй. Ед ыррор промпта июварыт шэа, эи мандамюч мыдиокрым пырикюлёз эжт, нэ ючю иреуры вёвындо. Зыд квюиж ыкжпэтэндяз модыратиюз ты.

And next comes an edit at the 0:01 second mark.
posted by benito.strauss at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

My guess (or fervent hope) is that after the initial first blush of the edit window people settle down and really only sincerely use it for typos.

Should we add a flag for 'I noticed this person substantially edited their comment'? Or just flag it as 'other' or 'HTML/display error' and assume the mods will correlate that with the edit history?
posted by shakespeherian at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

why is cortex tasing me?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

A new MetaTalk that has over 100 comments in less than 20 minutes? Can only mean that we got a pony! Epic flameouts take at least half an hour to form.

That countdown clock makes me fee all kinds of pressure, though. Actually makes my typing worse. Not to be helped, I guess.

Thank you for the pony we've been asking for all this time. I'm going to call it "Buttercup" and I don't care how much it costs, I'm not giving it back.
posted by ambrosia at 2:25 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

i love you.
posted by empath at 2:25 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's more the equivalent of obliterating your AskMe question

We can call that the "Mu" option.
posted by Egg Shen at 2:25 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

:)
posted by semaphore at 2:25 PM on October 1, 2012

Might actually be a good thing overall -- before dashing off that heated reply, wait five minutes to make sure that's what they really wanted to say.
posted by Malor at 2:25 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm wondering what perhapses, zarq, Skygazer, ldthomps, and brundlefly think about this.
posted by grouse at 2:26 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Do you know what else takes five minutes?
posted by perhapses at 2:26 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

benito.strauss: "This sucks!"

benito.strauss: "This sucks! is cool."

Hmmmmm.
posted by zarq at 2:26 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Five minutes too long, also needs a button that says "I'm happy with my comment upload NOW!"

Also, I would like a button that makes popcorn.


Thank you.
posted by Skygazer at 2:26 PM on October 1, 2012

And THIS is why I got my first ever "metafilter is overwhelmed right now" message! Aha!

I am excited about this! Edit: SO EXCITED. Typos beGONE!
posted by ldthomps at 2:26 PM on October 1, 2012

Holy...

Edit: ...cow!
posted by brundlefly at 2:27 PM on October 1, 2012

Test
Ing
Cool
But
Slightly
Addictive
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:27 PM on October 1, 2012

perhapses: Do you know what else takes five minutes?

300 seconds?
posted by Malor at 2:27 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

It appears to be broken. It only lets me edit my own comments -- there's not even a button next to other people's.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:27 PM on October 1, 2012 [39 favorites]

I realize this is asking a lot, but the first thing I did was go to the last typo I know I had and try to fix it—what about a 1-time five minute edit window on all previous content? If I had 5 minutes with each of my contributions I would absolutely go back and scrub all the typos and repetitions.
posted by carsonb at 2:27 PM on October 1, 2012

You might want to put a banner on the top of the other pages. This is a pretty big, potentially confusing change, and a lot of readers that don't read the gray might want to know.
posted by empath at 2:28 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Cats and dogs living together! Mass hysteria! Deliberate typoe I'm adding to this comment to see if it's all really real!
posted by gerryblog at 2:28 PM on October 1, 2012

This is kind of like getting an actual pony. You get all excited, talk for weeks about how you'll brush it and braid ribbons into its mane and teach it Icelandic (unless it already is Icelandic and then you will teach it Klingon), and then the pony shows up.

And it's all a bit weird and smells like hay.
posted by catlet at 2:28 PM on October 1, 2012 [11 favorites]

Wow, I've never seen the New Comments Ajax dialog go from nothing to 7 before.
posted by Mitheral at 2:28 PM on October 1, 2012

Another thought: all these egg timers ticking and going off after five minutes has got to make for a noisy server!
posted by carsonb at 2:28 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Or just flag it as 'other' or 'HTML/display error'

That. We're pretty serious about the "only for typos" part of it and while we expect there will be a learning curve where people figure out what does and does not work for them, anything that smells like goofing around in a thread (besides this one, but that does mean other MeTa threads) will be basically treated like trolling.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:28 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I might as well admit it. I fell in love with the typo.
posted by gerryblog at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2012

Very cool. Now I won't look like a moron quite as often.
posted by chococat at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh god, there are so many things I would go back and fix. Sigh.
posted by Malor at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

This is pretty exiting stuff!
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2012

Awesome!
posted by absalom at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2012

I feel like Haley Joel Osment at the end of A.I. when aliens dug him out of the ice after 10,000 years and he got to have a moment with his "mommy" again.
posted by perhapses at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2012

Holy crap. I had to check MeTa to confirm was going on.

A suggestion: one minute is plenty for typos. C.f., the site that rhymes with "shred it."

ETA Bed it, wed it, credit... Hee!
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2012

My only regret is that I can't go back in time and rescue jokes that were ruined by typos. I think we should all share a moment of silence for those poor, forsaken jokes.
posted by brundlefly at 2:30 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I am going to type real fast and see what happens.

EDIT: Yeah, the clock runs continuously here, even if you are not actively editing, which makes sense. But this contradicts what I thought I read earlier.

Though it may have been a typo.
posted by mountmccabe at 2:30 PM on October 1, 2012

Thanks jessamyn.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:30 PM on October 1, 2012

This is amzing!

Edit: is an anagram of Diet.

Edit edit: I do love the Holy Roman Empire, but I thought this was AMERICA!

triple-edit: well for you all that is. This as in where I am is definitely Canada.
posted by Lemurrhea at 2:30 PM on October 1, 2012

ChurchHatesTucker: Reddit lets you edit as long as you want. They just put a * next to your post after a minute.
posted by Malor at 2:31 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Here's a quick look at the per-comment edit tracking view, if you're curious what we see.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:31 PM on October 1, 2012 [14 favorites]

This is a historic day for metafilter. Halllyy fucking llllooooooolyah!

And I'm going to test it out right chere.

Oh man is this great.
posted by bukvich at 2:31 PM on October 1, 2012

test


testing
posted by Jahaza at 2:31 PM on October 1, 2012

You might want to put a banner on the top of the other pages. This is a pretty big, potentially confusing change, and a lot of readers that don't read the gray might want to know.

The dialogue is on one's comments everywhere seems to be plenty of announcing and the top of page announcement bar messes with my finger memory.
posted by Mitheral at 2:32 PM on October 1, 2012

Malor, true. I was referring to the "ninja edit" window, where it's not marked.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:32 PM on October 1, 2012

cortex: "Here's a quick look at the per-comment edit tracking view, if you're curious what we see."

What does "Distance" mean in this context?
posted by zarq at 2:33 PM on October 1, 2012

Yay Team! Go Nads!

Winner! Gagnon!
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:33 PM on October 1, 2012

Ok now make something that undoes hours of memail conversation about teen wolf
posted by The Whelk at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012

Holy shit!!!

ETA: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by kmz at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012

Test2

Distance is probably "Levenshtein distance"
posted by benito.strauss at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I like it!

Edited to add: *bloodcurdling scream*

I REALLY like it!
posted by bakerina at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh crap it even works on phones
posted by The Whelk at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012

I hate this. /end comment

No no. I love it. /updated comment

Why can't I edit everyone else's too. That would make sooooo much sense.
posted by NailsTheCat at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012

Nice.
posted by burnmp3s at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012

I can't wait for the moment someone intentionally posts something inflammatory and waits for the response to pile up with a couple minutes and then goes back to edit their message to make it seem innocent.
posted by perhapses at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012

zarq, that's Edit Distance from the previous version of the comment.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Maybe not at the top of the screen, but a sidebarring seems appropriate.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2012

JOY
posted by corb at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2012

This is awesome.
posted by no regrets, coyote at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2012

Ok now make something that undoes hours of memail conversation about teen wolf

Banning elizardbits?
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2012 [10 favorites]

Can you delete your comment entirely during the 5 minutes? (Testing now.)
posted by Mid at 2:35 PM on October 1, 2012

We're pretty serious about the "only for typos" part of it and while we expect there will be a learning curve where people figure out what does and does not work for them, anything that smells like goofing around in a thread (besides this one, but that does mean other MeTa threads) will be basically treated like trolling.

Excellent. (I presume this covers typos in URLs, too.)

EDIT: I like the clear instructions: "Need to fix a typo? Edit"
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

This should make the site a little bit better, and I'm optimistic that it will allay the fears of rampant abuse which some have expressed. Thanks to the mods for instituting this feature.
posted by John Cohen at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

Very cool. No more missing words in my sentences. I promise! (Sort of).
posted by anya32 at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

Plz add breathalyzer feature.
posted by nathancaswell at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

This is a really exciting new feature, and I'm pleased to see it.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

I like this NO ONLY FOUR much.
posted by The White Hat at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

Now I have to try it too.
It works!
posted by rhapsodie at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

What does "Distance" mean in this context?

Sorry, jargony. Distance as in the amount of difference, in differing-character count, from the pre-edit to the post-edit form. Roughly speaking how much was added or subtracted or changed. Very small numbers mean just a nudge, a character added or deleted (and are what we mostly expect to see); large numbers suggest a lot added or nixed.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

Well, you can't blank out your comment with an empty post, but I suppose you could just post some nonsense over your comment.
posted by Mid at 2:36 PM on October 1, 2012

harsh burn
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:37 PM on October 1, 2012

This is so good!

Ha! It works!

But I am sure this will not help me prof better.
posted by rtha at 2:37 PM on October 1, 2012

I love everything about this. I love the countdown clock. It's adding so much drama to my day right now. I was just living in a moderately dramatic day and now it's like IGNITION IN T MINUS and my adrenalin is pumping and I am on the edge of my seat WILL I MAKE IT? WILL I MAKE IT IN TIME? Oh my god this is actually waking me up from my usual late afternoon stupor. Will today be the day that MeFi makes me more productive at work? Oh my god, oh my god, I'm editing. All writing is really rewriting, is it not. I am truly a writer now that I am rewriting something. Oh man I am editing I am editing this comment! In real time! I can't even believe it! I felt that today was not going my way and I was wrong! I have never been more excited to make mistakes! Oh man the clock is ticking down! What happens if it winds down before I save changes, will my comment disappear? Will the words of my heart disappear? Will I not be heard? Will this moment be a koan? Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you! Now with edits! Can you imagine if we could edit real life? Just a five minute rewind ability? I think pause is more valuable but if either is limited to five minutes, then rewind seems clearly better. Oh man my pulse is racing. I am thrilled. This has been such a rollercoaster ride. Oh man seconds left on the clock! Mere seconds! What shall I do what shall I say? I have nothing to say yet the knowledge that I am running out of time fills me with dread! SAVE! SAVE!
posted by prefpara at 2:37 PM on October 1, 2012

What if you edit your comment to introduce a tpyo?
posted by perhapses at 2:37 PM on October 1, 2012

The mods: "They really do like us." Thank you for the edit windowns window!
posted by ericb at 2:37 PM on October 1, 2012

test

edit
posted by FJT at 2:37 PM on October 1, 2012

Banning elizardbits?


There is another.
posted by The Whelk at 2:38 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

perhapses: "I can't wait for the moment someone intentionally posts something inflammatory and waits for the response to pile up with a couple minutes and then goes back to edit their message to make it seem innocent."

I obviously have zero influence on modly decisions, but I for one would seriously hope that infractions like this are treated the way self-links are.
posted by Phire at 2:38 PM on October 1, 2012

this is a test with 4:50 remaining
this is a second line [and this is the part I added to it]
Very nice!
third edit with 4 mins remaining

all done
posted by lampshade at 2:39 PM on October 1, 2012

zarq, that's Edit Distance from the previous version of the comment.


Mind detailing exactly what's going on? It can't be simple distance = #ofcharchanges, or else the differences in distances between the earlier edits would be much more, and given the comment would be higher in the earlier ones.

Pure curiosity, so feel free to not bother.
posted by Lemurrhea at 2:39 PM on October 1, 2012

So now this is the Teen Wofl Season 3 Prediction thread right
posted by shakespeherian at 2:40 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

pb: "zarq, that's Edit Distance from the previous version of the comment."

cortex: " Distance as in the amount of difference, in differing-character count, from the pre-edit to the post-edit form. Roughly speaking how much was added or subtracted or changed. Very small numbers mean just a nudge, a character added or deleted (and are what we mostly expect to see); large numbers suggest a lot added or nixed."

Ahhh. I'd never heard of the metric. Interesting. Thanks for explaining!
posted by zarq at 2:40 PM on October 1, 2012

Excellent. I eagerly await the imminent fall of the sky.

Which it will do with marginally fewer typos!

3: I'm normally opposed to any website that plays sounds at me without my express permission, but I request an exception in this case. As the countdown gets close to zero, it should sound a klaxon, or perhaps recite warnings. "You now have three minutes to reach minimum safe distance." You could solicit warning messages from the community and randomly select ones to play.
posted by Drastic at 2:40 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I for one would seriously hope that infractions like this are treated the way self-links are.

Maybe not banned4lyfe but definitely banned4now, yeah.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:41 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

New mods, and an edit window. Huzzah!

ETA: You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! You all get cars!

ETA^2: Okay, that's pretty cool.
posted by gauche at 2:41 PM on October 1, 2012

.

For all the typo jokes that will never be born.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:42 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Testy McTestington

Edit: The timer gave me slightly more than 5:00; something like 5:01 or 5:02. Allowing for page load times maybe?

Edit to the edit: But the timer picked up where it left off without crediting me another couple seconds (I think...), so it's not adding the extra seconds every time.

Edit to the edit to the edit: This is way cool! Thanks!
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 2:42 PM on October 1, 2012

Am I too late? Are the 5 minutes over?
posted by infini at 2:42 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee no no no
posted by infini at 2:43 PM on October 1, 2012

It's not totally clear that the back to your comment link abandons changes. Maybe some text to that effect is in order.
posted by Mitheral at 2:43 PM on October 1, 2012

perhapses: "I can't wait for the moment someone intentionally posts something inflammatory and waits for the response to pile up with a couple minutes and then goes back to edit their message to make it seem innocent."

Apple's new Maps App is pretty good!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:43 PM on October 1, 2012

The secret to telling a great fart joke is spending the overwhelming majority of your life not telling fart jokes.
(edit: was: Holy cow! I'm going to test this by replacing this comment with some good advice)
posted by .kobayashi. at 2:43 PM on October 1, 2012

Hurry shakespeherian, your time is running out! (Hint. It's spelled Wolf.)
posted by perhapses at 2:43 PM on October 1, 2012

Just getting this in under the wire for editing.
posted by subbes at 2:43 PM on October 1, 2012

This is like that part in a movie where all the kids in the orphanage finally, after years, get their new leather shoes, and you watch as the camera pans around the dorm room (B&W of course), showing all the happy orphan faces.


FIN
posted by Skygazer at 2:44 PM on October 1, 2012

EDIT: DIDN'T have good ideas. He didn't have lots of good ideas about what to do with Europe.
posted by Gary at 2:45 PM on October 1, 2012

.
posted by The Whelk at 2:45 PM on October 1, 2012

(Hint. It's spelled Wolf.)

FOOLS! I'LL SHOW THEM! I'LL SHOW THEM ALL
posted by shakespeherian at 2:45 PM on October 1, 2012

|
|
|
|
|
|  *
| /
|/ 
 O --oW! THE SKY IS FALLING
 T
/ \

posted by mkb at 2:46 PM on October 1, 2012

What I really want is like a one-shot typo-fixing spree. A 5 minute clock where I can go back to all my old comments and fix what typos need fixing. I won't get to them all; I'd have to pick which ones, in retrospect, bother me the most. Something like a site-wide "Ready? GO!" is what I have in mind.
(And, yes, the last comment above was more than a fixing of a typo. Never again. I bring this up because I feel the need to recognize the rule, given that I just breached it.)
posted by .kobayashi. at 2:46 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Lemurrhea, to get a sense of how Levenshtein Edit Distance works you can try out this demonstration. Try adding a couple different versions of the same comment and look at the red number at the bottom. That's the calculated distance.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:47 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

testing 1 2 3 - awesome!
posted by koeselitz at 2:47 PM on October 1, 2012

Hey, this is really spiffy, and thanks to the mods and coders for doing it.

I'll confess that for the last few weeks (after some mod, jessamyn maybe?, dropped a heavy hint that it was coming) I've been noticing my typos a whole lot more, and thinking "Soon, I'll be able to fix these."

.kobayashi. - I had a similar thought. Take an old and lengthy thread and sacrifice it to the Edit gods in thank for this gift. Sacrifice it by resetting the edit clock to 5:00 for all comments. It'd be like a supermarket shopping spree!
posted by benito.strauss at 2:48 PM on October 1, 2012

The comment following mine will be made by: infini!
posted by kmz at 2:48 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Wow, I just saw the edit test vanish in front of my
posted by infini at 2:48 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

NOT SURE IF WANT

tbh i would like this better if there was some sort of automatically included uneditable and undeletable text saying "this comment was edited on date, time"
posted by elizardbits at 2:49 PM on October 1, 2012 [9 favorites]

In all seriousness, was there a discussion about whether to mark edited comments as 'edited'? Another site I've used had editing, but you could click on the 'edited' mark and it would show the previous, unedited comment. Is there any support for a feature like this? I would imagine it would make mod-life a lot easier. This implementation seems to leave a lot of room for shenanigans. Having a link to the original comment might reduce those to a manageable level.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:49 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

THIS IS THE BEST
posted by NoraReed at 2:50 PM on October 1, 2012

I have no idea what all that coding talk is about, but I do like the correction feature. Thank you, mods.

Whoah. Talk about time pressure. But thanks anyway.

And again.

I guess 5 minutes is a long time.
posted by Isadorady at 2:51 PM on October 1, 2012

Now we'll have to devise some form of punishment for those who are too lazy to fix their own typos within five minutes. I think about 47% of Metafilter members really don't care about improving their comments. I guess it's not my job to worry about those people.
posted by perhapses at 2:51 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

"I can't wait for the moment someone intentionally posts something inflammatory and waits for the response to pile up with a couple minutes and then goes back to edit their message to make it seem innocent.

The correct response to this is not just a temporary ban, but reverting the comment to what it was originally.
posted by atrazine at 2:51 PM on October 1, 2012

kmz: "The comment following mine will be made by: infini!"

It took me a good five seconds to figure out how the hell you did that. XD
posted by zarq at 2:51 PM on October 1, 2012 [6 favorites]

Thanks for giving the new mods what is sure to be a gigantic goddamn thread to test their mettle on. (If one of them should perish in the attempt, like, call me!)
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:51 PM on October 1, 2012

tbh i would like this better if there was some sort of automatically included uneditable and undeletable text saying "this comment was edited on date, time"

I agree with this I think? There was something very charming about the take-what-it-is warts-and-all Old MeFi where even the greatest heartfelt comment could contain a teh here and there.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:52 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

It took me a good five seconds to figure out how the hell you did that. XD

My psychic powers, DUH!
posted by kmz at 2:53 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I want to see how this works.

Ok, interesting... ....
posted by vacapinta at 2:53 PM on October 1, 2012

I really don't care for this at all.
posted by ColdChef at 2:53 PM on October 1, 2012

In all seriousness, was there a discussion about whether to mark edited comments as 'edited'?

