Posts by DevForum members should never be rephrased by DevForum moderators without permission

[sjr04 (uep)]

@Soybeen

I don’t believe anyone should get to affect the words I post (especially anonymously)

What do you mean by anonymously. When I had my posts edited, I would get a notification saying who edited my post.

[Soybeen]

This is not visible to those who view your thread. It is presumed you are the sole author.

If the forum were changed to reflect changes made by other people, it would be alright.

[sjr04 (uep)]

Is it really a big deal though. If you are really that upset you can always revert the edit. I am pretty sure that was already said but I am lost.

[Soybeen]

See above for the reasons I feel this is important.

[1waffle1 (Waffle)]

Your ideals make sense from the perspective of a social media platform but that isn’t the purpose of these forums. If somebody finds that they can add value to a post by constructively editing part of it then that decision supersedes your own preferences. Stack exchange is the same way, the only important detail missing here is that the post is not updated to reflect the editor’s identity.

[Soybeen]

These values make sense to preserve across all media. The forum is both a hub for discussion and a resource for technical literature, so it is important to remain accurate in terms of both technical info, and poster identity, who is shown as the only author of their work.

If it were like stack exchange, where you can view the comments or collaborations, then it would be acceptable to amend the more semantic details, so long as the editor and edited content is clearly visible.

I believe this is a very reasonable request.

[Dekkonot]

@tralalah

I don’t see the difficulty in doing this, not at all. We have terrain generation, UIGradients and advanced materials and lighting - is it that difficult to implement something like this? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure the big up-and-coming features in Studio completely blow away the work that it would take to add in a little editor notice.

Plugins for the devforum are developed in-house by Sages and other members. Nobody is paid to make them and they’re not worked on by engineers.

[Automationeer (Eleanor)]

To add to that: it’s not really worth Roblox’s time to have engineers reprogram the DevForum when they can just… not. Discourse does the job very well (with some plugins to power the user experience)

[adama88766 (mysticmst)]

Did anyone suggest the way Google does it? Like suggesting mode, so that a Sage or PA edits something, isn’t put publicly just on suggest, then when the author can either check it meaning yes I want the edit and it edits the suggestion publicly or clicks x meaning it rejects the suggestion.

Just realized, maybe this can’t be achievable because of discourse…

[tralalah]

If this is volunteer-run, then I don’t see why something can be a waste of time when it could be beneficial for the community. Right now it seems like many people are indifferent or disagree with Soybeen. But very few people have actually argued against the main solution that was requested, and some have even considered it to be beneficial or acceptable. Namely,

@wevetments

Another solution would be to show the editors of the post so that the original author won’t be held completely responsible for any inaccuracy caused.

@1waffle1

Consider how stackexchange handles secondhand edits

If posts on the devforums are going to be edited by other people then it should be written.

@Dev0mar

Though at the very least if a change was made to a post the post would then get some sort of -clearly distinguishable- sticker indicating that its been modified??

@Amiaa16

Until better solutions are available, perhaps something like a small footer at the bottom of the post along the lines of “ Edited by @user at date ” would satisfy all parties?

@ImageLabel

At the very least, as mentioned by many above, publicly visible notes or tags that highlight both the editors and their additions/alterations to the original text would be fine (out of respect for the original poster).

@Quenty

Communicating at the bottom of the post that an edit was made will work.

@colbert2677

I can understand wanting a way to indicate that someone has made a change to your post and someone mentioned earlier StackOverflow’s way of representing secondhand edits by also tacking on an editor’s name. This is also present on various forum software as a non-intrusive footnote. I can’t say anything in that regard but if that’d help, by all means.

@aelzc

They should have a note saying that the post was edited by another user, however, it should not be a approval system.

@1waffle1

If somebody finds that they can add value to a post by constructively editing part of it then that decision supersedes your own preferences. Stack exchange is the same way, the only important detail missing here is that the post is not updated to reflect the editor’s identity.

@Soybeen

If it were like stack exchange, where you can view the comments or collaborations, then it would be acceptable to amend the more semantic details, so long as the editor and edited content is clearly visible.

I believe this is a very reasonable request.

These are opinions from BOTH sides; you can go read through all the replies if you want to make sure. The fact of the matter is, this is not a difficult or unheard of implementation. Many here believe it is feasible and no one has really argued against it. Why is it not worth spending time? Who in this thread is saying that this implementation is not worth adding to the DevForum?

@coexperience

it’s not really worth Roblox’s time

Correct me if I’m wrong, but there isn’t really a basis to this claim right now, referring to the opinions in this thread.

[CaptLincoln]

I just want to say a few things real fast, because I truly believe this is an issue that needs to be resolved and everyone should have the right to say it.

1. Brought up earlier, but every industry on the planet gives credit for edits to the editor. Furthermore, authors are aware that these edits have been made before publishing. At the very least it should be clear that a post was edited by someone else and by whom.

