Why is there a time limit for editing posts here in the eBay forum?
I just got this here in the forum:
"The time limit for editing this message has expired"
Why is there a time limit for editing your own posts?
6 comments
I just got this here in the forum:
"The time limit for editing this message has expired"
Why is there a time limit for editing your own posts?
steffi@ebay
Hello @chris77_de, I’d like to briefly summarize the answers already given and add a bit more:
👉 Why is there a time limit for editing?
The time limit generally ensures that discussions remain understandable for all users and that posts cannot be completely changed afterward.
👉 Transparency for all users
If posts could be changed without limit at any time, replies would eventually stop making sense. With a time limit, the course of the conversation remains understandable for everyone.
👉 Protection against abuse
Without a limit, content could be completely altered afterward (e.g., to add advertising or twist statements). That would weaken trust in the community.
👉 Fairness in discussions
This prevents someone from rewriting their statements afterward once others have already responded to them.
👉 Technical & organizational reasons
Moderation and clarity are easier when posts cannot be changed permanently.
👉 Also important:
There is also an automatic draft function in the community ✍️
Your post is automatically saved in the background if you have not submitted it yet. This means you can continue writing at any time or reload the draft 👍
👉 Where can you find your drafts?
You can find your saved drafts on your profile page on the right under “Give helpful marks”
imperial-modellbau
·3 months agoHello @chris77_de
I asked myself that question at the beginning too!
If you think about it a little, you come to the following conclusion:
If you could edit "indefinitely", some people would later change their posts to adjust facts to the responses that follow.
That would completely throw the context into disarray.
I’m not saying everyone would do that - but a few "conspiracy nutjobs" come to mind! 🙄
However, I do advocate extending the time a little - I’ve also noticed a few errors on a second read that I would have liked to remove - but by then the time was already up.
chris77_de
OP3 months agoYes, I'm also talking about the silly mistakes you unfortunately make and only notice after reading it for the 4th time 😉
I think the limit is way too short. 24 hours would be fine, I think.
dmary56
·3 months ago@chris77_de
No, precisely for the reason that @imperial-modellbau gave, 24 hours would be way too long!
I’d say ten minutes is fine... and if there are spelling mistakes, then so be it... it can happen to anyone. Content errors can be corrected in a new post.
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·3 months ago@dmary56 , @imperial-modellbau
Hi everyone,
if I know that I’ll need longer to reply, I cancel and load my reply later again to complete/edit it. However, I have no idea how long that works for. But in any case longer than 10 minutes.
hasjana
·3 months agoI don't know if it's like that right from the first character, but after a short time what you've written is saved as a draft
if you later go back into the thread and want to reply, it immediately shows whether you want to load the draft or discard it
you can find an overview of saved drafts on the homepage of your community profile, and you can delete these drafts by clicking the X on the draft