Post-hoc editing of B-Greek posts

[Eeli Kaikkonen]

I sometimes edit my post within the allowed timeframe. But if it's not just an annoying small spelling mistake I add "Edited: changed this and that" message to the end of the post, so the first time readers will know it. It's a normal and recommended procedure in different kinds of internet forums.

[Barry Hofstetter]

I have found the "preview" button invaluable for editing posts prior to final submission. It allows one to see the post exactly as it will appear, and so makes it easier to spot mistakes. Not that even then all mistakes are so avoided, but it does help, a lot.

[cwconrad]

I have found the "preview" button invaluable for editing posts prior to final submission. It allows one to see the post exactly as it will appear, and so makes it easier to spot mistakes. Not that even then all mistakes are so avoided, but it does help, a lot.

It does indeed help -- considerably. But I find occasionally that I really need to re-read and re-think what I want to say in my comments in this forum and that it often takes me a good bit of time composing and editing, sometimes re-writing whole paragraphs. On more than one occasion I've lost the screen before I've finished composing and editing, and that's very vexing (to put it mildly). I don't know if there's a time limit on composition or not, but I'm always a bit anxious in the course of the process. After that happened a second and third time, I decided that I'd copy and paste the contents of the editing screen into a text-processor on my own computer so that I could continue working on it offline and then bring back the whole thing for final editing with the formatting tools provided by the forum software. This may just be a quirk of my own aging brain -- I don't know, but I'd like to be confident that what I've written really does say what I intended to say. Getting one's thoughts intelligibly into text is not something that I can do very quickly -- and for that reason I can understand SH's frustration at having to "publish" what is in fact only a "half-cooked" statement. To a considerable extent all that we say and write is ephemeral, but we'd like to think that we're doing a little bit more here than entertaining each other with idle chatter. Perhaps that's an illusion or even a delusion, but we (I, at any rate) do labor under that sense.

[Louis L Sorenson]

I come where Carl comes from. I think edits need to be allowed. But when arguments and numerous posts diverge and multiply from a particular post, one does not really want to change that thread. I once made a post on Textkit and was egged on by someone to defend something I composed in Greek; I have come to regret defending that position -- I now think I was wrong, but I did try to defend a position (on the meaning of ἄν) that I now think was not good Greek -- at least not standard Greek. It was like trying to say "Me hit him" is good English.

I believe I can go onto Textkit (which also uses the phpBB forum software) and delete that post. But that would leave all the subsequent posts dangling. I've been really tempted to change or delete the defending post I made. But I have chosen to take my lumps (beatings for those who do not know English idiom well), and leave my ignoramus post for all to see and judge how stupid and ignorant I am. It is really tempting to 'improve my online image,' but I think that the conversation is more important than any (my) individual's pride.

Have I learned my lesson? I don't know, but I hope I have.

[Jonathan Robie]

Like Carl, I use a text editor if I'm putting a lot of time into a post.

[Stephen Hughes]

On more than one occasion I've lost the screen before I've finished composing and editing, and that's very vexing (to put it mildly). I don't know if there's a time limit on composition or not, but I'm always a bit anxious in the course of the process. After that happened a second and third time, I decided that I'd copy and paste the contents of the editing screen into a text-processor on my own computer so that I could continue working on it offline and then bring back the whole thing for final editing with the formatting tools provided by the forum software. This may just be a quirk of my own aging brain -- I don't know, but I'd like to be confident that what I've written really does say what I intended to say.

Many, many time I've lost what I am writing when I push "submit". There is a big difference between pushing "submit" and pushing "preview" if the post is long. Now I do a similar thing to Carl. I save the content of my post to clip-board (if I remember) and then push "submit".

I guess that php-ibiblio uses a DDNS or something that my computer can't keep up with, but I have lost many many hours of work in the way described.