Yeah, we've talked out most of the details on this probably half a dozen times in Metatalk over the years and more over email. The core goal here is to deemphasize as much as possible the editing side of things.

Half of that is insisting (and monitoring and enforcing) the use of the feature only for typo-level cosmetic issues, so that the edits that do occur will not have any substantial effect on the meaning or content of a thread as it develops. The other half is avoiding editing-related visual cruft, so no "edited" marker and admin-only change tracking. We want people to carry on discussing as they have, not to discuss the edits that have occurred.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:54 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

pb, after I post a comment, can you make the Jeopardy song play for about 5 minutes? Thanks! (Just for me to hear, not the whole site.)
posted by perhapses at 2:54 PM on October 1, 2012

And having the title on the Edit window be "Fix Typos" is one of those things that looks minor but is brilliant. Nice.
posted by benito.strauss at 2:54 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

TEST TEST TEST

AND TEST HA HA AWESOME
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:55 PM on October 1, 2012

New mod Monday + comment editing! NOW I'M EDITING!

My clock started at 5:03, is that a thing?
posted by kate blank at 2:55 PM on October 1, 2012

I lick typos. Reminds me we're all humane.

Yeah, I said lick. Some taste of bacon. Some do not.
posted by likeso at 2:55 PM on October 1, 2012

Testes, testes, one, two. THREE FOUR????!!!
posted by klangklangston at 2:55 PM on October 1, 2012

Ok now make something that undoes hours of memail conversation about teen wolf

I WILL FITE YOU BOTH
posted by elizardbits at 2:55 PM on October 1, 2012

Me neither ColdChef. I will avoid this pony.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 2:56 PM on October 1, 2012

Let's see what happens!

this is the mefi equivalent of someone in a horror movie saying I'LL BE RIGHT BACK
posted by elizardbits at 2:56 PM on October 1, 2012

You know who I have sexy dreams about? ______________
posted by ColdChef at 2:57 PM on October 1, 2012

Another site I've used had editing, but you could click on the 'edited' mark and it would show the previous, unedited comment. Is there any support for a feature like this? I would imagine it would make mod-life a lot easier.

Hey everyone who reads my originals when they're flagged as edited, Ghidorah is butts.

The standard objection to that was that the potential for "backchannel" discussions would have opened up new avenues for creative abuse. The same rule about "For typos only" would have had to been just as strictly enforced, so the impact to mod-workload would have been the same.
posted by radwolf76 at 2:57 PM on October 1, 2012

Woo Hoo!!!!! Now I can correct all my typos!
posted by annsunny at 2:58 PM on October 1, 2012

Also what are the modly thoughts on blanking or redacting your own (bad/inflammatory/ill-advised/deraily/&c) comments that you regret immediately after posting, presumably before anyone else has a chance to react commentarily to them? Yay or nay?
posted by elizardbits at 2:58 PM on October 1, 2012

this is the mefi equivalent of someone in a horror movie saying I'LL BE RIGHT BACK

LET'S JUST HAVE INTERCOURSE HERE IN THE WOODS, NO ONE WILL DISTURB US I GUARANTEE
posted by shakespeherian at 2:59 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Yay or nay?

Here is a frog and toad story about will power.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:59 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

now i just want cake
posted by elizardbits at 3:00 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

greg nog is a BAD PERSON
posted by elizardbits at 3:01 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also what are the modly thoughts on blanking or redacting your own (bad/inflammatory/ill-advised/deraily/&c) comments that you regret immediately after posting, presumably before anyone else has a chance to react commentarily to them? Yay or nay?

Nay, basically. If it's a problem at that level, write to us immediately, as was the case before this launched, and, yeah, make sure that you're working on that pre-filtering thing instead to avoid that stuff even coming up.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:01 PM on October 1, 2012

And I want to read Frog And Toad to someone's kid.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 3:01 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm so bored of this new edit window. Who is going to come up with something beyond a pony that we all can hope for?
posted by perhapses at 3:03 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Shakesperian: I agree with this I think? There was something very charming about the take-what-it-is warts-and-all Old MeFi where even the greatest heartfelt comment could contain a teh here and there.

And I think we have a new benchmark for Metafilter nostalgia here. It took 53 minutes for the "old Mefi" to be mentioned with fondness.

Man, things just haven't been the same around here since the "edit" feature was introduced. SMH.


Matt, Jessamyn and Cortex commit ritual group Hari-kari, because some people can never be satisfied...ahem...
posted by Skygazer at 3:03 PM on October 1, 2012

Nostalgia was not the point of my comment and I apologize that I didn't word it more clearly to keep you from this unfortunate reading.
posted by shakespeherian at 3:05 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Ok now make something that undoes hours of memail conversation about teen wolf

God if only.


Just kidding I love waffles
posted by villanelles at dawn at 3:06 PM on October 1, 2012

Serious question to mods/community about this as I have had the need to have a comment deleted so I could downgrade the Grar...

So, suppose I go all "you circumcision hating, cat claw removing feminists, why won't you listen to my point of view" and then edit, with "um, I mean, people who disagree with me, why won't you listen to my point of view?" should I insert a "Edit: Overly-grarry"?

Edit2: the edits are addictive.
posted by b33j at 3:06 PM on October 1, 2012

Yeszzzzzz
posted by boo_radley at 3:07 PM on October 1, 2012

Also what are the modly thoughts on blanking or redacting your own...

What I've learned from watching Homeland is that you must have to have the proper security clearance to see the redacted bits.

I hope that helps.


*Kneels towards Mecca*
posted by Skygazer at 3:07 PM on October 1, 2012

OK, I just have to try this out. This is amazing.

EDIT: Wow, it works great. This is amazing!

EDIT 2: Also, I notice that there's no indicator (to users) that the comment has been edited. I wonder if folks are going to get in the habit of marking their edits or not?
posted by Scientist at 3:08 PM on October 1, 2012

Am I too lowly?

Apparently not!
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:09 PM on October 1, 2012

So, suppose I go all

If you're writing something that you think upon posting needs redacting, write us and say "shit, I shouldn't have said that, please delete". If you feel like that needs saying in thread, add a comment that says, "shit, I shouldn't have said that, please disregard."

Basically what you would need to do right now. This is a typo-fixer, not a get-out-of-GRAR-free card.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:09 PM on October 1, 2012 [6 favorites]

Well played!

I edited this.
posted by maggieb at 3:09 PM on October 1, 2012

should I insert a "Edit: Overly-grarry"?

No, you should not make those sorts of comments in the first place.

I realize that this is as pie in the sky as saying "please use the preview feature this site already has" and likely to be as effective, but it's our strong hope that this will not change discourse terribly much and we hope that knowing that will keep people from using this for more than its intended purpose most of the time.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:10 PM on October 1, 2012

the pony is risen
twenty humans tall
the pony is risen
supplicants rush to the streets
dressed in jubilant colors
to be crushed or not
as the pony desires
skeptics gain nothing
all will be trampled

across the ocean floor
it came
to destroy the past

the pony is risen
seaweed trails from its flanks
its eyes pinpoint novae
tail, cobra-like, erect, exclamatory
taut flag snapping
as pony farts the maelstrom
gnarled hooves tumorous
as the collected afflictions
of a populace
pulled forth from their skins
punishing the earth
twitching ears
of incalculable madness
it readies the first blast
of its whinny
obliterating sense
all will be trampled
the pony is risen
posted by fleacircus at 3:10 PM on October 1, 2012 [6 favorites]

My typo-ridden fingers thank you.
posted by entropicamericana at 3:10 PM on October 1, 2012

Just noticed you can't easily backbutton your way out of this thread. Loops Edit Window/Editing Closed for time or four. I'm on an iPad with Safari 5.1.1
posted by likeso at 3:10 PM on October 1, 2012

Thank you.

(now I want a get-out-of-GRAR-free card)
posted by b33j at 3:10 PM on October 1, 2012

Just saw this in my last comment and ran in here to see if it had been discussed. Thanks, mods! What a great Monday Gift. :)
posted by blurker at 3:11 PM on October 1, 2012

Arf
posted by matthewr at 3:11 PM on October 1, 2012

This is just to say I have edited the plums that were in the icebox
posted by Quietgal at 3:11 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

In two years, most sixth graders will not even remember a world without comment editing.
posted by perhapses at 3:12 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

Fuck me, it works!

EDIT: I was hoping that it didn't on my ancient Mac, which would the enable me to make a terrible joke, or just generally grouse about MeFi's lack of support for 2004-era iBooks and OSX 10.4.11 ...
posted by Len at 3:12 PM on October 1, 2012

I can make the jokes you make BEFORE YOU EVEN MAKE THEM

OMG Time Paradox
posted by juv3nal at 3:12 PM on October 1, 2012

Yeah, it does kinda seem to break the back button. I don't suppose that there's room to adjust the interface on this down the line? Because I think I would prefer in-line editing. I realize that I shouldn't look a gift pony in the mouth.
posted by Scientist at 3:13 PM on October 1, 2012

OMG WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE
posted by cabingirl at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2012

How does this wok?

<edit>Ooo! Countdown!</edit>
posted by steef at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2012

Are editing stats being tracked in the Info Dumpster?
posted by radwolf76 at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2012

I am an amazing prognosticator: I predict that pb is about to tell us about the quasi-brokenness of the back button.
posted by kaibutsu at 3:15 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yeah, it does kinda seem to break the back button.

This is expected behavior. You should be able to use the back button to go back to the editing form if you want to.

If you want to get back to where you were you can always edit your comment and then use your back button to get back to the thread. That way you won't lose your place.

We have to support a wide range of browsers and having things on a separate page like this means in works in lots of places.
posted by pb (staff) at 3:15 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Serious feedback: I just used the 'fix typo' in another thread, and personally I would have liked to have had the preview box there. It might be because I tend to use a lot of HTML in my comments. Certainly no big thing though. Thanks again.
posted by benito.strauss at 3:15 PM on October 1, 2012

I just gave Friends All Year Long to an EFL student of mine who was looking for books to read as a way of getting more comfortable with English, and expanding her vocabulary. Usually, I hesitate, because most children's books are actually way too difficult for second language learners.

She came the next day, thanked me for the book, and asked if I had more. I asked if she had any difficulty, and she said there were one or two words she didn't know.

Tl/dr: frog and toad are awesome, all year long.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:15 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Shakesperian: Nostalgia was not the point of my comment and I apologize that I didn't word it more clearly to keep you from this unfortunate reading.

I'm just lovin' the amusement from being nostalgic about the old Mefi-BE (BE ="Before EDIT"), because damn, things have gone downhill since they introduced this whole "edit" thing...

Man, because, I remember and I was there, maaan... when this site actually was hardcore...when you said something you said it forever without any of this touchy feelie new fangled "edit" crap.



*Puh-ting!! Spits nail into spitoon. Drinks rotgut...*
posted by Skygazer at 3:15 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Time to ride this break until it ponies.
posted by deezil at 3:17 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm wondering how clear it is on the edit page that being stunty is verboten...

I see the page is headed "Fix Typos" but there's certainly no indication you could get banned for screwing around. I tend to like the general 'just don't be a jerk' approach to moderation here but I can see how the policy could feel a bit over the top if you aren't someone who follows MetaTalk.
posted by yarrow at 3:17 PM on October 1, 2012

Are editing stats being tracked in the Info Dumpster?

Not as yet, and I doubt they'll get there. I'll be happy to wonk around with some aggregate editing behavior stats after a while for conversation's sake but I'm not sure there's a strong case for making that data public in detail.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:17 PM on October 1, 2012

How many times have I begged for the edit window? Thank you, pb. You rock.
posted by The Bellman at 3:17 PM on October 1, 2012

Mefi-BCE (Metafilter-before comment editing.)

Mefi-ACE (Metafilter-after comment editing.)
posted by Skygazer at 3:18 PM on October 1, 2012

ONG, this si so excitign!
posted by vewystwange at 3:19 PM on October 1, 2012

pb: This is expected behavior. You should be able to use the back button to go back to the editing form if you want to.

Fair enough, fair enough. Of course one could also just click the edit button again. But I do understand your other point about wanting to maximize compatibility across browsers.
posted by Scientist at 3:19 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh, and for what it's worth, most BBCode message systems allow unlimited edits, sometimes with a flag that a message has been edited, sometimes not. I've never seen anything I'd consider real abuse that way, though occasionally there's a little confusion when people like me (I tend to edit a couple of times, for a couple of minutes) get replied to very quickly.

On one message board I'm on (NeoGAF), a moderator was called out on calling other people liars*, which the moderator then denied having ever done, and was subsequently caught going back and editing posts months or years old, and removing "lie/liar/lying" from their old posts. They were stripped of their moderator privileges for that.

Links for people who like to read forum drama:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=30086905&postcount=281
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=30088753&postcount=310
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=30105552&postcount=742

The aftermath thread:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=441066

[*] which the moderator essentially used as a silencing technique, since no one talks back to mods there without fear of reprisal (bans, silly tags, etc.)
edit: also, edit is awesome.
posted by yeoz at 3:19 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm going to go ahead and edit this shit out of this comment.

On second thought, it's perfect.
posted by bondcliff at 3:19 PM on October 1, 2012

Holy moley!
posted by homunculus at 3:20 PM on October 1, 2012

This is magical.

Also the little box with its dotted border is precious and I admire it greatly for its æsthetic qualities! High five for not going with a regular border!

Edit the first: I edited to confess that one of the things I love best about the iPad is the ease of making funny marks like accented characters and æ and such.

Edit the second: this is hotter than a biscuit fresh out of the oven.
posted by winna at 3:20 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

xxxxxxxxxxxREDACTEDxxxxxxxxxxx
posted by twoporedomain at 3:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Test edit. (After edit) Librarians are fantastic.
posted by Wordshore at 3:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Test edit. (Before edit) Librarians ruined my life.

I saw that!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:21 PM on October 1, 2012 [17 favorites]

Testing, testing...

Oh holy balls this is awesome. Seems to be working great on the mobile site.

Yaaaaay thank you!
posted by phunniemee at 3:21 PM on October 1, 2012

Now I wonder how long it is going to be before the first flamey MetaTalk thread induced by this new feature. Poor mods.
posted by Scientist at 3:23 PM on October 1, 2012

Not as yet, and I doubt they'll get there. I'll be happy to wonk around with some aggregate editing behavior stats after a while for conversation's sake but I'm not sure there's a strong case for making that data public in detail.

Really, I'm just curious as to how long it'll take some MeFite to rack up a cumulative Edit Distance of say... 10k. Nice round number. Won't have to name names or anything, just would be fun to know when the milestone is passed.
posted by radwolf76 at 3:24 PM on October 1, 2012

Wow, this is an awesome update. I can't tell you the number of times where I've caught a typo or error after I hit post.


Edit to say: Edit! Also the counter does not restart after posting an edit, the five minutes seems to be directly tied to the time of the initial post. Which is cool, that way someone can't constantly be refreshing their edit time frame.

Overall, a feature I've wanted in the past, and I like how it's been implemented. Go team!
posted by dejah420 at 3:25 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm just curious as to how long it'll take some MeFite to rack up a cumulative Edit Distance of say... 10k.

Since this feature is for fixing typos, we only track distance up to a certain point. Once you get to 1k that's a pretty substantial change. There's no reason to spend resources computing the accurate edit distance past that point, so we don't.
posted by pb (staff) at 3:26 PM on October 1, 2012

Yay pony!
posted by superna at 3:26 PM on October 1, 2012

Here's a quick look at the per-comment edit tracking view, if you're curious what we see.

Neat! We can leave little notes for the mods by deleting them from messages.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:27 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is the best day ever!
posted by drezdn at 3:28 PM on October 1, 2012

Once you get to 1k that's a pretty substantial change. There's no reason to spend resources computing the accurate edit distance past that point, so we don't.

I wasn't expecting anyone to get there in one post.
posted by radwolf76 at 3:29 PM on October 1, 2012

Dear pb:

I FUCKING LOVE YOU.

From the bottom of my dyslexic little heart,
DarlingBri
posted by DarlingBri at 3:29 PM on October 1, 2012

I feel a little bit empty inside now.

What's going to be the new "impossible pony" to wish and hope for, around here.
posted by Skygazer at 3:29 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Tell Me No Lies: " Neat! We can leave little notes for the mods by deleting them from messages."

That would be an off-label use.

Caution: May Result in Banhammering
posted by zarq at 3:29 PM on October 1, 2012

Skygazer: " What's going to be the new "impossible pony" to wish and hope for, around here."

IMG tag
posted by zarq at 3:30 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

OCTOBER SURPRISE BUTTSEX!
posted by tzikeh at 3:31 PM on October 1, 2012

Impossible Pony is so my new tumblr name.
posted by The Whelk at 3:31 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

radwolf76, ah cumulative, yeah. Missed that.

It will be interesting to see the average edit amount over time. We're going to have to get a sense of those numbers as we go.
posted by pb (staff) at 3:32 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Back in the day, engineers of the sort I'd been trained to have become, would walk around watching the mods with a stopwatch. This is increasing efficiency and thus productivity bla bla bla ROI and whatnot
posted by infini at 3:32 PM on October 1, 2012

This is a test moose
posted by silby at 3:32 PM on October 1, 2012

I predict .kobayashi. is going to poop in the next comment.
posted by special-k at 3:33 PM on October 1, 2012

Don't mind me. I'm just testing this on my mobile device.
posted by .kobayashi. at 3:34 PM on October 1, 2012

I didn't believe it when I saw it. I grabbed a screenshot in case I was hallucinating.

(Edit) Not hallucinating.
posted by Tehhund at 3:34 PM on October 1, 2012

oh man I was so right.
posted by special-k at 3:35 PM on October 1, 2012

I know it's random as hell, but golly I'm so envious that you all get to watch the various data and use metrics on this feature return from this userbase over time. For some reason that data set is interesting to me.
posted by lazaruslong at 3:35 PM on October 1, 2012

stop being such a jerk, special-k
stop calling me jerk, fuck face.
I'm telling a mod.
stop threadsitting.
you first.
this is such a horrible idea.
I bet the mods will kill this feature soon.
stop skewing the edits per minute data.
posted by special-k at 3:35 PM on October 1, 2012

you're the jerk.
you're the fuckface.
fine, so will I.
No, you stop.
ok, on the count of 3.
inorite?
the data is all garbage at this point.
posted by special-k at 3:36 PM on October 1, 2012

Mac OS 10.5.8, Chrome. Works fine. Like it.

I like that you can re-edit your edit. And the clock resumes from where you left off. Which means, if you are OCD, or Virgo the Pedantic, or simply the kind of person who is never satisfied with what they write *cough*, that you can re-edit your re-edit of the edit. Of the original comment. But you only have five minutes in total for recursive edits.

Or even, if you are quick enough, re-edit your re-edit of the re-edit of the edit of the comment.

OMFG. Just realised. This means ... finally ... MetaFilter has gone ...
posted by Wordshore at 3:36 PM on October 1, 2012

All sorts of just neat comparison thingies....like, compare edit distance versus time of edit. While larger edits would probably naturally skew towards a longer edit time due to the time it takes to make the edit, maybe if you filtered those out you could see how the graph looks with just distance and edit time. Do small typos get caught and fixed more frequently on multiple readthroughs? Does the immediate content error get hastily fixed? Fun fun fun.
posted by lazaruslong at 3:37 PM on October 1, 2012

So do the Red Lights flash and the "That's Not a Typo" Klaxon Horn sound if someone tries to submit an edit over the 1K distance threshold?
posted by radwolf76 at 3:38 PM on October 1, 2012

I wasn't expecting anyone to get there in one post.

