Mike, I’ll share with you a couple of tricks that I use from time to time when needed. I think your concern is valid and that the site administrators should probably respond, but in the meantime here’s what you can do.
There are really three ways to be able to edit your posts:
1. Click the Edit button within the limited window that you have, and edit it then.
2. Click the Edit button within that same window even when you don’t need to edit right away, and write down what the editing URL is to save for later use. Right now, as long as you know how to get there, it still works. The URL itself doesn’t currently have an expiration time — only the “Edit” link that takes you there disappears. But if you know how to get there independently, you can still edit much later.
3. If you want to edit a post, but didn’t click the Edit button during the time when the link showed up, there’s still a relatively simple way to calculate what that link should be, and then just go to it directly. I’ll give you some quick, unofficial, unsanctioned instructions on how to do this.
If you started the thread, it’s super easy, actually. All you have to do is add /edit to the end of the URL. So for example, this thread here is located at the following URL:
http://time4thinkers.com/forums/topic/un-editable-posts/
Just add edit to the end and you should be able to change it:
http://time4thinkers.com/forums/topic/un-editable-posts/edit
(Keep in mind that’s only true for you, and not for the rest of us. I can’t edit your posts.)
“But,” you say, “what if I want to edit one of my replies? Something that wasn’t the start of a thread?” Well, it’s a little more complex, but not too bad. Here’s one example: You posted a reply to the thread titled “Modern CS Musicians.” If you go through and count up the posts in that thread, it is the 10th post… and therefore the 9th reply. The first post isn’t counted as a “reply,” but all subsequent posts are.
The URL for that thread is this:
http://time4thinkers.com/forums/topic/modern-cs-musicians/
Now here’s the formula. First, replace /topic/ with /reply/.
http://time4thinkers.com/forums/reply/modern-cs-musicians/
Then, immediately after /reply/, add the words reply-to-.
http://time4thinkers.com/forums/reply/reply-to-modern-cs-musicians/
If it’s the first reply, then skip this step. But if it’s not (like in this example where it’s the 9th reply), add a hyphen and that number to the end of the thread name, like so:
http://time4thinkers.com/forums/reply/reply-to-modern-cs-musicians-9/
Finally, add /edit at the end:
http://time4thinkers.com/forums/reply/reply-to-modern-cs-musicians-9/edit
And voila! There’s your working edit link for that reply.
Hope that helps. (Can you tell that I think like a computer programmer?)
Mike 11 months, 3 weeks ago.