[Stephen Carlson]

No, this line was specificially brought up by me because of the Lysias thread. I would be happier if I could correct errors of fact at any time there, not to be limited to 30 minutes. That thread is getting many more hits than just Wes Wood could be making on it. It has turned out to be more than a passing point, where errors more-or-less pass to the keeper. It is still getting between 50 and 100 hits per day, and nothing has been added for a week. In the case of a thread like that, the effect of an error is much greater than one that is soon covered over by the sands of time.

For what it's worth, I went through and corrected all apparent misspellings in the Lysias thread, hopefully without Americanizing the spelling (too much). I did not check for grammar.

A collateral benefit is that I was able to add quite a bit of grammatical terminology to my browser's spell-checker.

Stephen, if your browser or computer system does not support underlining misspelled words, I would encourage you to get one that does. It has saved me from many an embarrassing mistake (including how to spell the word embarrassing).

[Stephen Hughes]

I believe I can go onto Textkit (which also uses the phpBB forum software) and delete that post. But that would leave all the subsequent posts dangling. I've been really tempted to change or delete the defending post I made. But I have chosen to take my lumps (beatings for those who do not know English idiom well), and leave my ignoramus post for all to see and judge how stupid and ignorant I am. It is really tempting to 'improve my online image,' but I think that the conversation is more important than any (my) individual's pride. .

I am in the really uncomfortable position in the Lysias thread that I'm expected to know what I am doing. Of course, I invested 5 years of our life in that study, and have studied other works of Lysias, but errors creep in. In that case, it is more than individual's pride, because the whole thing is an uneven discussion between equals - I consider Wes and myself as both learners on the way to knowledge. I was expecting that thread to fizzle after two sections, but if he or any one wants to go on, I will go on. In that case I would like to correct errors that the de facto magistrum dictates I should.

[Stephen Hughes]

No, this line was specifically brought up by me because of the Lysias thread. I would be happier if I could correct errors of fact at any time there, not to be limited to 30 minutes. That thread is getting many more hits than just Wes Wood could be making on it. It has turned out to be more than a passing point, where errors more-or-less pass to the keeper. It is still getting between 50 and 100 hits per day, and nothing has been added for a week. In the case of a thread like that, the effect of an error is much greater than one that is soon covered over by the sands of time.

For what it's worth, I went through and corrected all apparent misspellings in the Lysias thread, hopefully without Americanizing the spelling (too much). I did not check for grammar.

A collateral benefit is that I was able to add quite a bit of grammatical terminology to my browser's spell-checker.

Stephen, if your browser or computer system does not support underlining misspelled words, I would encourage you to get one that does. It has saved me from many an embarrassing mistake (including how to spell the word embarrassing).

Such an undertaking as this reading a classical text has become is really not suitable for one person's effort. I thank you for your collaboration.

Even when the Americans use their spelling, at least it is still intelligible. My weakness is grammatical terminology.

On google...au at least, a search for the title of the thread puts it as number three, while searches for various chunks of text occur within the first 2 or 3 pages of search results. The approach I've taken is one-sided or even quirkish, to relate Lysias to the New Testament, but never-the-less, I believe it has "crossed over" to the billboard charts. One of my hopes is that it could be more professionally presented, because, I suspect from the numbers, that people who are not regular followers of B-Greek are also lighting upon the thread.

I use Firefox, which probably supports spell-check, but it seems to be suppressed because the computer came supplied with a Chinese language window's system. I intend to make the cross (back) to Linux soon, and as people always hope, I'm anticipating verdant meadows.

[Wes Wood]

I initially lost a few posts in the Lysias thread when too much time had passed between starting and finishing my post. As a result I now do most of my typing on a word or pages document and copy it into the forum when I feel I have finished it. This limits my posting window greatly, because I don't often have access to my laptop during the day. Whichever way I go, I won't catch all of my errors, but that is not a problem for me. I don't think less of anyone for an occasional error, but there is a difference in the substance of my posts compared to the post of others. I can see why it is would be helpful for some people, like Stephen, to have the ability to edit their posts. I also believe him to be far too generous to consider me an equal, even as a learner. I appreciate the opportunities this forum has given me to grow. I would have little ability to do so without it.