Oh god. Now I'm imagining the Treaty of Westphalia blipping in and out of every thread...
posted by likeso at 3:38 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Askfldj oipenfdx.
posted by vegartanipla at 3:38 PM on October 1, 2012

I love HATE you all.

It works!

Now I'm imagining the Treaty of Westphalia blipping in and out of every thread...

I bet pb will say "Please don't do that."
posted by eyeballkid at 3:39 PM on October 1, 2012

Impossible Pony is so my new tumblr name.

Awesome you can post stuff about my next band project.


posted by Skygazer at 3:40 PM on October 1, 2012

Now I'm imagining the Treaty of Westphalia blipping in and out of every thread...

Please don't do that.
posted by pb (staff) at 3:40 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

Edit function make me go forward into the future. NOW!

And say: Hello Scientist!
posted by Skygazer at 3:41 PM on October 1, 2012

I just used the edit feature to fix an improperly-closed em tag (my personal bugaboo) in the octopus thread. Thanks, Mods!
posted by Scientist at 3:41 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Wow!
posted by Blasdelb at 3:41 PM on October 1, 2012

Hel-Lo, Sailor. Fanks from someone who routinely her words.

EDIT 2: Also, I notice that there's no indicator (to users) that the comment has been edited. I wonder if folks are going to get in the habit of marking their edits or not?

Ugh, I hope not. I kind of dislike the way people use ETA: Misspellings or ETA: to change to -->too as though anyone gives a shit.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:42 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

IMG tag
Lisa needs braces!
posted by steef at 3:43 PM on October 1, 2012

foo.
bar.
baz.
nice. Thanks!
posted by chazlarson at 3:44 PM on October 1, 2012

Can you make a whole comment disappear?

Edit: No you can't. It takes you to message saying to contact the mods with xxx (it gives you the comment URL) and ask to have it deleted.

But can you remove, all the words except one letter (ie: one value)? Be right back!

Edit#2: Holy crap! You can pretty much take all the words out and leave a "Foo."

Man, this could get messy with bad actors in the system.
posted by Skygazer at 3:45 PM on October 1, 2012

this is double plus good
posted by aspo at 3:45 PM on October 1, 2012

So exciting!

Another site I frequent has a much shorter editing window--I think it's three minutes, but it might even be two--so a whole five minutes feels indulgently luxurious. Like, I can post a comment, go pour myself a glass of wine, come back, settle in front of the computer, and give my comment a leisurely read to see if it needs editing. All before time is up.

Thanks, programmers and mods and other official-type people!
posted by Superplin at 3:47 PM on October 1, 2012

Please don't do that.

Do not worry. I have no desire to do so. Huh-uh. None. Not me. No sir. Really.
posted by likeso at 3:47 PM on October 1, 2012

Test, test, one two one two. Test, test one two.

KICK IT!
posted by kyrademon at 3:47 PM on October 1, 2012

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!

Thank you!

Yay!
posted by Kevin Street at 3:48 PM on October 1, 2012

we'll be keeping an eye on how folks use this feature.

WHO LIKES KITTENS?

.
.
.

WHO LIKES KITTENS? AU POIVRE?
posted by zippy at 3:48 PM on October 1, 2012

test

EDIT: ing
posted by milestogo at 3:49 PM on October 1, 2012

I kind of dislike the way people use ETA: Misspellings

That's just being clear, in case someone has already quoted you and someone notices they don't match up.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:50 PM on October 1, 2012

OK, now I desperately need the ability to fix typos in other people's comments.
posted by Scientist at 3:51 PM on October 1, 2012

Also, watching the last five minutes of this thread is a weird experience.
posted by Scientist at 3:52 PM on October 1, 2012

OK, now I desperately need the ability to edit typos in Scientists' comments.
posted by special-k at 3:52 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm sure this has been asked above already but I'm lame and lazy and this thread is a MESS to read because everyone is testing shit. But how does this work with the "n new comments, show" feature?
posted by aspo at 3:52 PM on October 1, 2012

This is so cool.

No, this is weird.

Your face is weird.

No, your face is weird.
posted by J. Wilson at 3:52 PM on October 1, 2012

It's so tempting to test this right now, but I'm gonna wait until I actually make a dumb mistake.

So it won't be long.
posted by Kevin Street at 3:53 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

My kingdom for a changelog.

The timer is giving me a bit of anxiety.
posted by asterix at 3:53 PM on October 1, 2012

.

(I'm using this a place holder, so I can mess with the person who posts after me...)

Edit: I completely disagree with the comment that Harpocrates makes after this one and deny any knowledge of it...
posted by Skygazer at 3:53 PM on October 1, 2012

QWERTZ
posted by Harpocrates at 3:54 PM on October 1, 2012

But how does this work with the "n new comments, show" feature?

I'm not sure what you mean, aspo. They're not related features. When you click 'show' you'll get the current version of new comments that exist at that moment. You'll need to reload the page to see the most current version of any comments. Is that what you mean?
posted by pb (staff) at 3:54 PM on October 1, 2012

this thread is a MESS to read because everyone is testing shit

It's completely undermined my grasp of reality.
posted by Egg Shen at 3:55 PM on October 1, 2012

OK, now I desperately need the ability to edit typos in other people's comments.

What do we want?

THE ABILITY TO EDIT TYPOS IN OTHER PEOPLE'S COMMENTS!

When do we want it?

SOON!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:55 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. Does the date update?
posted by RichardP at 3:55 PM on October 1, 2012

So if someone changes a old(ish) comment, I need to do a full refresh to see the corrected version?
posted by aspo at 3:57 PM on October 1, 2012

I just made a joke in the blue and it didn't feel quite as crisp with that "Edit" link to the right of it.
posted by Egg Shen at 3:57 PM on October 1, 2012

Holy crap. This thread is like taking a hit of acid and trying to understand phenomenology.

Or something something...the MATRIX!

And now here's a comment by Mooski:
posted by Skygazer at 3:57 PM on October 1, 2012

Awesome sauce. Thanks for allowing, and thanks to pb for implementing! Of course, the knowledge that I can now fix a typo after the fact will most likely result in fewer typos in the first place.
posted by Mooski at 3:57 PM on October 1, 2012

Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this krewertzlplgl
posted by unSane at 3:58 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

So if someone changes a old(ish) comment, I need to do a full refresh to see the corrected version?

Yep, we don't update comments inline.
posted by pb (staff) at 3:59 PM on October 1, 2012

What about a typo flag so that if other members typo-flag a comment, the comment appears in red for the member who made it in order to bring attention to their need to edit it?
posted by perhapses at 3:59 PM on October 1, 2012

*waiting for unSane's final edit*

The suspense is killing me.... 2:10,2:09,2:08...
posted by likeso at 3:59 PM on October 1, 2012

This is amazing!
posted by Brian Puccio at 4:00 PM on October 1, 2012

I am jack's last second edit.
posted by The Whelk at 4:00 PM on October 1, 2012

What about a typo flag so that if other members typo-flag a comment, the comment appears in red for the member who made it in order to bring attention to their need to edit it?

Maybe finish that prime rib before you ask for a rack of lamb. Unless, of course, you're a vegetarian.
posted by Mooski at 4:01 PM on October 1, 2012

Think of the anxiety some of us feel when we see a typo and then spend the next five minutes thinking, "Come on, unSane, you can do it!"
posted by perhapses at 4:01 PM on October 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

It was the best of times. It was the... blurst of times?!
posted by Egg Shen at 4:02 PM on October 1, 2012

Checking to see if comment timestamps change when the comment is edited.

EDIT: Nope.
posted by Scientist at 4:02 PM on October 1, 2012

WOO HOO! I just saw this and it was totally exciting.

THANK YOU!
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:02 PM on October 1, 2012

This is some powerfully recursive medicine. I'm afraid of getting stuck in a comment forever.
posted by Skygazer at 4:03 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is without hyperbole the greatest day in human history.
posted by Justinian at 4:03 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Will it be possible for mods to enable and disable this feature for individual users?
posted by Aquaman at 4:03 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is a mobile comment.

This is a mobile edit.

I went to another page and now I'm back! How great is that?

Egg Shen is about to bring up Aquaman's most shameful memory... I wish I could stop it, but it's inevitable!
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:04 PM on October 1, 2012

Are mods able to enable and disable this feature for individual users?
posted by Aquaman at 5:03 PM on October 1 [+] [!]

Well, cortex hates you, so you better hope not.
posted by Egg Shen at 4:05 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

testo questo.
posted by blue t-shirt at 4:05 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

If you carefully refresh the page multiple times in the next five minutes, this should be an animated dude walking.

......./\.
posted by zompist at 4:08 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

There is a God.

And He/She/It allows editing and forgiveness of typos.
posted by 26.2 at 4:08 PM on October 1, 2012

Would it be possible for Metafilter to hire a writer who would be paid by the word to punch up comments that need a little help? This process, of course, would be initiated by the commenter, who, upon hitting the edit button, would have the additional opportunity to send it on to the staff writer for a rewrite.
posted by perhapses at 4:09 PM on October 1, 2012

"Your comment appears to be blank. The edit window is for fixing typos. If you need to have your comment removed you can contact the site admins and let them know."
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:09 PM on October 1, 2012

Finally, this will put an end to typos, unclosed tags, knee-jerk reactions, misunderstandings, logical fallacies, and unkindness of all sorts on MetaFilter!
posted by mbrubeck at 4:09 PM on October 1, 2012

Only the person who wrote a comment can edit that comment. Please use the back button on your browser to return to the thread and try the edit link again, or contact the site admins and describe your problem if you get this message frequently.

I assumed this was the case, but things would have been a lot more fun otherwise.
posted by Gary at 4:09 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best October Surprise ever! Thanks Obama!
posted by sambosambo at 4:09 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Awesome!
posted by radioamy at 4:10 PM on October 1, 2012

unSane stood their ground. "Krewertzlplgl" it is, was, and always shall be.

Bravo, sir or madam!
posted by likeso at 4:11 PM on October 1, 2012

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
posted by ook at 4:13 PM on October 1, 2012

Truly the end of an error era.
posted by stopgap at 4:13 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Hmmmm. Let's see how it works on an ancient browser.

EDIT: Nice!
posted by moxiequz at 4:14 PM on October 1, 2012

Well, what do we have here.
posted by benito.strauss at 4:16 PM on October 1, 2012

Welp, now I need to go remove the "Still waiting for the edit window" from my profile.

Edit: and done.
posted by namewithoutwords at 4:18 PM on October 1, 2012

something is broken i keep clicking on the whelks comments but it won't let me edit them
posted by klangklangston at 4:19 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

On the MetaFilter intranet, a mod currently bangs out an email a la "For the love of Cthulhu let's pray they all get it out of their systems on this one thread..."
posted by Wordshore at 4:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Does this mean that from now on, I'm *responsible* for all my fumble-fingered typos, and I can't just keep blaming them on a faulty keyboard or something?

Pooh. Guess I'd better brush up my proofreading.... TESTY TESTY TEST: yep, it works!

oh heck, couldn't resist: TESTY TESTY TEST NUMBER TWO!
posted by easily confused at 4:20 PM on October 1, 2012

I guess I'll test it too then.

Edit: Interesting. You had to wait until I had accidentally written "pounds" instead of "puns" in the fish thread though, didn't you? Pah. Although I did get to make a floundering pun then, so I guess it was for the best!
posted by knapah at 4:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Thank you sweet baby Jesus!!! Or PB.....whoever implemented this miracle...
posted by pearlybob at 4:21 PM on October 1, 2012

This comment was full of typos orignially.
posted by lollusc at 4:22 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

On the MetaFilter intranet, a mod currently bangs out an email a la "For the love of Cthulhu let's pray they all get it out of their systems on this one thread..."

I can imagine their frustration. Think of the pay raise they could have had if Matt didn't have to spend all that money on those digital timers.
posted by perhapses at 4:22 PM on October 1, 2012

I read this whole thread but now I have to go back and read it all over again.
posted by Egg Shen at 4:24 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is cool, although the edit window should only be a minute or so, in order to prevent abuse. And there should be a little icon or something that lets everybody else know that the comment has been edited.
posted by KokuRyu at 4:24 PM on October 1, 2012

i agree re: some kind of notification that it's been edited. I think something in just flat gray text near the time stamp, so as not to draw undue attention to it.
posted by empath at 4:27 PM on October 1, 2012

awesomesauce!!
posted by beandip at 4:27 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm the happiest boy alive!

Joy! Rapture! Clear communications!
posted by SNWidget at 4:29 PM on October 1, 2012

YAY!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:30 PM on October 1, 2012

(And ironically the title of that Youtube clip I just posted is misspelled, which just makes it all the better!)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:32 PM on October 1, 2012

Now I am free to make tpyos to my heart's content.

EDIT: What?
posted by never used baby shoes at 4:33 PM on October 1, 2012

PB, Can you enable the ability to embed MIDI files in comments? I see no possible bad outcome.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 4:33 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

basically metafilter needs under-construction gifs on all pages.

Basically
posted by The Whelk at 4:34 PM on October 1, 2012

H

The winder is open

whelk i follow u

i follow u
posted by zennie at 4:35 PM on October 1, 2012

oh no you didn't.

EDIT: wow, you really did!
posted by Perplexity at 4:35 PM on October 1, 2012

Test
posted by wheelieman at 4:36 PM on October 1, 2012

one side effect of people testing editing comments is now Recent Activity looks like it's haunted.
posted by The Whelk at 4:37 PM on October 1, 2012

omg

later: I mean zomg.
posted by DU at 4:41 PM on October 1, 2012

griu/gnsjnbslkdnblsknbl

oops, I meant:
griugnsjnbs|kdnblsknb
posted by Eideteker at 4:41 PM on October 1, 2012

What the what?

ZOMG! Mods, you are the greatest peoples who have ever lived!

Edited BECAUSE I DAMN WELL CAN
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:42 PM on October 1, 2012

I am going to delete the text of this comment.

Edit: Oops, I can't do that.
posted by miyabo at 4:44 PM on October 1, 2012

The best of all possible additions to hte site.

edit: The site.
posted by Sternmeyer at 4:44 PM on October 1, 2012

posted by Gary at 4:45 PM on October 1, 2012

Original: Help...

Edit1: I'm...

E2: stuck...

E3: in

E4: a

E5: comment...

E6: and...

E7: I

E8: can't

E9: get
posted by Skygazer at 4:47 PM on October 1, 2012

Now I can type quickly on my phone without paying ridiculous amounts of attention!
posted by ocherdraco at 4:47 PM on October 1, 2012

So I skipped straight down to the bottom of the thread so I can try this feature out, but I'm feeling okay with that decision because I'm pretty sure every other person here did so. There's probably not some sort of major conversation I'm disrupting by doing this.

Teehee, upon editing: I guess there is some actual conversation, so sorry about that, but teehee! There's a little countdown timer and everything! I'm just tickled.
posted by lilac girl at 4:48 PM on October 1, 2012

Metafilter: ridiculous amounts of attention
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:52 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh My Yes.
posted by potch at 4:56 PM on October 1, 2012

I keep reading the blue and waiting for a stroke of genius to hit so I can make a substantive comment and then have a typo and need to edit, but nothing's coming.

oooh!
posted by ChuraChura at 4:58 PM on October 1, 2012

Zowie. Really?

Yep yep yep.

Anyone up for a game of chess? 5 minutes per move.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 4:58 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Cool as hell! Thanks...
posted by Stewriffic at 5:03 PM on October 1, 2012

Testing, testing: I am in love with Peter Paul Weller. HUZZAH
posted by scody at 5:04 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

OMG OMG OMG just noticed this. This is amazing. Thank you!!!!
posted by limeonaire at 5:04 PM on October 1, 2012

We just added the ability to edit comments for five minutes across all MetaFilter sites.

I think we'll need longer than 5 minutes of data to come to a useful conclusion about whether this is a good idea..
Too late?
posted by Chuckles at 5:05 PM on October 1, 2012

Frasier: You're ruining my life, you blood-sucking shrew.

EDIT: Pass the salt.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 5:06 PM on October 1, 2012

Anyone up for a game of chess? 5 minutes per move.
*cough* Kids these days and their newfangled timekeeping technology.
posted by juv3nal at 5:06 PM on October 1, 2012

Our pony! She arrived!
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:06 PM on October 1, 2012

YAY!

I assume it's okay to test in this thread

HEY IT WORKS!
posted by insectosaurus at 5:08 PM on October 1, 2012

Blue.
posted by zarq at 5:09 PM on October 1, 2012

Dudes, you know what's fun?

Making a comment, having forgetten this new feature is available (because your short term memory sux), and feeling like it's Christmas, your birthday, all over again every single time that "edit" box comes up again.

It's like the pony that keeps on giving.
posted by Skygazer at 5:09 PM on October 1, 2012

You probably think this is a test.

Edit: It's a successful test!
posted by ersatz at 5:10 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh, I am late to this party! RED PENS LOVE TO EDIT THINGS.
posted by theredpen at 5:12 PM on October 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

*mods gather round*

LobsterMitten and goodnewsfortheinsane: You see, you can't miss a thing, unless you have had a thing.

*kang-and-kodos-style extended laughter*
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 5:16 PM on October 1, 2012

This is working for me!
posted by sbutler at 5:16 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Nice!
posted by danb at 5:16 PM on October 1, 2012

Calvin: People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

(edit) Hobbes: Isn't your pants zipper supposed to be in the front?
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 5:17 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

THE MAYANS WERE RIGHT
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:17 PM on October 1, 2012

I totally would have went for mod job if I'd known this feature was coming.

Reason for deletion: this is your idea of a worthwhile post?! WTF?

Edit: Reason for deletion: This is not what Metafilter is for!

Edit: Reason for deletion: I'm gonna delete this. It's lame. Please don't try again.

Edit: Reason for deletion: Um, no.

Edit: Reason for deletion: This post isn't really right for Metafilter. Maybe take another swing at it tomorrow.
posted by dobbs at 5:19 PM on October 1, 2012

Does it work for me?

META-EDIT: Yes. Yes it does, sir.
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:21 PM on October 1, 2012

For April 1st, maybe make it possible to edit other people's comments.
posted by dobbs at 5:25 PM on October 1, 2012

Test one two four five
posted by not_on_display at 5:25 PM on October 1, 2012

If I am in the process of editing a comment when another user fetches the page, is my comment shown in its pre-edit state to that user, or does any kind of indicator show that a comment is under review, or does it hide it? I'm assuming the option (a)?
posted by Doofus Magoo at 5:26 PM on October 1, 2012

Thank you for this majestic steed!
posted by h00py at 5:29 PM on October 1, 2012

OH GOD HOW DID THIS GET HERE I AM NOT GOOD WITH COMPUTER

Edit: Phew.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 5:30 PM on October 1, 2012

?
posted by zennie at 5:31 PM on October 1, 2012

N.
posted by zennie at 5:31 PM on October 1, 2012

benito.strauss writes "Serious feedback: I just used the 'fix typo' in another thread, and personally I would have liked to have had the preview box there. It might be because I tend to use a lot of HTML in my comments. Certainly no big thing though. Thanks again."