2. Freedom of expression is not a right recognized online, and never will be. I don’t know why we expect it. We choose to come into a MODERATED forum. We have no rights and should not expect any.

3. I’m a new member, however I realize that many new members do not post quality topics. I agree that post approval globally is a hassle but perhaps that is the solution. We cannot expect people to simply adhere to standards if they are not STRICTLY enforced.

Yes, my views are dystopian, and I accept that. I feel the internet by its very nature prohibits quality discussion without strict moderation. I feel we take our rights for granted and should be reminded forcefully otherwise. I would be willing to give up my privileges in the forum if it meant that the overall quality was improved. It’s like getting a bad grade in my book. You fail a paper and get it back so you can improve on the next.

That’s all I got. Happy trails.

[Ondrashek06]

Couldn’t agree more. If there is no reason to stop editing other people’s posts without their permission, at least write “Edited by (moderator) because (reason) on (date)” and not make it seem like the edits were the original post.

[Soybeen]

Many people understand the implication of this issue, because it’s important for privacy. To contributors, fair is the notion that their forum contributions will be displayed as their sole work unless otherwise specified, and that any third party editions should be distinctly separated from the original.

Seeing the support for this thread shows that this value is important to a lot of other people.
Mousing over the number of replies, the site says this thread has a very high like to post ratio.

It would be to everyone’s benefit if there were a resolution, just to know where Roblox stands on this privacy matter.

A user’s contribution to the forum should be permitted fully or denied entirely on the basis of whether or not it complies with a well defined ToS. After it complies, suggestions to clarify the work are more than welcomed by the author. Any imposed clarifications by third parties should be recognized as different from the original work.

[SaturnianNightmare (SaturianNightmare)]

I don’t understand why Sages and Staff who can edit posts is a bad thing - as stated a few days ago, changing “I want to upload audio for free” to “Audio should be free to upload” is a much better, and in my opinion, a much more professional way of phrasing things.

The argument that it’s author vs publisher, I think doesn’t apply on the forums. You’re not writing a story that you plan to sell - you’re writing a post on a public forum that needs to retain it’s professionalism.

It’s one thing to make a member say “I’m stinky” or something else insulting - it’s another to make their post look more professional. You are misconstruing their intent.

I have yet to see Roblox or a Sage say something out of another user’s account - other than making their post more professional. I have had this happen a couple times myself, and it’s not that big of a deal.

[Soybeen]

Couple points to draw

@SaturnianNightmare

It’s one thing to make a member say “I’m stinky” or something else insulting - it’s another to make their post look more professional. You are misconstruing their intent.

1: In the past, my posts have been edited with entire sentences spliced into and out of them, and restructured up to the level of rearranging my paragraphs, which is very unsettling as a contributor. This small example of my title being rephrased was only the most recent incident they brought up.

I kept it out of the conversation until now to keep the thread focused on the principle rather than anecdotes of how it’s happened to me.

Ultimately, the editor’s rephrasing conveyed something other than my intent, which is the only intent that should be considered if my profile picture and name are at the forefront of the post.

@SaturnianNightmare

It’s one thing to make a member say “I’m stinky” or something else insulting - it’s another to make their post look more professional. You are misconstruing their intent.

2: The editor’s intent is completely inconsequential in the face of the greater error that our text is being edited by 3rd parties and displayed as our own.

@SaturnianNightmare

“I want to upload audio for free” to “Audio should be free to upload”

This is a great example of subjective interpretation. In my opinion, the former is a more click-worthy
plea, which was my strategy, and the post was well noticed. The latter is a better reference for categorization. I would have likely agreed with the change of title if it were suggested to me. To many other changes, I would not have not agreed.

It is also worth noting that topics can be easily closed and merged into more relevant ones.

[NeoInversion (Inversion)]

At the end of the day, I think we should at least be notified in some form. But, it’d be preferable to suggest the change instead of outright doing it, but again, I think being notified is the least one can ask for.

[Automationeer (Eleanor)]

You are! If someone edits your post, you get sent a notification - you are then able to go to the post and review the edit history.

[NeoInversion (Inversion)]

Ah, okay. Having never experienced it personally, I did not know.

[Ondrashek06]

I would rather suggest an entirely different suggestion than just denying the posts which are not suitable. If a member of Post Approval feels like the post would not fit, they, instead of editing the posts, they would say that the post has issues and list them and not approve it unless the issues are fixed. An example of this would be:
"Hey there, your post is suitable, but it has issues that have to be fixed.

1. (Issue1)
2. (Issue2)
   Let me know when you edited your post to fix these issues, and I’ll forward it."

I am strongly against edits that I didn’t make and Post Approval members should only say that your post has issues, and not forcefully edit it to their liking.

[co_ae]

I guess you’re right but it’s not such a big problem IMO.They just rephrase what you said, using synonyms or slightly different expressions. They don’t change your overall message or make you look dumb.