Have we changed the time limit for edits again?

  • Thread starter Fredrik
  • Start date
In summary, Greg changed the edit time to 2 hours in order to prevent cheaters from asking a homework question and then deleting all traces. There are still opportunities for people like Evo to ask for help if they need it.
  • #36
1MileCrash said:
You could force someone to use the quote button by hiding the reply button in the HW board (if statement in template) but you couldn't stop anyone from just removing the quoted post in the text box.

Or we could simply direct the first reply to the quote function. Interesting idea. I may investigate that.
 
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  • #37
Greg Bernhardt said:
Or we could simply direct the first reply to the quote function. Interesting idea. I may investigate that.

That would be a great solution, if it could be done. Thanks Greg.

We also have the issue of posters using images hosted on other servers as part of their OP, and then taking them down after the problem is solved. It would be good if we could prevent this somehow within the capabilities of the vBulletin software.
 
  • #38
Or remove the "new reply" button so the only option is quote?

berkeman said:
We also have the issue of posters using images hosted on other servers as part of their OP, and then taking them down after the problem is solved. It would be good if we could prevent this somehow within the capabilities of the vBulletin software.
Oh, good one Berke!
 
  • #39
Someone can still use the "quick reply" box at the bottom to circumvent any restrictions placed on the buttons. Is there a way to remove the quick reply box from the homework section?
 
  • #40
It could be similarly hidden.
 
  • #41
You could probably tweak the forum code to hide the edit button for the first post using CSS.
 
  • #42
vela said:
You could probably tweak the forum code to hide the edit button for the first post using CSS.

CSS can't differentiate between posts nor can it differentiate between boards (it's no dynamic language), you'd have to count the number of times the foreach was run in the php and only do that if the board was homework which would require another if statement.

I don't know much about vBulletin, but I was on the SMF development team and they are both MYSQL/PHP based bulletin boards and inherently similar. I'm sure all posts use the exact same coding under one foreach block - meaning the only way to differentiate them is to run a "counter" (a script that increments some value by 1 each time foreach is run) and then within the foreach, an if statement confirming that the value of that number is 1 - that is the first post.)
 
  • #43
Evo said:
Can you see the edit button on your posts in Homework?
I see you already got a few replies from others, so you probably don't need my input anymore, but yes, I see an edit button next to the post I just made in the homework forum.
 
  • #44
  • #45
jackmell said:
. . . great. Now I have a flat-out genuine, bonifide error in a homework thread I can't correct:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=557305

can someone here with creds change that myxdide integrand so that the variables are in t and not y?
Sure but...what exactly do you want changed :redface: ?
 
  • #47
micromass said:
Done
Ah I see, changing the Y to a T. Could have said that...
 
  • #48
Alright. Thanks.

Edit:

Wait, I'm sorry but that's still not quite right. Ok, yesterday when I'm reading this thread I wanted to say, "look, I need edit privs cus' I often change my post so that it's easier to read, more clear, and adequately presented so that the reader can understand it." But then I saw you guys put the edit privs back. Well, in the thread above, I think the OP is going to get my y confussed with his y when really my y is just a general expression so I should have more clearly stated that by writing as the first sentence,

"Consider the general expression"

See, that's much more clearer and won't confuse him with what y's I'm talking about.

But that's ok. Don't want to bother you guys again to fix my post. Just leave it. I'm just saying, having edit privs would allow me to present something that is more successful in achiving the goal of presenting a difficult subject in a manner the reader adequately understands. And worst, sometimes they won't tell you they don't understand it neither. They're often too embarrassed to admit they're not getting it.
 
Last edited:
  • #49
Evo said:
Here's a {{{hug}}} hoping it fixes for you.

Hey! Was that a private hug instead of a group hug? I didn't feel a thing...
 
  • #50
LCKurtz said:
Hey! Was that a private hug instead of a group hug? I didn't feel a thing...
{{{{hugs}}}} LCKurtz. :smile:
 
  • #51
So I don't help much in homework [either because the questions have all ready been answered, or just plain don't know how to answer it (Yes, PF Homework Help Sections make me feel very stupid lol)]. However when I do find myself posting in the Homework Help, I constantly edit my answers probably for the same reasons as other people do (either make a mistake or just want to add more info to make what I said clearer). I did read what Evo said about the Quote button, which I will keep in mind next time I answer a question in that subforum. I have read most of the discussion here and I would like to propose an idea. Sorry if I have skipped it but from the looks of it, it has not been brought up. What if we take out the option of original posters unable to delete the threads, but still leave the edit button? Then again, they would be able to delete what they wrote down (I don't see why they should though). Just a thought. I don't like quoting much unless there is a mistake in a line somewhere.
 