Ya, might be kind of dangerous to mess with a comment with a lot of html and risk making a succession of bigger mistakes until the window closes on a comment that is completely unintelligible.

lazaruslong writes "I know it's random as hell, but golly I'm so envious that you all get to watch the various data and use metrics on this feature return from this userbase over time. For some reason that data set is interesting to me."

Man I'd love to work on some big MMO just so I could data mine the hell out of their user data. Heat maps of where everyone travels to and auction data of what is going for how much? Glorious.
posted by Mitheral at 5:33 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Just posting to see what the format looks like in case this goes away before I post a real comment.

Edit: Cool.
posted by hwyengr at 5:34 PM on October 1, 2012

Man I'd love to work on some big MMO just so I could data mine the hell out of their user data.

That would require finding an MMO that had the good sense to actually capture and store that data, which is surprisingly difficult. (No, I'm not bitter about the industry, why would you ask?)
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 5:35 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Testing, testing, one three two.

EDIT: OH GOD THE CLOCK IS LIKE A TIME BOMB MAKE THE SUSPENSE STOP
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:37 PM on October 1, 2012

Does it really work? Yes it does! Cool!
posted by Simon Barclay at 5:40 PM on October 1, 2012

edditastic

Just wait, wait until we get that 65 minute edit window the next time the clocks turn back!
posted by ceribus peribus at 5:41 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I too would like to testhave tested out this feature in a throwaway comment.

Neat.
posted by Doofus Magoo at 5:42 PM on October 1, 2012

No you didn't.

But wait, you did.

Is there a limit to the number of times I can edit, or just a 65 minute from initial post have it it kind of deal?
posted by theichibun at 5:44 PM on October 1, 2012

At first, this worried me. I was worried that sometime, somewhere in the vastness of MetaFilter someone would write something absolutely asinine and I would not be there to witness it before they realized their mistake and edited the post.

Then I looked up "I actually know far more about this subject than I think you can imagine" and saw 4 responses with the MetaFilter style italicized quote posted within 5 minutes of the original statement and it felt like a big warm fuzzy editable blanket.
posted by clearly at 5:52 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I was sort of vaguely in favor of this before, but now that it's happened it feels wrong.
posted by cmoj at 5:53 PM on October 1, 2012

thanks for this nice pony. Edit: I meant, unicorn.
posted by ddaavviidd at 5:55 PM on October 1, 2012

no, no
si
posted by francesca too at 5:58 PM on October 1, 2012

Errors can no longer be blamed on typos or the cat. Errors are now just plain stupidity... Thanks a lot, dam it!
posted by HuronBob at 6:03 PM on October 1, 2012

I think I wish for this after every third post or so. Grateful to see it implemented now - thanks, Mods!
posted by DingoMutt at 6:07 PM on October 1, 2012

Awesome! Thank you!

Edited to add: \o/
posted by wiskunde at 6:09 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

My confident prediction: this facility will indeed reduce the number of surviving typos, but those that remain will stick out twice as badly, which will lead to pony requests for edit window time extension. This will be resisted, and the resistance will prompt further pony requests for per-user edit window extension privileges of some kind, all of which on close examination will prove to require implementing user reputation metrics. These will all be rejected, eventually with boilerplate rejection reasons, but they will continue to turn up at a rate roughly equal to the rate that edit window pony requests have been turning up until now. The end result will be that people embarrassed by their own typos will remain so, there will be no lessening in the amount of mod time spent dealing with pony requests from those people, and there will be a slight increase in the moderation load caused by people who cannot resist abusing the edit window in stunty and irritating ways.

I'm gonna link to this prediction in my profile and check in a couple of years to see if it was right.
posted by flabdablet at 6:09 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Let me know when post title editing is permitted. Though, thanks for this. This too is nice. Before you know it we'll be publishing, not just posting.
posted by Toekneesan at 6:11 PM on October 1, 2012

I just want to test this out. Cool!
posted by reductiondesign at 6:13 PM on October 1, 2012

It appears to be broken. It only lets me edit my own comments -- there's not even a button next to other people's.
April 1, 2013. Remember, you heard it here first!
posted by dg at 6:15 PM on October 1, 2012

what is this

EDIT: I don't even
posted by chinston at 6:25 PM on October 1, 2012

The end result will be that people embarrassed by their own typos will remain so, there will be no lessening in the amount of mod time spent dealing with pony requests from those people, and there will be a slight increase in the moderation load caused by people who cannot resist abusing the edit window in stunty and irritating ways.

I'm pretty sure it will set in motion a chain of events that leads inevitably to the extinction of all life on earth.
posted by empath at 6:27 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Needs to look like this
posted by hellojed at 6:29 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thanks for doing this.
posted by mhoye at 6:29 PM on October 1, 2012

Wow. This is neat.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:31 PM on October 1, 2012

FINALLY!

This is great, thanks :)
posted by delmoi at 6:34 PM on October 1, 2012

- We really mean we will be tracking how this is used; please do not be that guy who tries to do something stunty or manipulative with editing, because that will just piss us off and turn you into that guy who got banned for screwing around with Metafilter.

Why not allow people to view prior edits, as well as an 'edited' marker like reddit has?

Edit: I HATE YOU ALL!!!
Edit: Testing the edit function.
Edit2: It's fun.
posted by delmoi at 6:36 PM on October 1, 2012

the editor works?

yes, it fixed my typos quite well

but i'm still a fat middle aged lump who's overworked and underexcited

how come it doesn't work on that?
posted by pyramid termite at 6:39 PM on October 1, 2012

Wait what?
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:41 PM on October 1, 2012

If I am in the process of editing a comment when another user fetches the page, is my comment shown in its pre-edit state to that user, or does any kind of indicator show that a comment is under review, or does it hide it? I'm assuming the option (a)?

You're correct, option (a). The system doesn't need to know about editing-in-process since it's a bit of a fiddly edge-case and communicating it clearly would just add a bit of extra visual and procedural clutter to the commenting process. So the comment is whatever it is until the moment that it's something else.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:42 PM on October 1, 2012

delmoi: Why not allow people to view prior edits, as well as an 'edited' marker like reddit has?

Because if you're only fixing typos you don't have to see what was changed; that would contradict the point of the function. It's only when you're editing for content that tracking edits becomes beneficial, and since that's expressly disallowed here that pony isn't necessary.
posted by carsonb at 6:42 PM on October 1, 2012

in ur base
— killin ur dudes
— eatin ur bananas
— constructin ur haberdashery
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 6:43 PM on October 1, 2012

cortex: The system doesn't need to know about editing-in-process since it's a bit of a fiddly edge-case and communicating it clearly would just add a bit of extra visual and procedural clutter to the commenting process.

It would be cool to incorporate edits into the New Comment AJAX notification.

"1 new comment & 3 edits, show"
posted by carsonb at 6:44 PM on October 1, 2012

So lame that we're so lame that we can't live with a few goddamn tpyos.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:44 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

So, uh, I actually dreamed this last night.

Which is weird because I'm not a big commenter. I mostly keep my mouth shut. I appreciate metafilter as a way to find interesting things on the net but I don't really feel like it's a significant portion of My Voice or anything. I've always been aware of the we-need-an-edit-window pony contingent, but I felt that the site is good without it, and really I don't care, because, you know, whatever. And yet there it was in my dream just last night.

So I'm postin' to see if it's the same as in my dream.


It's... eh... the edit link was centered for some reason. This is probably better.
posted by rlk at 6:44 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Neat.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 6:45 PM on October 1, 2012

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And MetaTalk shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered:
We few, we happy few, we band of posters;
For he to-day that posts his words with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in Reddit now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their snarks cheap whilst any speaks
That posted with us upon Matt Haughey's day.
posted by SPrintF at 6:45 PM on October 1, 2012

Don't remember what I wrote pre-edit... nice feature.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 6:45 PM on October 1, 2012

In this comment, I am showing the person next to me how the thing that happened upthread happened.

EDIT NOTHING TO SEE/HEAR.
posted by kengraham at 6:47 PM on October 1, 2012

Just came over from the Romney thread and am still slightly suspicious that this is an elaborte prank you're all playing on me.
posted by naoko at 6:54 PM on October 1, 2012

Meh. Whatever. My comments are always prefect.
posted by A dead Quaker at 6:54 PM on October 1, 2012

Yes worky on iPad!
posted by Wet Spot at 6:54 PM on October 1, 2012

I can only assume that getting this really awesome pony means that Season 3 of MLP must be just around the corner, yes?

(please?)
posted by xedrik at 6:55 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Whew. Hello.
posted by kbanas at 6:56 PM on October 1, 2012

OM freakin' God. Me and my typos and many dropped words thank you.

Does this work for (askme) posts as well?

Look mah, no hands, just edits!
posted by cgg at 6:56 PM on October 1, 2012

I love the fact I found this by happenstance. I haven't commented in weeks, and today I'm greeted with the option to correct my comment. Man I wish I had made a mistake in it...
posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 6:57 PM on October 1, 2012

Does this work for (askme) posts as well?

I believe it works everywhere on the site. (If it doesn't, let us know!)
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 6:57 PM on October 1, 2012

Yeah it should work for comments everywhere and posts nowhere.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:58 PM on October 1, 2012

Test
posted by Fig at 7:00 PM on October 1, 2012

I have successfully altered this comment. Hooray!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 7:00 PM on October 1, 2012

Afroblanco writes "how come you all (the mods) didn't opt for a comment change log, a la Facebook? Seems like that would eliminate most of the stunty assholery we're hoping to avoid."

They did, it's just mod facing only.

I think in all the talk about potential rampant abuse and comparing this feature to implementation on other sites to remember that a) this site has active moderation (so comparisons to facebook are depreciated) and b) we don't have a revolving door user problem. Getting banned here for fucking with the site has actual no shit consequences and that permabans here are very effective at least to the extent that I can't remember a single incidence of the mods having to play whack a mole with someone they told to get lost.
posted by Mitheral at 7:01 PM on October 1, 2012

Awesome, thanks!
posted by Fig at 7:01 PM on October 1, 2012

On lack of preview: OK, never mind.
posted by Mitheral at 7:02 PM on October 1, 2012

Also I'm impressed the edit window works with multiple comments made within the five minute window.
posted by Mitheral at 7:03 PM on October 1, 2012

This is a slippery slope indeed that you have brought us to with this new "feature". The five minute window will lead to six one day mark my words! And six to seven and before you know it we'll have 15 minutes to think about what we've said and remorsefully retract it . I'm telling you, in the future every Mefite will have their 15 minutes of shame.
posted by Podkayne of Pasadena at 7:04 PM on October 1, 2012

Beans are awesome!

Edit: Ha, as if
posted by Sebmojo at 7:04 PM on October 1, 2012

I have altered the deal.

Edit: Pray I do not alter it further
posted by churl at 7:04 PM on October 1, 2012

I am not sure how I feel about this. I mean I've said I wanted it in the past, but now that it's here...I just...don't...know.
posted by wierdo at 7:05 PM on October 1, 2012

Here's a nice sentence with some typos.
Now it's fixed.
posted by hot_monster at 7:08 PM on October 1, 2012

Will this feature be rolled out so that it operates IRL? I say plenty of stupid things that I would like to correct in the first five minutes.
posted by Area Man at 7:12 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I mean while y'all are having fun I'm bit sad to see the "can I haz edit plz?" pony requests go. I mean one moment you're just living on pure adrenaline coz you got no edits. Then you get edits and it's like the old ways make no sense no more. And I know you gotta adapt and all but I dunno man, it's just cold sometimes.

For my dead ponies: .

(pours)
posted by deo rei at 7:13 PM on October 1, 2012

Mine keeps saying "That is a dumb thing to say. Are you sure? [Y/N]" but it won't let me
posted by laconic skeuomorph at 7:13 PM on October 1, 2012

Fucking HELL, that popup freaked me out a moment ago. I'll just be sitting here shaking quietly for a little while.
posted by Kinbote at 7:14 PM on October 1, 2012

I write with pens, not pencils. I expect the Internet to work the same.

But now it doesn't.
posted by adamrice at 7:16 PM on October 1, 2012

Okay fine. I'll give it a shot.
(yay! Thanks!)
posted by kimberussell at 7:16 PM on October 1, 2012

How does it handle edits made to others' posts when you're viewing a page? Do you have to reload the whole page to get the new edits, or does it trigger the "new comment" dynamic loading thingy?

[Looks like you have to reload.]
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:16 PM on October 1, 2012

No one's reading a damned thing here, but their own loopy comments, are they??

In which case I'd like nominate this thread as the most masturbatory thread of all time.

Carry on.
posted by Skygazer at 7:18 PM on October 1, 2012

Yep, reload, just like how deletions and favorites on existing comments don't change without a reload.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:18 PM on October 1, 2012

A HUGE thanks to the mods for this!
posted by hermitosis at 7:20 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, fun, I can completely change my pointless comment to an entirely different pointless comment.

Answer: I can.

(Yes, I know: only doing it on this particular thread, it is otherwise used to correct spelling/grammar/html errors.)
posted by jeather at 7:21 PM on October 1, 2012

Interesting. I sort of feel like once I make a comment, it is out there and not mine any more to edit. But, when in ROme...

That is Rome.

Works for me.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:22 PM on October 1, 2012

If I make two comments, can I still change the first?
posted by jeather at 7:23 PM on October 1, 2012

How many times can you edit the same comment? Does the clock start again after every edit or just the original start time?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:23 PM on October 1, 2012

What if I try to delete the entire comment?

Answer: I get told that this is not for deleting comments. Also works if I just use some spaces.
posted by jeather at 7:24 PM on October 1, 2012

Edit Window: 1948

That took way too long to make
posted by clearly at 7:24 PM on October 1, 2012 [10 favorites]

I got up to 9 times before the clock gets too short to edit.
posted by Skygazer at 7:24 PM on October 1, 2012

This is great! I have made way too many back-to-back comments as I realize something 30 seconds after I push Post.

Edit: Now I will only have them when I realize it 5 minutes later!

Although the countdown thing makes me feel like I'm in a competition

Does the clock start again after every edit or just the original start time?

Original post time it seems. You can keep clicking Edit to see the running countdown of how long you have to live edit.
posted by wildcrdj at 7:25 PM on October 1, 2012

what. the fuck.
posted by phaedon at 7:30 PM on October 1, 2012

Although the countdown thing makes me feel like I'm in a competition

An earlier version of this had the timer on the outside where you could see it even when you were done editing. It seemed like a good idea but made us all completely nuts, so we figured this was a decent compromise.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:30 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I just want to try it! I want to try it so bad!

Edit: IT'S ALL I EVER DREAMED IT TO BE!
posted by meese at 7:38 PM on October 1, 2012

It seemed like a good idea but made us all completely nuts, so we figured this was a decent compromise.
posted by The Whelk at 7:41 PM on October 1, 2012

It seemed like a good idea but made us all completely nuts, so we figured this was a decent compromise.

Why am I picturing you in a cat-suit hanging over pb's desk attached to the ceiling with wires attempting to wipe your edit-log.
posted by clearly at 7:49 PM on October 1, 2012

No. EDIT: Way.
posted by fishmasta at 7:50 PM on October 1, 2012

Yes, I did write this comment to try this out. Yes, this is great. Thanks!
posted by (The Rt Hon.) MP at 7:51 PM on October 1, 2012

Thank you!

(I love this timer thing)
posted by King Bee at 7:52 PM on October 1, 2012

I meant to say something different
posted by achrise at 7:55 PM on October 1, 2012

CJ: So, what do we do when Republicans and Democrats users and mods no longer have Social Security edit ponies to thrash each other with?
Toby: We move on to Medicare image tags.
posted by ceribus peribus at 7:56 PM on October 1, 2012

This I gotta see. sick!
posted by Banky_Edwards at 7:57 PM on October 1, 2012

going to try this

yep. fun!
posted by palliser at 7:58 PM on October 1, 2012

ZOMG

test

This is awesome!
posted by brina at 8:01 PM on October 1, 2012

Okay I want to see it now.

Edit: Awesome!

Edit: PopeGuilty's gonna love this!
posted by trip and a half at 8:01 PM on October 1, 2012

The ticking clock makes me nervous. Do I cut the red wire or the blue wire?

Edit: There aren't really any wires to cut. All you have to lose are your temporal chains.
posted by chrchr at 8:02 PM on October 1, 2012

Thank you for this.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:02 PM on October 1, 2012

posted by slide at 8:06 PM on October 1, 2012

I want to play!

EDIT: I DID PLAY!
posted by rollbiz at 8:06 PM on October 1, 2012

Very nice, thank you for helping me to look foolish a little less often. Or what many others said.
posted by scottymac at 8:11 PM on October 1, 2012

This thing is neat.
posted by box at 8:16 PM on October 1, 2012

This far down a giant thread I can't think of anything I can say which will make an impact or even be remotely memorable.

On edit -- still can't.

On second edit -- cool, though, thanks!
posted by bowline at 8:21 PM on October 1, 2012

You rock
posted by procrastination at 8:22 PM on October 1, 2012

Test...icles
posted by Bugbread at 8:26 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Awesome sauce!
posted by IndigoRain at 8:32 PM on October 1, 2012

This is a test of the...

It won't let me delete the comment or just make it all spaces....

Thanks, pb
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:35 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh this is handy. Thanks to those of you who did work on the back end!
posted by dismas at 8:37 PM on October 1, 2012

well now I have no more excuse when I type "meatfilter" because I'm hungry and I'm secretly trying to tell the world
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:40 PM on October 1, 2012

Testing. Nice!
posted by various at 8:40 PM on October 1, 2012

Test.

Edit: Yay!
posted by 6550 at 8:41 PM on October 1, 2012

honey boo
posted by special-k at 8:42 PM on October 1, 2012

boo
posted by special-k at 8:42 PM on October 1, 2012

damnit, time moves so far on my planet.
posted by special-k at 8:42 PM on October 1, 2012

Couldn't we also have a five minute edit window for all previous comments on the site? I know I've made my share of typos over the years.

Starting... now?
posted by ODiV at 8:43 PM on October 1, 2012

Test...arossa

[neat!]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:45 PM on October 1, 2012

Heh, it's not only that every time I load Recent Activity there's a new comment, now every time I look the same last comment is different!

Edit test: Logging out of one terminal, logging into another, logging into account, editing comment. OH THE POWER.
posted by carsonb at 8:48 PM on October 1, 2012

This is an invisible comment.
posted by Skygazer at 8:51 PM on October 1, 2012

This is a visible world of light...
posted by Skygazer at 8:52 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm not sure what's more amusing to me: that the edit functionality was an answer to the question "how was your day?" when I got home tonight or that I'm insisting on testing it on my phone before I go to bed?

EDIT: I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to scroll to the bottom of this megathread in five minutes.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:52 PM on October 1, 2012

I refuse to edit my typos! terrable speling foreever!
posted by harriet vane at 8:53 PM on October 1, 2012

This comment was made earlier, and has decided to appear in this slot.
posted by Skygazer at 8:54 PM on October 1, 2012

Couldn't we also have a five minute edit window for all previous comments on the site? I know I've made my share of typos over the years.

