Posts "edited by a moderator"

[JoshDW19]

I appreciate hearing the position of another mod (as well as that of another of the admins). I'd be interested further in your thoughts on the type of edit that precipitated this thread--an edit not to correct a spelling or grammatical error, but to use a "simpler" style.

Would you mind to point me to the post in question so I can see what you meant by editing it to use a simpler style? Perhaps you already linked it but I didn't see it.

 

[danb35]

I linked it in the OP, but here. I wrote "connect the disk(s) from the old server" (as it was unknown whether the old server had a single disk or more than one); @wblock edited it to "connect the disks from the old server." He writes that the (s) capitalization is "legalese", the "disks" pluralization is "simpler" and has the same meaning, and "simpler is better, particularly for non-native English speakers." I don't agree with any of those points, but even if you accept them all, you're left with a moderator editing posts based on his preferred style of writing.

Edit: more precisely, I don't agree with most of those points. I agree that simpler is better, all other things being equal, and provided you don't oversimplify. But even if you agree with all of those, and even if you believe that the edit was/is objectively better than the original, it takes moderation to a place where it really shouldn't go.

 

[fracai]

Through all this, what I don't understand is if a moderator, or anyone, has a different interpretation of a post, or a simpler, clearer, or more detailed way to state something, why not just add that analysis is a new post and leave it to the OP to edit their own words.

To be clear, I'm on the side that edits should only be used to remove content that is not appropriate for this forum. The only topics that jump to mind there are those topics that are offensive, inflammatory, or wildly and repeatedly off-topic. The kind of thing an idiot in a hurry would recognize as out of place.

 

[dlavigne]

Personally, I don't see what the issue is. Why would we not want to improve the grammar of forum posts to make them easier to read? It's already a thankless job, why would you want to make it harder by publicly shaming a moderator who is trying to improve the forums?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Personally, I don't see what the issue is. Why would we not want to improve the grammar of forum posts to make them easier to read?

It's possible to make a case for moderators editing to improve grammar, though it's not a case I would support. However, that's not what happened to the post that led to this topic being created.

It's already a thankless job, why would you want to make it harder by publicly shaming a moderator who is trying to improve the forums?

Why would you want those who take on this thankless task spending their time on minor edits?

 

[Jailer]

Why would you want those who take on this thankless task spending their time on minor edits?

That's kind of what I was thinking. I'd go stir crazy if I was a mod and had to do gramatical and spelling error checks. And that's just with my own posts........

 

[joeschmuck]

This thread is full of great points from all sides and some pretty strong comments at that. I still don't think a moderator/admin should be doing grammar corrections, even if they have good intentions which I feel is where this all started. I too use "disk(s)" if I am giving the option for one or more disks, as "disks" implies multiple disks, not the option of one. This is the English language.

Mods should moderate to ensure the forum is running well and if they see a forum rule violation, they handle it. Piss poor spelling is not a violation otherwise I'd be in jail by now.

When I read a posting and I don't understand it but I think I understand what is being asked or said, I do one of two things: 1) I repeat back in my own words what I think the poster is asking and sometimes provide the answer. It's up tot he poster to correct me. 2) I tell the poster that I don't understand, would they please report and make it clearer as if I'm clueless about what they are asking. Hey, sometimes I am clueless.

I hope that the moderators and admins could just respect the posting as written. And I say again, English is not the first language for many of our forum users.

 

[BigDave]

Personally, I don't see what the issue is. Why would we not want to improve the grammar of forum posts to make them easier to read? It's already a thankless job, why would you want to make it harder by publicly shaming a moderator who is trying to improve the forums?

He asked for the opinion of others...

Another reason I edit posts is to add code, cmd, and file tags. When I do that, I send a PM to the poster with a quick summary and example usage of those tags. For spelling and other errors, I don't send a message, not wanting to embarrass people by pointing out their errors.

I'm pretty sure this is covered by the forum rules, but if not, it should be.

All of this cleans up the forums, making them more consistent and easier to read. I feel that is important and valuable, but would like to hear what others think.

 

[danb35]

Why would we not want to improve the grammar of forum posts to make them easier to read?

@Robert Trevellyan has already addressed that this isn't what happened to my post. But leaving that question aside, there's a problem with this idea of trying to make posts easier to read: the intersection of posts that are hard to read, and posts that can be made easier to read with minor grammatical edits, is going to be very small. No doubt there will be some such posts, but they're few and far between. There would be a much better payoff with minor formatting edits, especially code tags where they've been omitted.

But it isn't, and hasn't been, my intention to shame anyone. I disagree with the action taken, and more strongly with the reasons stated for that action, but if @wblock feels that I've been shaming him, I apologize.

 

[danb35]

I might also mention that, if we're concerned about poor grammar making the forums hard to read, we shouldn't have a forum called "Will it FreeNAS?". Verbing wierds language.

 

[JoshDW19]

Thanks for the feedback guys. We're going to take some time to think on some of these suggestions.