  • #52
Ivan92 said:
What if we take out the option of original posters unable to delete the threads, but still leave the edit button?
That is the problem. OPs delete the question by editing everything out of it. Unfortunately we can't just remove the edit function for HH OPs.
 
  • #53
Am I the only one who doesn't quite see how the ability to delete your post benefits cheaters in the homework section?
 
  • #54
QuarkCharmer said:
Am I the only one who doesn't quite see how the ability to delete your post benefits cheaters in the homework section?

Sometimes professors search for their homework exams on the internet. If they see a thread with their question on, then they know that it is one of their students who have cheated. But if the students delete their posts, then the professor can't find them and don't know whether they cheated. This happens more frequently than you think!
 
  • #55
Evo said:
{{{{hugs}}}} LCKurtz. :smile:

Ahhh. That's as good as a simulated hug gets. :!)
 
  • #56
. . . got another scenario: So I post in the homework section. Hit the submit button but then I notice a bonifide homework helper just posted a helpful hint right before me. So as a curtesy, I go back. I'm lookin', I'm lookin', lookin' and don't find the delete key anymore but then I remember, hey, I can't edit, I can't delete neither. So now this homeworke helper thinks, "this smart-ellic Jack, he's just sayin' what I just said."

Awkward situation.
 
  • #57
jackmell said:
. . . got another scenario: So I post in the homework section. Hit the submit button but then I notice a bonifide homework helper just posted a helpful hint right before me. So as a curtesy, I go back. I'm lookin', I'm lookin', lookin' and don't find the delete key anymore but then I remember, hey, I can't edit, I can't delete neither. So now this homeworke helper thinks, "this smart-ellic Jack, he's just sayin' what I just said."

Awkward situation.

That happens quite a lot. Nobody will think that you copied the answer of the HH. It's just a coincidence.
 
  • #58
It does seem to me that this problem should be fixed by modifying the software rather than forcing the forum users to accommodate a current limitation in the software. It's not exactly brain surgery to tweak the forum code to disable the edit button on the first post.
 
  • #59
. . . great. Now I just made a mistake with a little 8-grade quadratic formula, right below Hall to make matters worst. No, no. Don't go fixin' it. I don't want anybody meeting my "special needs" in here. Just leave it and let Hall give me a schoolin' that's all.
 
  • #60
1 question:
When someone who posted and edit/delete his post right after getting the answer... Can admins set the original post back up as it was originally posted? I know in another forum admins can do that. If this is so in this forum too, why not put 1 day long as time limit to edit a post?
 
  • #61
fluidistic said:
1 question:
When someone who posted and edit/delete his post right after getting the answer... Can admins set the original post back up as it was originally posted? I know in another forum admins can do that. If this is so in this forum too, why not put 1 day long as time limit to edit a post?
The limit was 700 minutes. Homework helpers are too good. Maybe we put all new homework posts into moderation for 9 hours. That will also solve the problem of students saying I need an answer in 1 hour! :-p
 
  • #62
micromass said:
Sometimes professors search for their homework exams on the internet. If they see a thread with their question on, then they know that it is one of their students who have cheated.

A different solution to that issue: automatically copy the OP's post to another thread which can't be edited or posted to by anybody, but can be searched.

You would only need say one "cumulative" thread per day, not a separate duplicate thread for every HW question.
 
  • #63
All first replies in the homework forums now quote the OP. Edit permissions have been restored to regular members.
 
  • #64
Greg Bernhardt said:
All first replies in the homework forums now quote the OP. Edit permissions have been restored to regular members.
Fantastic! Thank you so much Greg! And thanks to everyone for the suggestions!
 
  • #65
Greg Bernhardt said:
All first replies in the homework forums now quote the OP. Edit permissions have been restored to regular members.
Hm, will this really work? I suppose you can make sure that all the SAs and HHs will know that they should quote the post in its entirety, but a lot of people will probably just think "where the bleep is the reply button? I guess I'll just use this quick reply box." And even if they use the quote button, they may have been told in other places that you should always delete everything between the quote tags except the specific statement or question they're replying to.
 
  • #66
Yeah, I just noticed I usually start with the quick-reply box.
 
  • #67
Ok. Thanks. I mean just one very short post I made this morning I edited five times to get as best I could to be as understandable as possible. You just don't notice how it reads until you see it a few times and go over it and think about it a while then notice you could change things to make it more easily understood by your intended audience.
 
  • #68
Greg Bernhardt said:
All first replies in the homework forums now quote the OP. Edit permissions have been restored to regular members.

Wonderful Greg!
 
  • #69
Greg Bernhardt said:
All first replies in the homework forums now quote the OP.

I'm not seeing this on threads that were started this morning. :confused:
 
  • #70

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