Five minute amnesty window! Grandfather in editing of all typos. Five minutes to fix everything!
posted by Ghidorah at 8:54 PM on October 1, 2012

This comment will be made tomorrow, but is being kept here for safe keeping.

(And is now undergoing modifications.)
posted by Skygazer at 8:54 PM on October 1, 2012

This little comment went to the market.
posted by Skygazer at 8:55 PM on October 1, 2012

Even though I JUST used this feature in another thread, I think five minutes is too long. Every time I make a typo I notice it INSTANTLY (like I just did) and wish I could correct it. This time, I was able to correct it, and I did. However, I still had four minutes and forty-something seconds of "edit" time left at my disposal. I just think that much time out there for people will prove to be too much of a temptation.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:55 PM on October 1, 2012

I haven't tried it yet..
posted by marimeko at 8:56 PM on October 1, 2012

This comment is brushing it's teeth.
posted by Skygazer at 8:58 PM on October 1, 2012

This comment is taking a shower.

(Eeeeek!!!)

Why are you watching it you perv??
posted by Skygazer at 8:59 PM on October 1, 2012

Wheee!!!
posted by Sangermaine at 9:12 PM on October 1, 2012

Just another test.
posted by mokin at 9:13 PM on October 1, 2012

Time

Elides


Subjective


Terminals
posted by Skygazer at 9:13 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

this is the mefi equivalent of someone in a horror movie saying I'LL BE RIGHT BACK

LET'S JUST HAVE INTERCOURSE HERE IN THE WOODS, NO ONE WILL DISTURB US I GUARANTEE

I was going to make a joke about going out to the pump house, but I cannot remember which crappy horror movie that was from. You know, the one with the jeep and the barbed wire.

Anyway, the pump house. It's a place, and you go there with a lady-friend if you want to beat the audience over the head with the sexy-joke-innuendos.

And which movie is it that features the camps of kids from age 5-35, who make poorly crafted rafts to escape from a killer? I don't think there's a pump house in it, but I could be wrong. My head is full of fragments of useless horror movie trivia, made more useless by the incomplete nature of these memories.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:19 PM on October 1, 2012

Very nice!
posted by mkdg at 9:19 PM on October 1, 2012

If I make two comments, can I still change the first?

Yes
posted by Mitheral at 9:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Wow, this is a great feature, thanks!
posted by marxchivist at 9:21 PM on October 1, 2012

Oh, that's pretty cool.

This comment is better than my original comment "aslhsadf" or something like that
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:29 PM on October 1, 2012

Somebody. Hold. Me. So. Scared.
posted by arcticseal at 9:31 PM on October 1, 2012

Mitchell!
posted by tristeza at 9:32 PM on October 1, 2012

Holy...

(edit) ...taters
posted by artdrectr at 9:36 PM on October 1, 2012

The destruction of our posting guidelines, which is the focus of concern today, is only the tip of the iceberg. American law does not protect our painters, sculptors, recording artists, authors, or filmmakers from having their lifework distorted, and their reputation ruined. If something is not done now to clearly state the moral rights of artists, current and future technologies will alter, mutilate, and destroy for future generations the subtle human truths and highest human feeling that talented individuals within our society have created.

In the future it will become even easier for old comments to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered ones. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.

[edit] YESS !!!!! ! !!
posted by George Lucas at 9:38 PM on October 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

 
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 9:40 PM on October 1, 2012

This comment has not been edited.

Ninja edit: now it has.
posted by daniel_charms at 9:47 PM on October 1, 2012

ability to edit ≠ orgasim

except at MetaFilter
posted by HuronBob at 9:52 PM on October 1, 2012

b00p!
posted by nadawi at 10:02 PM on October 1, 2012

There is a dog!
posted by batmonkey at 10:08 PM on October 1, 2012

the greatest thing since sliced bread
posted by victory_laser at 10:11 PM on October 1, 2012

Does it work on an iPhone?

Edit: Woo!!!
Edit edit: Hoo!!!!
posted by Weeping_angel at 10:14 PM on October 1, 2012

Pony Request: Five minute window for editing other people's comments.
posted by mazola at 10:16 PM on October 1, 2012

Contributing to sever overload!

Meant to say: Contributing to the betterment of the best site in the Universe!

Dolphin Web browser, Android 2.3
posted by youhavetoreadthistwice at 10:19 PM on October 1, 2012

The thought occurs that this would be a perfect time to make a Carnac The Magnificent sock puppet.
posted by Malor at 10:21 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is this what I originally wrote or what I finally said?
posted by mazola at 10:25 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I just want to make my mark: I, too, was here the day this happened☃
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 10:30 PM on October 1, 2012

Or were you?
posted by mazola at 10:32 PM on October 1, 2012

haven't read the whole thread, so please direct me if I'm being redundant here.

My only real concern in all of this (other than some individuals using the edit option for trolling) is fast moving threads where dozens of comments might get made in the space of five minutes. I can't help but see confusion erupting from folks tweaking their comments after they've been responded to ... and so on.

Though I guess as long as the actual meaning of the comment hasn't been altered, it won't be that big a deal.
posted by philip-random at 10:33 PM on October 1, 2012

I will always have been.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 10:35 PM on October 1, 2012

Well, it's just for fixing typos, right? We shouldn't be responding to typos unless they're really hilarious
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 10:36 PM on October 1, 2012

Yes, exactly. The edit window is for simple editing, not changing the content of your comment. Correcting spelling or grammar shoulden't usually affect the flow of discussion. If people abuse the edit window they will get time off.


LET'S JUST HAVE INTERCOURSE HERE IN THE WOODS, NO ONE WILL DISTURB US I GUARANTEE

Likewise, any girl taking her clothes off for any reason – to take a bath, to change garments, her blouse is on fire. DOESNT MATTER DONT DO THAT SOMEONE WILL DEFINITELY KILL YOU GRUESOME. AAAAARRRRGGGHHHH.
posted by taz (staff) at 10:40 PM on October 1, 2012

Is this what I originally wrote or what I finally said?

Observe s'il vous plait: we can deduct from zee timestamp zat zee vindow of edit opportunity iz no longer available to you, (Vee vill call this X). Zerefore it is your final comment.

BUT, it is perhaps alzo your original comment = Y

And also, it may be a completely new comment = Z

Und so:

X is either equal to Y or not equal to Y and Y is never equal to Z...

although X maybe equal to Y or it maybe equal to Z

Y is never equal to Z.


I need a hug. ;-(
posted by Skygazer at 10:42 PM on October 1, 2012

I'll read the thread later but in the meantime this is fantastic!
posted by From Bklyn at 10:44 PM on October 1, 2012

LET'S JUST HAVE INTERCOURSE HERE IN THE WOODS, NO ONE WILL DISTURB US I GUARANTEE

Clearly I need to go back and read this thread.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 10:51 PM on October 1, 2012

RAD.
posted by Westringia F. at 10:54 PM on October 1, 2012

No, what's going to be confusing is like five years from now, people will look back at old threads where people respond to their own typos with 'where is my five minute edit window' or things like that and it'll be like, what, was it not working that day?
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 10:59 PM on October 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

(hugs everyone, especially Skygazer)

(you may now proceed with the editing mayhem)
posted by beryllium at 11:05 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Fantastic! I'll be curious to hear how frequently this feature is used after the "woo crazy edits!" honeymoon period winds down.
posted by dialetheia at 11:06 PM on October 1, 2012

Whoo hoo! Made my first edit!
posted by Kevin Street at 11:09 PM on October 1, 2012

Wouldn't it be crazy if it only checked the month day and time, so it had a weird bug where the edit windows opened back up on the anniversary?
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 11:15 PM on October 1, 2012

I'm actually trying to use the edit feature now, and it's timing out. It is VERY VERY annoying to watch my timer bleed away because MeFi has lost its mind.
posted by Malor at 11:18 PM on October 1, 2012

Yep, I lost the chance to edit my comment because the site was too screwed up. Grrrrr.
posted by Malor at 11:19 PM on October 1, 2012

For the record, I have authentically used this feature already.

FIRST!
posted by mazola at 11:20 PM on October 1, 2012

Of course it might have a weird bug where the edit windows open back up in 2080 or so
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 11:22 PM on October 1, 2012

Can you describe that problem a bit more, Malor? What do you mean by the site lost its mind? Did you click the Edit link and nothing happened? What browser/OS combo were you using?
posted by pb (staff) at 11:23 PM on October 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

But you'd have to be pretty silly to use 32-bit timestamps in 2080
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 11:24 PM on October 1, 2012

Whoa.

Whoa Ho.

Huh. It didn't take on the first try.

But now it does.

This is awesome. Thanks, gang of mods!

Wow. I actually had to fix a typo there!
posted by SLC Mom at 11:31 PM on October 1, 2012

Is it April 1st? EDIT: Just checked: it isn't.

In fact it is as far from April 1st as can be.
posted by madcaptenor at 12:07 AM on October 2, 2012 [5 favorites]

(hugs everyone, especially Skygazer)

(you may now proceed with the editing mayhem)
posted by beryllium at 2:05 AM on October 2



Alright! I got the first hug MEFI ACE (After Comment Edit). Woohoo!

Hugs Beryllium back. And kisses too.


Beryllium just the kiss part not the Elmer Fudd aspect. Wink.
posted by Skygazer at 12:11 AM on October 2, 2012

(Should I get this out of my system now?)

SIGNS POINT TO YES
posted by Lazlo at 12:12 AM on October 2, 2012

heh heh heh

hahaha NO WAY it works, though I guess noscript kills the fancy little timer.

I like this pony and shall feed it and pet it lovingly and call it Ted. Ted the pony with the bushy tail and tiny wee hooves. NEVER LEAVE ME TED
posted by zennish at 12:32 AM on October 2, 2012

First reaction: this is a good idea.

4:55
4:30
Sweet, it doubles as an egg timer.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 12:59 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Edit Window?!?

HELLZ YEAH!

Edit...

Thank you MODS! Thank you DEVS!

W00t!
posted by PROD_TPSL at 1:00 AM on October 2, 2012

Thank you!
posted by Houstonian at 1:01 AM on October 2, 2012

What can this do?! Sheer madness, and nothing less!
posted by adrianhon at 1:10 AM on October 2, 2012

Prison.

Edit

No wait. Not prison. Pants.
posted by awfurby at 1:10 AM on October 2, 2012

This is amazing, and I'm glad we have this thread to practice on and get the squees out of our system.
posted by corb at 1:13 AM on October 2, 2012

lolbutts amirite

Edit: meant to post the Treaty of Westphalia but it was too long to fit inside this narrow edit window.
Edit 2: I know someone asked for this already, but would it be feasible to put a preview box on the edit page?
posted by daniel_charms at 1:17 AM on October 2, 2012

Not actually a test. Quite impressed. Hooray for pb!
posted by barnacles at 1:24 AM on October 2, 2012

Holy shitbuttons!

Works on android browser quite well.
posted by By The Grace of God at 1:39 AM on October 2, 2012

Pointless comment to test out the fancy feature.

Ooh, and there's re-editing too! Nice!
posted by jack_mo at 1:42 AM on October 2, 2012

Oh I've gots to try this.

Edit: Great! Many thanks to whomever was behind this decision.
posted by Kevtaro at 1:58 AM on October 2, 2012

foo bar baz
posted by Rhomboid at 2:02 AM on October 2, 2012

Another test, sorry for spam.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:36 AM on October 2, 2012

Ooh yay going to try it out now, this is great...

EDIT: looks A-OK, FreeBSD 9, using Firefox 15.0.1 under KDE!

second edit just for the heck of it :D
posted by fraula at 2:38 AM on October 2, 2012

Testing: 1, 2, EDIT: 4
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 2:42 AM on October 2, 2012

I just realized I can now add another line to my resume:

2012-... Editor at MetaFilter.com


Edit: Ok, so it's anything you've posted within the edit window.
posted by daniel_charms at 2:46 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

test edit wow
posted by readery at 2:47 AM on October 2, 2012

Can you only edit your last comment or can you change any comments you've posted within the last 5 minutes?
posted by daniel_charms at 2:48 AM on October 2, 2012

I guess a thread about this is pretty much guaranteed to be really, really long.

I think, for completeness, we should make sure editing works in a thread with thousands of comments.

LET'S DO THIS.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 2:48 AM on October 2, 2012

I really love how the edit button disappears after five minutes. The only reason I'm writing this is so I could watch it happen again in five minutes.
posted by daniel_charms at 2:54 AM on October 2, 2012

This is amazing my eyes.

But the countdown is raising my blood pressure. How to stave off the urge to edit?

Yikes, five minutes is a long, long time to be second-guessing myself.

Must beat clock!
posted by freya_lamb at 2:55 AM on October 2, 2012

Can someone make me a gif of this?
posted by daniel_charms at 2:56 AM on October 2, 2012

Okay, I noticed the following, in the code that removes the link to the editing page after 5 minutes have elapsed:

        var d = a - Number(c);
        countdown = setInterval(function() {
            0 >= d && b.fadeOut();
            d--
        }, 1E3)

That's going to keep spamming events every second forever, calling fadeOut over and over again on the already faded element. Constant event firing like that could possibly affect battery life if you're using a laptop or mobile device, as it interferes with the system's ability to throttle down the CPU clock if there's no activity. There should be a call to clearInterval(countdown) after calling fadeOut().
posted by Rhomboid at 2:56 AM on October 2, 2012 [6 favorites]

One two, check one two.

OK, I believe you all. It works.

That clock counting down is sweet.

Second edit: and it doesn't keep re-setting. Which is probably a good thing.
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:21 AM on October 2, 2012

I am very confused and lost.

Also, what the heck is a line break?

Edit: And does the timer start when you post or when you start editing?

edit edit: looks like it 5 minutes from posting. And also, I still don't understand line breaks. Mine seem to work ok. But I'm not using any weird br thing, I'm just hitting the 'enter' key. Have I made line breaks more simple than they should be?! I need more complication in my life! What the heck does a br do?
posted by Grither at 3:38 AM on October 2, 2012

And I STILL managed to make a buncha typos, even with an edit window. Man, life is hard.
posted by Grither at 3:44 AM on October 2, 2012

My prediction is that within two weeks a mod will post another "DEAR GOD WE NEED MORE MODS" thread.
posted by AugieAugustus at 4:00 AM on October 2, 2012

Grither, you don't need to worry about the line break (paragraph return); there was an issue with it earlier that pb fixed, so you just use the enter key as usual when editing.
posted by taz (staff) at 4:03 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

For the record, I swapped out that URL in the snake bite comment before I saw the small changes only rule. EDIT: may want to include a note in the edit window about small changes only beyond the "Fix Typos" heading.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:09 AM on October 2, 2012

Very cool! I just posted a comment and noticed it, and thought "No way! We get an edit box!".
posted by third word on a random page at 4:29 AM on October 2, 2012

I have nothing important to say.

EDIT: No, still nothing. BUT I'M SAYING IT AFTER ALREADY HAVING POSTED THAT IS SUPER COOL
posted by solotoro at 4:29 AM on October 2, 2012

Never thought this would actually be implemented, but it's pretty sweet because I just used it to fix a typo on the blue.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:31 AM on October 2, 2012

Banana

Banana banana
posted by Elly Vortex at 4:45 AM on October 2, 2012

I'm curious about something.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 4:54 AM on October 2, 2012

Just for my own reference. Has to do with AJAX.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 4:57 AM on October 2, 2012

Okay, yeah, it works like I thought it would.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 4:58 AM on October 2, 2012

I find it soothing to watch that edit link fade away. It's like the words are sinking into the stone, and the comment then stands immutable, where it cannot be touched by any hand but Mod's.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 5:09 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

No one here yet.

I AM THE KING OF THE COMMENT EDITS.

;
*Kicks rock...looks around....slinks off slowly whistling tunelessly...*
posted by Skygazer at 5:13 AM on October 2, 2012

.
posted by unSane at 5:20 AM on October 2, 2012

Sorry if this has been addressed above, but the above comment initially read

"Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this shrdlu"

But I was able to edit this down to a period.

This doesn't seem like a minor edit and effectively deletes the comment. Is that OK?
posted by unSane at 5:22 AM on October 2, 2012

What do you suppose happens to all those who don't read the grey? Do they just get the fright of their life when they see it?
posted by infini at 5:29 AM on October 2, 2012

This is pretty cool.
posted by empatterson at 5:29 AM on October 2, 2012

This doesn't seem like a minor edit and effectively deletes the comment. Is that OK?

Not okay is my understanding and it is a spankable offense.

The Edit Comment function is to fix spielling, punc?tuation! and the grammerss...
posted by Skygazer at 5:30 AM on October 2, 2012

Since I normally don't make typing errors I just want to use this comment to make my 1 and only edit.
posted by Pendragon at 5:35 AM on October 2, 2012

Infini: What do you suppose happens to all those who don't read the grey? Do they just get the fright of their life when they see it?

I can tell you from direct experience that upon seeing the function appear out of nowhere on the blue, I was pretty sure I was having a sort of nervous breakdown.

I still feel that way, actually, but now I'm happily aware that I should ignore it, because it's actually a mob hysteria of some sort and we're all imagining and discussing a feature that we can use to EDIT comments on METAFILTER...LOLZ...which is obviously NUTZ....

As if...hahahaha hohohoho...

Look everyone I'm "editing" my comment..wink..wink...


Too funny.


Comment editing.

Yeah, I got your "Comment editing" \/ right here \/

Get out town...
posted by Skygazer at 5:37 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

What do you suppose happens to all those who don't read the grey?

What?! People don't read the grey? That's the best part? It's like hearing people don't eat the neck meat from a chicken!
posted by Ghidorah at 5:40 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

test. test.

edit: test.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 5:41 AM on October 2, 2012

WOOT!!!!
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 5:43 AM on October 2, 2012

test test
posted by pracowity at 5:48 AM on October 2, 2012

Happy Happy

edit: Joy Joy
posted by chillmost at 5:54 AM on October 2, 2012

testing (testing) /testing/
posted by lakersfan1222 at 5:57 AM on October 2, 2012

Metafilter: Need to fix typos a typo? Edit.


:::FISTPUMP:::

SMALLCAPS IS HOW I FEEL INSIDE
posted by tilde at 6:00 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

This doesn't seem like a minor edit and effectively deletes the comment. Is that OK?

Only here in the test-drive thread.
posted by radwolf76 at 6:04 AM on October 2, 2012

Fuck yes.
posted by El Sabor Asiatico at 6:05 AM on October 2, 2012

Testing....

Edit: I promise this will be the last time I use this to add a sentence/thought that I forgot the first time.
posted by muddgirl at 6:09 AM on October 2, 2012

does it work

yezzitduzz

orduzzit

the clock time is constant and disnae go back to 5
posted by sgt.serenity at 6:10 AM on October 2, 2012

Nice!
posted by ltl at 6:11 AM on October 2, 2012

This doesn't seem like a minor edit and effectively deletes the comment. Is that OK?

Yeah, no, not okay. Mostly. Was it just a cat-walked-over-the-keyboard and a slow-moving thread and you fixed immediately? That's maybe basically okay, but what we are emphasizing is that this is for typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors that don't change the content of the comment, and that if people abuse that, they will get a time out. And a longer time out the next time. Use the edit window to troll, and you might be timed all the way out. (addressing general "you" there, not you-you!)
posted by taz (staff) at 6:15 AM on October 2, 2012

> This doesn't seem like a minor edit and effectively deletes the comment. Is that OK?

Quoting cortex from above: We really mean we will be tracking how this is used; please do not be that guy who tries to do something stunty or manipulative with editing, because that will just piss us off and turn you into that guy who got banned for screwing around with Metafilter.
posted by daniel_charms at 6:17 AM on October 2, 2012

Check check 1 2 1 2

Edit: Wow! Nifty neato!
posted by slogger at 6:17 AM on October 2, 2012

Use the edit window to troll

What if a troll suddenly appears inside the edit window?
posted by Skygazer at 6:19 AM on October 2, 2012

(How would one troll with an edit window?)

Serious question?

1. Post horrid flamebait or personal attack.
2. Wait 4.9 minutes for the whole thread to freak out.
3. Profit! Edit!
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:22 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

ooh, I got trolled.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:23 AM on October 2, 2012

Psych!!
posted by Skygazer at 6:24 AM on October 2, 2012

Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I had a previous metatalk about this, got trolled a bit in it, and it's great to eventually see the site make the change to, what we all hope, will be a better interface.

EDIT: TYPO FIXED!
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:24 AM on October 2, 2012

Quality work, sir!
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:25 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

(How would one troll with an edit window?)

I think this has been discussed in pretty much all threads discussing comment editing. The most obvious way is basically baiting and switching: writing an incendiary comment and then deleting or completely changing it when someone takes the bait and responds.

On preview - both beaten and trolled.
posted by daniel_charms at 6:25 AM on October 2, 2012

No, thanks Devils Rancher, It was a serious question, but then I got carried away with playing with the idea of a troll in an edit window etc...
posted by Skygazer at 6:25 AM on October 2, 2012

The "fix typos" heading kind of disappears, I think. I would have missed it if I hadn't been looking for it.

I suggest the addition of cautionary language above the save changes button that says something like FOR TYPOS ONLY YOU GUYS, SRSLY. It's just too tempting/easy to make major changes, so I think there need to be more rules warnings for this to work rather than quickly devolve, especially as not everyone is reading metatalk and it's not intuitive that you can make this kind of edit but not that kind.
posted by prefpara at 6:28 AM on October 2, 2012

Well, we've just acted out the perfect little mise-en-scene for those wondering. Let this exchange stand as an exemplar of the technique, and as a cautionary tale.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:29 AM on October 2, 2012

Indeed, sir, indeed. Let us take bow.

*Bows*
posted by Skygazer at 6:30 AM on October 2, 2012

The Wall-e credits used really bad 90's music.
posted by klue at 6:37 AM on October 2, 2012

long time coming but....well worth it.

Thanks
posted by edgeways at 6:45 AM on October 2, 2012

You did it.

You finally really did it.

You MANIACS!
 
posted by Herodios at 6:47 AM on October 2, 2012

Testing 1 2 3 4.

Edit: Getting dressed for work and out the door.
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:49 AM on October 2, 2012

Can we change the term "obit thread" to "timed all the way out" thread? It seems more fitting for us.
posted by HuronBob at 6:50 AM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

I still really love this.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:53 AM on October 2, 2012

QUACK.

EDIT: meow.
posted by Theta States at 7:05 AM on October 2, 2012

And there was much rejoicing!
posted by smirkette at 7:09 AM on October 2, 2012

Huh, I didn't see it on the blue at all just now. Safari, on Mac 10.6.8.

Edit: Oh, duh, now I see it. I'm a little slow.
posted by latkes at 7:10 AM on October 2, 2012

There was an old lady from Knoxville
Who bought her brassieres by the boxful,
Which she stuffed with corn kernels
And old Wall Street Journals
And thus kept the front of her frocks full.

- Garrison Keillor
posted by kingbenny at 7:13 AM on October 2, 2012

Very nice =) =)
posted by Autumn at 7:16 AM on October 2, 2012

fnord
posted by nfg at 7:17 AM on October 2, 2012

This is great, thanks mods.

EDIT: Although I do think five minutes is way long. Maybe two.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:21 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sorry if this has been asked and answered already..

but what if you answer a AskMe question, then remember something you wanted to add. Should we still continue to post a second time - or edit the first post?

Edit: Testing out the editing!
posted by royalsong at 7:23 AM on October 2, 2012

Should we still continue to post a second time - or edit the first post?

It's a judgment call but we'd really prefer you just added a second comment like people do currently.

What do you suppose happens to all those who don't read the grey? Do they just get the fright of their life when they see it?

I am assuming they will click on it to see what's up or otherwise check the FAQ where there is a nice explanation or head over here and see that there is an active discussion. The whole point is that it's a sort of bonus feature for people who were clamoring for it. If it's not in some way the answer to your secret hopes and dreams we hope you can just ignore it. It's even all set up in its own DIV so people can hide it in Greasemonkey if they really truly hate it.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:26 AM on October 2, 2012

Chrysostom: " EDIT: Although I do think five minutes is way long. Maybe two."

Some of us don't type that fast.
posted by zarq at 7:27 AM on October 2, 2012

My understanding is that if we want to add content to a comment or answer we should make a second comment or answer referencing the first, just as we have always done. Personally I think this is untidy and I wish that the mod stance on the issue were different (I often find myself thinking "Wait! One more thing!" right after I post a comment or answer) but also I understand that there's potentially a slippery slope of comment editing and the mods have to draw the line somewhere. It does seem simpler to draw the line at "typos, misspellings, and mechanical corrections only" and to try to rule out all content-based editing than to try to draw the line somewhere in the hazy border-zone between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" content edits.

I also understand that my problem of having one more thing to add to a comment/answer right after posting it is one that would likely be largely solved if I just held off for 30 seconds before hitting post.

After not-previewing (too much reliance on that fancy comment count update feature) I see that jessamyn has already authoritatively answered the question. This last paragraph is an edit. Are we allowed to edit in non-preview observations like I'm doing here? I'm assuming that it is frowned upon and I would be better to just make a second comment.
posted by Scientist at 7:28 AM on October 2, 2012

testing |||Testing||||testttinggg
Neat! Thanks pb + rest!
posted by bluefly at 7:31 AM on October 2, 2012

I just saw this after commenting and literally my eyes got wide and my mouth mouthed the word "WHAT."
posted by town of cats at 7:33 AM on October 2, 2012

Thank you so much for this capability. I am itching to test it, but won't - I want my first use of the editor to be pure.

I am kind of hoping that I make an error in one of my comments in the near future. Now that I want to, I'll probably never make a typographical or grammatical error again on Metafilter!
posted by k8lin at 7:34 AM on October 2, 2012

Are we allowed to edit in non-preview observations like I'm doing here? I'm assuming that it is frowned upon and I would be better to just make a second comment.

As we said, it's a judgment call. In a slow-moving thread where yours is the last comment, adding a sentence doesn't materially change things so I personally don't care to be a big meanie about it just to stand on principle. If there are comments after yours, I absolutely would not do that, and that's how I try to use the feature [which we've had for years] for myself.

That said, we'd appreciate if people would use this thing in the spirit in which it is intended and not rules lawyer us to death about edge cases because it makes them uncomfortable to not communicate on MetaFilter exactly how they would like. It's only a problem if it's a problem and we will let you know if it starts being a problem and we would appreciate if people would understand that everyone has a "what about MY edge case" situation they'd like to discuss and we're not going to pre-emptively tell you what will or will not happen if you use this feature outside of its intended use. Standard "be cool" policy applies.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:35 AM on October 2, 2012

Incredible! I love it and I didn't have to give my kingdom to get it!
posted by dgran at 7:44 AM on October 2, 2012

This is so great! Thanks mods!
posted by two lights above the sea at 7:45 AM on October 2, 2012

zarq owes pb like nine kingdoms by now.
posted by gauche at 7:47 AM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

It would have been funnier if the ability to edit posts had been added for five minutes - that is, between 2:03 and 2:08 MetaFilter time.

Still, this is cool, also.
posted by running order squabble fest at 7:58 AM on October 2, 2012

Hooray! Hooray! Neat.
posted by Glinn at 8:06 AM on October 2, 2012

gauche: "zarq owes pb like nine kingdoms by now."

I'm hoping he'll settle for something like this. ;)
posted by zarq at 8:12 AM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

Jorge Tohar changes things.!
posted by JohnR at 8:12 AM on October 2, 2012

leaving the spelling and grammar errors gives comments a more natural, authentic feeling, as if they are crafted out of knotty reclaimed wood.
posted by subtle-t at 8:19 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Uh oh, did I break Metafilter?
posted by unSane at 8:21 AM on October 2, 2012

love it
posted by Namlit at 8:24 AM on October 2, 2012

This is awesome.
posted by ourobouros at 8:25 AM on October 2, 2012

Yes, in reading the description I thought that they were only doing the edit window thing as a test, for only five minutes, with the idea that it would be fully implemented at a later date. I was like "rats, I missed the five minute window to try testing the edit window."
posted by Melismata at 8:27 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

This ROCKS
posted by WinnipegDragon at 8:28 AM on October 2, 2012

Hey, it works!
posted by pknodle at 8:31 AM on October 2, 2012

There should be a call to clearInterval(countdown) after calling fadeOut().

Excellent catch, Rhomboid. We'll get that fixed up today.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:33 AM on October 2, 2012

I'd rather fade out than be a clear interval.
posted by slogger at 8:34 AM on October 2, 2012

Trying something out; please ignore.
posted by Wordshore at 8:39 AM on October 2, 2012

This is really cool. But I'm actually only commenting to see it work.

And it does!

And it seems to be 5 minutes from posting, regardless of how many times you edit.
posted by spaltavian at 8:41 AM on October 2, 2012

Nu skriver jag på svenska.

Now I write in English.

Maintenant je... eh ecris? en français. Mais mon français est terrible.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 8:43 AM on October 2, 2012

YAY.
posted by dlugoczaj at 8:49 AM on October 2, 2012

I'd like to see an option that lets you view the original comment. Keeps everything transparent.
posted by schmod at 8:50 AM on October 2, 2012 [4 favorites]

A W E S O M E !!!!!!!! Thanks.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:53 AM on October 2, 2012

what line breaks? what line breaks?

What?--line brakes.

yeah.

thanks. I like the clock.
posted by mule98J at 8:57 AM on October 2, 2012

testing
posted by skbw at 9:01 AM on October 2, 2012

I know I'm in the minority, but this makes me kind of sad... and I say that as someone who seems to make a typo or grammatical error in every other comment I make.
posted by usonian at 9:13 AM on October 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

You've got four minutes to edit your comment into goodthink, Comrade Usonian.
posted by grouse at 9:14 AM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

I know I'm in the minority, but this makes me kind of sad...

Just think of it this way: the originals will all continue to exist in the database, so we're mostly just creating a sort of many-worlds alternate dimension thing in practice here.

And we can sell Mefi Raw memberships for people who want to be able to read the original, unretouched versions of things!
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:22 AM on October 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

I... I think I'm going to cry.

I love you all so much.
posted by verb at 9:27 AM on October 2, 2012

CRISIS ON INFINITE MEFITES
posted by The Whelk at 9:30 AM on October 2, 2012

slogger: "I'd rather fade out than be a clear interval."

Better to burn out than fade away.

There are no limits to number of edits, the limiting factor is the 5 minutes time, right?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:32 AM on October 2, 2012

And we can sell Mefi Raw memberships for people who want to be able to read the original, unretouched versions of things!

Sign up for MeFi Sunday Ticket Max today! You get every comment, on every subsite, raw and in full HD, delivered to your browser or mobile phone -- up to 8 threads at a time. Plus get exclusive access to The Blue Zone, plus real-time commenter statistics and tracker. All for one low price of $99.99. But act now, a deal this good won't be around for long.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:37 AM on October 2, 2012

Just think of it this way: the originals will all continue to exist in the database, so we're mostly just creating a sort of many-worlds alternate dimension thing in practice here.

I think my reaction is about 90% plain old human aversion to change and 10% concern that it may somehow subtly affect the flavor of interaction on the site, just because it's a pretty fundamental change. But MeFites are a pretty smart and mature bunch as a whole and I know the mods will be keeping a close eye on things, so it's all good.
posted by usonian at 9:38 AM on October 2, 2012

"And we can sell Mefi Raw memberships for people who want to be able to read the original, unretouched versions of things!"

Is there a techincal limitation to having a publically viewable record normally? To see both could we just get a Raw sockpuppet?
posted by Blasdelb at 9:39 AM on October 2, 2012

This is good news for the imperfect.
posted by Mister_A at 9:43 AM on October 2, 2012

Is there a techincal limitation to having a publically viewable record normally?

It's a design decision, not a technical issue. We'd rather have the edit stuff have as little an impact as possible; leaving the change tracking stuff as admin-only is in service of that.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:46 AM on October 2, 2012

Excellent.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 9:51 AM on October 2, 2012

Testing, testing. Specifically, to see what happens if the clock runs out while I'm in mid-edit.
posted by feral_goldfish at 9:55 AM on October 2, 2012

Activate the Omega 13! 5!
posted by misha at 10:01 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

O happy day!
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:03 AM on October 2, 2012

Answer: the comment reverts to its original form.
posted by feral_goldfish at 10:07 AM on October 2, 2012

To edit or not to edit, that is the question:
Whether tis nobler in the end to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous typos
Or, by editing, fix 'em...
posted by philipy at 10:08 AM on October 2, 2012

testing 1, 2. 3! Weeeeee......i think it's five minutes you can make changes, not five minutes from posting?
posted by fyrebelley at 10:12 AM on October 2, 2012

The brown cow ETA: makes sure to drink her ovaltine
posted by smcniven at 10:12 AM on October 2, 2012

so we're mostly just creating a sort of many-worlds alternate dimension thing

Perhaps instead of fixing my typos, I will instead contemplate in a Zen-like way that there are possibly an infinite number of parallel worlds in which I didn't even make them.

This thought pleases me.
posted by philipy at 10:17 AM on October 2, 2012

Now I have to buy a dictionary. Yuo bastards.
posted by Smart Dalek at 10:23 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's probably been asked and answered, so forgive me - but do you get a new 5-min. clock after you make an edit?
posted by Mister_A at 10:24 AM on October 2, 2012

Testing...tasting.

Definite longboat material.
posted by Mngo at 10:28 AM on October 2, 2012

Butterkist butterkist ra ra ra.
posted by Wordshore at 10:30 AM on October 2, 2012

I think this is the the best pony ever!
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 10:38 AM on October 2, 2012

Yay pony! Sadly, I'm with Greg Nog in the seeing-typos-a-week-later camp. (That's totally on me, not a plea for a bigger pony.)

EDIT: Interesting... not seeing the little box with the dotted border... maybe my plain white background is to blame?
posted by somanyamys at 10:44 AM on October 2, 2012

Yay! I just used it, typo was not on purpose, either.
posted by mareli at 10:45 AM on October 2, 2012

do you get a new 5-min. clock after you make an edit?

No, you get 5 minutes total from the time your comment is posted. You can make as many changes as you need to within the 5 minutes.
posted by pb (staff) at 10:48 AM on October 2, 2012

How my life got twisted upside down...
posted by You Guys Like 2 Party? at 11:02 AM on October 2, 2012

Perhaps instead of fixing my typos, I will instead contemplate in a Zen-like way that there are possibly an infinite number of parallel worlds in which I didn't even make them.


Actually all possible worlds with all possible typos continue to exist as possibilities until the 5 minute mark, at which point they collapse into a single universe where the typo never existed in the first place.

(well okay, probably not)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:04 AM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

I just discovered this on posting a MeTa comment and peed a little.

EDIT: YAAAAYY!!!!!!!!!!

(Er.. don't add edit.... fine enough... still would like a history link :( for self policing. )
posted by cavalier at 11:09 AM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Excellent. Except I'll miss my frequent friendly emails with the mods. Now it'll just be "Chill out, you're being that guy again" warnings from them.
posted by msalt at 11:14 AM on October 2, 2012

We are at war with Eastasia. We have always been at war with Eastasia.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:24 AM on October 2, 2012

Hey, I fixed an in-the-wild typo! Woohoo!

/will probably fail to do that every other time.
posted by Artw at 11:44 AM on October 2, 2012

Thanks! What a great day!
posted by rabbitrabbit at 11:52 AM on October 2, 2012

DEWEY DEFECATES TRUMAN
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:10 PM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

Just fiddlin' aboot.
posted by cedar at 12:21 PM on October 2, 2012

What strange new world is this that has such things in it?

Nothin' to see here, I have to try this for myself.

EDIT: I edited! Wow! And there's a countdown clock and everything!

Edit x2: but I'm still going to screw up a lot, this only means now it'll be five minutes after posting before I realize it. Sigh. Laws of my universe etc.
posted by cmyk at 12:33 PM on October 2, 2012

i know its been up a day now and no one will see this...but its a brave new world

wow...too cool
posted by ShawnString at 12:37 PM on October 2, 2012

continue to exist as possibilities until the 5 minute mark, at which point they collapse

That would be the Copenhagen Interpretation of typos, not the Many Worlds version.

I prefer to gloss over all the worlds in which I made even more typos however.
posted by philipy at 12:38 PM on October 2, 2012

A brave new world of mods. A strange new world for the rest of us.
posted by cmyk at 12:39 PM on October 2, 2012

I love you all so very much!
posted by Green With You at 12:40 PM on October 2, 2012

This line of thought raises the possibility that the entire universe is a runaway typo.

As Douglas Adams would say, that would explain a lot.
posted by philipy at 12:42 PM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

This should come in handy given that this terrible IR keyboard routinely drops letters. (Though I bought it as a move of desperation following the Bedbug Purges, so I guess I can't be too ungrateful.)
posted by en forme de poire at 1:00 PM on October 2, 2012

the edit function also works in deleted threads
posted by The Whelk at 1:07 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

First Facebook, now Metafilter? I never thought I'd see the day.
posted by Gordafarin at 1:12 PM on October 2, 2012

Test.

(Deleting verbiage that on second thought was unnecessary.)

Huh. It works! Here's hoping it doesn't cause problems...
posted by languagehat at 1:15 PM on October 2, 2012

Thank you!!

Semi-related derail: I know you can fix facebook comments but is it also possible to fix FB OPs??

Again, thank you. I don't think I've needed this feature here but so nice to know it's now available.
posted by thrasher at 1:21 PM on October 2, 2012

Update Anecdote #3, this one unsuccessful: upon fixing it, returned to the page to see that shakespeherian had already riffed on my mistake, and the correction rendered his comment confusing.

Conclusion: Greg Nog hates me for my looks.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:28 PM on October 2, 2012

This opens up a new horizon for trolling; posting something ridiculous in a fast moving topic, then editing it to be reasonable after everyone criticizes you.
posted by msalt at 1:52 PM on October 2, 2012

That is indeed a new and different way to lose five dollars.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:53 PM on October 2, 2012

What?

edited to add: OMG!

Whoops! didn't see point 2 there.... heh.
posted by looli at 1:55 PM on October 2, 2012

then editing it to be reasonable after everyone criticizes you.

We will very seriously ban you for that.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:01 PM on October 2, 2012 [5 favorites]

Those who do not read the thread are doomed to repeat it.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 2:04 PM on October 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

thrasher: I know you can fix facebook comments but is it also possible to fix FB OPs??

Not at this point in time--unless the OP is a photo, in which case you can edit the text by editing the photo's caption.
posted by beryllium at 2:04 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

New question: Has anyone ever been jokingly banned?
posted by shakespeherian at 2:06 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

>>then editing it to be reasonable after everyone criticizes you.
jessasmyn: > We will very seriously ban you for that.

I hope you don't think I was serious. I assumed that would be the response -- it's pretty clear cut proof of trolling -- but it's good to hear it in so many words.
posted by msalt at 2:11 PM on October 2, 2012

nah they don't usually do that
posted by The Devil Tesla at 2:11 PM on October 2, 2012

Has anyone ever been jokingly banned?

I'm pretty sure all the mods have experimentally banned a mod (possibly themselves) at some point under supervision. And if you ask really nicely at a meetup we'll usually let you ban yourself for a few minutes.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:13 PM on October 2, 2012 [5 favorites]

Now I'm picturing a mod grabbing someone's arm and forcibly making them click the 'ban' button while yelling in their face "Why are you banning yourself!? Why are you banning yourself!?"
posted by Green With You at 2:16 PM on October 2, 2012 [5 favorites]

I think at the last Chicago meetup I tried to get restless_nomad to ban people who didn't laugh at my stories but she's not nice so it didn't happen.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:16 PM on October 2, 2012

I'm pretty sure all the mods have experimentally banned a mod (possibly themselves) at some point under supervision

Apparently that didn't work out very well the first time. Always remember to use the buddy system when banning yourselves, mods!
posted by burnmp3s at 2:17 PM on October 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

Hey, after fixing a few small things today, just wanted to say thanks for this, it is much appreciated.
posted by edgeways at 2:21 PM on October 2, 2012

burnmp3s: "Apparently that didn't work out very well the first time. "

It's weird to me that no one in that thread replied to that comment. You would think that a mod accidentally locking themselves out of the site would be worth a chuckle or two. (Or at least some commiseration.)
posted by zarq at 2:24 PM on October 2, 2012

Well well well.
ETA: That countdown ticker is ... scary.
EATA: And multiple edits! Wheeee!
Edited yet again to say: Oops, the instructions ask NOT to add "edit: [reason for edit]" notes. Uh oh.
Edited one last time to change second "oops" to "uh oh". And now I'm out of time, I think. But but but...
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:35 PM on October 2, 2012

Does this still work?

Oh -- bullet points! And a FAQ!
posted by maudlin at 2:47 PM on October 2, 2012

rrrmmmmn
posted by bendy at 3:13 PM on October 2, 2012

There once was a MeFite from Nantucket
Edit: Ooooooooo. It workz.
posted by nenequesadilla at 3:36 PM on October 2, 2012

Just had to see it for myself.
posted by mediated self at 3:52 PM on October 2, 2012

I raced to metatalk to make absolutely sure I wasn't dreaming. Now I need to see a doctor about injuries pertaining to excessive self-inflicted pinches.
posted by TwelveTwo at 4:11 PM on October 2, 2012

cortex is butts a really swell guy
posted by danny the boy at 4:41 PM on October 2, 2012

dang this edit thing seems to be broken, that should have been corrected to: "cortex is a butt"
posted by danny the boy at 4:45 PM on October 2, 2012

Edited
posted by Reggie Knoble at 4:51 PM on October 2, 2012

Oh wow, an ancient pony comes to life! (testing it out myself, whee! yep, that totally worked)
posted by rivenwanderer at 5:01 PM on October 2, 2012

And if you ask really nicely at a meetup we'll usually let you ban yourself for a few minutes.

I still consider it one of the great pleasures of my life that jessamyn once let me ban myself for 24 hours for being "too sexy for his shirt".
posted by middleclasstool at 5:01 PM on October 2, 2012 [4 favorites]

OK, now I need an edit window for other people's comments.

WOW editing craziness!

Double editing. So it's 5 mins from the first one, then?
posted by pompomtom at 5:08 PM on October 2, 2012

The content of this comment is now substantially different.
posted by TwelveTwo at 5:14 PM on October 2, 2012

IT WORKS!
posted by crossoverman at 5:14 PM on October 2, 2012

I just used it. I fail to see how it differs from the older style of posting, before preview existed. You write, you hit post, you read what you wrote with styles applied, you correct the mistakes, you hit post, it finally goes out. Essentially same-same from a workflow pov.

I'm delighted. I liked the old style.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:30 PM on October 2, 2012

Dear Pb and Matt, thank you for making this happen. When I discover really idiotic mistakes as I press Post, I can repair them, with newer, more creative mistakes. Really, this is nifty.

Dear Mods, all of you, it kind of sucks that you have to think of ways this can be dicked around with, and caution people about Not Being Jerks and Not Screwing Around With Metafilter. Please remember that most of the time, most of the people are just posting and commenting and being pretty much okay.

post-post, I can Edit This!! w000t!!! The clock-tickening is a leetle bit nervous-making. also, there is no preview pane. But it's some slick. Also, I saw what you did there, decathecting. Also, I'm done now (3rd edit).
posted by theora55 at 5:35 PM on October 2, 2012

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 63.
posted by decathecting at 5:35 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

I like something completely innocuous.
posted by dmd at 6:02 PM on October 2, 2012

I could really go for a muffin right now.

JK I WANT TWO MUFFINS

with butter
posted by rmless at 7:13 PM on October 2, 2012

Pretty happy to have just edited my first embarrassing typo, and before anyone could quote it! Heady times.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:33 PM on October 2, 2012

[REDACTED]

lol
posted by maqsarian at 8:00 PM on October 2, 2012

Testing for future reference. Edit: Tested
posted by schyler523 at 8:06 PM on October 2, 2012

This is awesome...thanks team!
posted by schyler523 at 8:07 PM on October 2, 2012

YES(EDIT)SS!
posted by P.o.B. at 9:06 PM on October 2, 2012

Are you regretting this yet?
posted by jonbro at 12:08 AM on October 3, 2012

Not I. People seem to be using it as intended, with a wee bit of woohoo! edit window! thrown in here and there. I definitely feel like there are fewer html/display error flags on comments.
posted by taz (staff) at 12:16 AM on October 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

Wooooo.
posted by disillusioned at 12:35 AM on October 3, 2012

One of the many things that infuriates me about Facebook is the inability to edit what you've put up. Sure, you can delete a post (taking all the comments with it), or a comment, and start again, but you can't edit.

All the more infuriating when you've put a post up, hover, and can see the "Edit or remove" message - except edit means the date or location (who cares where you typed it in), and not the actual post...

So kudos to MetaFilter et al for providing above all a sensible facility for commenters.
posted by Wordshore at 2:55 AM on October 3, 2012

This will edit well (edit)
posted by memebake at 3:20 AM on October 3, 2012

I need to know what happens if you try to blank it out.
posted by skrozidile at 5:13 AM on October 3, 2012

Are you regretting this yet?

Regretting not doing it earlier, actually. It's been going well. We have some back end tools so we can see how people are using it and it really looks like a TON of back end typo repair and very little, if any, goofery and a few people making awkward "On edit: here's something else I wanted to add" which isn't optimal but totally within tolerance levels.

We spent a lot of time, years really, agonizing over how this might change everything and at the very least potentially cause mass account closures and whatever. We made a big effort, well pb mostly, making it be a nice simple tool that wasn't too jarring for people who didn't need it but full-featured enough for people who wanted it and I feel like that effort paid off.

MetaTalk is wonderful for being a sounding board on the upsides and downsides of various ideas people bring up, but the site is so large that we can no longer really use it as a place to try to achieve consensus about whether we should do/not do a thing (most of the time) so I feel good that we took a chance and it's (so far) worked out okay.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:41 AM on October 3, 2012 [8 favorites]

MetaTalk is wonderful for being a sounding board on the upsides and downsides of various ideas people bring up, but the site is so large that we can no longer really use it as a place to try to achieve consensus about whether we should do/not do a thing

From now on, you can just run your decisions by me instead. I would have told you that this was going to be fine.
posted by grouse at 6:45 AM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

(puffs cigar)
posted by cavalier at 6:55 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Gah. Just made minor typo in the FPP that spent ages editing, and re-editing (it was a tricky one to write in the way that makes sense), before making live. Looks for 5 minute edit option. Realises there is none as it's an FPP and not a comment. Iz a sad :(

(the typo is that it starts "An" instead of "A" due to the last alteration I made before posting)

(Goes away into corner to quietly facepalm self)
posted by Wordshore at 6:56 AM on October 3, 2012

Fixed that for you Wordshore... you can always flag your own post with HTML/display error, or drop us a line via the contact form to fix something in your post. We usually respond within a few minutes.
posted by taz (staff) at 7:01 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thanks, taz.
posted by Wordshore at 7:01 AM on October 3, 2012

Oh, thank you thank you thank you! I've always felt awful about my typos and botched links.

Potential future pony request: a small [show edits] link that reveals changes with use of strikethrough. If you feel like storing the edit history.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:11 AM on October 3, 2012

I totally felt like this would a nightmare for the mods, to be honest; and maybe it is, but it sure as hell doesn't show. Every single time I've seen it misused even a tiny bit, they've been there in minutes to say something and/or sweep up. Pretty strong work, and so far that's made it a success from what I can see. And it sure makes me feel good about this place.

(Which is sort of like the town drunk praising the police force for its responsiveness, but there you go, I guess.)
posted by koeselitz at 7:16 AM on October 3, 2012

Yeah, it's really going pretty well so far. It's interesting watching edits go by; we're taking a watch-and-tweak approach to the global firehose of edits to figure out how best to display stuff for easy skimming and highlight stuff that might be problematic. And it's been great to see that people are basically just using it exactly as intended almost all of the time already—fixing typos, rearranging a little subclause, replacing a pronoun with a noun for clarity, that sort of thing—with the biggest issues mostly seeming to be the surfacing of a little giddy delight at the existence of the thing.

In retrospect the only thing I'd have even changed about the launch was to have the basic "don't do x, y, z" bullet points on the editing page from the word go, but I don't think any of us really considered how much of a difference that would make in user-education terms until we saw the feature operating in the wild.

I'm pretty confident we won't have to deal with anybody being a fucker; we'll probably have to do some ongoing reinforcement work on the minor stuff like "don't leave edit notes" and "don't use editing to respond to comments after yours" but even that we're not seeing much of and it's brand new. I've left a few polite "please don't do that" notes where I've seen it happening, which I think will just be par for the course until the etiquette gets really baked in for the community at large.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:47 AM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Every single time I've seen it misused even a tiny bit, they've been there in minutes to say something and/or sweep up.

Out of curiosity, where has this happened?

I think making edit notes taboo is a good thing. On other sites it is just a needless distraction to know that someone edited their typo.

edit: irony
posted by grouse at 8:51 AM on October 3, 2012

Out of curiosity, where has this happened?

Just little things like this or this. Again, pretty much just people feeling a bit OOH, EDIT FEATURE as far as I can tell. Understandable but worth gently reminding about.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:57 AM on October 3, 2012

hello, thanks for the cool feature.
posted by rudster at 9:00 AM on October 3, 2012

Hey, thanks for this!
posted by ChrisR at 9:55 AM on October 3, 2012

This is great. Really great.
posted by monospace at 9:56 AM on October 3, 2012

ooh, spiffy! Thanks!
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:45 AM on October 3, 2012

Thank you. Thank you.
posted by swift at 11:19 AM on October 3, 2012

I just noticed this. Neat!
posted by yeti at 11:38 AM on October 3, 2012

This, all by itself, is more irritating to read than all typos previously made on the site combined. What does it mean? It's not obvious how the two comments by Isadorady relate to one another or to the post. What is the commenter is talking about that the OP already knows? There's no mention of Kent cigarettes in the post that I can see. Has the previous comment been edited? Am I supposed to click on the links to figure out what the commenter is talking about?

The nonproblem of typos has been kind of solved, and an extra layer of confusion has been added.
posted by Kwine at 12:25 PM on October 3, 2012

Which is to say, this
posted by Kwine at 12:26 PM on October 3, 2012

My love for you is like a truck

Bezerker!

(needless edits removed after self control kicked in )

(Did he just say..)
posted by cavalier at 12:28 PM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

What does it mean?

It looks like Isadorady posted a link that covered material that was already in the post, and the second comment is a joke about how nice it would be to be able to delete it after the fact since it's not actually helpful. No editing done there at all.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 12:35 PM on October 3, 2012

I expect it will be a week or so of mild annoyance and confusion as far as goes the chaff of people being self-conscious about the newness of the feature. In the long haul people who can't seem to figure out how not to talk about the edit feature mid-thread will get gentle talkings to about it, etc.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:36 PM on October 3, 2012

Am I supposed to click on the links to figure out what the commenter is talking about?

...Pretty much, yeah.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 12:38 PM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Now we need a "typo" flag that automatically sends the poster an email if their 5-minute window is still open.

Other people's typos never bothered me before. But now, when I see one in a new comment, I'm all: "Aaaaaah! Quick! Edit it before your time is uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!"
posted by 256 at 12:55 PM on October 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

Ironically, I'm better at catching typos before posting today than I've ever been.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:00 PM on October 3, 2012

Which is to say, this

You could have edited your comment to fix the URL but you didn't because your comment was about how enabling comment editing was fixing a non-problem AMIRITE?
posted by kate blank at 1:40 PM on October 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

Why would someones enver need to do that?
posted by wcfields at 1:59 PM on October 3, 2012

I mostly just want to try this out. Oh, interesting. Thanks mods!
posted by likeatoaster at 2:46 PM on October 3, 2012

I saw this and went. No wait, it can't be. I thought that pony had a DNR. Awesome. Thanks, mods!

I didn't get heyho's awesome error message :(
posted by TravellingCari at 3:01 PM on October 3, 2012

Hm, I hadn't seen the comment about the error message.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 4:12 PM on October 3, 2012

The error message doesn't appear unless you actually try to save the blanked comment.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 4:13 PM on October 3, 2012

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
posted by anonnymoose at 5:09 PM on October 3, 2012

Thanks, Brandon Blatcher. We're not going to be able to keep up with all the ingenious ways people can blank out comments. People could also just write "redacted". Removing your comment this way is more of a behavioral problem that we'll be watching for.

Can't you just code up something that will detect and reject major changes? Like a distance function (difference function?), and if the distance between the original and the corrected is larger than some threshold, it gets rejected.

Okay, maybe that would be too much :)
posted by Chuckles at 5:26 PM on October 3, 2012

hypothetical:

oops i typed an entire comment one key to the left

and then hit post for some reason
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 5:29 PM on October 3, 2012

But I guess in that case it's still better to correct it in another comment than an edit since by the time you get it all retyped it's guaranteed to collect at least one baffled and/or snarky response
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 5:32 PM on October 3, 2012

Thank you for this feature. (Not letting this take the place of proofreading.)
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 5:33 PM on October 3, 2012

Changed the link to a better one with 2 seconds left. BOOM!
posted by homunculus at 7:58 PM on October 3, 2012

I am not a crook. ed

Second edit

Oh man ... Only 1 minute 40 left
posted by R. Mutt at 8:15 PM on October 3, 2012

This feature is FUCKING SUCKS AWESOME.
posted by shmegegge at 9:03 PM on October 3, 2012

Oh for god's... can I get a 10 minute edit window? it's ok if it's only for me.
posted by shmegegge at 9:08 PM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I now intend to use the term "sucks awesome" frequently in my daily life.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 9:44 PM on October 3, 2012

QgT AIER ID NIEIB QIYKS RTOW qgikw xinnwbr ibw kwrrwe ri rgw kwdr>
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:06 PM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

TEST
posted by RichardP at 11:09 PM on October 3, 2012

Kadin2048, I am giving you a [+] for making me translate that; may it forever stain your soul.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 12:22 AM on October 4, 2012

I don't understand the misspelling and odd caps. What does it all mean???
posted by wierdo at 2:44 AM on October 4, 2012

Heh Kadin2048, that reminds me of a snide aside a violinist once made about a colleague, a pianist: "His stray notes are so consistent that one wonders, if one shifted his bench just an half inch to the lright, would he be more precise?"
posted by Namlit at 3:47 AM on October 4, 2012

My head is spinning. I just got the following error ------> You hit your favorite limit for the day.

Huh?
posted by Skygazer at 4:34 AM on October 4, 2012

You can only favorite 100 items in a 24 hour period.

previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 4:58 AM on October 4, 2012

I just want to see the modified edit window page.

Oh, cool. That's a good idea.
posted by Scientist at 5:13 AM on October 4, 2012

You can only favorite 100 items in a 24 hour period.

previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:58 AM on October 4 [+] You hit your favorite limit for the day. [!]

Thx the man of twists and turns. I tried to favorite you. but was denied.

;-(
posted by Skygazer at 5:19 AM on October 4, 2012

reprise the theme song and roll the credits: oops i typed an entire comment one key to the left


There was a Paranoia module that had some very important instructions typed out shifted one key to the right, if memory serves.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:25 AM on October 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

Point of order!

Does it still count as a typo if you write one phrase, but then decide to go back and completely rewrite the phrase, except you accidentally leave one or two words from the old phrase in and then you use the edit window to just take those last two words from the old phrase out?

I do that kind of thing all the damn time.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:13 AM on October 4, 2012

EmpressCallipygos: use the edit window to just take those last two words from the old phrase out

I've used the edit feature a couple of times to alter my word choice or clarify my meaning a couple of times without an unkind word from the mods so far. I think that sort of correction is well within the scope of the edit window.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:33 AM on October 4, 2012

The error message doesn't appear unless you actually try to save the blanked comment.

testing because I never got it yesterday

and now I did
posted by TravellingCari at 6:58 AM on October 4, 2012

If you want to like rearrange a subclause without changing the meaning or general content, that's probably not an issue. I would think very hard about doing that in a fast-moving thread, though.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:11 AM on October 4, 2012

Point of order!

It's fine. But yeah be careful in fast-moving threads.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:12 AM on October 4, 2012

Maybe this has been covered above but I didn't see it necessarily greenlighted in the FAQ so forgive me if I'm asking something that's already been covered but would correcting a double / repeat / JINX!-type case of hyperlinking be a fair use of the edit functionality or would it be best to just ping a mod/flag the slowest comment?

Like what happened from here for example?

This is assuming that I'm the owner of the comment of course. I don't make it a point to jump in and flag something with the 'double comment' flag in this situation if it's not mine. I see that flag as being more intended for a exact duplicate "oops I clicked post twice" type of situation. Right?
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:23 AM on October 4, 2012

Test
posted by Chutzler at 7:46 AM on October 4, 2012

would correcting a double / repeat / JINX!-type case of hyperlinking be a fair use of the edit functionality

It's another borderline thing. In a fast-moving thread I'd just leave another comment. People who leave very similar links right next to one another has sort of always been something that happens here and is pretty much a non-problem. The double comment flag is a lot more of a relic from back when we had recurring site problems where sometimes a comment would post twice [or sometimes five or six times, fun!] and we'd go clean them up by hand. pb has made that particular job redundant, on the rare times when it might happen, robots clean it all up before we even see it.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:55 AM on October 4, 2012

Not clear on the fast-moving thread point?....My own question is more about a bad habit I have of, say, beginning to write things in the past tense and then I change my mind and rewrite it in the past tense, except then I forget to change all of the "is"'s to "was"'s or something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:05 AM on October 4, 2012

If you're changing the way something reads in a non-typo way so much that you're removing words and whatnot, be careful because if people have already commented using your text it's going to make the thread read weird. I understand that changing a verb tense is just a "typo" fix sort of thing, but rewriting a comment as a result of a few compounding errors might seem like more than a typo fix, so please be mindful of that.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:07 AM on October 4, 2012

Gotcha, thanks.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:16 AM on October 4, 2012

Melody of a fast moving thread:
on preview [edit] on preview [edit] on preview [edit] on preview [edit] on preTIME'S UP!
posted by Namlit at 8:46 AM on October 4, 2012

How is moderation of edits going to work? Is it going to be mostly silent like comment deletions? Is the action going to be deletion of the comment or reversion to the orginal comment or some of each depending?
posted by Mitheral at 10:39 AM on October 4, 2012

testing something.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:51 AM on October 4, 2012

test complete.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:52 AM on October 4, 2012

Will any edit history be going into the infodump(ster)? It would be cool to see who does the most editing, or how many edits I've made, and so on.
posted by griphus at 10:59 AM on October 4, 2012

Will any edit history be going into the infodump(ster)?

No, cortex mentioned upthread that we'll be using that data to monitor how things are going but we don't have any plans to make it public.
posted by pb (staff) at 11:15 AM on October 4, 2012

Want to check something.
posted by Frayed Knot at 11:19 AM on October 4, 2012

How is moderation of edits going to work? Is it going to be mostly silent like comment deletions? Is the action going to be deletion of the comment or reversion to the orginal comment or some of each depending?

We'll see when we get there. My expectation is that, other than needing to gently remind some folks (probably via email) not to do certain not-bannable-but-not-correct things with editing if we see recurring issues, there won't be a whole lot to deal with, and we'll work it out case-by-case until anything really clearly has a best practice or needs addressing.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:26 AM on October 4, 2012

One thing that could be useful: a simple [edited on date at time] indicator in the footer of the post. It doesn't need to give any details, but if there's a strange out-of-the-blue flame war that erupts into someone's seemingly innocuous post, the presence of that 'Hey, this was edited' indication can help shape communal understanding of what happened.
posted by verb at 11:38 AM on October 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

Or a simple asterix, perhaps?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:47 AM on October 4, 2012

nah, our feeling is that even small edit indicators will distract from conversations more than they'll contribute to them. The question will always be there: what was edited? That's a distraction.

If people are fixing typos, it doesn't matter that the comment was edited. If people are doing more than fixing typos, the mods will deal with that.
posted by pb (staff) at 11:52 AM on October 4, 2012

We're pretty disinclined to go there because we don't think weird edit-related flamewars and such are likely to occur with any frequency, and the cleanup of weird behavior is likely to involve deleted comments and mod note in any case. And for the vast majority of edits where there is no weirdness, there's not really any need to know that someone changed something—"a" to "an", autocorrect fixes, "most tall" to "tallest", etc, are not stuff to have side conversations about.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:53 AM on October 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

Just discovered the feature. YAAAAAAAY!
posted by pmurray63 at 5:58 PM on October 4, 2012

No one reads the comments down here, so I can edit this comment during the next five minutes without fucking with Metahitler.

Later on I will attempt to fuck with Metafilter, just this once, to see if this is possible. I understand that this is not a good thing to do in general.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:22 PM on October 4, 2012

I'm going to edit the word "Metahitler", because I didn't want to refer to Hitler.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:23 PM on October 4, 2012

I still have less than five minutes. I don't see the countdown timer (I'm on Chrome on Windows, at the moment.) Windows is almost like Hitler.

It's hard to know exactly how much time five minutes might be. I change my mind every five minutes, but in Winter sometimes it contracts to four minutes.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:24 PM on October 4, 2012

I never Metahitler I liked.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:25 PM on October 4, 2012

Since nobody reads the comments down here, least of all Hitler, I no reason to fear that I will offend anybody. So I will try to simultaneously edit all of my previous comments.

Earlier on I intended to fuck with Metafilter, but thought the better of it, so now I edited that out.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:25 PM on October 4, 2012

You gonna fuckin' fuck with fuckin' Metafilter, ya fuckin' fuck?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:32 PM on October 4, 2012

So far, so good.

This feature will not be complete until I am allowed five minutes to edit everyone else's comments.

I'm looking at you, Flapjax.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:36 PM on October 4, 2012

Earlier on I wrote "I no reason to fear", when clearly I should have written "I have no reason to fear."

But it's after five minutes, so I'm still making a new comment about this, trying to correct my perverse comment.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:50 PM on October 4, 2012

I meant "previous" instead of "perverse".

Oh wait, I know how to fix that! Just let me finish my sandwich and I'll do that.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:52 PM on October 4, 2012

Shit.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:57 PM on October 4, 2012

APOCALYPSE WAS AVERTED AGAIN.
do you guys like... get a list of all the edits?
posted by TwelveTwo at 11:03 PM on October 4, 2012

yeah, is it like wikipedia where you can roll it back and have edit wars with yourself?
posted by mwhybark at 11:51 PM on October 4, 2012

Five minutes ago this comment seemed like a good idea.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:39 AM on October 5, 2012

We can see a list of recent edits with changes highlighted... but it's nothing like wikipedia, and there's no rollback function. We can also see the original comment(s) before edits on any given comment via the admin edit function for that comment. (The same function we use, for example, if you ask us to fix something wonky in your comment.)
posted by taz (staff) at 12:42 AM on October 5, 2012

As you can see from my next link, this comment is of no consequence.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:00 AM on October 5, 2012 [2 favorites]

This comment is unprecedented.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:01 AM on October 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

As you can see from my next link

I… just… it's… it's a thing of beauty.

No words.

They should have sent a poet.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 4:23 AM on October 5, 2012

As you can see from my next link

I've got a funny feeling in my tummy now.
posted by unSane at 4:54 AM on October 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Look ma, no edits.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:35 AM on October 5, 2012

Hunh, weird.

Test edit please ignore.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:37 AM on October 5, 2012

Follow
posted by grouse at 10:51 AM on October 5, 2012

The
posted by grouse at 10:51 AM on October 5, 2012

Leader
posted by grouse at 10:51 AM on October 5, 2012

This comment is unprecedented.

Alas, it has been done before by predicting the comment number.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:58 PM on October 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

I just noticed this. I am so behind the times.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:25 PM on October 5, 2012

it has been done before by predicting the comment number.

That was risky before because you couldn't be sure that someone else didn't make a comment just before the predicted comment number. But given five minutes to edit, you can now be sure that your future comment can be reliably targeted by your previous comment.

This isn't at all what this feature is intended for, of course, and I don't plan to do this in a real (aka non-Metatalk) thread, but it is kind of interesting.

There are worse sorts of amusing mischief you can do with this feature. You can make an outrageously inflammatory comment in a fast moving thread, wait three minutes for the outraged response, then change your previous comment so that it has nothing whatsoever to do with the thing that provoked the response.

Mitt Romney actually used something like this in a presidential debate.
posted by twoleftfeet at 11:49 PM on October 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

People who do this will be at least temp-banned if not perma-banned. Fucking around with the edit feature will not turn out pleasantly, so be careful about amusing mischief. We're not going to be very patient with willful misuse.
posted by taz (staff) at 11:58 PM on October 5, 2012

Hey, Taz, I totally understand that. I respect you guys for implementing a feature that could actually let me fix a typo or a bad link without troubling the mods. I know I've made stupid typos before, and just didn't feel it was worth bothering you guys about them, so I've let them stand, looking a bit more idiotic as a result.

As with any significant new feature, it takes time to build a consensus and a culture around acceptable use. I think Metafilter users are a pretty considerate bunch, so I expect, or at least hope, that it will work out well.

Thanks for the feature!
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:08 AM on October 6, 2012

I just made some REAL edits.

Look at me, WOW, I'm - a - big - boy - NOW.
posted by P.o.B. at 7:58 AM on October 6, 2012

Greasemonkey has been mentioned, so I'm going to try and make a script to turn off editing (not that I'm going to use it, I love the idea). This comment is here so I can see what the Edit div looks like in source.
posted by ZsigE at 12:01 PM on October 6, 2012

And testing...it works! Uploading shortly.
posted by ZsigE at 12:17 PM on October 6, 2012

what i really want is to edit other people's comments. much more fun.
posted by FauxScot at 7:56 PM on October 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Bi - bi - bicycle
I - I - icicle
Tri - tri - tricycle
Test - test - testing 1 2 3
posted by mosessis at 4:57 AM on October 7, 2012

Hey cool. Hey neato.
posted by NoMich at 8:19 AM on October 7, 2012

OK. I just wanted to watch the clock count all the way down at least once.
posted by safetyfork at 2:37 PM on October 7, 2012

we'd appreciate if people would use this thing in the spirit in which it is intended and not rules lawyer us to death about edge cases

I just realized that being a mod is a little like running a role-playing game with a bunch of assholes, and now I wonder which mods used to play RPGs. Do they still enjoy playing them now?
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:57 AM on October 8, 2012

This is a test of the edit window thingie. This are words added to the original post. This will be nice while it lasts.
posted by KHAAAN! at 10:33 AM on October 8, 2012

which mods used to play RPGs. Do they still enjoy playing them now?

I played D&D a little when I was younger. My parents got me D&D one Christmas without, I think, realizing that you needed to play it with people. I had friends, but not other nerdy friends, so it wasn't until the neighbors with the kids that visited on summers and holidays moved in that I had regular people to play with. And then they moved. Now there are a lot of types of games I like to play but RPGs are farther down the list. I've never been good at pretending to be anyone else which you may be able to deduce from my username.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:20 AM on October 8, 2012 [1 favorite]

jessamyn: My parents got me D&D one Christmas without, I think, realizing that you needed to play it with people.

One person, reading an RPG rulebook over and over without ever playing it might be the saddest thing in nerddom. Me and my GURPS Worldbooks know that feel.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:29 AM on October 8, 2012 [16 favorites]

Me and my GURPS Worldbooks know that feel.

Yeah, likewise. I really like and am interested in worldbuilding as its own thing, so I've actually read a lot of D&D and White Wolf rulebooks, but I only ever played once, on the second of three dates with this dude who... well, let's say after those three dates I felt confident in saying I wasn't bi. (Not his fault, he was a perfectly nice nerd.) But that one game seemed like an excuse for him to make out with his girlfriend in front of his buddies, not a method of introducing me to the pastime, and it didn't really take.

I have been involved in a WoW roleplaying guild, which is similar in many ways, but my moderation efforts there were spent managing actual interpersonal conflicts, not in-character ones. I was the only one who could consistently talk our neurotic control-freak guild leader down from whatever ledge she was on this week. Lovely person in many ways, but a poster girl for what happens when someone has too much brain and not enough to spend it on.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 11:38 AM on October 8, 2012 [2 favorites]

Metafilter: Too much brain and not enough to spend it on.
posted by The Whelk at 11:40 AM on October 8, 2012 [1 favorite]

HOLYFUCKANEDITBUTTON!!!!
posted by Trochanter at 2:05 PM on October 9, 2012

Holy shit! I've been away for over a week, just now innocently wandered in and posted a comment, and then EYES LIKE SAUCERS.
posted by HotToddy at 9:45 PM on October 9, 2012

This feature is bullshit and needs to be removed. If I can go in after the fact and make my inane, compulsive raving sound composed and reasonable how will anyone be able to tell I'm a kook?
posted by clarknova at 12:34 AM on October 10, 2012

"This feature is bullshit and needs to be removed. If I can go in after the fact and make my inane, compulsive raving sound composed and reasonable how will anyone be able to tell I'm a kook?"

I suspect that the fair Meta and swift banning would more than suffice
posted by Blasdelb at 4:39 AM on October 10, 2012

I, too, know the sadness of having the books and no one to play the games with. AD&D, White Wolf (I had tons of Vampire books, but I would have loved to play Changeling with people who'd read Charles De Lint or any of the Borderlands stories), but the greatest tale of woe was my carefully packed and sorted tackle box of exquisitely painted Warhammer figurines. I had a Space Marine army, an Eldar army, hell, I even built a Marine army for Epic scale. I played maybe five or six times, total.

Years later, when a friend of five years was just about to leave Japan, we discovered that we were both huge Warhammer fans. There was a slight pause in conversation as we contemplated what could have been, and an exchange of wistful glances that would be recognized by anyone familiar with either the agony of the lonely nerd or the romance section of Waldenbooks...

So much pain, so much money gone.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:53 AM on October 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

I once got a game of bingo for Christmas. Since I didn't have any friends that lived near me, I set my stuffed animals up and bingo'd away.
posted by drezdn at 5:45 AM on October 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hugs.
posted by drezdn at 7:47 AM on October 10, 2012

Political viewpoints aside, is this sort of thing an ok, not ok, or simply 'meh' pseudo-un-use of the edit button?

I flagged it but didn't know if I was doing it right or not so I figured I'd ask here rather than disrupt the thread in question.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:46 AM on October 10, 2012

Link dead, mods commented, disaster averted. Thanks for all the fish.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:49 AM on October 10, 2012

Yeah just to clarify that was a comment with a quote claimed to be from Paul Ryan and then a follow-up comment saying "Well since I don't want to abuse the edit window let me just tell you that is a quote from Obama!" zinger. At the end of a long thread it's really the sort of nonsense we're hoping to avoid and BobbyVan can remake his comment just fine without the gotcha.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:52 AM on October 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

So not only can we not use the edit window for substantive changes, but we can't mention that we didn't use the edit window for substantive changes?

I might be misunderstanding this since I can't see the offending comments.
posted by grouse at 11:38 AM on October 10, 2012

The way I read it, the offending comment (and resulting derail) was a don't-be-a-jackass violation, not a misuse of the edit window's existence.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:48 AM on October 10, 2012

Yeah, mostly just the "don't be a jackass" request, though since it was mentioned here I figured I'd explain what happened. If there were an index it would go like this

Jackalopes
Jackass the movie
Jackassery, casual racism
Jackassery, die-in-a-fire
Jackassery, edit window
Jackassery, FIAMO failure
Jackassery, grabassery

etc.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:56 AM on October 10, 2012 [4 favorites]

Jackassery, grabassery

My printer just turned into a toad WHAT ARE YOU DOING JESSAMYN
posted by griphus at 11:59 AM on October 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

we can't mention that we didn't use the edit window for substantive changes?

I asked/flagged mainly because it seemed to be a seemingly blatant misuse of the whole commenting-in-good-faith theme of the site with the edit feature's restrictions being used as a scapegoat.

So it wasn't so much that he mentioned that he didn't use the edit feature because it was a substantive change, it was that he made a comment in such a way that it was his express purpose to immediately mention a substantive, intentional error and prefaced it with "Since I can't edit here's the real info:..."
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:43 PM on October 10, 2012

jessamyn enforcing authority control for jackassery, using both definitions of "authority control."
posted by grouse at 12:49 PM on October 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

I suspect that the fair Meta and swift banning would more than suffice

It may aggrieve your authoritarian sensibilities to hear that hasn't happened yet.
posted by clarknova at 12:58 PM on October 10, 2012

My printer just turned into a toad WHAT ARE YOU DOING JESSAMYN

I bit my tongue
posted by flabdablet at 7:32 PM on October 10, 2012

late to the party
posted by sebas at 3:56 AM on October 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Nearly radical step. I dig it. (also...testing). EDIT: Nice.
posted by artlung at 11:46 AM on October 13, 2012

artlung: "EDIT: Nice."

And for people who have missed the message, the mods have asked that you don't do this outside of the testing threads.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:00 PM on October 13, 2012

Man you stop paying attention and everything changes.

Mother fuckers! Yeah this thing works.
posted by chunking express at 5:58 PM on October 14, 2012

guys come on we're almost at a thousand comments here

don't stop now
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 1:18 AM on October 18, 2012

In terms of abuse of edits? A guy on a forum I used to be part of decided after 2000-3000 posts to leave. But, rather than just close his account, he first did something much more bizarre.

He went back through his posting history, and deleted every single comment he had ever made.
posted by Decimask at 4:54 PM on October 18, 2012

He went back through his posting history, and deleted every single comment he had ever made.

I'm hearing this as a C&W tear jerker...

lord knows I loved that woman,
her MeFi account? I paid.
and even after what she did,
her memory will never fade.
she left me, y'all, and she left the site,
I wish she would've only stayed.
my baby deleted every comment,
that she ever made.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:00 PM on October 18, 2012 [4 favorites]

He went back through his posting history, and deleted every single comment he had ever made.

This happened on the Mac News Network (MacNN) a few years ago. The guy that did it is actually a friend who decided he didn't like the way his content was being used by the site owners. It took him weeks to go through them all manually. I was cool with his reasons, though.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:25 PM on October 18, 2012

........................................
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:49 PM on October 18, 2012

I actually saw a script people were passing around on Reddit the other day that was supposed to automate deletion of all of one's comments. You know, because of the frightening wave of doxxing that's going on over there. "Delete your history before it's too laaaaate!"
posted by koeselitz at 8:03 PM on October 18, 2012

So a few years ago, during the lull between Christmas and New Years', I walked down the little grocery on my corner to pick up a dozen eggs. Apparently they hadn't gotten their normal delivery for that week, because the refrigerator with the eggs was almost empty. I reached in and grabbed a case, opened it up, and one of the eggs was broken. Yech. Put it back. I grab another: same thing. I grab a third, and all the eggs are fine, but I notice that the date on the carton is in November. I grab a fourth, and the date on that carton is April. So I turn to leave the store without buying anything.

"You having some trouble over there?" the storekeeper asks me.

"I am," I told him, and explained.

He gets this stricken look on his face: this little store is his baby, his pride. He goes over to look. "These could be good until next April," he says.

Hmmm, maybe he has one carton of super-eggs that will stay good for four months. "I don't care which April it is," I said. "I don't want 'em."

Right now the "edit" page says the feature was introduced on "October 1st". If you guys forget to add a year I'll come back in late 2013 and tell this story again.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:07 PM on October 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

the feature was introduced on "October 1st"

Back in the 70's, a group of cavers were many miles into Mammoth cave on a survey trip, and at a junction of several passages, they found a note that said "Meet me here in an hour."
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:57 PM on October 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

He went back through his posting history, and deleted every single comment he had ever made.

Unless you've made all your comments in the last five minutes, I don't see that happening here. You'd have to ████ █ █████ ███ ████ █████████ ██████ ██████ like Paphnuty did.

edit: whoops, forgot we're not supposed to talk about that
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 12:33 AM on October 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

I wanna test it too!

Well, I never expected to see this.
posted by Netzapper at 6:16 AM on October 19, 2012

Is there a right flag for blatant editing abuse? I saw 'other' and 'HTML/display error' mentioned above, but I would've guessed 'it breaks the guidelines'.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 5:49 PM on October 24, 2012

For now, "other" or "guidelines" are fine, and a clarifying contact form is also a good idea.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 5:50 PM on October 24, 2012

Noted. Thank you.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 6:17 PM on October 24, 2012